50+ Ways to Learn and Play With Social Studies

Looking for some hands-on ways for kids to work on history, geography, government and more? There are so many great ways to work on these skills with kids besides boring lesson plans and textbooks. Here are 50+ great ways for kids to learn social studies from fun, games and real life: Volunteer at a historic […]

10 Fun Free Ways to Play with Geography

Looking for some fun ways to sneak in some geography this week? Here are all kinds of ways to help kids (and you!) learn about countries, maps and regions. Note: Affiliate links to Amazon are provided when helpful. Purchases from our links earn us a small commission to help keep the lights on here. I […]

Kids Can Learn Native Languages FREE with 7000 Languages

Here’s a wonderful free resource for adults or kids to learn indigenous languages. 7000 Languages is a nonprofit website and app that teaches native languages such as Dakota, Cree, Balinese and Ojibwe, absolutely free. 7000 Languages explains: We create free online language-learning courses in partnership with Indigenous, minority, and refugee communities so they can keep […]

Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention (Review)

A Favorite New Science and History Book

Our twelve year-old son, Alex, has been carrying around a huge science and history book for 3 days, devouring every page of it and talking to anybody who will listen about what he’s reading. The book is one that I reviewed recently for NetGalley, which I ordered after reading it because I thought it would […]

Free Online Ojibwe Language Class

Here’s a fantastic free resource for foreign language learning. The University of Wisconsin Au Claire allows anyone to view their live or archived Ojibwe (Chippewa) language classes absolutely free. The University says: Welcome to our Online Ojibwe Language Program, where anyone can watch our live or archived classes for free. Archived classes can be found […]

Kids Can Learn History, Mythology and More With FREE Superhero Course with Late Stan Lee

Kids Can Learn History, Mythology and More With FREE Superhero Course with Late Stan Lee

Here’s a fantastic opportunity for kids who like superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Avengers that will help them learn history, mythology and more.  Before his death, comic book legend Stan Lee contributed to a class on superheroes that’s now available for free on edX. The SmithsonianX course, titled “The Rise of Superheroes and […]

IHA offers free U.S. History textbook online

IHA Offers FREE U.S. History Textbook Online

Here’s a great resource for high school or advanced middle school level American history. USHistory.org offers its entire U.S. history textbook free online. The 60-unit textbook covers our nation’s history “From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium,” with chapters beginning with Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization and ending with Toward a New […]

Free curricula in every subject for your 3rd grader

Free Curricula in Every Subject for Your 3rd Grader

Continuing in our series of absolutely free curricula in every subject for every grade, here’s a round-up of resources for math, science, history, language arts and more that are absolutely free for third grade. (Note from Alicia:  This post was compiled as part of a series for my homeschooling column at Examiner, which is no […]

Around the Horn Gold Rush Game

Print Out the FREE Around the Horn Game to Learn About the Gold Rush!

Here’s a fun way for kids to learn about the Gold Rush and have some fun family time along with it.  My husband developed the game “Around the Horn” to teach our kids about the Gold Rush and the little-known route that many Americans took out west — by ship.   He explained: When gold […]

Free Curriculum for Homeschooling 7th Grade

Free curricula in every subject for your 7th grader

  Homeschooling in the middle school years doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many outstanding curricula for math, science, history, language arts and more that are absolutely free. Here are some of the best free resources for 7th graders in each subject. Note: This is a tiny fraction of what’s available online for free […]

Facts, activity pages and more to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

Facts, activity pages and more to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, here’s an assortment of lesson plans, pages, songs, interesting info and more to use in your homeschool. abc Teach has a printable PDF bio with a multiple choice Q&A at the end. The Crafty Crow has MLK Day crafts and KidsSoup has some great crafts and activities. […]

Easy homeschooling on the road

    Our family just got back from a week out of state. We didn’t bring piles of textbooks or worksheets, but all five kids packed lots of learning into that week. The kids managed to learn geography, presidents, American history, genealogy, civil rights, drivers’ education, physics, phonics, nutrition, genetic testing, ghosts, high school exams, […]

Lizard Point offers fabulous geography tools for teachers (FREE)

Lizard Point offers fabulous geography tools for teachers (FREE)

Here’s a wonderful site to help kids learn all kinds of world geography, absolutely free. Lizard Point Quizzes offers interactive geography games that teach everything from countries in Africa to Canadian provinces to geophysical regions of the United States. In addition, they also provide features like merit stamps and give teachers the ability to track […]

Free curricula in every subject for your 3rd grader

Kids can take a quiz to find out which Founding Father they match

Here’s a fun way to help your kids learn more about the Constitution and our Founding Fathers. The National Constitution Center offers this fun quiz: Which Founder are You? The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 by a group of 55 men with one purpose and many different personalities. Discover which Founding Father you’re most […]

How to accurately teach children about Thanksgiving

How to accurately teach children about Thanksgiving

  Teaching kids about Thanksgiving was easy in the old days. They were told sweet stories about pumpkin pie and friendship and gratitude. They did some pilgrim and Indian crafts and everybody (or almost everybody) felt happy. Things got more difficult once we started learning more about the real history of Thanksgiving. We found out […]

Harmony Art Mom offers excellent world geography curriculum (free!)

Looking for a good quality, open-ended world geography for your kids? Barbara McCoy of Harmony Art Mom offers a wonderful 36-week world geography curriculum online, absolutely free. Harmony Art Mom’s World Geography Plans (PDF) is a 48-page, in-depth weekly curriculum that aims to teach a broad overview of world geography, culture, world religions and current […]

Oodles of amazing educational uses for plastic eggs

Oodles of amazing educational uses for plastic eggs

After Easter, it’s the perfect time to pick up extra plastic eggs on clearance to use them for all sorts of homeschooling fun — and not just for the preschool set. Most of us have seen the Pinterest pins of Easter eggs being used to learn sight words or letters, but you can use them […]

Use printable car maps to help kids learn their states on road trips

Use printable car maps to help kids learn their states on road trips

Here’s a fun way to help kids pass the time on road trips and learn their states at the same time. Print out free car maps and have them color in the states as they spot cars with those state license plates. There are two versions of maps available — a labeled one to help […]

Kids can learn history through DIY timeline game

Kids can learn history through DIY timeline game

Here’s an fun and effective way to help kids learn history and get an idea for when things happened in relation to each other. Make a timeline game! Here’s all you do: First, find a timeline of history that includes events you want to teach about. This site has collections of timelines of people, places […]

Wonderful Charlotte Mason style geography books available free online

Wonderful Charlotte Mason style geography books available free online

Here’s a wonderful way to explore geography with elementary aged children and work in a bit of history, too. Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Geography and Long’s Home Geography for Primary Grades are both available for free through public domain. Not only that, but they’re available in a variety of formats, including online, as Kindle books and […]

Free online learning games for every subject

Here are some great ways for the kids to play (and learn) in every subject from right at home today.  These online games are all free and require no special downloads or installations other than basics like Java or Adobe Flash Player in some instances. Math: Zeus’ Petals teaches kids multiplication skills.  The game says:  […]

Lapbooking 101

Designing your own lapbooks

We design our own lapbooks about 90% of the time.  While it can take more time in terms of research and planning, there are many advantages.  The kids learn more doing the research themselves, they feel a greater sense of ownership, it allows for more creativity, it can be tailored to the child’s age and […]

PBS releases new free K-12 app for the iPad

PBS releases new free K-12 app for the iPad

PBS LearningMedia classrooms has announced a great new iPad app for K-12 students that is absolutely free. Designed specifically for students in grades K-12, the app provides access to thousands of resources covering all subject areas, from math and science to English and social studies. The PBS Student app allows kids to watch and learn […]

Print out a fun, free U.S. states game!

Print out a fun, free U.S. states game!

  Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational has created a wonderful free printable card game that helps kids learn all about the geography and history of the states. Battle of the States is played a little bit like “War” but by comparing numbers and dates related to the states such as population, number of counties, electoral votes […]

Little House homeschooling - Oodles of free lesson plans, printables & more

Little House homeschooling – Oodles of free lesson plans, printables & more

Are your kids Little House on the Prairie fans? There are all sorts of wonderful resources on the internet to help use the famous book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder in your homeschool. Here’s a round-up of some great sites. ~ Laura’s Prairie House has lots of hands-on activities, printables and recipes, plus much more. […]

Free vintage ads help bring history to life

Free vintage ads help bring history to life

Here’s a wonderful resource to help expand your history lessons. The Vintage Ad Browser offers over 100,000 historical ads, posters and newspaper clippings going back as far as the 1700’s. The site creator explains: Vintage Ad Browser was created in 2009/2010 and released in 2010, by Philipp Lenssen from Germany, currently living in China. This […]