- From the Editor
- Updates on TheHomeSchoolMom.Com
- Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies (Our Sponsor)
- Educational Sites & Freebies
- Mia Bella Clean Burning Candles (Our Sponsor)
- Article -Science Projects - for Parents Who Aren't Rocket Scientists by Kayla Fay
- Subscription information
1. From the Editor
Welcome to TheHomeSchoolMom's Free Homeschool Resources! I am excited to announce an new addition to TheHomeSchoolMom. Site of the Week is a newsletter that will feature one great site in each issue. It may be about home organization, current events, homeschool styles, lesson plans, parenting, or another topic of interest to homeschool moms.
You saw the notice I sent out earlier about the Dollar for Dollar Sale at BookCloseOuts.com. This promotion is ongoing, so check it out. There has been no ending date published for this great deal, so don't wait and miss it. For every purchase of $25.00 or more worth of product, you can choose the same dollar amount of FREE product from a selection of almost 3,000 titles. This is new, this is cool, and only available from BookCloseOuts.com!
The selected titles are from all different categories including Biography, Children's Fiction, Health & Fitness, Travel and much much more!
Please note: Coupons can not be used in this promotion.Visit BookCloseOuts Dollar for Dollar Sale
Enjoy this month's resources!
Warm regards,
Mary Ann Kelley
Editor, TheHomeSchoolMom's Free Homeschool Resources
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2. Updates on TheHomeSchoolMom.com and Menus4Moms.com
- Free online Spanish lessons!
- Free online unit studies
- Site of the Week Newsletter
- February Free Homeschool Resources Newsletter
- Dinner menu for this week
- Learning to Love Vegetables
- Organize Your Leftover Containers in Four Easy Steps!
- An Organized Shopping List Makes All the Difference
3. Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies (Our Sponsor)
Does your child need self-paced math
instruction? Do you want interactive lessons, puzzles and worksheets designed to make math fun? The Math Goodies CD has over
230 pages of in-depth learning modules that actively engage students in the
learning process. Topics include geometry, number theory, percent, integers, pre-algebra, probability, statistics and symbolic logic.
As an added bonus, you get our popular Integer Football
game!
Students can engage in self-paced learning using several modalities. No Internet
connection is needed. Place our CD on your child's home computer or
laptop today!
http://www.mathgoodies.com/cd/
4.Educational Sites & Freebies
Animate Your World
"Animate Your World: Shaping Character is a fun, innovative, and unique CD-ROM program designed to help educators, both in and out of the classroom, incorporate character education skills into their everyday curricula... AYW provides students the tools they'll need to create their own custom animation, using positive character traits and behaviors learned through the countless activities and resources found on the CD-ROM." From Cartoon Network
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/gen/ayw/
Visual Math Learning
This site features a free online interactive tutorial for pre-algebra students that is rich in games, puzzles, and animated manipulatives that emphasize learning concepts by visualization. It is an excellent resource for parents and educators of students at the elementary and middle-school level. Access to the tutorial requires no fee or registration.
http://www.visualmathlearning.com
Abraham Lincoln Newspaper Archive
"While we know today what a colossal impact Lincoln had on the fate of the United States, newspaper articles on Abraham Lincoln from the days of the Civil War reflect a variety of opinions. Then, Americans were so polarized that Lincoln's presidential victory led to seven southern slave states seceding from the union prior to his inauguration day in March of 1861. Yet, historic newspaper articles also show how Lincoln had unyielding vision, extraordinary political skill and humanity in his strife to restore and preserve the union." Visit the archive to learn more about what Lincoln's contemporaries thought of him and the events surrounding his presidency. I found the Timeline section to be the most useful when browsing the site. The articles load as a PDF file inside of a frame and can be slow to load. This is a valuable primary source.
http://www.abrahamlincolnarchive.com/
KinderArt
Despite its name, KinderArt is not just a resource for primary grades. Whether you are looking for drawing lessons for your middle-schooler or multi-cultural holiday crafts for any age, KinderArt is the place to look. The site includes lesson plans, projects, reference information, articles, and more.
http://www.kinderart.com/
All Hands On Deck
The USS Constitution Museum has made their award-winning K-12 curriculum, All Hands on Deck: Learning Adventures Aboard "Old Ironsides", available for download from the Web at no cost.
The curriculum, previously available only as a workbook, uses one of the United States' most colorful and beloved icons to teach a range of subjects. Fourteen lesson plans use the frigate USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812, as a vehicle to explore a wide range of disciplines including social studies, language arts, reading, math, science, and art. The curriculum uses fascinating and varied content scope, including critical thinking, making tables and diagrams, solving math problems, and writing essays and poems. Life skills that stress the value of cooperation, persistence, creativity, and ingenuity are also included.
Educators can search the online curriculum by discipline, subject, skill, and grade level to find the lesson plans and activities that match their needs. The VHS tape that ships with the hard copy is now available online as a streaming video for use with the online lessons.
http://www.allhandsondeck.org/
5. Mia Bella Clean Burning Candles (Our Sponsor)
Earn what you are worth with Mia Bella Clean Burning Candles through retail, fundraising, and residual income! Experience a candle that leaves no black on your jars with a delicious scent that lasts until the bottom of the jar! Join me for the fun! You will receive one-on-one coaching and training from an Award Winning Team to help you achieve your goals!
To learn more and to request a FREE CD packet and scent samples,
please visit http://www.SoyAndBeyond.com. Relationships, Integrity and Products equal
SUCCESS!
6. Article - Science Projects - for Parents Who Aren't Rocket Scientists
by Kayla Fay
Thirty five years ago, when I was in elementary school, it was easy to do a science project. You made a trip-tik science board out of a cardboard box, hand wrote your topic and procedure, then made a model of a volcano or made an egg squeeze into a bottle. Your teacher had never heard of the scientific method, and your mother never even knew your science project was due.
Those were the good old days. Now, children are expected to choose a science project topic, submit a proposal, form a hypothesis, perform an experiment with three trials, graph and chart the results, develop and present an abstract, give an oral report, and pretend they did all this without help from parents. They must think all kids have rocket scientists for parents.
The truth is that most families struggle to produce a science project. We have four sons, and science projects used to drive me insane. Over the years, however, we've learned to translate some of the scientific jargon into words that our kids - and we - can actually understand.
Take, for example, the scientific method...Observation, Questions, Hypotheses, Experimentation, and Results. Trying to explain this to a child can be daunting. Instead, use this example...
Suppose you OBSERVE that your Game Boy isn't working. You'll ask yourself the QUESTION "What's wrong with my Game Boy!?" Then you'll come up with a couple of ideas, or HYPOTHESES: "The battery could be dead, the game could be dirty, or maybe the baby dropped it into the toilet." So you'll EXPERIMENT - you check the battery, take out the game and blow out the dust, then check for signs of dried Cheerios and wet spots. These experiments will hopefully lead you to the RESULT, and you'll know why your Game Boy wasn't working."
When you put it this way, it really isn't very complicated. A science project doesn't have to be complicated, either. The hard part about doing a good project is actually *finding* a good project. As you search, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Is the project is the right type? Make sure you understand which kind your science teacher or science fair requires - - investigative, demonstration, research, model, or collection.
2. Can your child do most of the project, or will your child watch while you do it? Find a project that your child can do with you serving only as an assistant. Hands on experience is the best teacher - and it's a lot more fun to do.
3. Will the project actually work? We've tried several projects in our time that simply wouldn't. For example, we've yet to make a functioning battery out of a lemon.
4. Are the project supplies easy to find - and easy to afford? This is especially important if your child (or your child's parent) has waited until the last minute.
5. Will your child learn from the project? The final result of a science fair experiment is supposed to be that your child learns more about science. As you and your child work together, both of you should gain new appreciation and knowledge about the wonders of science. And who knows - this year's science fair project may be the first step toward your child actually becoming the rocket scientist that you aren't!
Kayla Fay is the publisher of http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com, an online guide to five complete science projects. For a list of science project guides that Kayla recommends, visit http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com/dt/t/art2.php or email Kayla at scienceideas@24hourscienceprojects.com.
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