I hope your September is going well. While I always expect September to be a calm continuation of our relaxed homeschooling schedule, it never seems to be! There are new things happening all over the place with the local homeschool groups. Are you looking for one in your area? Please go to the Old Schoolhouse MA state page for a small listing of groups across the state, or you can check out the AHEM support group page for a larger listing, and also the MHLA group page.
Planning on some summer travel? One of the pleasures of travel that my entire family enjoys, from Papa to Baby, is audio books in the auto. :-) We've listened to some great old classics, old time radio shows, Adventures in Odyssey, and best sellers. All on a tight budget, of course. If you are looking for some good audio stories, here are places I've picked up some excellent reads (listens? lol). Many of these sites have freebies or $2 specials; not all of them all of the time, but if you are patient and persistent, they will crop up.
CBD's Adventure in Odyssey page Christian Book Distributors, located in Peabody, has some great warehouse sales twice a year if you can go.
Old Time Radio Shows
http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/">Homeschool Radio Shows
A new free show each week, plus they have excellent compilation CD's; a great value, imho.
If you have iTunes or another way to download podcasts, there are a number of people recording classic books as podcasts as well. Just put 'audiobooks' in the searchbox. Happy reading/listening!
Very cool thing; The Old Schoolhouse Magazine now has a digital version! Read about it here. There's a special price and free gifts as well, but hurry, because each week the special gets closer to the regular price and less freebies are offered.
On March 20th, join in on the fun of celebrating Sun-Earth Day. :-) NASA has many resources to help you celebrate with lesson plans, links, and even storytelling. Learn about space weather, eclipses, solar energy, and even careers in the solar field. Check out their website for more!
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Interested in space weather? Check out SpaceWeather.com and sign up for email updates.
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ISS EarthKam lets you see the Earth from space. Check out their image library, find lesson ideas, or just explore.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born on March 2, in Springfield MA. The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Garden is in the Quadrangle in Springfield, surrounded by the Springfield Museums. It sounds like a fun idea for a field trip! Check out CatInTheHat.org for lots of info on Dr. Seuss, and SpringfieldMuseums.org for info on the surrounding museums.
Here's a fun geography project. The Making Friends website has a program called Friends Across America for kids to make paper 'friends' (kinda like paper dolls) of themselves to be sent to other children around the country and receive paper friends from children around the country. Everything is sent to the Making Friends company and no addresses are given out, so the kids can safely participate without giving up the excitment of "meeting" new people.
Here's an official TOS email to help you in your homeschooling journey:
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Do you ever wish that you could really get a good look at a homeschool product before buying it? Sure, each companys ad says that its the best, but youre still left wondering, "Is it best for MY family?"
With our new Homeschool Freebie Directory, you can find out for sure. We've pulled together forty different homeschool companies offering a wide variety of products for you to try. Just visit our online Freebie Directory page to learn how you can claim the freebies that interest you.
NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
Youll find everything from handwriting and reading products to science and social studies resources, subscriptions to educational websites, unit studies, e-Books, music lessons, fun homeschool products and more. There truly is something for everyone!
You're welcome to come back to the site as often as needed to check out all the offers. In fact, you have an entire year to explore and discover the many engaging resources and interesting products that are featured.
Everyone loves to try samples! Why do you think Sams Club and Costco stores are such a hit? Surely we aren't the only ones who frequent the yummy sample tables? (We just love those scrumptious, tantalizing little eggroll thingies.) Having a "taste" truly is THE way to try before you buy.
Heres more great news. There are plenty of freebies for everyone! Tell your friends and homeschool support groups so that they, too, can enjoy the free gifts NO STRINGS ATTACHED. What a fantastic way for them to discover new homeschool resources and products without having to actually buy ANYTHING (unless, of course, they want to)!
Sometimes it's nice to shake things up a little bit during the winter. Why not try something new with these great freebies? You're sure to find something that will be a wonderful addition to your homeschool!
Enjoy the freebies!
The HSB Front Porch blog has an entire section devoted to science experiments geared for multiple ages. The directions and explanations are clear and the materials are easy to find. If you are in need of some ideas to do with your kids, head on over there!
As a music educator and a homeschooling mom, I enjoy finding great websites with real music from around the world I can share with my kids and my students. A freind sent me a link to Curriki.org which is an open-source site for k-12 educators to share learning resources. The explaination from their site: "Every student and educator will have access to quality learning resources...".
With that in mind, I went to the Listen For Life page to check out the music resources available. What a happy find! You can download QuickTime videos of master musicians from around the world; real musicians playing real music from their part of the world, not just "inspired by tradtional themes" as is much easier to find, but less accurate from an educators point of view.
Save 50% on Your Favorite
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Products!
Looking for Fresh Inspiration for the New Year?
At The Old Schoolhouse we know that there is more than one right way to homeschool. We believe that each family has to figure out what method and educational philosophy "fits" their family best. Some parents may be juggling work responsibilities and homeschooling. Others are homeschooling as single parents. Some have special needs children, while others are still learning the basics of home education. In all of our products, we strive to present a variety of authors and resources which will inspire and encourage you as you tailor your homeschool to your family's needs.
And now for seven days only, we're putting all of our TOS e-Books and audio books on sale for 50% off. Plus our back issues normally priced at $9.90 are 50% off too.
If you've never bought an e-Book before, now is a great time to try one!
Each one is under $7 and you'll be able to download them immediately after checkout.
Want to read some of the all time favorite TOS interviews with pioneers and leaders in the home education movement? You'll find these interviews and many more in Homeschool Dialogues.
Would you rather listen to these as audio books? It's a wonderful way to be encouraged as you're driving in the car, working or relaxing around the house. Each is under $9 and at these prices you can buy one for a friend who needs some encouragement too!
Do you struggle with trying to find the balance between academics and home life? Does relaxed homeschooling sound good to you, but you wonder if it's really as thorough as public school? Gena Suarez's Well Integrated Homeschool audio presentation reveals the problems with public education and the blessings of a natural integration of learning at home.
We're sure you'll enjoy each of these resources and all of the great information in our back issues of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Don't forget them!
Our regularly priced $9.90 back issues are all less than $5 for this sale - and the shipping is free. We'll send them right out to you. You'll find words of encouragement from your favorite writers, unit studies, information on the various teaching styles, plenty of homeschool research, and so much more.
Just take a look at the FANTASTIC prices on e-Books, audio books, and back issues and bring some fresh inspiration into your homeschool this year!
Sale Ends midnight Sunday, January 27. International customers please note, due to high international shipping costs, audio books are only available for US customers and back issues require a shipping upgrade.
I just love getting more for my money, and I know that I'm not the only one, because TOS is having a wonderful sale goning on right now! Check out these details from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine:
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$5 Gift Sub w/1 Year Sub Purchase - Recipient Gets Gifts!
$5.00
What a great way to bless a friend! For the price of a Mocha you can encourage a friend with the gift of The Old Schoolhouseฎ Magazine for an entire year!
In order to take advantage of this VERY LIMITED TIME OFFER you must first purchase one of the below.
THEN....you may purchase this gift subscription for only FIVE DOLLARS!! Gift a homeschooling friend or even your local library!
Not only does your recipient receive the gift of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, but they will also receive 25 Homeschooling Gifts. Your recipient will receive a pack of postcards to send in and redeem all their goodies! And right on top, will be a postcard letting them know that this is a special gift just from you!
The race is on to be the 21,000th customer at The Old Schoolhouse Store. Why race? Because of the great giveaways, of course! This mag does love to show it's appreciation to those that make TOS such a success. :-)
An interesting find; Homeschool Buyers Co-op. It's a free membership to group discounts for educational items. There is also plenty of freebies to be had on their site.
Some examples of group discounts:
* Visual Manna
* Nest Family Learning
* Jack & Jill Magazine
* Explorer's Bible Study
And some examples of what they link to for free resources:
Well, it's been a while since I've mentioned the Carnival of Homeschooling, and I noticed that another blogger from the Homeschool Nations has done a recent post with it, so it is past time for me to link to it again. :-) The latest post can be found here, and the archive can be found here. There are plenty of great links in all the Carnival posts to help new homeschoolers, veteran homeschoolers, possible homeschoolers, and all parents interested in helping their dear children learn new and interesting things. There are many, many links to informative articles and other blog posts on the how and why, the latest new thing, updates on and in the world of home education, interesting tidbits of learning in all areas of the curriculum, and much more than I can possibly list here. Check it out if you have the time to do some good reading. ;-)
Good news! While Ebay has banned homeschool-friendly terachers manuals, the TOS has come up with a greart new auction site. Please read below.
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New Internet Auction Site Launched to Help the Homeschool Community
Homeschool Buy welcomes online shoppers and vendors seeking a new online auction site since eBay's ban on selling teacher's editions.
White Pine, TN With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, fans of online auction sites are introduced to the new kid on the block - www.HomeschoolBuy.com. Homeschool Buy is poised to meet the needs of homeschoolers and others who were turned away when eBay decided to prohibit the sale of Teacher's Editions. Homeschool Buy is prepared to handle much, much more than just homeschool curriculum though; they are equipped to handle everything from clothing, to craft items, to cameras, and kitchen items! Anything home and family-oriented is welcome.
While other online auction sites have popped up since eBay's big mistake, Homeschool Buy is unique because it comes with a built-in market the readers of The Old Schoolhouseฎ Magazine and the blogging communities at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com and www.HomesteadBlogger.com. Some of those folks are the exact ones who encouraged Paul and Gena Suarez, publishers of The Old Schoolhouse, to pursue creating an online auction site that would welcome homeschoolers and their Teacher's Editions. Danny Carlton of JackLewis.net is the webmaster over the new community. He has been instrumental in working with attorneys and script experts to meet deadlines each step of the way. The design is also Carltons creation.
Paul and Gena also hope that their decision to offer an option where the seller would have no basic listing fees will help to encourage people who have never listed at auction sites before to get involved. Unless a product sells, there are no backend auction fees. Customers who are familiar with eBay will find that the set-up is very similar, including being able to create and operate your own store, yet tailored especially to be family-friendly. HSB stores are priced much lower than eBays store options as well. Any vendor can set up shop with their own custom place on the web to do business complete with a very custom traffic base and on the cheap. While the site is designed to appeal to homeschoolers by giving them the opportunity to buy and sell Teacher's Editions, the site is definitely open to others outside the homeschool community as well. Family commerce on the Net.
The homeschool market is estimated to be a billion dollar a year marketplace and Homeschool Buy provides a venue for everyone from individual families to small companies to mainstream vendors to join the marketplace. Whether it's families cleaning off the bookshelves to make some extra Christmas money or a company striving to move products off of their shelves, Paul and Gena Suarez welcome them to give Homeschool Buy a try. Teacher's Editions are welcome!
Here's a email from Time4Learning, a site for homeschoolers with online curriculum. They are looking for people to test and review their site. Please contact Kris (contact info below) with any questions you might have.
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Hi,
I am contacting you from Time4Learning, an online educational program for kids ages 3-14.
Time4Learning is a fantastic program for homeschoolers with a complete Language Arts and Math curriculum with
Social Studies and Science as a bonus.Check us out at Time4Learning.com !
We'd be thrilled if you decided to place a link to us on your site.
I'd also like to extend an offer of a free month trial of Time4Learning, just for writing a review and posting
it online. There are no constrictions on the review, except that it is
totally honest (good or bad!) and it's posted online somewhere.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in trying it out, please
do forward this to them or you can also give them my info and I'd be
happy to extend the offer to them as well.
Kris - Time4Learning.com
954 771-0914
kris@Time4Learning.com
www.Time4Learning.com
"It's Time 4 Learning. And Fun!"
I was emailed a couple of terrific links to share with you. The first is an online geograpy game, and the second is audio stories from Adventures in Odyssey (a Focus on the Family venture).
What an excellent idea one homeschooling mom had; a free exchange list on Yahoo Groups. It seems to operate a lot like Freecycle if you've ever heard of it. If you have extra, or unused, or no longer needed homeschooling materials, you post an 'offer' message on this list for other homeschoolers to see, and if someone needs it, they email you directly. After the exchange has been decided, the the 'giver' posts that the item has been taken. It can also work the other way; if you need a certain item, you can post a 'needed' message and if someone has it to give away, they email you directly, and the 'needed' person posts that the request has been fulfilled. This is a relatively new group, but I can see it going far! Good luck to them!
Something to check out; a family center for all members of the family! This is run by a homeschooling family on their farm in Sutton, with activities, meetings, classes, workshops, trips, and more.
"Renaissance Centre was established to support families in living a family-centered lifestyle. There are activities for home-educated children as well as for parents and entire families together.
Formerly NHLS (Navigo Home Learners Society), we have expanded our scope to encompass all aspects of a family-centered life including homeschooling, working from home, and homesteading.
Activities will be held on our new farm in Sutton, Massachusetts beginning in Fall 2006. We have weekly meetings for members and friends. Each week will bring something new to do or to try. Families will have the opportunity to witness the restoration and operation of an historic family farm."
Our e-Newsletters give you wonderful, informative information about homeschooling, news bits, contests and PRIZES for homeschoolers, articles to encourage you, calls for writers, free unit studies and lesson plans, and just a lot of FUN. Bring the community to your inbox and no worries, we never sell, trade or give your email or any other information out to anyone.
Come join the homeschool party!
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