Thank you to Thea the HSN Coordinator from Quebec for sharing these.....

http://www.highlandsswcd.org/everything/office%20info/kid%20page.htm -- Florida
http://lancaster.extension.psu.edu/Family/BKC_Resources.html -- Lancaster, Penn -- Learn-At-Home Theme Kits
http://www.epa.state.il.us/kids/teachers/materials-resources/ -- Illinois free environment resources
http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/Units/Workbooks/101KidsBusy/101KidsBusy.pdf - 101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
http://computersforlearning.gov/ - Not only home schools, but any school or community group that are trying to educate kids from pre-K through grade 12, can be eligible to receive used computers from the government through its surplus property program. Contact Computers for Learning, P.O. Box 4410,Washington, DC 20026-4100; 888-362-7870
http://www.intel.com/education/index.htm Educators can get everything they need to know about the inner workings of a computer including lesson plans, student materials, overheads, colorful posters of a Pentium Processor, as well as an actual silicon wafer, a microprocessor, processor chips, transistors, diodes, connecting wires and batteries for hands-on use. This free package is available to teachers for grade five through nine. Homeschoolers are also eligible for this program! Get your kid's teacher to get one. Just like a computer, free upgrades are also available. Contact The Journey Inside: The Computer, Education Programs; P.O. Box 5937; Denver, CO 80217; 800-346-3029
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/_subjectfreeware-index.html - Educational Freeware

The basics of Tomatosphere is a “blind” test in which you and your students will not know the treatment of the seeds until completion of the germination process and submission of results. Students will learn how to conduct a scientific experiment and compare the germination rates of the seeds. They may also report on the growth and development of their plants... and may be inspired to pursue further education in science and technology.

The partners in Tomatosphere are working to develop new optional units for teachers and students - new components which are science-related but also linked to other areas in the curriculum:

• Grades 3 – 4 – nutrition focus for astronauts for long trips
• Grade 6 – life support for astronauts (other than food)
• Grades 7 - 8 – the Mars environment
• Grades 9 - 10 – chemistry and biology of food and nutrition

Last year our family participated in Tomatosphere for the first time and learned a lot about taking care of plants, keeping good scientific records and being responsible.  I must admit we didn't get any tomatoes and hope to do better this year.  I received the email below that seeds are being sent out and asking me to pass along the info to anyone who might be interested in participating in the project.

You can sign up and get more information by going to Tomatosphere

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We are getting ready for the first mailing of 2008. As someone who is already registered, your seeds will be mailed out in the third week of February. If you are doing some planning for early March, you will, in all probability, have your seeds by about the 3rd of March, if not sooner. IF YOUR SEEDS DO NOT ARRIVE by the 7th of March, please let us know.

As we move into phase three of Tomatosphere with plans for seeds being sent to the International Space Station for distribution in 2010, please encourage any of your colleagues who would like to be involved in the program for 2008 – 2009 – 2010, to register soon. Although we will have ample seed available for 08 and 09, we are, of course, limited by the number of seeds that we can actually send up and retrieve for the 2010 edition. Teachers can register at www.tomatosphere.org.

Our web site has been undergoing some visual changes. The basic organization will not change, but the visual impact will improve greatly. Watch for these changes to be implemented in the next few weeks. We think you will like the new look to the Tomatosphere web sit.

I have been cleaning up the data base and would ask that, if you are NOT interested in continuing with Tomatosphere to let us know by sending an e-mail to projectmanager@tomatosphere.org.

As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call (905-627-3685) or send an e-mail to the above address. Except for some times on vacation (e.g. from January 25 – February 3), responses are usually within 48 hours.

Best wishes from the Tomatosphere Project Team and sponsors – Canadian Space Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Stokes Seeds, H.J. Heinz, Ontario Centres of Excellence, and the University of Guelph.

Robert Morrow

Project Manager

2008

One trick I do when these things come up is I use it to encourage my kids to read. I'll tell them they get to pick one book. Just one. That's their mission. This way they have to READ through the descriptions and summaries. Of course, you have to watch over them, but you will get a lot of insight into what interests them.

The difference is that at the library or book store they can browse visually looking at covers. This requires READING because they can't pick the book up, they need to READ the descriptions and summaries. How cool is that.

Also don't forget that you can return books to Amazon really easily. I've done it quite often when what I ordered wasn't as expected.

Here is the $5 or less books link.

Here is $10 or less books link.

Here is $20 or less books link.

Here is the Children's Books link.

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It's finally come online! I know they've been working on it for a long time, and it was a HUGE project.

eFantasmic.com has loaded up over 100 different curriculum, and more is coming. It's all in electronic format, so you can instantly download it.

My son was doing some the other day (as soon as the first ones were available), and it's a really neat concept. I'm going to use almost all of them.

Here's the best part, it's all based on library materials! So you don't need to buy expensive text books, it's all materials you can get your hands on quickly.

Plus, it's designed for us homeschoolers! What this means to you is that all the curriculum you do you with your child (including discussions) is all documented, so you have proof of everything you do.

Here's the link to go take a look: www.eFantasmic.com
 

Now here's the deal.

They are offering a subscription to the entire collection of curriculum, making it less than $1 per curriculum. Now that's a price that appeals to me.

But it's a limited offer. They are offering 50% OFF, that's what makes it less than $1 per curriculum. And this offer is only while they are still loading curriculum onto the site. Once the first batch is finished uploading, the price goes back to double.

It covers lots of stuff from history, science, chemistry, biology, fun stuff, you name... it's there. All the DK EyeWitness books are there, lots of National Geographic, Early Readers, Magic School Bus, Andrew Lost, Magic Tree House, Dear America History series, American Girl, and even Goosebumps and some other fun ones.

Here is URL: Go and check it out. If there are several titles that you would want, then the subscription is definitely worth it!