National Science and Engineering Week (12-21 March) is almost here, bringing you ten days of inspiring activities, debates and discoveries, so the blurb says.
 
This year the theme is ‘Earth’, to complement the International Year of Biodiversity, and includes everything from the Earth's amazing wildlife and people to its place in the Universe and how it works.  
 
You can get ready for their "What on Earth" project and find out what events are happening near you at www.nsew.org.uk

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Sarah

   Hey everyone! TOS is doing a GREAT deal on the digital version of their home schooling magazine. I have been receiving the magazine for about a year now and it is great. You can click on actual pages, turn them and zoom in to read things easier. An added bonus is that you can click on links and ads on the pages and they link directly to the websites!!

   If you have been intersted in TOS but put off by the high cost of an international subscription - than this is the way to go! At the moment it is only $9.95 for a year (four issues) and that is only about £6-7. Bargain!!  - Deedee

Week 2 of our digital birthday celebration is underway, and when you purchase a one-year digital subscription, you'll receive a virtual goodie bag full of free E-gifts.  Last week the party began with 18 gifts in the virtual goodie bag, but we just removed 6 of the free gifts. Oops! We're working backwards!

Now you'll really want to hurry and join the birthday celebration!

Between now and midnight on February 10, you can receive 12 wonderful, free gifts worth over $110 from favorite homeschool companies when you subscribe to the digital edition of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine for only $9.95! On February 11, an additional 6 gifts will be gone!

Usually we're piling on more freebies, but for the next two weeks, we're working backwards!

"Why should I go digital?"

2010 brings a new and exciting look to our digital magazine interface. Using the Coverleaf Reader--no extra software is needed to use this reader--navigation through the digital edition of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine is now easier, faster, and more convenient!

Click here or on the magazine cover to the right and test drive the Summer 2009 Issue. 

Want to know why you'll want to subscribe, even if you receive our print edition?

• Enjoy a lower price over print--just $9.95 for a full year of digital during our birthday celebration!

• Instant delivery--weeks ahead of the print magazine. While our printer is preparing our beautiful print edition, our digital subscribers are enjoying their new issue!
  

• An interactive table of contents allows you to go directly to the content you want to read.

• Access a full listing of all links and corresponding page numbers contained in the issue.

• View a thumbnail of all pages and jump right to the exact page you need.

• Bookmark favorite pages for later reference.

• Download a copy of the digital edition right to your computer, external backup drive, or USB flash drive so you can refer to each issue for years to come!

• Share items of interest with friends via a convenient email feature.

• Search for topics of interest with quick search and advanced search features.

• Access your back issues on the Back Issues tab. Quickly browse the previous issues included in your subscription.

• Conveniently access the Help feature.

• Inform your social networking friends about a favorite link in the issue with just one-click access to a variety of social networking sites.

With this affordable, convenient, and instant edition of TOS Magazine and the 12 free gifts, it has never been a better time to subscribe to our digital edition. Just $9.95 delivers each issue to your inbox weeks before the print edition is delivered via the postal service.

Email delivery is perfect for international subscribers! No more waiting for extended delivery times from the United States--get each encouragement-packed issue of TOS Magazine instantly!  (International subscribers get the 12 free digital gifts too.)

Subscribe during our celebration for only $9.95! PLUS, receive a virtual goodie bag of 12, free downloadable gifts valued at over $110.

But you must act quickly, because starting February 11, we will remove 6 more gifts from the goodie bag. The earlier you join in the party, the more free resources you'll enjoy! Our birthday celebration is going to last two more weeks.

THIS WEEK ONLY, subscribe for $9.95, and you'll receive 12 free gifts.

"What's in the virtual goodie bag?"

Everything you see pictured below is yours FREE when you purchase a one-year digital subscription before February 11!

There are 12 gifts valued at over $110!

All the gifts presented here are ones you'll receive during the second week of our digital celebration. Purchase a one-year digital subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine between now and midnight on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, and you'll get to immediately download all 12 gifts!

On Thursday, February 11, we'll remove six of the gifts. The sooner you get in on this deal, the more free gifts you'll receive! During the third week of the special, we'll remove another six gifts. Purchase now to get all 12 gifts!

Itty-Bitty Bookworm. E-Book: Curriculum Guide and Monthly Lesson Plans (Year 1)-September. A $30 value!

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.E-Book: Dreams and Designs: Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool. A $12.45 value!

In the Hands of a Child. E-Book: St. Patrick's Day Project Pack for grades PreK-3rd and Answer Key. A $16 value!

Christian Keyboarding. E-Book: Roman Road to Salvation. A $5.95 value!

Salem Ridge Press. Emma Leslie Church History Series. Dearer Than Life: A Story of the Times of Wycliffe. A $14.95 value!

Bogart Family Resources. E-Book: Copying the Hymns: All Things Bright and Beautiful-Modern Italic DN Style, Manuscript Level 1. A $2.95 value!

Proverbs 22:6 Academy. E-Book: Proverbs 22:6 Academy's 2010 Journal Writing Prompts Calendars and Journaling Notebook Pages. A $6.99 value!

Art of Eloquence. E-Book: 7 Tips for Confidently Dealing With Confrontation.A $7.95 value!

BrandenburgStudies. EBook: Black Beauty: An Autobiography of a Horse by Anna Sewell, edited and presented by BrandenburgStudies. A $1.99 value!

Grace Bound Books. E-Book: Curious George: A Unit Study and Lapbook.

A $5 value!

Amy Puetz. E-Book: Make Your Own Log Cabin.

Homeschool CPA. E-Book: Questions and Answers for Homeschool Leaders.

An $8 value!

   I stumbled onto a great sounding book this morning! It is called 'B is for Big Ben' and it is an alphabet book with a difference. It is all about the UK!!!!

   OK. It is written by an American, but every letter refers to something in the UK or in British history (ie.Guy Faukes) I hear lots of complaints about how so many homeschooling resources are too American so here is one that is about as focused on British culture as it gets! LOL!

   It looks like it is great for little ones learing their ABC's as well as older ones learning about British history and culture. It's available from Amazon so easily accessable from here too.

   Hope you find it useful. I'm going to go order one! - Deedee

   For anyone who isn't already familiar with Erskine's 'Freebie of the Day' site, this is a GREAT week to get on board with them! They give away one FREE homeschooling resource every weekday all year long. Seriously......FREE! No strings, no catches, no gimics. They may send you the odd email about one of their resources they sell, but that is it.

   This week they are giving away a pdf file of Anna Comstock's wonderful book 'The Handbook of Nature Study'. This is a classic nature study manual that tells about all sorts of wildlife, flora and fauna. It is a great resource for identifying different species, and a wonderful springboard for nature walks.

   I actually bought this HUGE volume a couple of years ago and it has been very useful to help us answer questions the kids have about different things we see during our nature walks. It also cost £18 when I bought it - so getting this for FREE is a HUGE savings!

   They have been running it since Monday and are giving it away in six small parts as the whole thing would be too large a download all at once. This morning they announced that all six parts will remain available all week - so hurry over and grab them before next Monday when they will close the links (maybe even on Saturday - not sure).

   Enjoy this great resource book addition to your library! - Deedee

   This is one of those sites that I couldn't believe I hadn't come across before! It is a boring looking, unassuming sort of site - but boy! Is it ever packed with goodies!!! Don Potter has made a vast array of resources available to anyone who cares to look, and it is well worth a look!

   There is a section for learing Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Spanish (both beginners Spanish and high school level). There are education pages for maths, a complete phonics program, spelling programs and 36 links to old time reading primers and systems of teaching reading in days gone by. (you know, when the literacy rates were high - unlike today!)

   This is simply one of those sites you can get lost in following all the links to valuable resources! Make a cuppa and get comfy before you click on this link - you will be here for awhile. LOL! - Deedee

Check this out!  It's a great physics game and until 25th Jan you can pay what you want for it.

It's really worth a look:  http://www.crayonphysics.com

-

Sarah

I recently read about a free English Literature website called Crossref-it.  It's a resource that aims to help both students and teachers with tasks such as wrtiting essays, understanding Chaucer and appreciate the Bible's impact on their world. 

The former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has said, 'Poor knowledge of the Bible limits understanding of a whole raft of literary work'.  The Guardian claims that Crossref-it is a good aid to help solve this problem.

Crossref-it offers easy to understand information for AS/A2 English Literature studies.  It has 10 clear text guides (relevant to the current exam syllabus) and covers literature from Chaucer to Dickens.  There are plans for more text guides to be added soon.  There are also summaries and commentaries as well as weekly blogs and advice on how to analyse text and write a successful essay.

It looks like a fantastic site.  Wish it had been there when I was ploughing through difficult texts!

-

Sarah

   Our friends the Erskines have a new 'Deal of the week' resource starting today.

   Are you guys snowed in? Do your kids get bored easily in the winter when the weather isn't as nice? Do you just need something to keep them occupied in the long evenings?

   Here is a collection of 20 old time books of puzzles, brain teasers, games and activities to keep kids of all ages occupied for hours! And the best part? You get all 20 books, downloaded instantly in ebook format to print as many copies as you wish - for only $4.95 which is about £3!!!!!

   Click over here to find the deal and act quick as it only lasts till next week! Of course, then there will be another great deal - so check them out. Have a great day everyone! - Deedee

   Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a great holiday season with your families. Is everyone ready and back in the swing of things yet?

   Here is a great home/school resource that is half price till the end of the month. I know it is from America and that means shipping - but at half price it makes the shipping not so bad to pay.

   We have been using the Choreganizer in our home for several years now. It works well and you can customise it to your family very easily. It has a strip of 5 slots for you to put 'chore cards' into for each child. When they do their chores, they put the card in the bottom pocket. When all the chores are done for the day you can reward them with 'Mom Money' and 'Dad dollars' which they can exchange for things or time with Mum and Dad from the 'chore store'. There are even blank cards to write any chores that are particular to your home.

   There are strips in the pack for up to 6 children and chore cards range from 'make your bed' to 'wash the car' and everything in between! They have a picture of the chore on the front for littlies who are too young to read and detailed instructions on HOW to do the chore on the back for older kids.

   Here is the link to the Steward's site and here is a quick peak at the book and the deal! Remember it runs out on the 31st so act quick to get a bargain and to get organised!  - Deedee

   As you can see, posting has been a little light the past couple of weeks! I'm sure you guys have been as busy as us preparing for the Christmas holidays.

   We will try to post if anything interesting pops up over the next couple of weeks, but time with our families is the top priority as I'm sure it is in your home.

   In case we don't get back in here before Friday, we wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas! And as a final little fun thing to enjoy, you can follow this link to a great coloring book of beautiful pictures to go with the 12 days of Christmas song. Whatever you are doing this Holiday season - enjoy the time with family and friends and remember..........

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!

Merry Christmas from Deedee and Sarah

Over the last few days I have been checking out some of the online advent calendars.  Many I've seen have just been advertising yet more stuff to buy, but here are a few you may find useful:

This one is from Activity Village and every day has a variety of activities suggested and games to play.  There is a fun 'Reindeer Keyboard' game on Day 2.

This is from a school in Kent and has a daily country and its customs to learn about.

The BBC have a couple of interesting pieces about advent, the first here.  They also have a Bach Christmas calendar with loads of information about Bach and some of his music each day.  Beautiful!

And finally, one that's mainly for fun, though we started to learn about time zones through this one last year:  Norad tracks Santa 

I cannot vouch for all the content on these sites, not least because most of the 'doors' are not open yet, but what I've seen so far seems to be okay.

If you have found a 'gem' please do share it with us by leaving a comment.  Thank you!

Enjoy!

Sarah 

The National Trust has many special events on at this time of year.  There are craft fairs, a chance to take part in a Dickensian Christmas, lantern lit walks, carol singing and of course, the opportunity to visit Father Christmas.  Have a look here to see if there's anything local to you.

Enjoy!

Sarah

   This one if from a company called Timberdoodle who sell loads of really amazing resources. They have so many educational toys it is unreal! You can find some really cool things here and with the reduced prices it may make the shipping from the states worthwhile. - Deedee

Forward to a Friend     SmartUnsubscribesm

   This is the best one! Don't miss this one whatever you do!!! This is a HUGE ebook giveaway that they do every year. There are TONS of great ebooks for FREE!!! (really, free, no strings, I promise!)

   Two hints on this one are check through the list first and make a note of which ones you think you want. There are usually so many that it gets confusing after awhile. LOL! The second hint is to do this one first thing in the morning. This is a MUST! Every year this site seizes up and crashes due to the massive volume of downloads that day. We get the advantage of being able to do our downloads before most of the states has woken up. (See, sometimes the distance is an advantage!)

   So mark your calendars to hit this site first thing on Saturday morning and get a load of free resources before the site gets busy - and best of all they are all FREE!!!!  -Deedee

PS-10AM CST is 4pm our time in the UK. So this sale is running from 4pm Friday till 4pm on Saturday.

You simply can't afford to miss CurrClick's biggest event of the year, BLACK FRIDAY! HUNDREDS of TOTALLY FREE education resources! No Traffic, No Crowds, No Cost!
10:00 am CST Friday, Nov 27th through 10:00 am CST Saturday, Nov 28th.

Plus, get up to 50% off next semester's curriculum during our STOCKING UP YOUR SHELVES SALE!
Nov 27th at 10:00am CST through Tuesday, Dec 15th.

   Another Black Friday deal for you guys that lasts until the first of December. - Deedee

November 24, 2009

Dear Reader,

It's Thanksgiving week. So in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to give thanks to our Sampler Subscribers: you can save $20 on an online order of $40 or more. Our Secret Sale is the very best savings we've ever offered, and it's only available through this email—you won't hear about this outstanding opportunity anywhere else. But this money-saving special ends on December 1, 2009. Read on for more details or use this link to start saving now— http://www.doverpublications.com/hlp2

Save $20 on More Than 9,000 Books! The Secret Sale is good on every book on our website so it's a great time to get started with your holiday shopping. You'll find great gifts for book lovers of all ages and interests in dozens of different categories. Here's all you need to do:   Start saving now— http://www.doverpublications.com/hlp2 Add a minimum of $40 in merchandise to your shopping cart Use Coupon Code HLP2 during checkout $20 discount is good on all the books on our website, including new releases and bestsellers This special offer ends on December 1, 2009

Not only is the Secret Sale our best offer ever, you can also save with Free Shipping when your order total after your coupon deduction is $50 or more. Happy Thanksgiving!

Best Regards, Mary Davis Dover Publications P.S. Please remember to use Coupon Code HLP2 during checkout when ordering. Use this link for complete information— http://www.doverpublications.com/hlp2

I have just heard about this project on a home ed yahoo group which has been operational for at least a couple of years.  It is called Potatoes for Schools. Although the material goes on about schools, several home educating families have been involved in the last few years.  I have just registered with no problem.  The registration deadline is Friday 5th Feb 2010.

The site says:

Potatoes for Schools offers a valuable learning experience where you can find out where potatoes come from, how they grow, what you can do with them and how they can make primary learning an exciting experience.

 Here are the details of TOS's Schoolhouse Store's Black Friday Sale!

   For those of you who have followed this blog for a year or more you will be aware of 'Black Friday Sales' in the past. For those of you who are newer to the blog - I will explain briefly!

   'Black Friday' is an American term for the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is always the forth Thursday in November. On the next day most people have the day off work and the Christmas sales start in earnest that day! It is about the same as the Boxing day sales here in England.

   Alot of our favourite Homeschooling companies also have great Black Friday sales on that day or the week around Thanksgiving. So we tend to post up the details of those sales as we find notification of them to give you all a heads up.

   It is a day when alot of websites crash from the volume of traffic, so I would suggest if there is a sale you want to take advantage of to do so early in the morning here before the States begin to awake! Once you get to lunchtime here it can be very difficult to manage any downloads.

   So, here are the details of the first sale we have been notified of - the Hands of a Child sale. Remember that alot of these companies have ebook products which we can enjoy without any shipping costs. Enjoy your shopping and watch this space over the next two weeks for notification of all the other great bargains available. - Deedee

   Have you seen the Christmas decorations up in town? Have you been stocking up on special holiday foods and gift wrap yet? Well, here is one more holiday sale - but this time for your homeschool!

   Currclick do instantly downloadable ebooks of Home ed curriculum and resources. If you do pop over to take a look please consider clicking on the Currclick box in the sidebar as that is our affiliate link and we get a small commision on your order if you do. Thanks - Deedee