Okay, I promised when I posted about iTunes U that I’d finish my post about online resources that we use in our homeschool, and this is way overdue. Though I have found many websites that have been helpful, I do have several that over time have become favorites. Some are free, some are available for a small charge, but all have been helpful to us.
Learn Out Loud is the perfect place to visit for audio downloads and podcasts. If you sign up for their ‘Free Resource of the Day newsletter’, they will email you free speeches, lectures, sermons, interviews or books each day. On the website you will find an easy to navigate Free Directory where you can browse the titles that are offered at no cost. Though my children are older and I find many of the titles they send appropriate for them, if you have younger children, you may want to check out Kids Learn Out Loud first. Here the material is broken down in different age ranges; 8 and under, 9-12 and teens and also by category. Once more, since we are still continuing our study of the Civil War, I found several titles to compliment our study, one on slavery, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas and also Lincoln’s famous speech, The Gettysburg Address at no charge.
Another fantastic resource for auditory learners and those that love books is Librivox. This site offers books that are in the public domain as audio files. The books are read by volunteers and then posted so you can download them to your computer or listen from the site, many of the volunteers do a wonderful job on their readings and we’ve found this a really great substitute for purchasing audio books.
Several years ago, when we followed the Ambleside Online program, I found Project Gutenberg. This wonderful website offers books that are in the public domain freely. Though it’s my preference to have a hard copy of the book and not read it from the computer screen, that’s not always possible when the book is out of print and not easily attainable or affordable. In those instances, this site is a wonderful resource and if you have plenty of ink and paper, you can always print the book chapter by chapter. Unfortunately, my printer is one item that didn't make it into the camper.
Though much like Project Gutenberg, The Baldwin Online Children’s Project offers children’s books that are in the public domain in an electronic (or e-book) format. Here you’ll find many of the Ambleside Online and Waldorf titles that are used in their program and they also have a wonderful list of Christmas titles that you may want to keep in mind for a bit later.
At home I had a huge collection of field guides, but decided not to drag them all into the camper. A solution I found to replace them is e-nature. Now it doesn’t matter what part of the country we’re in, Midwest, Southeast, Pacific Coast, when I need to look something up, it’s virtually at my fingertips.
Answers in Genesis is my favorite Creation Science resource. Their site is loaded with articles, e-books, lectures, sermons and even full-length videos under the media section. This has been an invaluable resource for my family and a perfect addtion to our science,history and bible programs!
A fairly new website that stems from Vision Forum Ministries is BlueBehemoth.com. Their goal is to provide a large selection of trustworthy, affordable, completely downloadable family friendly audio and video selections for the Christian family. If you sign up for their newsletter, you’ll be alerted to their new free resource that changes daily. Here you’ll find sermons, books, music, lectures, dramas and even full length feature films.
Okay, I realize that strictly going online isn’t the way to go. After all, we have traveled to a few places where we couldn’t even get a cell phone signal so we knew trying to connect to the internet was useless. That’s why I really like these sites that allow you to download to your computer, MP3 or iPod so you have access whenever you need it. And besides, these sure cut down on the amount of books I need to carry with me! Until next time….Happy homeschooling!
© 2009 Tonya Prater/Live the Adventure