Journey North is a great resource for Science, and also for Social Studies.  Here are a couple of quotes from the main page of the site:

Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America.

Widely considered a best-practices model for education, Journey North is the nation's premiere "citizen science" project for children. The general public is welcome to participate.

The site runs a number of different programs at different time of the year that you can get involved in - for free!  All you have to do is register at their site.  Here's what the registration page says:

Once you have registered, you are in the Journey North database and do not have to register for each project separately... If you request an e-mail subscription when you register, you will be notified when each study begins and receive news reports each week. If not, you can find the information on the Journey North Web site.

Here's a short run down of some of the current programs:

The Monarch Butterfly Migration Program has a fall and spring component to it.   News about the 2008 fall program started August 28 and runs until sometime in October or November, but it's not too late to join in.  Weekly news reports for this program are sent to each Thursday.  Even though we are not actually in an area where we will be able to join in reporting Monarch sighting, we can still follow the sightings as they are reported across North America.  One idea is to make your own paper monarch butterflies to place on a map in the area of reported sightings each week.  There are also printable booklets and online slideshows teaching about the life of a butterfly, how to distinquish between monarch butterflies and some look alikes, etc.

The Whooping Crane Program also has a fall and spring component.  News about the 2008 fall program starts tomorrow and runs until sometime in October.  Weekly reports for this program are sent out each Friday.  This is a very interesting program because you "Follow the story of 16 endangered Whooping Crane chicks making their first journey south as ultralight airplane "parents" teach them the way." 

There's also a Tulip Program.  There are monthly, rather than weekly, reports for this program.  Here's what the website says about it:

students plant and observe tulip gardens to track the arrival of spring. They observe and record when their own plants – and those in other school gardens in North America – emerge from the ground and bloom. As students track this one plant type, along with temperatures, day length, and other seasonal signs, they discover how different factors influence the wave of spring. This sets the stage for better understanding our changing climate.

These are just some of the programs that are active right now from the site.  There are other interesting porgrams that start up later in the year.  You can see a list of all the different programs and when they start on the Year-at-a-Glance page.

Let me know if you decide to participate.

Just heard about this from Dawn's post.

If you are into the Civilization Computer game you might like to try out the History Canada Game.  Check it out here.  If you try it I'd love to hear what you think of it.

I have been asked to do some research for an article on homeschooling regulations, re. funding, reporting, etc., in the provinces. I thought it would be good to get some information from people with first hand knowledge and experience about such things.

I would love to hear from you as to what your experience has been in whatever provinces you have homeschooled in. You can email me about it and/or write a blog post about it and let me know where to find it by leaving a comment on the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival. I'd be delighted with either form of communication.

You can pass this information on to anyone that you think might be interested in helping provide information.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Jacqueline

EDIT: I answered questions about this request in this post here.

Thanks to today's post, Online Game; Math Caching, by Denise at Let's Play Math, a great math resource in itself, I discovered MathBits.com.

The main page of MathBIts says:

MathBits.com is devoted to offering fun, yet challenging, lessons and activities in high school (and college level) mathematics and computer programming for students and teachers. Created by two teachers.

From this main page you can access a variety of different helps, most of which is free but some do require a subscription.

The part of the site that Denise wrote about in her post was the Math Cache Game.  The main page for the game says:

"Geocaching" (pronounced "geo cashing") is the sport of using GPS systems to locate hidden boxes at different geographical locations across the country. Directions and clues are left in the boxes to aid in the journey.

In the spirit of geocaching, we have created activities called "MathCaching" which use the internet to find hidden boxes to reveal clues to the continuation of the games. Your success at "MathCaching" is dependent upon your skills at solving mathematical problems.

This sounds like a really neat resource that could be used with highschool students to help make math more fun.  Let me know what you think if you decide try it with your children.

Maps of War is a great resource!  The really neat think about the site, as you can read in their Sharing Policy, is that they want you to copy, use, and share their maps, as long as you link back to them. 

I have embedded the maps that interested me the most into my personal blog.  I'd do it here but I don't know how to do it on this blog, so instead I'll provide you with links to them, along with the description on the website.

http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/march-of-democracy.html - "This map gives us a visual ballet of democracy's march across history as the most popular form of government. From the first ancient republics to the rise of self-governing nations, see the history of democracy: 4,000 years in 90 seconds...!"

http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html  "Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go!"

http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html   "Who has conquered the Middle East over the course of world events?  See 5,000 years of history in 90-seconds."

I could see using each of these maps as a base to for study units.

Thanks to Thea at the Quebec Homeschool Nations site for pointing out this great site. 

The Poetry Archive claims to be "the world's premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work."  Andrew Motion and Richard Carrington, an audio engineer, came up with the idea for the site because they thought there was "something special about listening to a poet reading his or her own work ".   Most of the poets on the website are alive today but there are also some historic recordings by poets who are no longer alive.   It is a growing collection as they make new recordings or discover more old recordings.

On the right hand side of the main section of the site you can browse the collection by poets last names, by poem titles, by poetic terms, by theme, by form.  This makes it a great resource to use in literature lessons.  If you are studying a poem by a particular poet you can check the site to see if that poem, or some other by the poet, may be available to listen to.  If your are studying a particular form or theme of poetry you can check the site for avialable poems in that form or theme to listen to.  If you are learning about a poetic term you can check the site for a definition of the term and also to listen to poems that illustrate the term.

Aside from listening to the poems, you can also read the poems as there is a print version available along with the audio.  The site also provides background information about each poet featured, including any prizes they may have won. 

The Children's Archive has great kid appeal in it's graphics and in the poems included.  Under the poems section there is a Poem of the Week feature which would make a great addition to weekly lesson plans.

This site is a great resource for teaching,  or simply encouraging enjoyment of, literature.  It has something to offer for all ages.  Be sure to take the time to check it out.

A nice while ago I saw this site - "Telling Stories: Narratives of Nationhood" - featured on a blog.  It is a great resource to use in teaching social studies and art appreciation.  Here are a couple of quotes from the site:

"In Telling Stories: Narratives of Nationhood, a diversity of art by Canadian artists is the medium for the exploration of Canadian history and heritage, identity, culture, geography, and politics."

"Complementing 4000 works of art with 400 lesson plans generated by a team of educators, the program uses the Confederation Centre Art Gallery collection and works of art from gallery collections across Canada to explore the symbols and icons that are used in the art to tell stories about the geographical, historical, and cultural make-up of Canada."

Did you catch that?!?  400 lesson plans featuring 4000 works of art!  Now that's a great resource, and it's all available through this web site.  Make sure you set aside a good chunk of time to check it out because it is a gold mine.

You enter either an HTML or flash version of the site.  I had a little trouble with the flash version on my computer but if really is so much more exciting then the HTML version.  In both version you can see that the material is divided up into 8 modules.  Each module starts with an introduction page.  In the HTML version there is a list of related lesson plans at the bottom of the page, while in the flash version there is a link for related lesson plans in the top right corner.  Grade levels are suggested for each lesson and there are lessons to cover all grades from 1-12. 

The site is a project of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Prince Edward Island.  The Centre's website is also worth checking out, especially the Art Gallery section where you can take a virtual tour of the gallery and also check the live web cam feed. 

Last weekend homeschooling families from across the island gathered in St. John's for the annual CHENL Conference on the Rock.

Friday night the president welcomed everyone and introduced the speakers.  This was followed by a number of different families sharing their stories - right from a family just now preparing to start to a family that has already graduated two of their children.  It was a great time of inspiration and fellowship.  The evening ended with a DVD presentation of homeschool research results.

All day Saturday there were sessions with the guest speakers.   Snacks and lunch were provided for the day so that there would be lots of time to fellowship between sessions. 

Rev. John Paul Westin, Rector of St. Thomas' Church in St. John's,  spoke about Raising Godly Children and gave us his 4 points at the beginning just in case he ran out of time and didn't get to cover them all.  He didn't need to worry, however.  He did a great job as he encouraged us to 1) be real or get real with God, 2) watch and listen because God is at work, 3) react or respond appropriately, and 4) enjoy watching the plants grow.  I heard comments afterwards about how encouraging it was to hear him remind us that we are not responsible to make our children what they ought to be, but we are to allow God to do it and to help them out as we can as they develop into the people God planned for them to be.

Carolyn Westin, Rev. John Paul's wife, who is a guidance counselor and private counselor talked with us about guiding Your Child Through the Teen Years.  She emphasized the importance of being present in our children's lives and being available for them, while being careful not to be smothering or controlling and discussed some very practical ways to do that.

Pastor Gary Steward, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, shared with us his enthusiasm for history as he talked about How to Teach History from a Christian Perspective.  He gave 5 tips for teaching history: 1) equip yourself with good resources, many of which are available on the internet through archive.org or google books; 2) be selective, because you can't cover it all; 3) create an interest a) in yourself first, b) by using historical fiction, c) by using literature of the time, but be mindful of purposeful messages, d) by using biographies, e) by using autobiographies, and f) by using films; 4) teach the big picture first, thus creating a mental grid on which to hang the details that will be learned later; and 5) pay special attention to world views. 

Marlene McDonald, a veteran home educator from New Brunswick and owner of Homeschool and More, talked about Getting Started and Choosing Curriculum and Planning Your Year.  She also had a wonderful display of homeschooling resources and curriculum for people to browse and purchase from all weekend long.

These are just some of the highlights from the weekend.  The conference committee did a great job and everyone left better equiped to face the challenges of homeschooling and looking forward to next year.

I first heard about the Historica Fairs in Heather's blog post telling about a group of homeschoolers in Ontario had their own fair and had judges attend it to judge the entries.  Her daughter was one of 4 homeschoolers chosen to advance to the Ottawa Fair.   She posted another post about their experience at the Ottawa fair and it sounded like such a great experience I went looking to learn more about the Heritage Fair Program.

You can learn all about the Heritage Fair program at their offical website.  On the What is a Fair page it says "The Historica Fairs Program encourages students to explore Canadian heritage in a dynamic, hands-on learning environment. Students use the medium of their choice to tell stories about Canadian heroes, legends, milestones, and achievements - and present the results of their research at a public exhibition."  According to the Rules and Criteria page the program is open to students in grades 4-9.

On the Fairs Sites page for Newfoundland and Labrador I discovered that there are 8 regional fairs in Newfoundland & Labrador.  The Newfoundland and Labrador Historica Fairs has their own Web site and there I learned that the regional fairs take place in May.  I contacted the provincial co-ordinator to find information about the fairs and how homeschoolers could go about becoming involved.  She was very helpful and told me that it was too late for this year but she would be happy to help us work something out for next year. 

Even though it is too late for us to participate this year, it is still possible to check out the regional fairs and get an idea of what the program is all about.  The Regional Fairs are open to the public at least part of the time for public viewing.  I contacted the regional co-ordinators listed on the website and heard back from most of them with information about the time and place of the Regional Fairs.

The regional Fairs are happening this weekend.  Here is a list of where and when:

Avalon Region -  May 3rd 1-3 at McDonald Drive Junior High School
Vista (Clarenville) Region - May 3rd 11-12 and 2 at the Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity
Burin Region - May 1st at Scared Heart Academy Marystown -
Central Region - May 2 in Grand Falls-Windsor at the Regional Education Office on Price's Avenue
Western Region  - May 3rd 1-3 at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College gym in Corner Brook
Labrador West Region - May 1st at Mennihek High School

Unfortunately I didn't hear back from the contact people listed for the Northern Peninsula/Labrador South Region  or the Labrador Region.

I hope some of you will take advantage of the chance to check out the regionnal fairs and hopefully next year we will actually have some homeschoolers participating in them.

At EcoKids Blog I discovered that April 19-27 is National Wildlife Week.  The National Wildlife Federation site has a special page announcing National Wildlife Week.  This page says "Register for National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch and become a citizen naturalist. You can even record your sightings online!"  Though it is an American site Canadians can participate in the "Tell Your Wildlife Watch Story" page.   You can pick the Province you live in in a drop down menu as part of the report .  I'd love to hear from you if you do post something there.  Leave a comment here so that I can go check it out.

April 22 is Earth Day Canada.  You can learn more about the history of Earth Day Canada and find some printable activities for it here.   You can find out about planned Earth Day Events in Newfoundland and Labrador here.  To register an event click here.  

The EcoKids site is hosting their 5th Annual Scavenger Hunt .  The deadline for submissions is April 25th, 2008.  You have to  "Search through the web site to correctly answer all the questions and be entered into a draw for some great prizes".  Open to ages 7-12.

Not much time left for this one but if you get on it right away you can still make it.

Here's an ad for TOS (The Oldschoolhouse Magazine), the sponsors of the homeschool nations:

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Spring Promo is in full bloom.
Subscribe now to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and receive
25 BONUS gifts valued at over $550!
The Winter Promo sold out, don't miss out on the free gifts this time!
The HSB Front Porch is having a contest
and you can win a $50 gift certificate
just for blogging about the Spring Promo
before midnight April 30, 2008.
Click HERE for details.

They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo Contest
PO BOX 8426
Gray, TN  37615

Here's some info from the International subscribers page:

As you can find out here, Canadian subscriptions are now available for only $30 and digital subscriptions are now available for only $16.95!   If you are among the first 3,000 to subscribe you will receive this incredible International Subscription Homeschool Gift Pack!

19 FREE Gifts with Any Print or Digital Subscription

VIEW GIFTS

Subscribe Online or call in your order to 1-888-718-HOME.

And here's some extra info about the blog contest:

As part of their Spring/Summer 2008 Promotion, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is hosting a blog contest with a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store.  As you can see on this page, they are unable to ship store products to Canada but you can, however, use the gift certificate to purchase something from their E-books and simply download your purchases to your computer.  All you have to do is go to this page and copy and paste some information and put a banner ad into a post on your blog and then leave a comment, with a link to your post, on this page.  Your blog does not have to be hosted on homeschool blogger for you to be eligible for the prizes.  For a chance to win an additional $50 gift certificate you simply have to share a post about why you like The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and tell them about that in your comment.  The contest ends April 30th.

In Barb's "Learning in the Great Outdoors Blog Carnival" post, I learned that April 13-19 is Environmental Education Week.  Though this is an American Event Canadians are also encouraged to take part in it.  At the National Environment Education Week website you can learn all about what it is and you will find links to a reading list and age graded quizzes for children.  The Get Involved page has lots of ideas for ways to participate, as well as lots of links to other pages for ideas.  If you decide to get involved you can register and tell them what you plan to do.  There are a few Canada organizations listed under the International Partners list on the Our Partners page.

All this is in prepartion for World Earth day which is coming up on April 22, and I'll be telling you a whole lot more about that later.

If you decide to do anything to recognize Environmental Education Week, let me know.

I've been posting lots of writing contests for the children to participate in so this time I challenge the mother's to participate in this contest I found for adults.

A contest for mothers:

I learned about this contest through Ann's Christian Women Online Honors Mothers post.  

Christian Women Online Magazine is an online magazine who's purpose is "to unite women of faith, regardless of our differing ages, our roles as women, or the signs that mark our church doors."  Getting ready for the May edition of the magazine they, along with Art Bookbindery, are putting off this writing contest for women ages 18 and up who reside in Canada or the United States.  The winner will receive a great prize package that includes a book, a mug, a CD, a DVD, etc.  To enter you must submit an essay of less than 1000 words telling "how your mother, or a mother that you know has reflected the heart of our Heavenly Father in her life".  The deadline for submission April 21st. All entries must be made through their online submission form, which is at the bottom of the page about the contest.

And here's a contest for the daughters:

The Growing in Grace Magazine for Girls, an online magazine,  is a "mother-daughter ministry publication that desires to bring encouragement to relationships in the lives of women of all ages."  In preparation for their May edition they are asking readers to send in their best photos of mothers with daughters.  All the photos sent in will be featured in the May issue.  They are also asking daughters to write about what makes their mom so special.   The winning article will also be featured in the May issue.  The deadline for submissions is April 22.  You can read all about it here.

Conference on the Rock 2008

Theme: Building on a Firm Foundation

Location:  Calvary Baptist Church, 415 Kenmount Road, St. John's

Dates:   Friday, May 9 (6:30 - 9:30pm)
            Saturday, May 10 (8:30 - 4:30)

Cost:    $70 per family including snacks and lunch; CHENL members $10 discount

Guest Speakers will include Marlene MacDonald of Homeschool and More and Rev. John Paul and Carolyn Westin.

For more information, contact Angela Hancock at amhancock AT nl DOT rogers DOT com, leave out the spaces and replace capital letter words with appropriate symbols.

I discovered at Farm School that April is National Poetry Month.  At the League of Canadian Poets I discovered that this is Canada's 10th Annual National poetry month and the theme this year is "Poetry Without Borders".   At the League of Canadian Poets site you can find out all about National Poetry Month in Canada .  It includes links to posters, a pdf on the history of National Poetry Month in Canada, press releases, etc.  There's also a National Poetry Month Resources page. 

April 7-13 is Young Poets' Week.  There is a special page and forum for Young Poets.  Here they can share their poetry and receive feedback.

The American poets site, Poets.org, says that April 17 is "Poem in Your Pocket Day".  There's a really fun poem there and some suggestions of fun things to do.

I challenge you this month to either write your own poem, or copy your favorite poem, being careful to include the writers name, or write about your favorite poet.  Send your writings to me at jacquelinehillierATgmailDOTcom.   Just change the capitalized words to the right symbols and it will work.  At the end of the month I will post all the poems I receive.

I found out about this contest on the Canadian Homeschooler's Board under their Writing Contest thread in their Language Arts Thread.

Rachel Starr Thomson is a homeschool graduate living in Canada that has written a number of books.  In celebration of the upcoming publication of her most recent book - Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled - she is running a writing contest for children ages 8-18.   Here's what she says on the site: "If you are between the ages of 8 and 18 and you have a funny, dramatic, or touching true story you'd like to share, write it up and send it in!"  There will be a winner in each of 4 different age group categories - 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, 16-18.  Each winner will recieve an autographed copy of her book.

Here are the guidelines from her site:

Entry Guidelines:
Stories should be between 500 and 2000 words. All entries must be based on real life events. Put "Family Fun Story" in the subject line and paste the story into the body of the email--no attachments, please. In the top left corner, include your name, age, and email address. Email your entry to publisher@littledozen.com.

I'd love if if you'd let me know if you enter the contest.  Hey, I could even post the entries here once the contest is over!  I'm sure that you have stories to tell and that others would enjoy reading.  I sure hope you'll share your story.