Activities and Free Web Resources for Homeschoolers
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NOTE: The MPE Board of Directors does not necessarily endorse any of the organizations or people offering these activities.
Arcademics
"Our team makes free educational games for young kids - addition, multiplication, language arts games etc. Check them out at our site www.arcademics.com".
Building Paper Airplanes
http://www.buildpaperairplanes.com is a paper plane building website, complete with folding instructions on video. The paper planes are created by 12 year old homeschooled student Christian Williams. You get eight paper planes for free, then you can subscribe to his club and get more for as long as you like.
Americans50Plus
is an organization dedicated to promoting Traditional American Values for citizens 50 years of age or older. A50P is a conservative alternative to the only other seniors group, which is a lobbying concern vs. a not-for-profit company. A50P provides products and services that can enhance one's spiritual, physical and emotional well-being. If you would like more information visit http://americans50plus.org or call 913-262-6040
GuruLib (http://www.gurulib.com/)
helps connect individuals and local communities which includes home school communities and book clubs through media such as books, movies, music, games and software.
EHD (http://www.ehd.org/homeschool)
The Endowment for Human Development (EHD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health.
Check out their free online educational resources. Help your kids understand the importance of prenatal development with their image-based learning tools. Or, help yourself to their curricular resource section created just for educators. You can use these tools to supplement your health and science curriculum or use them for a prenatal development unit study.
Kidz Postcard Exchange
This group was started by a Homeschooling Mom in Lexington, KY. We are loving the exchange so we wanted to let more families know about this so we can exchange postcards with kids from all over! Come and join us! (Submitted by Kim Mansour)
Subscribe: Kidz_Postcard_Exchange-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
This group is designed for kidz to exchange postcards to learn about different cities, states, countries (even third world countries)! By joining this group you agree to supervise your child while on the internet pertaining to this group. We also strongly encourage children of all ages write their own postcards. Talk about the postcards with your children e.g. where the country is on the map, how long it took to get to you or even do some research to learn a little more about the place you received the postcard from. Please check the postcard before it goes out to make sure they don't share any information that is not safe. Collect a postcard from every state and then maybe color it on the map as you receive them. We will be exchanging as much or as little as the group would like. If you have any ideas please e mail me and we can incorporate different ideas. I plan on having a chat session at least 2 times a month. That gives kids time to talk with recover or sender of the postcard. Most of all MAKE IT FUN and SAFE!
Homeschool Robotics
Johnson County Homeschool Robotics is looking for new members and mentors to help with our B.E.S.T. robotics program! B.E.S.T. robotics is a competition that occurs each September, involving several teams, including public, private, and homeschooled.
For more information, call us at 913-782-7566, visit us online at www.jchrobotics.com, or e-mail us at Wesley@Cripenet.com!
Satisfied Mind (Thanks to Irene Baylet)
Carol Raedy, a musician and educator in Charlotte, offers several workshops and projects including:
Make a Mountain Dulcimer
This workshop includes building a two string mountain dulcimer and
instructions on playing it.
Wagons West
This week long residency program immerses students in the culture of the
American Pioneer of the mid 1800s through songs, stories, games, arts and
crafts. Some activities are: quilting, making old fashioned toys, making a banjo
or fiddle, and outfitting a "covered wagon" to pull in the culminating
wagon train reenactment.
Other activities include:
North Carolina Folk Music
This show features traditional folk music from North Carolina played on the
dulcimer, guitar, banjo and fiddle. Students learn about the African, Irish and
English roots of the songs and instruments. Students participate by singing,
playing instruments in a "Jug Band" and adding their own verses to
some old time favorites like "Old Joe Clark."
The Guitar: Bach to Rock
The guitar is used to play many styles of music such as classical, flamenco,
blues, jazz, rock and pop. Students will hear all these styles; from minuets on
the classical guitar to "Johnny B. Goode" on the electric.
Wedding Receptions, Parties, Festivals, etc.
Hammered dulcimer, fiddle and guitar.
For more information, click on the following link: Satisfied Mind
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where students can go to learn about science, photography, and the weather in a safe, fun, and exciting environment.
"I am inviting students in the homeschooling community to form WeatherTeams on AccuKidz. A team can have as little as one member. Each WeatherTeam is given a web page and they can upload photos they have taken, videos of local interest or even of anything that interests the Team. Other WeatherTeams members come to the site, rate the photos and comment on them, building excitement among the teams. Each Team has an area where they can post weather information, news, whatever is going on with their Team and where they live. Teams also can keep in touch with each other on the fully moderated AccuKidz Forum. AccuWeather meteorologists will be posting educational blogs, youth spokesperson videos are being filmed, and our first coloring contest has just begun. All web site submissions, including comments, photos, videos and forum posts are moderated to keep it safe for students. Nothing appears on the site without being approved first.
The project has begun in the USA but we are inviting students from other nations to participate as well. This will allow interaction with students of other countries and will provide a unique learning experience for all involved. We also are inviting military families to participate as a way to keep in touch with other students and each other.
WeatherTeams may upload as many photos and videos as they would like. There are no bandwidth limitations and AccuWeather’s servers are closely monitored.
AccuKidz WeatherTeams may choose any Team name they like. They do not need to post their photos or use their own names. You do not need to purchase anything to make or join a Weather Club, it is totally free.
My intention is to gain excitement for the website and to help students from around the world learn about each other and the worlds they live in. If you have any questions or suggestions please email me at AccuKidz@AccuWeather.com
To learn more or form your WeatherTeam, please CLICK HERE
Thank you,
BeckyMarie
AccuKidz Director"
| http://www.booksamaritan.com/index.html is a website which provides free books & curriculum to deserving home school families, BUT they also need DONATIONS of books and materials. Please contact them for any unsold/leftover merchandise. |
| http://www.brightstorm.com/d/math?a=6001021 Dear Homeschooler, I want to share with you a FREE online video resource for homeschool students - Brightstorm Math: * Great teachers explaining every topic from Algebra 1 to Precalculus * Over 1,800 engaging online videos-clear and concise * Concept explanations and sample problems Students use Brightstorm Math to: * Get help on their homework * Study for quizzes and tests * Easily search and browse to find the topic they need * Get clear, friendly math help 24/7 Parents use Brightstorm Math to: * Help students understand complex math topics * Teach students the way they want to learn * Accelerate student progress through complex math topics Brightstorm Math comprehensively covers the topics found in major textbooks, state frameworks and NCTM standards: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and Precalculus (Calculus coming soon!). And it's all absolutely free! Click here to join the thousands of students and teachers enjoying Brightstorm Math! Please do not hesitate to call our support line: 1-866-326-3471 with any questions. --Jeff Jeff Marshall, CEO Brightstorm, Inc. 685 Market St. Ste 270 San Francisco, CA 94105 www.brightstorm.com |
| http://www.christianconnector.com/
- a free Christian Higher Education Resource Center, which now
includes a Christian College Scholarship Resource page.
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"After homeschooling for eleven years, I have recently put together a website that contains FREE lesson plans for earning college credits using the CLEP examination program. Again, all the plans on my site are FREE and I would like to share this information with the wider homeschool community. Blessings, Tricia McQuarrie"
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"From colonization to the Civil War – next year American History will come alive for the Taylor family, and we're hoping that you are up for an adventure too! We are a homeschooling family from Tennessee who has decided to spend 18 months on the road starting in March, bringing history to life and seeing the sites of this country. We would like to personally invite you, the homeschool community, to our website to join us on this once-in-a-lifetime journey.
Through this website we’ll pass along how we homeschool on the road and specifically what we’re learning about American history. We’ll even provide lesson plans and activity suggestions so that you can learn along with us! Our pictures will put you right in the middle of the action…watch your step as you climb aboard the Mayflower replica. Strap on a lifejacket and grab a paddle as we raft where Louis and Clark canoed. Spend a day riding in a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail or panning for gold in California. The possibilities are endless! If you want your children to be excited about American History, then Driven to Educate is for you."
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http://www.4america.com/ - Restoring America Project |
The vision of the Restoring America Project involves reaching young Americans and helping them to discover the core values on which this nation was founded. Designed as a tool to aid junior and senior high school teachers, students, and home schooling parents, the Restoring America Project features a daily incident from the lives of the men and women who formed America.
We draw these incidents primarily from well-researched history sources -including the diaries, daily journals, and personal papers of some of America's finest citizens. We follow these dramatic examples with questions designed to challenge and encourage students to apply moral truths to their own lives.
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"Good education and good health are two of the most valuable gifts you can give to a child. Encourage the parents of Midwest Parent Educators to teach their children a lesson that will benefit them for the rest of their lives: their family health history!
"A unit on family health history can easily be built into existing science and health curriculums. Customize booklets for families in Kansas, and pass along this resource so that parents can personalize family health history materials with their children today! www.familyhealthhistory.org
"Genetic Alliance’s new, free Does It Run In the Family? online tool lets you customize family health history materials with:
* Personal health stories
* Photos
* Quotes
* Resources
* Health condition information
"Parents and children can document their family health history using our two booklets, “A Guide to Family Health History” and “A Guide for Understanding Genetics and Health”. The series provides strategies for collecting and sharing family health information as well as basic information on genetics and conditions that can run in families.
"Using the tool is completely free! You can download a high quality PDF of your customized materials to email or post on a website. The tool is also linked to an online printer, so you can order copies of your customized booklets for the cost of printing and shipping.
"Please do not hesitate to contact us at fhh@geneticalliance.org or 202.966.5557 with any questions about the booklets or the online tool. We hope this will be a useful resource for you!"
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http://www.finaidfacts.org (thanks to Elizabeth Levy) |
Financial aid resource for prospective college students.
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My Solar Power Facts website has many free lessons with detailed examples and practice problems to help students improve their skills. The experiments featured there are all low cost and use materials commonly found in the home.
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http://www.theHeadoftheClass.com - free online supplemental learning for preschool through 2nd grade |
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A website offering Classified Ads, Forums, and other resources for home-schoolers. It is free to use the site, and free to join.
The Bookmarks section allows home-schoolers to: - Store favorite links in one place, accessible from anywhere. - Share bookmarks with everyone, with friends on your watchlist or just keep them private. - Tag bookmarks with as many labels as you want, instead of wrestling with folders. - Find cool links/websites saved by other home-schoolers, and marked as Public.
The Classified Ads section (like a craigslist for home-schoolers) allows home-schoolers to: - list/sell used curriculum, or other, items. - list upcoming events in your area. - look for jobs, items for sale, curriculum, and more in 374 different cities in the United States. - search for items locally, or nationwide.
The Forums section allows home-schoolers to: - Participate in discussions with other home-schoolers. Ask a question. Or help another home-schooler with their question.
| http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/group-buys/ |
With over 39,000 members, the Homeschool Buyers Co-op is the world’s largest purchasing cooperative for homeschoolers. It is a nonprofit, founded and operated by homeschooling families.
Co-op membership is free to homeschoolers, and they do not share member information with anyone.
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Sign-up for free online Science Seminars:
- "Top 10 Academic Mistakes that Homeschoolers Make" (and how to avoid or correct them)
- "The ACT and SAT - What You Should Know"
- "Anatomy and Physiology of the Pancreas"
- "There's Life in the Blood"
- "So You Want to be a Doctor
- What it takes and What to Expect"
- "What I've Learned from Cadavers
- About Life, Death, and Anatomy"
- "Working Toward Academic Excellence - Practical and Biblical"
- "Teaching the Sciences - 6th Through 12th Grade"
- "Sports Scholarships for Homeschooled Students
- How to Get Them"
- "The Urge (to go) and Other Rarely Thought of Human Body Charateristics"
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www.livinghistoryfarm.org - The Wessels Living History Farm Web Site |
has been produced through a generous bequest of David Wessels, a bachelor farmer from York, Nebraska. The site has over 400 stories about the history of agricultural innovation and the history of the 20th century. One of the site's strengths is that it relies on a series of oral history interviews. These streaming media segments can bring an historic period or event alive for students today.
Two years ago, the site was recognized by the National Endowment for the Humanities as "one of the best online resources for education in the humanities." And again, this is totally free and non-profit. Our only mission is to advance education and the understanding of students about the incredible history of agricultural innovation in the 20th century. The story of the production of food and fiber is one that affects all of our lives.
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"My name is Lynn Sager. I have been a teacher since the 1980s, and I have been tutoring AP history for the past two years. Somewhere along the way, I developed a website designed to help get kids excited by history before they lose interest. I was wondering if it would be useful to you, or your members. Here is the gist of the site:
When you teach history from a book, you turn kids off. What should be fascinating and full of intrigue becomes a dry list of names without faces and facts without perspective. Historybusters is an online resource designed to give parents the tools they need to get their kids hooked on history and bring it alive. Using a combination of film and online resources, parents can give their kids the head start they need to succeed in history class.
Imagine being able to turn a historically challenged film like 300 into a worthwhile and interesting discussion about the Greco-Persian War, the politics and geography of the Mediterranean during the 5th century BC, and a chance to work on research and writing skills without turning the task into an assignment.
Please drop by Historybusters to find out more…"
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"I am a homeschool mother of four ages 6 to 11. My youngest son Jeremiah has Asperger's Syndrome. I have started a blog showing the challenges and rewards that come from teaching him and being taught by him. My hope is that it will encourage others with special needs children in their decision to homeschool.
I hope you will have an opportunity to visit and review the site. If after doing so, you know of anyone who might be encouraged by visiting it, please feel free to pass it along.
By His Grace Alone, Tara"
For family updates, visit our blog at http://bloomingwhereweareplanted.blogspot.com/
| www.kidsofcourage.com
The Voice of the Martyrs/Kids of Courage has their 5 most recent country books (Eritrea, India, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and China) online free to download and print!
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| www.learner.org/jnorth Track Spring’s Journey North: Migrations, Mystery Schools, Climate, More Teachers and students in K-12 classrooms are invited to participate this spring in Journey North’s 15th annual global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. A free Internet-based “citizen science” project, Journey North enables students in 11,000 schools to watch the wave of spring as it unfolds. Students monitor migration patterns of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, and other animals; the blooming of plants; and changing sunlight, temperatures, and other signs of spring. They share their local observations with classmates across North America and beyond, and look for patterns on real-time maps. As they put local observations into a global context - and connect with field scientists - participants are better prepared to explore indicators and implications of a changing climate. Each Journey North study features many entry points and resources that address learning standards: Journey North for Kids reading booklets and lessons, stunning photos and video clips, weekly migration updates, interactive maps, and compelling migration “stories.” Thanks to Annenberg Media, Journey North Web site access and participation is free.
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http://meridianmedicaltranscription.com/mtjob.html "Hello Homeschoolers! I imagine that you have homeschool parents in your group who would love to know about a FREE resource for learning Greek and Latin root words. This is something that most children do not learn in the public school system, yet it is so beneficial and important for anyone going into the medical field. At Meridian Medical Transcription, we have free tests that can be taken online anytime and as many times as you want with immediate feedback of grades. This is a terrific FREE online source for homeschoolers to learn some of the basics of Greek and Latin root words. All you need to do is go to our website and click on the employment link. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you will see all of the tests we have to offer. I am just passing this along to you because I thought your group would like to know." God Bless, Jennifer Williams
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http://mixinginmath.terc.edu/ Lots of homeschoolers use Mixing in Math because it combines math with: everyday activities, like cooking and cleaning up; projects that involve crafts, movement, and science; games for indoors and out! You can download everything for free. Mixing in Math was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and developed at TERC, a non-profit math and science education center.
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| www.nestwatch.org
New Project Spotlights Life in the Nest Ithaca, NY—What could be cuter than baby birds all atwitter in the nest? But amidst the “oohs” and “aahs” are real data about the rhythms of bird biology and how they may be changing as the result of human activity. Combine the “wow” factor of the former with the scientific value of the latter and you have NestWatch—a new, free citizen science project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and funded by the National Science Foundation. Participants visit nests during spring and summer to collect simple information about location, habitat, species, number of eggs, and number of young in the nest. Then they submit their observations online. “NestWatch introduces birding and simple methods of scientific inquiry to families, children, retired adults—people of all ages and skills,” says project leader Tina Phillips. “It’s easy and fun. It helps people reconnect with nature in their own yard, nearby park, or nature preserve.” Peter Marra from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center at the National Zoo says, “Each and every observation is important because it helps scientists measure the impact of such things as climate change and habitat destruction. Without citizens across the country collecting this information for us it would be almost impossible to track these large-scale destructive processes.” The always-popular NestCams companion site has been revamped and is now up and running. Live cameras show the nesting activities of Barn Owls, Wood Ducks, and Northern Flickers in Texas and California. More cameras will be going online across the country in the weeks ahead at www.nestcams.org All NestWatch materials and instructions are available online at www.nestwatch.org, including directions on how to find nests and how to monitor them without disturbing the birds. “One of the most exciting things about NestWatch,” says Phillips, “is that we’ll be able to take in data from as far back as 1900!” Anyone who’s been keeping nest records on their own will now have a way to put that important information to use. With all this information from NestWatchers, scientists will be able to track changes in reproductive timing and fledging success which may be linked to climate change. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a membership institution dedicated to interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Visit the Lab’s web site at http://www.birds.cornell.edu
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| http://www.noetic-learning.com |
Math worksheet creator tool. Its basic version is free.
| http://www.readinghorizonsathome.com/Reading Horizons offers an explicit, systematic, and sequential phonics program using Orton-Gillingham principles of multi-sensory instruction. Parents may access excellent online training in our strategies at no charge or obligation, an opportunity to learn in 3-5 hours more decoding skills than most public school teachers will receive in years of school. Our Free Learning Resources section includes reading-grade-level assessments, worksheets, games, sample lessons, and the Online Workshop for parents to download. The Language Information Center is where you'll find a free dyslexia assessment and the latest research. For a brief overview of the program, enjoy the 8-minute video at www.readinghorizonsathome.com/howitworks.aspx . |
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Are providing hundreds of Singapore Math worksheets on their website for free, complete with model answers. Access thousands of word problems using the famous “bar modeling” method, other topical papers & model examination papers.
All you have to do is register your particulars at www.singeducation.com, no other obligations!
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This site offers one free problem solving activity of the day for Math or Science. There are over 200 problem solving activities waiting for you!
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www.righttrackreading.com/page2.html
Right Track Reading: This website developed by a mom offers parents free information on teaching children to read. Learn more about how children learn to read proficiently, why phonemic awareness is important, activities you can do at home to develop essential skills and other informative articles and links to reading research.
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http://teacher.tenmarks.com/ "TeacherZone" is a free resource for Teachers and Homeschooling Parents, and has thousands of free math video lessons for Grades 3-10.
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| http://www.totallyfreemath.com/ (thanks to Kyla Unick) |
| http://www.toytheater.com/ A free educational website for PreK through Grade 5. It covers areas of math, reading, art and music. |
| www.christianperspective.net |
Christian Perspective offers free monthly newsletters to encourage homeschoolers to "Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always" (Psalm 105:4). The newsletters, written by a homeschool graduate and her mother, typically contain a thought, story, homeschool tip, and hymn/poem. (Submitted by Katherine Loop)
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The CraneCam is now up and running! This is a Rowe Sanctuary/National Geographic project and is in its 3rd year. It is a great way to observe cranes if you cannot make it to the sanctuary! New this year on the CraneCam website is the Forum. You can post your questions, answers, and observations, and is user friendly! Kids and Cranes is also a great page to go to for educational material and web videos. To find the CraneCam, Forum and Kids and Cranes, go to www.rowesanctuary.org and scroll down the page until you see CraneCam in red lettering. Click on that and you will be directed to National Geographic's CraneCam website. For more information, please contact Keanna Leonard at 308-468-5282 or by email at kleonard@audubon.org
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| www.studentnewsdaily.com |
StudentNewsDaily.com, a current events website for high school students, is pleased to introduce “Answers by Email.” This FREE service provides answers to questions from our Daily News Article, Tuesday’s News Issue and Friday’s News Quiz. To sign-up for Answers by Email, click here or visit our home page at StudentNewsDaily.com.
The goal of StudentNewsDaily.com is to build high school students’ knowledge of current events and strengthen their critical thinking skills. This is done by providing comprehension and critical thinking questions along with posted news articles and other current events items.
Our mission is two-fold: 1) To provide additional news resources for the high school classroom, presenting students with a broader perspective of the news; and 2) To provide news in a manageable format, avoiding “news overload.”
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http://www.testprepreview.com - online SAT practice tests at no charge (thanks to Joshua L. Stewart) |
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It's an eCard site designed for Christians and homeschoolers! The eCards are very easy to use and free. Most importantly, each eCard includes a Scripture verse so that it can be a spiritual encouragement to its recipient.
| Tips from Visual Manna on Free Internet Software
"We at Visual Manna want to share some wonderful websites and free downloads with you. At scribus.net, you can get one of the best desktop publishing programs available. It is comparable to Quark Express. I used Quark Express, a one thousand dollar program, to write books for many years. Now I only use Scribus. A great children’s art program for free is at tuxpaint.org. We have used it with many children and is as good or better as anything you could ever buy. "Next, I want to take you to two websites. One is http://www.magickeys.com/books/color/blank_canvas.html. This is a free paint program. The other is a wonderful inventor drawing program. It is http://www.inventionatplay.org/inventor.html. We believe we have the most exciting educational materials available on the market today. Our goal is to make children love to learn. Enjoy Art! Enjoy Learning!" For more information, contact Sharon Jeffus at 1-888-275-7309.
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If you wish to submit anything for this page, please e-mail the following address:
and write in the Subject message: "Activities submission." Thanks!