A friend just shared a wonderful resource with me for high schoolers and college-level students!  HippoCampus has a vast library of online video lessons teaching multiple subjects such as algebra, AP biology, US Government, Algebra, Calculus, Physics and on and on the list goes!  This is a secular website so you will have to use discretion but what I’ve seen of it seems interesting, even for the parent!  The best part of it is, of course, that it is FREE.

For those who have read the book, or who don’t have the book and would like to see the pictures, here is a video series available online for free.

How people find the time to make these amazing resources and then offer them for FREE baffles me!

Here is another science website that has free curriculum – a parent guide and a student workbook – called E=mc2.  The Classic Science looks very interesting as they deal with Life Science, Earth Science, Chemistry and Physical Science.  You can download the entire curriculum or just unit by unit to check it out before using up all your ink!

Take advantage of all the freebies I have collected over the years that I’ve put on the sidebar.  I have many more but haven’t had time to update! This one was too good to keep to myself though! Enjoy!

http://s3.amazonaws.com/estock/fspid9/16/98/75/2/sharealike-1698752-o.jpg

I’ve been using free educational resources in my presentations for a few years.  Several professors have asked me for a list of Open Educational Resources (OER) that I have shared in various workshops. Here is a list of ten of my current favorites:

1. EveryStockPhoto.com – Search engine that can be used to find free images on the web. http://www.everystockphoto.com/
2. Incompetech is a collection of Creative Commons licensed music. http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
3. iTunes U is a collection of audio and video content from higher education faculty around the world that can be freely used for educational purposes. http://deimos3.apple.com/indigo/main/main.xml Many SPU professors are freely sharing their work in iTunes U. You can find it at: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browsev2/spu-public
4. Khan Academy provides 800+ YouTube tutorials covering math, science, and finance problems. http://www.khanacademy.org/index.html
5. MERLOT is a peer-reviewed searchable collection of online learning materials. http://merlot.org
6. Search by Creative Commons provides a convenient way to access search engines that include CC licensed materials. http://search.creativecommons.org
7. Webcast.Berkeley is a collection of podcasts and webcasts from the University of California Berkeley. http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
8. Wikimedia Commons is a media repository for public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips). http://commons.wikimedia.org
9. YouTube EDU is a collection of videos and channels from higher education institutions http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400
10. MIT OpenCourseware is a website that contains almost all content from MIT courses. http://ocw.mit.edu/

Here are some fun sites for phonics and spelling:

Word Duck – Tons of interesting hangman and crossword games!

Everyday Spelling – Has spelling lists for grades up to the 8th grade

FunBrain – Have fun while learning!

Story Place – Online Preschool and Elementary Books and Activities

Disclaimer: Parents are responsible to check out each site to make sure it is appropriate for your family.  I haven’t extensively explored every link on this blog and advise that parents are involved with screening.

From Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest Maps

They’re ready to launch a new resource called Map Trek.  They’ve generously made 8 maps of the Ancient World available. I’ve just downloaded them and they are so nice! Works perfectly with Cycle 1 of Classical Conversations as well as Veritas Press’ Greece and Rome.  My younger ones and I are also working through Story of the World: The Ancients.  Great timing!

Just discovered this resource (it was listed at Homeschooling with the Trivium’s FaceBook). Here’s the description from the site (click on the name to open the site in a new window):

The Piano Student is a free music resource directory for piano students.  You’ll find the best free resources available on the web, including free sheet music, free printable music theory worksheets and games, free composer biographies and worksheets, and a variety of quick reference guides on music history and careers in music.

This is legit!

Send your children here to play and learn while earning grains of rice to the poor and needy around the world! 

Some of the quizzes they have are: 

Recognizing Famous Art

Chemical Symbols

Identifying Countries on a Map

This is serious fun! I tried the Vocabulary one and my SAT scores just shot up! Really. Ok, not really but I did learn a word or two!

Thanks to Masterpiece Cards for showing me the link!

Handle on the Arts looks like a neat website niched for art history to co-ordinate nicely with your history curriculum. 

They have Leonardo DaVinci as a free download as well as Ancient Egypt!  Very nicely done!

My oh my… 

I am SO stunned by this resource that this homeschooling mom has put together for free (for now)!  She’s taken William Bennett’s Book of Virtues and created a 992-page downloadable curriculum that is based on character.  There are worksheets, lapbooks, stories, copywork… oh my. I am excited about this!  I have to think of how to integrate this into our homeschooling day! 

Just go to her blog, Shiver Academy, and look on the right side bar.  You will find the download under “Book of Virtues”.  It’s a huge download and I’ve checked it out unit by unit.

Moms like these just inspire me to do more for the glory of God.  Can you say I’m stunned!?

It is pretty common these days for people to try and broaden their knowledge in different topics through Googling, looking at Youtube how-to videos, Wikipedia, blogs, etc.  But another resource I’ve tapped into is subscribing to podcasts.  It is amazing how many people regularly podcast content for free for your listening pleasure.  And there are a lot of really good ones that are guaranteed to enlighten you in any topic you may be interested in.  Here are a few thoughts on how to get started and how to make subscribing to podcasts useful for you.

First, some of you may still be asking, what’s a podcast? According to wikipedia, a Podcast is “series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via Web syndication.”  Someone who runs a podcast will typically record and broadcast an episode regularly, and thanks to many free programs out there these days, these episodes can be made available to us as soon as they are broadcasted.  It is common for people to download these podcasts, load them into a media player (such as an iPod) so they can conveniently listen to these podcasts anywhere.

There are many ways that people manage and discover podcasts.  There are different “podcast catchers” out there, as well as websites with lists of different podcasts to subscribe to.  Usually these podcasts are in the form of an “.xml” feed.. it works similarly to an RSS feed.  The address for that feed is what you want to enter when asked what feed you would like to subscribe to.  When a new episode is available, the podcast catcher will see it in the Podcast feed and download it.  I personally manage my podcasts through iTunes because I find it very easy to search for podcasts in the iTunes store, subscribe to them right away inside iTunes, and then listen to them.  Another customizable setting that is worth noting is the “auto delete” setting.  By default, a podcast program will usually auto-delete podcasts after a certain number of days, or after they are played.  I like to have control over which podcasts I keep and which podcasts I delete, so I usually select whatever option it is that never deletes podcasts episodes.

Whatever you’re interested in, there is probably a podcast for you to subscribe to.  For me, I’ve listened to and watched podcasts about topics ranging from personal finance, the stock market, the economy… to food, fitness, health… to discussions about the environment and living an eco-friendly lifestyle, to free music lesson series, free “personal trainer,” workout music… I even subscribe to my favorite morning show so I don’t miss out on the fun topics they discuss at 6am when I’m still sleeping.  The possibilities are endless.  Just search for a topic you’re interested in and start subscribing!

-debs.

The Old Schoolhouse has a gift for you!

Well, three gifts, actually. Two WeE-books and a PDF of Scripture place cards for your holy day meal.

The Real Easter Story: An In-Depth Study for the Whole Family is a 41-page PDF e-book. Inside you’ll find “the Easter story” with Matthew 26-28 (KJV), discussion/writing prompts (some simple and suited to young children, others prompting research and thought), a quiz, word search, and crossword puzzle, instructions for making your own set of Resurrection Eggs, and a recipe for Resurrection Cookies. Of course you’ll find answer keys for the quiz and word games, as well as  a resource list with clickable links to online resources.

Are you a new homeschooler, or thinking about homeschooling?

A bonus appendix offers several pages on how to start homeschooling, including links and an inspiring poem.

One thing I love about the e-books I’ve seen from The Old Schoolhouse is the interactive Table of Contents. You click on the chapter title, and the computer takes you right to the chapter.

Simple, but containing real meat, The Real Easter Story is a wonderful resource.

Copywork

The Real Easter Story: Copywork for the Whole Family is a 71-page PDF e-book containing Scripture verses in manuscript and cursive, along with lines for handwriting practice (copying the verse) and boxes for drawing illustrations. Great for notebooking!

Place cards

The place cards PDF file contains a variety of pretty, colorful place cards featuring Scripture verses and flowers, each with space to write a name.

For these three free downloads, please visit this page. And tell your friends!

SixFigureStart Free Ask-A-Recruiter Coaching Call

This Friday, March 6 at 1p EST

SixFigureStart (www.sixfigurestart.com, Career Coaching By Former Fortune 500 Recruiters) hosts a free coaching call to answer your career questions.  Email questions to caroline@sixfigurestart.com.   To join the call:

Dial 712 775 7100

Use code 151675#

No need to preregister but if you want to hear a recording of the call, email caroline@sixfigurestart.com and ask for the playback instructions.

SixFigureStart is a career coaching firm comprised of former Fortune 500 recruiters and specializing in coaching Gen Y students and young professionals.  SixFigureStart co-founders Connie Thanasoulis and Caroline Ceniza-Levine have a combined 40 years of HR and business experience.  Connie led campus recruiting and new hire programming for Citigroup, Pfizer and Merrill Lynch.  Caroline led campus recruiting and new hire programming for Time Inc and has also recruited for Accenture, Booz Allen, Oliver Wyman, Disney ABC, TV Guide, and others.  Connie and Caroline are the online coaches for Vault.com and Wetfeet.com, career columnists for CNBC.com and Conde Nast’s Portfolio.com, and adjunct assistant professors of Professional Development at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. 

Free Rice (link to site)

This free-to-use website can help children study topics such as vocabulary and multiplication tables by answering multiple choice questions. While there are many sites like this, Free Rice provides students with extra motivation to get correct answers.  For each correct answer, a small amount of rice is donated to help feed people in developing countries. The project partners with the United Nations World Food Programs.

(delicious tags: Education free language learning online poverty quiz rice social vocab vocabulary words)

10 Free Web-based Alternatives to Photoshop (link to site)

Here’s a list and quick review of ten web-based programs that can be used to edit digital images. I’m a big fan of Picnik but I’m looking for a program that does a better job with red eye. Anyone have a favorite?

(delicious tags: free K12 highered image_editing digital photoshop)

Confusing Words (site link)

Here’s a link to a great website for writers of all ages. The site was created by teachers with the goal of helping their students better understand groups of words often confused for each other in student writings.

(delicious tags: K12 Education free vocabulary Writing)

http://www.googlelittrips.org/

Here’s a link to an interesting mashup idea where great literature is combined with Google Maps to provide students with a reading road-trip. The site contains resources for both K-12 and Higher Ed.

(delicious tags: K12 Education free higher_education literacy literature maps online reading Resources teaching Technology web2.0)

“The producers of PBS’s best science show, NOVA, have posted an excellent gallery of online experiments: Skydive from 100,000 feet. Replicate Shackleton’s 800-mile open-boat journey from the South Shetland Islands to South Georgia. Tweak the variables in a steroid, a rice paddy, or a rocket. Perform a virtual heart transplant. You may get so caught up you never escape.

Our favorite experiment involves Bill Goldfinch — a British prisoner in a Nazi POW camp who looked out the window, saw snowflakes rising, and had an epiphany: Could he glide to freedom on the same updraft? Together with another prisoner, he constructed a false wall, then built a handmade, two-passenger glider behind it. They were almost finished when the war ended — but decades later, some of Goldfinch’s fellow POW-camp alums used his design to build and launch another glider, one that actually flew. Here you can test-fly a virtual version — and at far less risk of crash or capture than Goldfinch might have faced.” – - VSL

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hotscience/

Tony Burgess and Julie French, Founding Directors of Academy of High Achievers Ltd

A FREE article to download on a powerful and easy to apply 6-step belief change process.

To download, click here

With our compliments!

Also see all 6 steps covered in film clips on our youtube channel. Click here to view!

Tony and Julie

Youngest would like to study 20th century history this year, and we’re going to go with that, because this is my hands-on learner and at present it’s best to go with her interests. She retains what she finds interesting, and disregards the rest.

But isn’t that the way with most of us? Sure, we learn to pay attention to eye-glazing stuff as we mature, but we still retain best the material that interests us.

So I’m putting together a reading list. We’ll have something about the Wright Brothers, of course. The first thing that popped into my mind, however, when she mentioned the 20th century, was the “All of a Kind Family” books. It’s a perfect illustration of the immigrant community in turn-of-the-century New York.

I just ran across a free resource on the web, with background information on the author and her books. Did you know that the author based her “All of a Kind Family” on her own life? Which character grew up to become Sydney Taylor?

There are discussion questions, pictures, and activity suggestions in this PDF file, along with a booklist for those who’d like to read more books like the “All of a Kind Family” books.

www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/awards/companion.pdf

Pouring a fresh cup of coffee this morning and thinking about how cool it would be to tap into the coffee business. My Grandmother just told me about six weeks back that her brother owned a Community Coffee plant in Monroe, Louisiana (Jack Kelley). How cool is that, our family owned a community coffee plant? I love the taste of Community Coffee (almost as much as Starbucks Coffee). It just really makes me think about the risk he had to take to get that bad boy off the ground, the hard work and time that was invested. Was he able to leave the plant to someone he trusted; to his kids or to a trusted business friend? Did he sell out and use the money for something even bigger or did he just blow it on something else? I will definitely have to dig a bit to pull out the details on that one. How cool would it be to know that one day you would be left something as big as a Community Coffee plant? That opportunity would be amazing!

Family History and Legacy is interesting for me. I have not exactly been left a Community Coffee plant. To be honest, to think about what our parents left us is extremely painful at times, yet some parts are so mysteriously gratifying. Even though things have been tough, we are “struggling well” today.

Option #1 – Leave an Amazing Legacy

Our mom invested in us Spiritually, she followed Christ and submitted her life to God – not perfectly but she did. She loved us, she loved others, she loved life and we saw it. She got all that from her mother who got that from her Father – my great grandfather. They have instilled a deep rich love for God and Christ that I am so grateful for. Even though I have struggled through this life I know I have a Father God who cares for me and has invested in me and protects me even today. So my mom, grandmother and great grandfather loved Christ – for some reason they all chose to settle down with people who could care less. Two very important words come to mind: equally yoked. This inequality in Christ and contrasting views of life have made a ripple in our family that we are still battling today.

Option #2 – Leave a Painful Leftover

When I think of leftovers, I think of the “stuff” that we were left with that we are still struggling through today even with God leading and guiding us we are still paying for what our parents left us. This isn’t your normal midlife crisis bullet list – we were left with some crazy stuff (Drugs and Alcohol use, domestic violence, loss of parents, divorce, shame, guilt, physical abuse just for starters) that has really brought all of us to our knees to focus on God’s plan for our lives. At times we have allowed our parents consequences to impact our choices in a negative way which brings about more negative consequences. I learned this lesson quick.

Myra and I talk about this every now and then about how God must have a plan for our lives – it is really amazing when we look back and see what we both have experienced and how God had protected us but that most of what we experienced was a direct result of our parents decisions and their consequences. We are still experiencing their consequences, the trick is for us to do the hard work and trust God to help lead us into a place where we can leave a legacy for our kids. To throw out the leftovers.

At the Leadership Summit Bill Hybels presented the life of Mother Teresa as an amazing testimony to leaving a legacy. She clearly heard God’s call on her life and left everything she knew to go care for the sickest in the world. She did not live to leave a legacy she just answered a call to care for others which left an amazing impact. She was not all jacked up on her ego, escaping in drugs, trying to be like everyone else and “buy” a better life. She simply prayed that God would use her and that He would speak to her and that He would love her. He did. Even when she did not feel so loved, she still did His work. She left an amazing legacy.

Am I going to inherit and pass on a successful coffee plant or something a bit simpler yet so much more impactful? We were designed to leave our print on others; to let God work through us. We were designed to leave an amazing legacy. As I begin to think about the legacy that was left for Myra and me and our brothers and sisters it makes me want to live a life that our kids will one day be proud to write about – that they will feel that we cared for more than just ourselves. That we have had a glimpse of the life that we were created for and that we will make the choices that will leave a legacy that will outlast us.

Something cool, get a FREE Legacy Journal online here to get started thinking about the legacy you are leaving your family, friends and community: http://www.legacyjournal.org/