Our story:
We're a half and half family when in comes to homeschooling. My older kids all started out in preschool at age 4, then moved up to our parish Catholic elementary school, where I attended school from 1st through 8th grades. My son was really struggling by second grade--physically, academically, socially; after some soul searching, we decided to bring him home and begin homeschooling.
Currently, we have a sixth grader and a first grader still at school, and I am beginning some homeschool preschool with my 3 year old daughter. To be honest, I don't know if at some point I will decide to homeschool all four, or if we will always be half and half. We're taking it year by year. My degree is in elementary education, so it's been fun for me to dive back into teaching and pull out all my books and resources. It's not perfect, but so far my son and I both love homeschooling. I love being able to immediately review concepts that he doesn't understand, or delve more deeply into things that fascinate him. It's such a natural way to learn.
Below are some links I've come across that I use or have used from time to time. Each month I find more and more--what a plethora of free resources we have available!
ALL SUBJECTS:
www.gamequarium.com
usborne-quicklinks.com (links by subject)
freek12edu.com
superteacherworksheets.com (printable worksheets up to grade 5 --all subjects)
tvschoolhouse.com (educational films from the 40's, 50's,60's)
theheadoftheclass.com (multiple subjects thru 4th grade, grades 6-8 to be added)
Edupics.com (educational clipart, graphics, photos and crafts)
www.beestar.org (Online quizzes by grade level and subject)
ART:
googleartproject.com (museums and artwork from around the world; zoom in to see up close)The Louvre Museum Virtual Tour (learn about and play with art masterpieces)
Chicago Art Institute- Kids
String Art
artsology.com
dltk-kids.com
thecoloringspot.com (coloring pages by topic)
MATH:
Printable Math Helper Sheet (multiplication, measures, division rules, perimeter, angles, fractions)
numbernut.com (preschool to middle school math)
My Savings Quest (Earn a virtual salary, make a budget, save, and pay bills)
Math Racing Games (race your car or boat by getting the right answers)
Basic Math games (flashcards...)
mathnook.com (rounding, money, sequence and much more)
kidsolr.com/math (tutorials of basic math processes)
Math Supplements (grades 3-5) - (cross curriculum supplements--games, word puzzles,writing, patterns)
ixl.com (list of skills by grade; click for online quiz. Limited time per day for free.)
Clickable Times Table
helpingwithmath.com (K- 8th grade)
GRAMMAR and PHONICS:
Reading worksheets
Daily grammar lessons
The Grammar Gorillas (game)
Tips O Matic (writing tips for essays, sentences, paragraphs...)
Early reading games
SPELLING:
www.spellingcity.com (enter spelling lists-- play games with the words, take tests)
Spin and Spell (click on pictures, use letter spinner to spell the word)
superteacherworksheets.com (entire year's spelling lists and practice pages for grades 1-4)
zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections (word lists and practice pages for grades 1-8)
online spelling bee (grades 1 thru 12)
Spelling Bee (timed; click on letters to spell the spoken words)
MUSIC:
melodystreet.com (for younger kids)
Learn the Notes--on a Piano
makingmusicfun.net
dsokids.com
HISTORY:
USHistory.org (everything American History!)
George Washington's World for Kids
General US History (links to dozens of games by topic)
This Country of Ours: The Story Of the United States (99 chapters of text)
Hyperhistory.com
Presidents printables
Columbus' Sailing Ships
Easy Fun School History Activities Index (World and US)
American Revolution Unit Study
Animated Atlas American Timeline
havefunwithhistory.com (videos, activities)
countryreports.org (maps, activities, recipes, customs of countries of the world)
GEOGRAPHY:
50 States (state by state unit studies)
Geo Spy (National Geographic)
States quiz (drag the state names onto the states on the map)
Postcards From Buster (PBS Kids)
Flags of the 50 States
US States Unit Study
Interactive and printable US and World maps, atlas, puzzles
National Geographic geography games
States and Capitals Quiz (Printable)
Printable Geography worksheets
States Games and Activities (dozens)
Cram web (learn the location of countries on all the continents)
Atlapedia (maps, facts, statistics for countries of the world)
SCIENCE:
NASA Kids Club
COSI Online activites
Planet Science
University of Illinois Extension: Just for Kids (plants, geology, weather, insects, food, more)
Dragonfly TV - watch the short videos online or download as podcasts
Dragonfly TV - watch the short videos online or download as podcasts
RELIGION/CATECHISM
EWTN Faith Factory
OSV Kids
catholicmom.com/catholic_kids
Rosary Coloring Pages
Saint Stories for Kids (Loyola Press)
Go HERE to see all the posts that have been labeled "Homeschooling"--resources, freebies, sites...
