Nature Works Everywhere - Another Great Science Homeschool Resource

From Nature Conservancy:

http://www.natureworkseverywhere.org/

They offer lesson plans and videos for 6th through 8th grade.

What I have previewed looks quite good.

Enjoy,
Takara

Summer Homeschool Free Resources and Other Freebies

From www.Homeschool.com: 

Many freebies are listed on the freebie page right now--and more are added every day.
Just some of the freebies include--

• Free copies of Homeschool.com's popular book "Homeschooling & Loving It!"
• Free copies of Homeschool.com's "Getting Started Bootcamp"
• Free Homeschool.com Alexa Tool Bar
• Free $5 gift card to Educents.com
• Free courses from HomeschoolProgramming.com
• Free writing lessons and information from The Writing Course
• Free year-long subscription to KidsEmail.org
• Free 30 day trial from Reading Kingdom
• Free e-books from Reading Kingdom
• Free Growing with Grammar curriculum
• Free summer learning kits from ThinkStretch
• Free summer reading lists and activities from ThinkStretch
• Free one year World Book Reading Web subscription
• Family registration to a Great Homeschool Convention
• Fun and educational freebies from TheReadingGame.com
• Free Winning with Writing curriculum
• One year subscription to My Kids Browser
• Free 15-Day Trial to eTap
• Free DVD sampler from VideoText Interactive Math
• Free 30-Day Trial to NetSupport School
• Free Soaring with Spelling curriculum
• Freebies offered by EdgeinCollegePrep.com
• Free copies of "Math Facts Made Easy: Learn Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division in HALF the Time!" from HowToLearn.com
• Copies of  "Amazing Grades" from HowToLearn.com
• Freebies offered by Ombudsman Press, Inc
• Free online World Book encyclopedias
• Free one year membership--Center for Homeschool Liberty
• Freebies from CollegeStartOnline.com
• Free Deluxe Home Sets from Hands-On Equations
  
• Deluxe Home Set Free year subscription, World Book Reading Web
• Free Grammar Resource Kit from Sadlier.com
• Free e-Book, English Spelling by Barbara Beers and The Phonics Road
• Free Phonics Resource Kit from Sadlier.com
• Fun and educational freebies from Little Passports
• Free Reading Activity Bundle from All About Reading
• Numerous downloads from Enlightened Kid
• Educational freebies from Standard Deviants Learning
• Free 90 day trial from KidsEmail.org
• Free Vocabulary Resource Kit from Sadlier.com
• Free one month subscription from enJoyMoviesYourWay.com
• MANY homeschooling hints
• Many travel guides/hints
• Plus, all our blog entries are geared towards the topic of summer fun--with many guest posts.

  http://www.homeschool.com/freebie/deals/ 

History.com Events this Summer and Fall

I recently got this notification from History Classroom at History.com.

~~~ BEGIN MESSAGE ~~~

As the school year comes to a close, I wanted to update you on some upcoming events on HISTORY® Classroom to look for this summer and fall. The following events will be of interest to teachers, students and parents who love history. • National History Day Awards Ceremony, Live Webcast, Thursday, June 13th starting at 8:30am. Tune in to history.com/classroom to watch our live webcast of the ceremony. It is always fun to see students cheer each other on and take home awards for their outstanding work. • A New Birth of Freedom, a free live webcast in honor of 150th Anniversary of the battle at Gettysburg, will air online on from history.com/classroom on Sunday, June 30 at 8pm ET. This commemoration will feature a keynote   address by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, a performance by Trace Adkins, and a dramatic reading of eyewitness accounts of the battle. Also visit us at www.give150.com to learn about our Give 150 campaign to help save Civil War sites and stories. • This August, people worldwide will look back on one of the major events of the Civil Rights Movement as we observe the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. HISTORY will feature classroom resources including links to online video clips, special curriculum guides, and more. • Our Take a Veteran to School Day program continues to grow from year to year. This heartfelt initiative provides resources for schools to honor veterans and thank them for their service. Register now at veterans.com to receive 30 colorful wristbands which will ship out this fall. Finally, I want to wish everyone a healthy, safe, and fun summer. We appreciate your interest in our on-air and classroom programs and we look forward to keeping you up to date about new ways to make history relevant in your classrooms. Questions? Email us at classroom@aetn.com.

Best Regards,

Libby O'Connell, Ph.D. Chief Historian SVP, Corporate Outreach HISTORY

~~~ END MESSAGE ~~~

If you are not yet a subscriber to History.com email, all you have to do is visit this link to be added: http://www.history.com/shows/classroom You can sign up for the newsletter in the left navigation bar on that page.

Have a great day,
Takara

Super Sale at Scholastic

Scholastic just sent out a flyer for 75% off in their teacher store:

http://shop.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/teacherstore/nav/shops/Super+Clearance+Catalog/4294352162?eml=TSO/e/20130408////Clearance//ShopTout/RET//&ym_MID=1473089&ym_rid=16148800

Books for all grades.

Enjoy!
Takara
http://www.homeschoolsantafe.com

Free Mythology Books for Kindle

Just came across this list - thanks to a friend on Facebook.

http://www.examiner.com/article/21-world-mythology-books-that-are-free-for-the-kindle

There are so many more books available for free download online. Visit this page on my blog for a list of sites with millions of free books to download: http://www.homeschoolsantafe.com/Homeschool-Resources.htm

Have a fabulous day,
Takara

The Self Directed Homeschooler

This post is meant as an encouragement for anyone who has a younger homeschooled son or daughter who doesn't want to learn or resists doing lessons.

My son, Jess, is now 14. He is an only child and we have always homeschooled - first in New Mexico and now in Virginia. I'm divorced. He lives with me.

If you've ever read my article about homeschooling (its on the home page of my homeschool website), you have read that Stanford and several other top schools actively recruit homeschool students because they have maturity, self-reliance, and self direction that is hard to find in publicly educated students.

I used to read those words and compare it with what we were experiencing at home. It was like pulling teeth to get him to study. "Doing" school was really a struggle and certain subjects caused so much tension and stress for both of us that we ended up having to get a tutor. I literally thought my kid just didn't fit the "norm" of the self-directed homeschooler. I love him and felt obliged to accept him the way he is - even if that meant he was not very self directed or driven to succeed. Since I'm extremely driven, it wasn't always easy.

Then I took him to Fiji and we lived aboard a yacht for 6 weeks. He was given crewing duties and was expected to do the work asked of him. He was only 11 and I was very proud of how he completed his tasks and took to sea life. While on the trip, he was introduced to the show, The Big Bang Theory, and the topic of physics. He became almost obsessed with the subject. 

He has now decided that he wants to be a physicist and for the last year and a half or so, he has been completely self directed. He has taken up studying Latin completely on his own, as well as high school chemistry and biology. He reads books about physics and watches tons of science documentaries. He assigns himself lessons and spends hours each day completing them.

The change I have seen in my son borders on the miraculous. I don't think you have to take them to an island or to live on a boat. I think you just have to expose them to enough things that they can find the one that turns on the light and makes them excited to learn. 

I feel the greatest things we can give our children is love, appreciation, assistance with high self esteem, and help in discovering their gifts and interests. Then it seems we can just get out of the way and let them shine - whether its as an artist or an astronaut.

Have a fabulous day,

Takara

Bestselling author of Peering Through the Veil: The Step by Step Guide to Meditation and Inner Peace

Women's History Month from the History Channel

This just in from the History Channel also for Women's History Month

Women's History Month Programming:

Mothers of Invention
Monday, March 11th, at 6am/5c

Mothers of Invention explores the role of female innovators in American society. Despite many barriers, including unequal access to the education system and the patent process, women designed and helped produce a wide range of items, from refrigerated rail-cars to cosmetics to rocket devices.

You will also find valuable background information and video clips at the BIO Women's History site, located online at http://www.biography.com/womens-history/index.jsp.

View a timeline of women's history.