Frugal Homeschooler: Election Resources

Since we are right in the middle of the Presidential election it is the prefect time to introduce your kids the the election process.

NARA has the Electoral College site. It has teacher resource, electoral calculator, and more. The teachers resources seem to have great things for kids of all ages.

VA Joe's has an issues calculator that helps you figure out which candidate matches up your views best.

Pocantico Hills
has a presentation for kids on the President.

Lastly, don't count out Wikipedia. They have a pretty complete piece on the electoral college that even includes a map with the votes broken out.

Gordon Ramsay Approved Knives?

Apparently Chef Ramsay is endorsing a line of knives from 2 young women and their company. They also have secured a contract to keep him in knives. There will be 1,000 made and they will be available in November. Anyone trying to figure out what to get NerdMom for Christmas;).

Making Money

Ok, I have decided to try to make a little money using this blog but I want to be upfront about it. I will never say I used something if I didn't and I will use a commercial label on all sponsored posts. Just wanted to make sure I was clear before I started making paid posts!

Frugal Homeschooler: Vocabulary and Spelling

I have collected a few free vocabulary and spelling resources that I wanted to share.

First up is Learning Vocabulary Fun. They have all kinds of great online games. You can choose themes and levels for everything from crosswords and word scrambles to easy matching for younger kids.

Then Learning Treasures has spelling lists and daily printable worksheets for all of first grade and some of second and third grade.

Then Crossword Puzzle Games has a great tool for creating crosswords with your own words. You supply the word and the hint and they arrange it.

So hopefully this gives everyone some really good resources. Remember that homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive! If you have any resources that I didn't mention please, let me know. Also, if there is an area or subject you would like me to apply the Frugal Homeschooler treatment to, just let me know and maybe I will fulfill your request next!

Information, Inspiration and Joy: The Best Kids' Book

Yeah I know, that is a lot to expect from a book but I think I may have found it. Kid Who Named Pluto: And the Stories of Other Extraordinary Young People in Science is just the ticket! I found this book at the library and picked it up for NerdBug. It was well within his reading level and I browsed it to make sure it was family friendly so I put it in his pile to read and didn't really think anything else of it. So when he finally got around to reading it he started telling me about it. After hearing a few interesting facts, I decided to read it myself and I am so glad I did.

This book has about 9 different profiles on young people who did great things in science, not all of which are scientists. It covers Isaac Asimov and Philo Farnsworth and many more. It even has a list for further reading! As a science dork it is great. As a mom who wants her children to dream it is great. And as a homeschooler it is phenomenal! It seems that many of the world's young geniuses were in spite of public schooling and not because of it (a full blog post on this is coming;). This book happens to highlight a few of those specifically.

So for $8 it is a great deal and a great present for any child. Or get it from your library for an even better deal;).