Frugal Homeschooler: Free Educational Dvd's

Sometimes homeschooling frugally just means keeping your ear to the ground. Opportunities can just crop up that you need to seize! I stumbled across some educational dvds on some of my homeschool yahoo groups and thought I would share!

Nasa and the American Museum of Natural History are offering a free dvd and educator's guide! It is called Journey to the Stars and they say it is available for both teachers and parents. As a homeschooler I am filing as a teacher.

The History Channel has a new series called America: the Story of Us going right now. I know many people who are dvr'ing it but don't bother (unless you want to see it now;). They are offering it on a free dvd! You have to request it before July 1, 2010 and they won't send it until August.

For both of them you just fill out a form!

Reading and Learning While Little

Recently I have been part of a few discussions about how hard it is to find non-fiction books for young readers. I can say here in the NerdFamily house it has always been a challenge. With our oldest we struggle with a child who can read quite well for his age but at the same time the non-fiction books at that level contain such advanced data that it is hard for him to really comprehend the information. With NerdPie she wants to learn real information but is still really developing her reading ability. Then we have our 4 year old. He can't read but he loves to be read to. I want to encourage him to understand what I am reading so I don't want books that are to hard. With all of these kids it would be a shame to lose this sponge like time.

At my local library I have found a few different series that we have used. Typically what happens is that I find 1 in a series, like it, and then request every other book they put out. So in order to help others, in a way I wish someone would have helped me, here are a few series that I have found. I am not going to really talk about math because I have already posted a bit about some good options here and here.

History:

Spirit of America, Our People Series

Time for Kids Series (they have great history and science)

Headlines from History Series

Science:

Our Galaxy and Beyond Series

Let's Read and Find Out! Series

So there are just a few. What do you use with your early elementary school kids?

Frugal Homeschooler: History

So I have just a few history links to share with you all.

First up is this great site that NerdDad found called HyperHistory. It is easy to look around and has maps, people, events and more. It is great because when you finish reading a book on history you can just pop over and get more info. After we finished reading a book on the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World I just popped over and looked under connections. One of the options was a page on the 7 wonders. This covers all of history versus a specific time.

The other resource is specifically for the Underground Railroad. It is actually called Aboard the Underground Railroad. It has maps, links to sites and more.

If you have any other history sites that you like, please share. As always remember homeschooling doesn't have to be hard or expensive!(Yes, I am trying to develop a tagline;)

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

My kids and I just finished this book and it was really good. One of the aspects I appreciated the most was how the author was very clear about the unknown aspects of the wonders. Lynn Curlee made the subject come alive with really great illustrations and lots of facts. She was clear in defining the line between what we "think" they were like and what we know. This ties in real well with SOTW year 1 but it would be great as just a quick pick up and read. We will definitely be using this for the younger ones when they get a bit older (2 and 11 months are a little young;). This is a read aloud just because of the foreign names. A first grader could definitely read this to you if you are willing to jump in with the names.

Frugal Homeschooler: History

Here are some free history resources.

First up are some fun and interesting sites from the BBC. They have one history section for ages 4-11 and another for 11-16 year olds. They have some interesting history games. They also have stuff on specific time periods(WWI and WWII, etc) and on specific people.

Kids Dig Reed give virtual tours of the 19th century Reed Farmstead in Virginia. It also gives the specific history of the site, talks about artifacts and has games and puzzles.

Colonial Williamsburg also has a great site with cool history resources. The front page has some games but the real learning is under the Teachers/Parents tab. It has an electronic field trip, info on people and the place. It even has a lesson plan.

So that wraps up this Frugal Homeschooler. Look, explore, use and if you have any great resources please share with me. As always remember homeschooling doesn't have to be hard or expensive!

Who put the B in the Ballyhoo?

The kids and I read this interesting book this week. NerdBug picked this out at the library a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't real sure. It wasn't questionable but I was didn't think it would hold all 3 kids attention. Boy, was I wrong! They all loved it. It is a colorful book filled with actual posters from the circus. It follows the alphabet with different adjectives describing the different acts. I was prepared to edit on the fly because we all know that the circus can be a bit questionable but, I didn't need to. It was all quite tasteful and interesting. The kids were so intrigued they have talked about the cool and weird things they saw. I would recommend this book for all ages. The 2, 4 and 6 year olds all give it a thumbs up!

It's Disgusting and We Ate It!

We read It's Disgusting and We Ate It! True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History as an additional historical read for Chapter one in Story of the World (Nomads) and it was very good. While it seems a book of modest page count, the information (and words) was astronomical. It focused on what used to be eaten, what is eaten other places, and what we eat that others find gross. All of my kids loved it. In addition to the typical paragraphs there was also a variety of poems and rhymes. The illustrations were also entertaining all on their own. This is something that I would like to have on my bookshelf for my kids. The drawback.... I go this book from the library as a read to go with the history lesson but due to it length we read it separate. I had alloted about 45 minutes in the morning to read it and it took considerably longer. This isn't a flaw with the book but something to be considered when working it in with other material for a history unit. I think we might have this book to just read for edification not just for a history chapter. We will be using this again!

Little Grunt

The NerdBug has just finished Little Grunt and the Big Egg in relation to his chapter on Nomads in The Story of the World. This is a great literature book and was recommended in my Activity Book. The NerdBug was able to read this completely on his own and really enjoyed it.

It is a sweet story of a boy finding an egg, getting a pet that out grew his home and then the pet saving them all. It is short enough that they can read it all in one sitting. It also has enough going on that they are enthralled so they don't want to put it down. I even hear the NerdBug telling his brother and sister about his good book. We will definitely use this one again when the other kids cycle onto this area of history.

Best Homeschool History Find Ever!

So I was out yard sailing on Saturday and I came upon The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events (Timetables of History) for only a quarter. Now when I see a box of books that are a quarter each I always look. So I see this book and I start looking through it and jackpot! It is a book of one continuous chart. it lists history, literature/theater, religion/philosophy/learning, visual arts, music, science/tech/growth and daily life. Then is lists each year and fills in the chart. It is only an 1990 edition but that really doesn't effect us. The kids in our house haven't had a chance to touch it yet because NerdDad and I have having a ball with it!