Education Links!

Happy Monday!  Our homeschool year is winding down and we will be finished this Friday.  We take about 2 months off every summer to focus on swim team, theatre, and various summer camps.  We will do limited school work, mostly fun supplemental stuff, with children who are home daily.  In years past we schooled 1/2 days for most of the summer, but as time has passed I have found the summer break to be important for my sanity, and that of my kids!  Of course they do regress in certain areas, but we start up again in mid-August and have plenty of time to refresh their memories.  This week, I am working out a summer schedule for the kids, and I am still in the process of ordering next year’s curriculum.  The curriculum research I did over the past month is still fresh in my head, and so I thought I’d link to a few educational supplements.  Some are online, some are not.  Some come from me, some are the recommendations of the other builders.  Most are free, some are not.  I hope you find them helpful.  Please feel free to add your thoughts and/or additional links in the comments.

1.  Free website teaching the scientific method.  Website gives basic instructions on the scientific method.  There is a dark room computerized game on this site that my children really enjoyed.  Kids start in a dark room and have to click on various things to figure out how to escape.  I think this is good for grades 3-8.

2.  Geography Games Website.  Purpose games is a timed geography quiz website.  Kids can take timed quizzes on geographic areas such as the states, state capitols, important world cities, continents, or the countries and capitols of other continents.  My children are currently working on improving their US states time, and they previously memorized most of the countries of Eastern Europe.  They really enjoy using this free website.

3.  Writing resource for elementary aged students.  For any who struggle through book reports or writing projects, this is a good printout.  Again, it’s free!

4.  What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades.  This NYT piece focuses on the importance of students actually writing out their papers (by hand as opposed to typing on a computer or orally learning).  Apparently, there are connections made in the brain through handwriting, and I found the article fascinating.

5.  Classical History Website.  I have not personally used this site, but it was recommended by a friend.  The Classical Historian website is for anyone looking for an excellent history curriculum and fun games to enhance learning.  It is not free.  The site is the brain child of a Catholic family.  Games on the site include things like Go Fish and other Memory History games.

6.  ABC Mouse.  Pre-school, Pre-K, and K curriculum supplement here.  It costs $7 a month.  B-Mama has heard good things about this website.

7.  IXL Learning.  This is a good supplemental website for language arts and math instruction.  It costs about $70 per year.  I have used this website after new babies are born and we take a step back with our homeschooling, and also for summer learning.  It is thorough and has an exhaustive list of topics by grade level.  Very hands off for the parents.

8.  BBC Typing.  This is a great, free, typing website for kids.  They progress through the entire keyboard and play games to drill on different keystrokes.  It is a good, free starter website for introducing typing to kids ages 1st grade through 6th.

9.  Books on CD!  Summer is the perfect time to pop in an educational CD while you drive around town.  We listen to novels on CD, but also something like Story of the World for History.  Kids can pick up bits and pieces of information as they travel to their summer activities.

10.  And finally, don’t forget about  reading clubs and local summer reading challenges.  Most local libraries have a summer reading program for kids of all ages.

Again, I’d love to see additional links in the comments.  Especially if they are free!