Saturday, October 27, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Dutch Bedtime Stories
The Last Radicals:Homeschoolers
"There is exactly one authentically radical social movement of any real significance in the United States, and it is not Occupy, the Tea Party, or the Ron Paul faction. It is homeschoolers, who, by the simple act of instructing their children at home, pose an intellectual, moral, and political challenge to the government-monopoly schools, which are one of our most fundamental institutions and one of our most dysfunctional. Like all radical movements, homeschoolers drive the establishment bats..." Read more here.
All my life I've been told I'm too independent. :)
All my life I've been told I'm too independent. :)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Free Children's Burgess Bird Book Companion Resources
"I’ve put together a list of resources to complement this fantastic book. This companion document is not affiliated with the Burgess Bird Book for Children, it is simply a handy reference to list related links. I’ve linked to the top bird identification sites and to free coloring pages. I couldn’t resist looking up the Audubon plush birds with sound calls, we have a few in our collection."
See here.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Building Vocabulary: Online Vocabulary Quizzes
I just signed up for Vocabulary.com, a free site that gives you quizzes adjusted to your knowledge levels in a game type style with scores and rounds. If you get an answer wrong it provides the definition and allows you to hear the pronunciation. Vocabulary is taken from major news sources and classic literature. You can click on the source of the example sentences for further reading.
I enjoyed it! I worked one round missing the word "legerdemain". I took Spanish in school, and not French. If I had taken French I'd have recognized this word!
This is a great homeschool resource for building vocabulary.
I enjoyed it! I worked one round missing the word "legerdemain". I took Spanish in school, and not French. If I had taken French I'd have recognized this word!
This is a great homeschool resource for building vocabulary.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Free Lecture: Introduction to Logic
See here by professor, Gerard Casey of University College, Dublin." Professor Casey has been teaching logic and other courses in philosophy for over 30 years."
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Advanced Science Opportunities: Citizen Astronomers
According to PCmag.com, "The Planet Hunters citizen science website proved its mettle in a big way yesterday with the announcement of its first confirmed planet discovery, which also happens to be the first planet to be found in a quadruple star system.
Citizen Astronomers
The Planet Hunters website, which was launched in December 2010, lets the public search for exoplanets—planets orbiting other stars—in data from NASA’s Kepler planet-search project, which images a star field containing some 160,000 stars, measuring each star’s brightness every half hour. The volunteers look at light curves—graphs showing fluctuations in a star’s brightness over a period of roughly a month—looking for transits, brief dips in a star’s brightness that could indicate the passage of an unseen object, possibly a planet, in front of the star. Public response to this project has been overwhelming; more than 170,000 people have registered at the site."
Citizen Astronomers
The Planet Hunters website, which was launched in December 2010, lets the public search for exoplanets—planets orbiting other stars—in data from NASA’s Kepler planet-search project, which images a star field containing some 160,000 stars, measuring each star’s brightness every half hour. The volunteers look at light curves—graphs showing fluctuations in a star’s brightness over a period of roughly a month—looking for transits, brief dips in a star’s brightness that could indicate the passage of an unseen object, possibly a planet, in front of the star. Public response to this project has been overwhelming; more than 170,000 people have registered at the site."Readable/Printable Online Short Classic Children's Stories
I read this(The Happy Prince) Oscar Wilde story to my daughter last night. It was so nice to snuggle up in the dark by the light of the laptop and read this online before bedtime.Friday, October 12, 2012
Free Educational Quizzes and Lesson Plans
I just added Free Rice to my sidebar. There are quizzes for English, geography, science(chemistry and anatomy), math, foreign languages, and SAT test prep. Ten grains of rice are donated for each correct answer. Free Rice is an educational website run by the World Food Programme, a United Nations program which is funded voluntarly by world governments, corporations, and private donations,. See here for overview at Wikipedia.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Free Online Newspaper for Children
Art History Elementary School October Picture Study, French 19th Century
Features:
HARVEST TIME — LEON AUGUSTINE L'HEEMITTE
THE BALLOON— DUPRE
THE HAY HARVEST— JULES BASTIEN-LEPAGE
RETURN TO THE FARM— TROYON
HARVEST TIME — LEON AUGUSTINE L'HEEMITTE
THE BALLOON— DUPRE
SHEPHERDESS KNITTING — MILLET
Click here. Free and downloadable.
More for THE HAY HARVEST— JULES BASTTEN-LEPAGE
More for RETURN TO THE FARM— TROYON
More for THE BALLOON— DUPRE and and here(younger children's composition lesson)
More for SHEPHERDESS KNITTING — MILLET (parent or older child resource: Jean-François Millet, peasant and painter)
More for THE HAY HARVEST— JULES BASTTEN-LEPAGE
More for RETURN TO THE FARM— TROYON
More for THE BALLOON— DUPRE and and here(younger children's composition lesson)
More for SHEPHERDESS KNITTING — MILLET (parent or older child resource: Jean-François Millet, peasant and painter)
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
Shopping Dollar General Online
Every few months I shop Dollar General online for their discounts and free shipping. Right now online orders are 10% off, and there is free shipping for orders totalling $40.00 and above. I ended up getting $5.00 off my order, which would have been the same as using the printable $5.00 off printable coupon($25.00 minimum in store only). The difference was that I saved time and gas.
If you don't have a Dollar General store nearby, this is a great way to take advantage of their low prices. The best buys for us have always been the dishwasher detergent, off-brand cold and allergy medicines, and other toiletries. Items that are $1.00, comparable to a dollar store, are a good buy as well.
Check often, as the discounts vary. Sometimes online orders are 20% off.
If you don't have a Dollar General store nearby, this is a great way to take advantage of their low prices. The best buys for us have always been the dishwasher detergent, off-brand cold and allergy medicines, and other toiletries. Items that are $1.00, comparable to a dollar store, are a good buy as well.
Check often, as the discounts vary. Sometimes online orders are 20% off.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Managing Large Single Payment Bills
How to Budget for Irregular Expenses
Manage large single bill payments like semi-annual or quarterly bill payments with a regularly funded reserve account. We started doing this with our insurance and property tax bills which can be rather large single payments, but manageable if paid with a fund that we have paid into every month. It's much easier if these accounts are funded automatically, so you don't forget. Simply total your irregularly occurring bills and divide by twelve, then add this monthly automatic withdrawal from your checking account to a specially designated savings account to fund your large single payment bill or bills.
This has really helped us to better budget our money month to month.
Manage large single bill payments like semi-annual or quarterly bill payments with a regularly funded reserve account. We started doing this with our insurance and property tax bills which can be rather large single payments, but manageable if paid with a fund that we have paid into every month. It's much easier if these accounts are funded automatically, so you don't forget. Simply total your irregularly occurring bills and divide by twelve, then add this monthly automatic withdrawal from your checking account to a specially designated savings account to fund your large single payment bill or bills.
This has really helped us to better budget our money month to month.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Free Classic Young Children's Fairy Tales for Bedtime Reading
The Rainbow Book of Fairy Tales for Six-Year-Olds by Lisa Ripperton
This is a compilation of vintage stories circa 1924, not dumbed down, full of rich language for children's ears, but also easy to comprehend for a young child, especially if read with affect.
Last night, I was able to read three as bedtime stories without my first grader getting antsy, although she did fall asleep during Rumpelstiltskin, and what better way to drift off to sleep! The font is nice and large for tired momma eyes. You can turn down the lights and read this book on a laptop. There are no pictures, just text.
There are many more free ebooks to browse at this site as well.
This is a compilation of vintage stories circa 1924, not dumbed down, full of rich language for children's ears, but also easy to comprehend for a young child, especially if read with affect.
Last night, I was able to read three as bedtime stories without my first grader getting antsy, although she did fall asleep during Rumpelstiltskin, and what better way to drift off to sleep! The font is nice and large for tired momma eyes. You can turn down the lights and read this book on a laptop. There are no pictures, just text.
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