History Program I am looking at for my kids

I am looking at this History curriculum for my High Schoolers. I am nervous about buying curriculum without actually putting my hands on it. Have any of you readers used this book? Do you like it?

Some Freebies

I love this website-- www.finchfamilygames.com . Every month there is a free project (or two) for download. You have to purchase their download viewer for $4 I think but then every month you can download free activities. Check it out! There are also projects available for purchase. Most for as little as $1. If you are into file folder games and the like you won't want to miss this site!!


http://www.finchfamilygames.com/

Shhhh, Mom's studying

I have registered for a Midwifery School and I am having great fun taking my study time once we get through the kids' school assignments everyday! I am also thinking that maybe me taking a study hour is also helping to motivate the kids in their schoolwork.

In the midst of my studies I have gone on a hunt for easy to use curriculum and have found, through Internet searches and talking to friends, some really great resources to make my life a little easier.

A dear friend of mine told me about http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/. This website connects homeschoolers to curriculum companies and offers discounts to home schooling families much like the school systems get from companies. Through the co-op I purchased an online phonics program called Explode The Code Online for my reluctant reader. We have used Explode the Code workbooks for many years so this was a no brainer when I found the online version!! My reluctant reader is finding that the computer doesn't really care if he whines about reading and I have had some stress and worry taken off of me. As my friend Jaimie said "It is worth the money just to not have the stress of the kids fighting you to read."  I love this program!

Home school Buyers Co-op also offers freebies that are pretty impressive. You just need to check it out--you won't be sorry!!

Home schooling for Free?

It is possible!! I did a little research last night and found some interesting free curriculum for our home school!

LearningPathways is a free online curriculum for K to 5th grade. Lots of great stuff here! I actually started using this site just this year and the kids are loving it. They are doing really cool projects and experiments as well as watching really fun videos online. A lot of work was put into this site and anyone who has tried to research a topic on their own knows what a gem this is! http://www.learningpathways.com/

Another website I found was learnLatinonlinefree. This was a video and worksheet Latin curriculum all online with no textbook needed. I think it is best suited to high school kids, but would be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about Latin. http://www.learnlatinonlinefree.com/

Music lessons is always a hot topic at our house. They are just so expensive and add up quick when you have a large family. I looked around and found pianolessons online for free. These are video lessons with music reading and ear training. Plenty of lessons to keep anyone really busy on the piano for a long time. http://www.pianolessons.com/

Reading is a huge deal in our house. Most of my kids love to read. We have used a wonderful website called starfall for phonics and reading for several years and the kids love the animations and games. http://www.starfall.com/

Last night I came across another free reading website simply named learntoreadfree. It looks to have some fun games to engage the kids. The concept is Montessori based and is quite repetitive. http://www.learntoreadfree.com/

BookAdventure is another great reading site that is sponsored by Sylvan Learning. Book Adventure provides grade appropriate book lists. The kids choose a book, read it , then take an online test over the book to earn points which they can redeem for prizes. Parents can customize the prize board, which makes for some fun incentives in our family. http://www.bookadventure.com/

My Family and Why we homeschool

We are a family of 8 and we have been homeschooling since the beginning of time! Yep that's right my kids have never graced the halls of a public school, (although I do admit to days that I would love to send them)! Why? You ask! Because I am lazy!! No really!! I don't HAVE to get up at 6am make lunches make sure their homework is done, sign papers, find lunch money, find a shoe, feed them breakfast, get them to school on time and whatever else public school moms have to do!
Seriously though, I grew up in a good sized town and by the time I hit High School I had seen and experienced way too many things that I ever needed to see! I can't say that I was really socially enriched.

My husband and I married in '89 and got pregnant pretty quick. We lived in a neighborhood where several of our neighbors homeschooled. That started us on the road. When I was pregnant with number 2 our midwife homeschooled (do ya think we were being told something?). One thing led to another and I attended my first curriculm fair with a 2 month old baby and a 3 year old! We started 'homeschooling' the next year!!

My oldest is now 20, married and has a little one. Over the years my ideas and philosophies have evolved and are ever changing. I am more relaxed now and we do alot of hands on learning. My kids are 17, 15, 11, 9, and 7! Yes I guess you could say I shelter them, but I like to think that I am teaching them how to choose activies and friends that encourage and uplift them rather than being thrown into social situations that they have little to no control over. There are always days that I wish I had the money to put them in private school, but really the majority of our days are joyful and productive. I have been know to try to talk families into homeschooling, especially families we like to hang out with that go to public schools. I do agree Homeschooling may not be the right choice for everyone, but for some it is the best choice!