Thursday, October 25, 2012

Dutch Bedtime Stories

I found this story book online, Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks by William Elliot Griffist at Project Gutenberg.com. Read here or download, free and in public domain. We have been reading tales from this book the last few nights - delightful! 

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. :)

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.

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."




How Does a Homeschooler Change a Light Bulb?

Saw this on FB.

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."




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.

There is a good selection here. Free and printable. The site also has sections for older children and adults.

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

The New York Times maintains a free news blog geared toward older children. There are special interest pieces and hard news. My fourteen year old reads the daily News Quiz and Word of the Day which proceeds it. Check out the New York Times Learning Network blog here.

Art History Elementary School October Picture Study, French 19th Century

Features:

THE HAY HARVEST— JULES BASTIEN-LEPAGE


















RETURN TO THE FARM— TROYON














HARVEST TIME — LEON AUGUSTINE L'HEEMITTE
















THE BALLOON— DUPRE


















SHEPHERDESS KNITTING — MILLET














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.

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.