Wednesday, February 26, 2014

This Week's 5 Favorite Homeschooling Resources

I'm pretty sure I read in the fine print that no homeschooler is permitted to participate in the 7 posts in 7 days festival without devoting at least one to the schoolin' of the youngins.  And I am a rule follower, people. Give me my gold star and certificate of achievement and my green light in the classroom and...an m&m.  Or whatever you use to reward kids.  Give me all the rewards! 

 5 favorite homeschooling resources (for this week)

 (1)

Cari sent me a link last week to a little Cardinals unit study from CurrClick because it was free for the day and she knows things about me and my cheapskateness like that.
Can you see how Paul and Ceci colored their respective Cardinals the colors of the male and female birds? Cuteness.
Free things are often poorly written and demand a little proofreading TLC and this packet was no exception. BUT the information was interesting and informative, it set us off on several little learning adventures, and we just wove those grammar and punctuation errors right into some editing practice for the middleschoolers.

(2)  

This was a tip from the Cardinals packet, and we had so much fun with it.  Of course we couldn't stop at just listening to the sounds that cardinals make.  Oh nononononono.  No.  We had to move on to coyotes then  bobcats then foxes.  So many minutes of free (you only have to pay if you want to download the track to keep) educational entertainment.

(3) 

The bird unit contained information about the cardinal being the state bird of seven different states (really, states?  All seven of you?), so I decided to print out blank maps of the U.S. for the younger ones so we could find and label those seven states.  We also used the blank handwriting sheets that came the packet for Paul to practice writing out the names of those states. 

(I had planned a photo of his map here, but...I can't find it.  So organized!)
Unit studies!  They're like smoothies for the brain.  Them kids don't gotta know how many secret information vegetables are being fed into their heads all at once now do they?

(4) 
field guides
The labeling of the map...or maybe it was the hearing of the songs?...led to them wanting to see what our song birds field guide had to say about cardinals.  That's when they saw another map of the US showing the states in which cardinals can be found, which led to them wanting to cut out that portion of the maps we had printed and labeled. 

I gotta tell you- the internet is an amazing resource, but sometimes it's nice to get your hands on a real, live book, know what I'm saying?  No ads in the sidebar, no shutting down for updates, no charging the battery.  And the smell.  Boy do I love the smell of books.  Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for reference books whenever you go to second hand stores.  The price is always incredible and the condition of those kinds of books is often stellar.

(5) 

Not a printer or a copier but a printer AND a copier.  I honestly don't know how we would manage to enjoy ourselves while schooling and make use of resources the way we do if we didn't have one.  It's not some fancy schmancy thing and I've had it since before Paul was born, but it does the job and I'm grateful to have it. 
HP Officejet 4315 All-In-One
HP Officejet 4315 Al in One
When it kicks the bucket though, I have my eyes set on one that is a) wireless and b) has a lift top copier so I can copy pages out of books without removing the actual page. 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand that pretty much cements my dorkiness right there, folks.

Be sure to check out all the other favorites over at Moxie Wife and take a gander at the oodles of nice folks who've jumped on the 7 posts bandwagon over at Conversion Diary.


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7 comments :

  1. What a great list! I love our wireless printer with the top just like a copier. It makes things a lot easier.
    My favorite homeschool link I found this week was Kinderart.com . Free Art lessons for all ages! Yay free!

    ~Beth

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  2. Out of the 4 states I have lived in, I'm currently in my 2nd cardinal-as-state-bird state. Although I have yet to see one yet. Instead it's just robins right now.

    As for the printer, you should get a laser one next! I have a wireless all-in-one laser with a copier/top scanner (so it's exactly what you want). I buy ink (toner) so much less now--the upfront cost was higher, but it's paid for itself already. And I love the wireless, since the printer is on a different floor from where we usually are.

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  3. How do you do it? How do you make a post about homeschool resources that has me giggling and reading my favorite parts out loud to my husband? I think I need more crazy in my life. These two kids so far just don't give me enough material. :-)

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  4. So...what DOES the fox say????

    We have a laser printer/copier that I love. But I wish I had sprung for the wireless version. Next time...

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  5. http://www.thebirdist.com/2013/04/state-birds-what-they-should-be.html
    State bird rant. Your welcome! ;)

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  6. Great list! I need to shake up our routine, and I think I might go down this road. Also, a to the men re: printer. Living without right now. Saving trees. But definitely missing my printer.

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  7. I have a similar laser printer/copier to your, but mine has the lift top. And it faxes. Couldn't live without it, and it's also ancient. But it works and I love it. Maybe we'll go wireless when the time comes, too. And I was waiting for the globe to appear in the 5 favorites. Since you love it so....!

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