Showing posts with label printables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printables. Show all posts

Monday, January 27, 2014

Free Printable Reading Books for Homeschool


I started writing this post in 2010 but never finished or published it. 2 of my children have now surpassed the reading levels of these books. But very shortly these resources will come in handy for my 6 year old emergent reader.

Print Free Public Domain Books from Google
So far, one of my favorite finds online has been the free primers and readers that were written around a century ago. I was pleasantly surprised the children have really enjoyed my decision to start printing them off of Google again. I rarely (almost never) find inappropriate subject matter in the books. There are some words that are no longer politically correct, but when I come across those I just explain that to the children. And if there is magic or other subject matter that I don't want the children to read then I just don't print those pages. Also, the children really like the stories in the readers.

But I know that one day the readers will be below the children's reading levels. So I'm starting to look for some free printable reading books that will present a challenge when the time comes.

Sites with Free Printable Reading Books
I wonder if Professor Garfield is a hidden jewel on the internet. There are printable books all about everyone's favorite cat in addition to a game and flash card to go along with each book to help enforce the site words in the books.

Learning Pages Ewe books has a lot of free books. And I mean a lot. I printed out a few but found the way that you have to construct them to be awkward. But the material itself is excellent for children who have just become fluent readers.

Reading A to Z is a paid site but they have some free samples you can print out.
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Monday, September 13, 2010

Making a Laminated United States Map

I wanted the children to have a map that they can study  on their own in order to learn the names and locations of all the U.S. states.

Printable United States Map

So, I printed out a colorful map on one side of paper. I got my free printable labeled United States map from NationalAtlas.gov.  There are several to choose from under the "reference and outline maps of the U.S." link. I picked the one with bright colors, pictured below.



Blank United States Map

Then I printed a blank United States map from National Atlas on the other side of the paper. That way, the student can study the side with the names of the states and then flip the page over and test his memory.

After that I laminated the page using my laminator that I purchased a few years ago. I cannot say enough good things about my laminator. It was very affordable and it is still going strong after several years of use. Since I laminate quite a few of our school items, I purchase the laminating sheets in bulk. By taking this extra step my teaching tools usually last for all four of the children.

Different Uses
As I stated above, I think we'll use this mainly for the children to study the states on their own. We have a wall map that we use during school. But if we didn't have one then I'd definitely pull out this map and use it whenever a state is brought up so that the children could become familiar with the location. Also, as soon as I made the laminated map my 5 year old started sounding out the states on it. I hadn't even thought about using it that way.
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Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Homeschool Resources We Use

There are so many great resources on the internet that it is possible to spend very little money and still provide your children with a great homeschool education. Below are some of the resources that I use frequently.

Bible Curriculum
Little Blessings is not a free curriculum but it is well worth the price. I have used the program for a few years and it has paid for itself many times over, in my opinion. The creators of the curriculum also provide excellent customer service.

Free Printables

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of sites that offer free homeschool printables. Below are the ones that I go back to over and over again.

DLTK-Teach
Donna Young
Learning Page

Free Phonics Program

All I can say is that Starfall is a fantastic site to use to teach your children phonics. Children could navigate this site and practically teach themselves.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Coloring and Activity Books in PDF Format

Here are some free coloring and activity books in PDF format. The books are on a wide range of subjects. Some of my children are not big on coloring. They would rather do activity books. So that is why I separated the two. Now, most of the activity books can be used as coloring books as well. So that's a plus.
PDF Coloring Books

PDF Activity Books

Lesson Plans
I'll probably move the lesson plans links at some point. But I've only come across a few so far. So they'll remain here for the time being.
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Making Your Own Handwriting Worksheets for Free

A few months back I started teaching my five year old to write. So, I started looking for some handwriting worksheets and I quickly discovered Start Write.

It was exactly what I was looking for. And the software really is reasonably priced for all it does. However, I ALWAYS try to find a frugal (code word for free) alternative. I haven't found anything that does everything that Start Write does. But I have found a few free handwriting worksheet generators that suit our needs.

Soft School's handwriting worksheet generator is my favorite. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. But I can save the pages I create in PDF format. Love that! I am in the process of creating copywork pages for the Swinton's Primer. Once I've typed up all of the copywork I am going to print the pages and compile them into a notebook for Dil. And I can just print out a new notebook for my two youngest when they get to that stage.

The ESL Writing Wizard would be my favorite if I could save my pages in PDF. That's huge with me. But other than that this free worksheet generator is the best. There are several writing styles, line patterns, and letter sizes to choose from. And there are also some good instructions on the homepage of how to make a paragraph style worksheet. I used those instructions for the Soft School generator, with great results. You used to be able save the links to the pages you created. But that feature has been temporarily disabled.

Kid Zone also has a handwriting wizard that produces what the site calls "custom tracer pages." What's great about this one is that if you choose the cursive font then the letters of the words on the page are actually connected. The other two sites do not have this capability. Soft School doesn't have a cursive option at all. The ESL Writing Wizard does but the letters are separated. So I will definitely use the custom tracer pages once my younger ones start learning cursive.

Despite it's name, I'm not that impressed with the Amazing Incredible Handwriting Worksheet Maker. (I wonder if I could say that quickly three times.) But the one feature that I believe comes in handy for a brand new writer is the starting dot that is generated on each letter on the worksheet. That's a definite plus for little ones who are at the very beginning stage of writing.

By utilizing the sites listed above, I can pretty much produce the type of handwriting worksheet that I need.
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