I am finally going to make Cookie's Domain about all things homeschooling. Originally, this was my everything blog for all aspects of my life. But I agree with my husband and a friend of ours that the site should be devoted exclusively to homeschooling. So, my goal is to turn this into a fabulous site exclusively about educating at home.
So please bare with me as I clean things up and remove all of the posts that aren't related to the theme.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A New Carnival of Homeschooling is Posted
I have been submitting my Associated Content articles to homeschool blog carnivals. It's fun to see my work linked to. And I also enjoy reading what others are doing in their homeschools.Today the Carnival of Homeschooling is being hosted at Apollos Academy. This is definitely the prettiest carnival I've seen. The theme of this one is April showers bring May flowers. Make sure to check out the Carnival of Homeschooling: May Flowers Edition.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Texas Mini Unit Study
I am very excited about the resources listed below to put together a Texas unit study. Here's why. I took Texas History in the 12th grade. I moved from Virginia to Texas my senior year and it was a requirement to graduate from high school. I wish I could say I learned a lot in that class. But I didn't. I remembered facts about the Lone Star State long enough to pass tests and quizzes. And then I promptly forgot.
Why am I sharing all this? I guess because what I just described about my experience in school is what drives me to find interesting learning materials for my children.
Texas Unit Study Activity Books
- Learn About TX Birds
- Learn About TX Dinosaurs
- Learn About TX Freshwater Fish
- Learn About TX Indians
- Learn About TX Insects
- Shrimply Fun: Shrimp Fishery in the Gulf of Mexico
- TX Endangered Species
Texas Unit Study Books/Booklets
- Frankie the Free Tailed Bat
- TX House of Representatives
- TX Tracks - animal tracks
- Healthy Communities of Brownsville TX
- Indian Years
- Kids' House - TX state symbols coloring book
- TX Wildlife Management Area
- Symbols of TX at TX State Parks
- Remember the Alamo - bottom of the page below the ads
The Time Tunnel: The Alamo (1966)
Our Texas History (1963)
Texas Unit Study Websites
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tower of Babel Study
Scripture - Genesis 11:1-9
Reading and coloring book - Tower of Babel mini-book (middle of the page)
Bible Study for 11 year old - The Beginning: Y1Q1 (pages 19-20 of the pdf file)
Reading and coloring book - Tower of Babel mini-book (middle of the page)
Bible Study for 11 year old - The Beginning: Y1Q1 (pages 19-20 of the pdf file)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Working on a Seperate Homeschool Blog
Per my husband's suggestion, I am going to start a separate blog that contains all of my homeschool information. Right now I'm trying to think of a title. Then I'll figure out whether I'm going to move my homeschool posts from here to there, or whether I'll just start fresh on the HS blog and maybe link back to this blog.
We'll see.
We'll see.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Free Text Books for Homeschool
I have been taking a look at the Robinson Curriculum, Accelerated Achievement, Old Fashioned Education, and the Ambleside Online Curriculum. Of course I am most impressed with OFE and AO because they are FREE. But actually, all of the curriculums have a lot of the same books in their reading list. A few years back I really wanted to buy AA; but, now I'm glad that my husband asked me to hold off on the purchase.
Truth be told, our homeschool style is quite eclectic and I tweak every educational material that we use. So, I no longer see the need to pay for one particular curriculum or method. We just use what works for each individual child.
What I do appreciate about all of the curriculum mentioned above is that the texts used are in the public domain (code for FREE). And a lot of the content lines up with the values that we are instilling in our children. So, I've picked some books here and there and am using them this year.
I am listing the books and links below that we are currently using. That way I can keep all of the titles in one place. I will add more books as we get to them.
Bible
Math
World History
Truth be told, our homeschool style is quite eclectic and I tweak every educational material that we use. So, I no longer see the need to pay for one particular curriculum or method. We just use what works for each individual child.
What I do appreciate about all of the curriculum mentioned above is that the texts used are in the public domain (code for FREE). And a lot of the content lines up with the values that we are instilling in our children. So, I've picked some books here and there and am using them this year.
I am listing the books and links below that we are currently using. That way I can keep all of the titles in one place. I will add more books as we get to them.
Bible
Math
World History
- Beacon Lights of History (vol. 6) - Renaissance & Reformation
Free Homeschool Spanish Curriculum for High School Students
I was absolutely astounded when I started looking for a homeschool Spanish curriculum. Wow, you can spend a small fortune teaching your children another language.
Free Spanish Book and Teacher's Manual
So, I was happy when I came across a free student book for learning Spanish. The book is called Poco a Poco. It was written by a University of Texas foreign language instructor in 1922. Don't let the date fool you. This book is still an excellent resource today. And here is the teacher's manual to go along with it. Over the summer my son went through a few of the lessons on his own. I just printed out a new lesson each time he completed one.
A Self Teaching Approach to Spanish
He enjoyed it so much that I decided that he'll take Spanish I this year. We will be using Getting Started with Spanish: Beginning Spanish for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age. This isn't a free book but I like that the book was written with the self learner in mind. I think my son will do well using the approach taken in the book. And we will use the links provided to listen to the proper way to pronounce the words.
Free Videos to Learn Spanish
I'm also going to see if we can incorporate the excellent set of free videos available on Learner.org called Destinos - An Introduction to Spanish. If you are completely unfamiliar with Spanish then the videos alone may not be adequate enough to teach your high school student Spanish. However, you can buy used workbooks to accompany the series for just a few dollars on Amazon.
As of this post, you can buy each workbook (used) for less than $10 plus tax.
Free Spanish Book and Teacher's Manual
So, I was happy when I came across a free student book for learning Spanish. The book is called Poco a Poco. It was written by a University of Texas foreign language instructor in 1922. Don't let the date fool you. This book is still an excellent resource today. And here is the teacher's manual to go along with it. Over the summer my son went through a few of the lessons on his own. I just printed out a new lesson each time he completed one.
A Self Teaching Approach to Spanish
He enjoyed it so much that I decided that he'll take Spanish I this year. We will be using Getting Started with Spanish: Beginning Spanish for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age. This isn't a free book but I like that the book was written with the self learner in mind. I think my son will do well using the approach taken in the book. And we will use the links provided to listen to the proper way to pronounce the words.
Free Videos to Learn Spanish
I'm also going to see if we can incorporate the excellent set of free videos available on Learner.org called Destinos - An Introduction to Spanish. If you are completely unfamiliar with Spanish then the videos alone may not be adequate enough to teach your high school student Spanish. However, you can buy used workbooks to accompany the series for just a few dollars on Amazon.
As of this post, you can buy each workbook (used) for less than $10 plus tax.
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