FREE Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History eBook!

August 30, 2023 Leave a Comment

The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History is available to download for completely FREE! All you have to do is go through the checkout process here and you will receive an email with a link to download the PDF. (no credit card is required during checkout)

This looks like an amazing resource for anyone looking to educate their kids on the basics of Old Testament. Here’s a brief synopsis of what you get from the book’s description:

This book outlines a reading program which will take you through the history of Israel by reading through the historical books from Genesis to Nehemiah chronologically. Old Testament history is divided into 196 Bible readings (approximately 1 chapter each) along with some suggestions of how to cover the material and keep it interesting. For each reading there is a series of questions to help you focus on the significant details.

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Filed Under: Bible, Core Subjects, History

FREE Animated Science Videos and Curriculum!

August 29, 2023 Leave a Comment

Math Science Nucleus has several FREE resources for homeschooling science!  They are a non-profit organization that is teaching science to kids.  You’ll find all kinds of fun resources like Interactive Storybooks, Lessons, Experiments, Labs, and tons more.

I love the interactive storybooks that teach kids all kinds of science lessons including the moon, electricity, and various cycles including the universe, life cycle, water cycle, and plate tectonics. They’re a fun, visual way to learn and reinforce certain important scientific subjects.

Go here to check out Math Science Nucleus. For more free online Science resources, check out our FREE Science Curriculum Options Resources page!

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Filed Under: Elementary Science, Middle School Science, Science

Under the Home – FREE FULL Elementary Homeschool Curriculum!

August 26, 2023 Leave a Comment

Under the Home is a FREE full K-5 homeschooling curriculum based on the Charlotte-Mason method of learning. This curriculum has all of the core subjects you will want to cover such as reading, phonics, writing, and math, but there are also non-core subjects such as poetry, Shakespeare, and art history to supplement your curriculum!

***Make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Filed Under: Full Curriculum

Understanding Your Child’s Learning Style!

April 29, 2023 Leave a Comment

If conflicts occur with curriculum it may be a wrong fit for your child’s learning style.  Understanding your child’s learning style aids you in teaching effectively and finding the proper materials.

Homeschool Christian

Homeschool Christian presents three basic categories of learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. You will read that most young children are kinesthetic because the visual and auditory skills are underdeveloped. As children get older, you can observe and determine a specific learning style.

Sonlight

Sonlight presents a thorough 33 minute webinar on learning styles. From their website – “Do you and your child clash? Are you concerned about homeschooling because your student is just so different from you? You’re not alone! Each student is different and this can prove challenging to teachers. As a homeschooler, however, you have the unique opportunity to find tools that match your student’s unique learning style.”

Tips for studying

Here you will find tips for studying that are specific for 4 categories of learning styles: Kinesthetic, Visual, Audio, and Other Styles. They have a lot of great ideas that you can implement at home to help your children engage in the learning process.

FamilyEducation

FamilyEducation works to assess your child’s personality so you can use that information to design your homeschool program to suit your child’s strengths. The article is quite detailed and you have to click to continue on to read all 6 sections. It is based on the Myers-Briggs personality typing system, which is widely accepted. “In the Myers-Briggs scheme, there are four basic elements of personality preferences. Each of these preferences is measured on a scale that has two “sides.” Knowing where a person’s tendency resides on each of these scales determines the person’s overall personality type.”

How to Enhance Learning Styles

How to Enhance Learning Styles provides a visual to help you understand how to enhance your children’s learning style.

We hope this helps you better understand your children’s learning styles so you can be better equipped to homeschool your child! Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!

Filed Under: Resources

How To Teach Kids About The Stock Market!

January 28, 2021 Leave a Comment

It wasn’t until my first college finance class that I started to learn a little bit about investing and how the stock market works. Then it wasn’t until my 30s that I implemented some of that knowledge, and added to it, to create a strategy for investing our resources into different companies and ventures.

Now, as parents, we want to give our kids a leg up on where we were at their age and give them the tools that they need to have a basic (and preferably an intermediate) level of knowledge about how different types of investments work. And specifically, how investing in the stock market works.

Here are some resources that you can use for FREE to help your kids have a working knowledge of how the stock market works (click on each title to go directly to the website):

Wealthbase

Join a game and get $100,000 in virtual cash to invest. Pick stocks, ETFs, and cryptos to create your virtual portfolio. Track your performance on the leaderboard! Wealthbase also have a learning center to learn about investing and financial planning strategies to help you build and preserve wealth.

The Stock Market Game

An online simulation of the global capital markets that engages students grades 4-12 in the world of economics, investing and personal finance and that has prepared nearly 20 million students for financially independent futures.

Parents will need to register with the website to create a profile.

Investopedia Stock Market Game

Start with $100,000 in virtual cash and put your trading skills to the test! Compete with thousands of Investopedia traders and trade your way to the top. Join or create challenges with your friends and other investors. Compete to see who has the best investment results daily.

How The Market Works

HowTheMarketWorks is a FREE stock market game that allows users to create their own custom stock game and create educational lessons for their players. It is used by over 400,000 individuals and students each year. Users register for free and receive a virtual $100,000 and access to our Education Center. Users can then create their own custom stock market contest and invite their classmates, friends, family or co-workers to a friendly competition.

Market Watch

If you already have a basic knowledge of how the stock market works and want to put your skills to the test, check out Market Watch! Build your portfolio and react to the markets in real time. Compete against your friends or coworkers to earn your spot at the top of the leaderboards. Market Watch allows you to do virtual advanced trading (like limit and stop loss orders, partial shares, short selling, margin trading, and more!)

Finance and Capital Markets course on Khan Academy

We love lots of the Khan Academy courses! They are completely free and on the topic of stocks and investments they have videos on all the following:

Introduction to stocks
Shorting stock
Understanding company statements and capital structure
Corporate metrics and valuation
Life of a company–from birth to death
Dilution
Mergers and acquisitions
Leveraged buy-outs
Bonds
Corporate bankruptcy
Mutual Funds and ETFs
Retirement Accounts
Hedge funds
and more!

Youtube Playlist on How The Stock Market Works

There are several great video options at the link above for a variety of ages and learning styles.

BusyKid App

It’s not free, but there’s an app called BusyKid App that costs $19.99 per year and allows you to give your kids their allowance through the app. They can spend their money through a (provided) pre-paid debit card and they have the option to use part of their allowance to invest in the stock market and watch their money potentially grow if they invest well.

There are also several books to either check out from your local library or purchase!

Go! Stock! Go!

Go! Stock! Go! employs a cartoon-like “Dr. Seuss” style as it becomes the first truly user friendly book on stock and finance.

A storybook follows the Johnson family as they learn the fundamentals of stocks and bonds, the mechanics of investing, and important lessons on risk and reward. The humorous illustrated story is simple enough for children and teenagers yet is also directed towards adults and kids of all ages.

The book offers an advanced section “Let’s Talk Stock” that provides an added level of knowledge for older readers. While designed with children in mind, this book is sure to become an adult favorite.

The Motley Food Investment Guide for Teens

Budding tycoons and those with more worldly concerns will appreciate The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of by David and Tom Gardner with Selena Maranjian. The editors of the Motley Fool Web site offer sound advice on everything from finding a job, investing in the stock market and avoiding financial pitfalls. “Take It from Me” and “Keep in Mind” sidebars offer brief advice from peers and the authors, respectively. Ages 12-up.

How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000: Earn! Save! Invest!

What are Stocks? Understanding The Stock Market – Finance Book for Kids

Filed Under: Consumer Math, Educational Games

Free Online Government/Elections Resources

October 29, 2020 Leave a Comment

photo government_zpsc3544b82.jpg

Through my husband’s work in local elections, my children gained educational experience in government.  However, I think they need a little refresher and the free resources listed are perfect.  If you are seeking resources to help teach your child about government than look no further.

Ben’s Guide To Government For Kids

Ben’s Guide to Government for Kids provides information and activities designed for educators, parents, and students in K-12 to help teach about our government and how it works. It is an educational site put on by the Government Printing Office, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. You can also download a free activity book for lessons and fun activities.

Election Lapbook

Get everything you need from Homeschool Share for making an informative lapbook about Elections. You wil find printables of the Electoral College map, information on how to register, etc… very nice!

The Constitution For Kids

The Constitution for Kids gives a brief explanation of how the Constitution is the framing document of our country. There are 3 different levels of information and activities: ages K-3, ages 4-7, and ages 8-12. While this website is lacking in bells and whistles, it to has links for a student studying the Constitution and why it matters to each and every American.

Kids In The House

Kids in the House is designed to give children an idea of what the Legislative Branch of government is all about. There is also a section of teaching resources for your lessons. It’s not quite as entertaining as School House Rock, but you could always add that on a rainy day!

Congress For Kids

Congress for Kids has info on all parts of the Federal Government. “Congress for Kids gives you access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help you learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you.” For my family, this site could easily be a semester’s worth (or more!) of lessons just by itself.

The Oklahoma Homeschool Website

The Oklahoma Homeschool website has several unit study plans available to homeschool families. One of them is a 12-week study of American Government. The President & Elections lesson plan lists the current president as George Bush, so you will want to change that part of the lesson plan to make it accurate and current. There are  many ideas you can use from the lesson pages as independent lessons if you don’t want to make a unit study of this topic.

National Mock Election

Visit National Mock Election and see the vast collection of information on the voting process, why it matters to the future of our country, and how to get involved. A mock election is held and you are one of the candidates. It’s a great, hands on way to get involved in the process.

The CIA

If your kids are like my kids, they will LOVE the kids pages by the CIA. What better way to get kids to practice analytical skills and memory/concentration than with a game! I have to admit that I really like these kind of games. Break the Code is really fun, even for me! I have been known to leave my kids notes in a secret code, just for a little excitement. Try it!

Filed Under: Government

FREE Homeschool Planning Resources

April 22, 2020 Leave a Comment


Peace of mind and organization live side by side in the homeschool world. Goals are important but easily lost if not written down and followed.  Through the years I have flip-flopped between not keeping track of anything to having a daily checklist.  Despite my wishy-washy organizational skills, my children thrived.  However, during the years with no planning, I grew frustrated.  Take my advice and give planning the ole college try.  I suggest trying a free planner before buying an expensive one that may not fit your needs.  You have nothing to lose!

Five J’s

Joy over at Five J’s has several helpful resources for planning out your year. Here are a Weekly Assignment Planner and a gradebook for free download. You’ll definitely want to print out anything that Joy made herself – she is an excellent graphic designer!!

Homeschool Skedtrack

Homeschool Skedtrack is a free online lesson planner, scheduler, and tracking system rolled into one. One of the main features is their automated scheduling of activities. If you miss an activity, Skedtrack frees you from the headache of rescheduling everything. I think this is something worth paying for, but it is FREE! It meets so many needs in one place. You can keep track of high school transcripts, courses, grades (by automated calculations!) and so many other things. You really need to check it out if online planning is for you.

Donna Young

Donna Young doesn’t just give you printable forms, she has numerous tips and advice on how to plan, how to use a planner, and how to assemble her free planner pages to make it useful to you. I have mentioned DonnaYoung.org several times now in this series of How to Homeschool for Free. This site has an incredible array of forms and other necessary things for the home school family. I love Donna Young! I use it all the time, year-round for more than my homeschool needs.

Highland Heritage HomeSchool

Highland Heritage HomeSchool has two sections where you can find planning forms. The first is the teacher planning section. It has schedules, calendars, attendance, grade logs, report cards, conference records, co-op planners, lap book rubrics, and many more things for your planner. Print the ones you will use and leave the rest. The second section you will find useful is the Student Portfolio forms. It has checklists of things you can plan to assess and record in the student folders. I also found a student self-evaluation form that I think I might use for my kids.

The Homeschool Mom

The Homeschool Mom is a go-to for any homeschooling mom for advice and help. The planning pages are thoroughly comprised and will meet the needs of many home school moms. It is free for personal use. Weekly planner and menu planner pages include FlyLady compatible weekly and menu planner pages, Calendars, High School Course Planner, Chore chart, Weekly Planner page for use with Weekly Assignment page, or Unschooling Record Keeper, Assignment Sheet, Reading List, and several more choices for your planning pleasure.

New Beginnings

New Beginnings has a free curriculum planner. The moms here will show you 7 steps to customizing your planner to suit your needs. It includes Lesson Plan Pages for ALL your children, Calendars, Attendance Charts, Class Schedule, and Teacher Schedule. Again, print the things you need and don’t bother with the rest. I like how the moms here don’t make you feel like you have to do it their way. Personalization is important and they tell you how to do it and make it work for you.

Homeschool Tracker

Homeschool Tracker is Microsoft Windows-based planning and organizing software designed to track your lesson planning and records. It allows you to keep track of field trips, grades, assignments, and attendance. You can even generate report cards and a few more things. Their Homeschool Tracker Basic Edition is free, and they offer more advanced options with reasonably priced membership at $8 per month, or $65 annually. It will not work on Mac computers unless you have Windows Parallel.

Happy Planning!

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Filed Under: Resources

Disney Will Teach You How To Create Your Own Theme Park!

April 7, 2020 Leave a Comment

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Disney has an entire course on Khan Academy that teaches you how artists, designers and engineers work together to create theme parks. Go behind the scenes with Disney Imagineers and complete project-based exercises to design a theme park of your very own with Imagineering In A Box!

Lesson 1: Build your own world

This lesson addresses the question: where do you want to go? It introduces the idea of experiential storytelling and the difference between an amusement park and a theme park. We’ll explore how storytelling and theme impact every decision made in the design of a land and how they engage all senses.

You’ll walk out of this lesson with a theme and high concept for a land of your own design along with a mood board and map that conveys the land.

Lesson 2: Build your own attractions

This lesson addresses the question: what do you want to do in your themed land? It introduces students to the range of possible attractions within a themed land with a focus on dark rides. It exposes the importance of theme and storytelling in attractions in general. Following the creative development process at Walt Disney Imagineering, students envision and design their own dark ride. This includes both the artistic (beat sheets, models) and engineering (throughput, footprint) aspects of ride design.

You’ll walk out of this lesson with a beat sheet (bullet point summary), a digital layout and a physical model of your attraction.

Lesson 3: Build your own character

This lesson addresses the question: who do you want to meet in your land or attraction? (Who lives there?) The lesson introduces a variety of ways that Walt Disney Imagineering brings characters to life and explores the process of character development through character sheets, performance, costume design, armatures, actuation and control (with a focus on animatronics).

You’ll walk out of this lesson with a character sheet, a costume, a simple physical armature design and a digital actuated armature.

Click here to get started!

Filed Under: Computers & Technology, Core Subjects, Electives, Engineering, Freebies, Science, Videos

Greek Tales for Kids – Free Animated Videos that Teach Kids Greek Mythology!

March 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

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This is a super fun series that’s FREE for Amazon Prime members! Each of the six seasons has five episodes of famous Greek myths, like Pandora’s Box, as well as some of the lesser known stories, like the Augean Stables. These fantastic tales have been told for thousands of years, and now your family can enjoy them in this easy to follow series, full of monsters, magic, and adventure.

Head over to Amazon here to watch the series!

And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!

Filed Under: Classic Literature, Freebies, Videos

KID Shows Now FREE To Stream on Amazon!! {PBS Kids, Preschool, Elementary, + Family Movies!}

March 23, 2020 Leave a Comment

Anyone else going a little bit crazy with kids at home ALL day EVERY day?

Even those of us who homeschool all year are going crazy because home school does NOT equal being at home all the time. In fact, we joke all the time about how how “home”school is hardly ever actually at home.

Lots of companies are jumping on board with things to help kids pass the time AND continue learning.

Amazon just announced that they will be releasing several FREE titles for kids and all their PBS Kids shows to watch for FREE! You don’t even need an Amazon Prime membership to watch!

Here’s a list of some of the shows that are now available here. Please keep in mind that we always recommend reading reviews on Amazon or Plugged In if you have a concern about a show or a movie.

Preschool:

  • If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
  • Pete The Cat

Elementary:

  • Lost In Oz
  • The Snowy Day

PBS Kids:

CyberChase

  • Design Squad
  • Odd Squad
  • Wild Krats
  • Reading Rainbow

Family Movies:

  • Megamind
  • Max
  • Opposite Day

Just click here to access all the movies!

Filed Under: Freebies
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