Wondermints.

Book review: Legendary Learning

2012-01-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this on the new book shelf at the library last week.

Legendary Learning : the Famous homeschoolers guide to self directed excellence by Jamie Mc Millan

This book explores self led learning in the education and lives of numerous 'famous' homeschoolers. It delves into the similarities and common factors in how these people learned, which in turn is explored in further depth with practical advice on how it's possible to achieve similar styles of learning.

It touches on a large realm of general homeschooling information, styles, well known techniques etc but leads always back to self led learning.

>From the back of book:

You will discover how to

Unleash your child's unique creative genius and power
Cultivate passion and determination
Allow your child to direct his or her own learning
Create an authnetic atmosphere of leanring
Live the habits of success

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, I thought it would be a bank of cliche but I think there are some really nicely written ideas here. Of course it sits close to my own philosophy, but I think there is something here for all homeschoolers....especially those with an unschooling bent or those starting out and unsure of just how informal/formal they wish to make their vision.

Periodic table of Videos

2012-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

Exactly as the title says this site is a periodic table of videos! One video per element. Super.

Watch some science right here

American Museum of Natural History 'Ology' sites

2012-01-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

Super range of 'ology sites' with so many learning opportunities your brain might burst! Choose which site you wish to visit from the index to the top left of the screen linked below. Marine biology, genetics, paleontology, expeditions and horses amongst others. Cool features include cards to collect on your learning journey.

Go pick an 'ology' to study

Nobel Prize medical science games

2012-01-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

Nobel prize site has a collection of medical science based games including
1. The Blood Typing Game
2. The Laser Challenge Game
3. The DNA - the Double Helix Game
4. The Pavlov's Dog Game
5. The Diabetic Dog Game
6. The Lord of the Flies Game
7. The Electrocardiogram Game
8. The Immune System Game
9. The Control of the Cell Cycle Game
10. The Split Brain Experiments Game

Want to go play?

Sixty Symbols

2012-01-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

Really interesting site with sixty videos describing sixty physics and astronomy symbols. Sounds odd....but is intriguing.

Watch and learn here

BBC Interactive History games

2012-01-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Though my family aren't much into games some of these look like they could really capture our attention.
From the Ancient History section to give you an idea of what is there

Anglo-Saxon Coins - Try your hand at identifying six coins from the era
CDX - Follow Adam Foster into a world of cults, corporate conspiracy and murder
Death in Rome - You have until dawn to gather evidence and catch a killer
Gladiator: Dressed to Kill Game - Prepare a gladiator for battle in the arena of death
Iron Age Life - Acquire the skills to keep warm, fed and clothed
Mummy Maker - Prepare the body of Ramose, officer to the king, for burial
Pyramid Challenge - Complete the construction of the pharaoh's tomb
Viking Quest - Build a ship, loot a monastery and claim your prize

Go play some history here!

Indianapolis Children's Museum free units

2012-01-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

This site has some really neat units, mostly aimed at primary to middle school. there are units on Anne Frank, Dinosaurs, LEGO Castle and a National Geographic based treasures of the earth unit. Heaps more to pick from too.

Pick a new project here

PACTISS – Philosophers and Critical Thinkers in Senior Schools

2012-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

The PACTISS site has a mega lot of free resources for critical and creative thinking and philosophy. Aimed at highschoolers but there are interesting bits and bobs for all ages.

Learn more

Literature Based Themes

2012-01-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Superb pages for further study into thousands of books. All books are linked to free and paid study guides and other resources. Books for all levels and interests.

Go right there

HOWTOONS

2012-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Coolest site with Howtoons...cartoons for making! You can print the comic page instructions as pdfs....fun stuff like a cd hovercraft, a pneumatic arm, soda bottle submarine or a turkey baster flute.

Go here and get making!

'How to' History videos

2012-01-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

Neat pages with 'how to' videos of historical practises and crafts. very informative, fun and will likely inspire creative projects.

Watch and learn here

Paper Snowflakes

2012-01-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Ready for something crafty? Paper snowflakes has literally hundreds of templates for cutting the most amazing snowflakes. Some of the are based on animals!

Click here to get cutting!

Interactive online units

2012-01-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

Core plus has a series of small 'unit's available online with information, games, activities etc for a range of topics including Civil War, Common elements, Explorers of the new world, Simple machines, Thinkers and philosophers and Spanish phrases.

Try something new now!

Scholastic Study Jams

2012-01-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

Super fun for maths and science...big range of topics. Some topics have short videos and self testing quizes but the coolest bit is the karaoke songs attached to some clips.Enjoy!

Sing along here!

The Legacy Project

2012-01-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

This is a great site for social studies type learning. Divided into three main branches the site has activities, guides, free ebooks etc for Across the generations...bringing generations/communities closer, Lifedreams...goal setting, dreaming and Our World...sustainability, ecology, living. You could spend hours here....some very thoughtful ideas and projects.

Explore more here

Free high school science and math texts

2012-01-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

FHSST stands for free high school science texts and that is exactly what they provide here! Aimed at Grade 10-12 covering mathemeatics and physical sciences.
Grab your free books here

MOMA audio for kids

2012-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

The Museum of Modern art site has 36 neat art floortalks (as audio) on well known artworks. These are specifically aimed at kids.

Listen and learn here!

Book review: Why Pi?

2012-01-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

Why Pi? by Johnny Ball is one of a superb series of maths books by the author. Full colour and packed with great graphics this is totally inspiring math at it's best! Loaded with puzzles, mindbenders, historical and practical information. This book concentrates it's attention around measurement.

Grab a closer look here

Book review: See inside Inventions

2012-01-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Another book in Usborne's 'See Inside' format, hardcover thick board pages with lift the flap feature.
This book covers Inventions, see insidefor the workings, and the differences between discoveries, inventions and innovations. A fun, brief introduction to Inventions for primary ages.

More details here

Book review: 50 amazing things kids need to know about maths

2012-01-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for some fun maths and science reading, these books are it! Hardcover just smaller than A4 format, they are chocca full of ideas, activities/experiments and information. Aligned to the UK curriculum for 7-11 year olds. If you have to choose one go for the maths. Bargain!

More info here!

Book review: Mathematicians are People, too

2012-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Mathematicians are people, too is recommended reading for the Living Math curriculum.
There are two volumes and both are written by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer.
The books are 140ish pages long and tell stories of the lives of famous Mathematicians and scientists.

Written as read aloud books for teachers in the classroom, they adapt really well to reading alone or outloud at home. The books each ahev teacher information, a glossary of terms and good resource lists.
The first volume covers amongst others, Thales, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and Germain, the second book Euclid, Descartes, Einstein and Agnesi. There are around 15 stories per book.

Many of the stories are inspiring, and give a historical background to how,when and why various discoveries were made. Particular attention has been given to the inclusion of many deserving women mathematicians, which is handy if you are encouraging girls in math!

For further information click here

HHMI medical science resources

2012-01-18T21:11:00.001-08:00

This link is to Howard Hughes Medical Institutes catalogue. There are many
educational resources here for download and a range of dvds you can order. If
you are outside the US, which all of you are, you need to apply for these in
writing.
They are higher level materials, but Luka (10) in particular has been glued to
them! Great for any science or medicine interested bods!

Click to visit HHMI resource catalogue

Pulse of the Planet

2012-01-18T21:07:00.001-08:00

Each weekday, the Pulse of the Planet radio series provides its listeners with a
two-minute sound portrait of Planet Earth, tracking the rhythms of nature,
culture and science worldwide, blending interviews with extraordinary natural
sound.
Cool site...2min audio clips daily about different areas of science, culture
etc.

Click here for Pulse of the Planet

Meet the Masters art curriculum FREE!

2012-01-18T21:04:00.001-08:00

Art/ art history curriculum directed at k-5 but could easily stretch further. This is a direct link to the pdf. 247pages.

Click for direct link to pdf file

History Cook book

2012-01-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

Neat, neat site with recipes for each time period from prehistoric to post war. Accompanying info, podcasts, health facts etc too.

take me to the cookbook!

Evolution living book list

2012-01-18T20:47:00.001-08:00

This a is a good list of current/recent evolution titles including some really fun books we have used recently (reviews to come shortly!) The site itself has some cute resources for primary/middle school for sale too.

Booklist pdf here

Fun math project!

2012-01-18T20:22:00.001-08:00

Fun math project with slide together geometric shapes...a bit fiddly but the resulting shapes look great!

Let's hit the site!

From Stargazers to Starships

2012-01-18T20:01:00.001-08:00

Online self-contained astronomy course aimed at highschool, rich in history.

Click here to learn more!

My Science Box

2012-01-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

My Science Box has a curriculum free aimed at middle school science.

From site:

At My Science Box you'll find complete, scaffolded lesson plans to teach a 4-6 week middle school science unit through activities, projects, and field trips. Every lesson has been kid-tested. Create a printable version of any lesson plan or even a whole teaching box by clicking the "printer friendly version" button at the bottom of any page.

Click here for My Science box

Actuarial Foundation math resources

2012-01-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

This site has several series of free downloadable math resources for grades 3-12. Really neat stuff....interesting ideas and 'real life' applications.
Let's get some free books!

Students Friend History and geography

2012-01-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

Another comprehensive free history/geography curriculum online. All resources are here including the text Concise World History. Fantastic site!

Go directly to Students friend

History on the net

2012-01-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

History on the net is a site dedicated to history resources for all ages. they sell a huge range of resources including their own workbooks but have a good selection of printables available free of charge also. this links to Bailey's favourite topic right now The Tudors but have a good look around for loads more goodies.

Click for History on the net

Dorling Kindersley online books

2012-01-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

This link is to two sites that accompany the Childrens Encyclopedia and the Big Science Ideas books. These are fabulous resources whether you have the books or not!

Have a closer look here

A Book in Time

2012-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

Awesome history book lists and crafts to match! A must see for all living book fans.

Click here for crafty ideas!

Mosaic Myths, Maps and Marvels history

2012-01-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Free introduction to world history curriculum, suit primary to middle school. there is also an free intro to timelines unit here!

Curriculum downloads here

History teachers music videos

2012-01-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

Quick bookmark this fab Youtube channel. Coolest history songs written to modern/current tunes. Great videos...humour and fact rolled together. If you love Horrible Histories this will be right up your alley so to speak. our favourite...Black Death.

Let's go sing some history!

Zoom Into video series

2012-01-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

Super fascinating video series...zoom into a tooth, or a leaf, a hair or an eye. This link is to the tooth video but the index of the series is to the right of screen.
ENJOY!

Watch zoom in videos here

E-themes

2012-01-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

A must have site for your bookmarks, this site will save you loads of time and effort especially if you lapbook or use units.
Searchable by grade, subject or topic this is a huge bank of themed links/pages. There are other handy features of the site too including a calendar which links to activities for each day.

Check out themes here

Love bones?

2012-01-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

This is a really nice site on skeletons! Great for comparative anatomy, the site is image heavy and user friendly. Has printable skeletons and other resources too.

Skeletons here!

Magic of a million book

2012-01-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

Fun book by David Scwartz available free from his website. Magic of a million has hands on activities and handouts for large numbers.

Magic of a Million pdfs here

Pixel of Ink

2012-01-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

The best way I've found to find free ebooks is to sign up to Pixel of Ink's daily emails, or facebook them if you are on there. They have a separate youth site also featuring kids and teen books. If you see something you like grab it immediately! Some books are only free for a matter of hours.

Grab your free books here!

Dan Meyer Algebra

2012-01-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

Dan Meyer who was made famous by his TED talk, Math class needs a makeover, has made his entire 38 week algebra curriculum available free here. This includes pdfs, handouts, keynotes and powerpoints.

Go right there

Dan Meyer Geometry

2012-01-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

Dan Meyer who was made famous by his TED talk, Math class needs a makeover has made his entire 38 week geometry curriculum available free here. This includes pdfs, handouts, keynotes and powerpoints.

Click to go there!

G Major Music Theory

2012-01-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

Free music theory workbooks and activities here!
Workbooks available here

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

2012-01-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Free ebook copy of E. Nesbit's Beautiful stories from Shakespeare
Grab your copy here

ACS Middle School Chemistry

2012-01-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

ACS complete Middle school chemistry curriculum FREE! Great ebook as a pdf contains all information, lessons etc. A fantastic free find.
Grab a closer look !

You are there !

2012-01-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

Audio stories of famous world events in 'old time' radio style! A fun way to introduce historical happenings. Perfect for rainy day listening.

Stories include : the Fall of Troy, Columbus Discovers America, the Alamo, the death of Socrates and The Surrender of Sitting Bull.

Happy listening click here!

Dick Blick art lessons

2012-01-18T17:52:00.000-08:00

Dick Blick US art supply store has a massive set of lesson plans for all art media searchable by grade, disicpline or media. Great images and video. Superb!

Click for more inspiration!

Khan Academy

2012-01-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

Watch. Practice.

Learn almost anything for free.

With a library of over 2,700 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 276 practice exercises, we're on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.

Click to see more

Books should be free

2012-01-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

Free open source audiobooks!

Audiobooks here

Art through Time

2012-01-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

Super art history course from Annenberg Learner. Complete guides/text and video!

Click for more information

Nanowrimo Young Novelist Workbooks

2012-01-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

From the creators of nanowrimo...national novel writing month come these three writing workbooks for up and coming novellists. These are really well written and conceived and really fun too.
I love the philosophy behind the scheme anyway and recommend these books and novel writing month.

Workbook pdfs here

Ellen McHenry's Basement

2012-01-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

One the coolest free resource sites around, Ellen McHenry places a large chunk of her resources here for free. there are some super fun ideas....a periodic table pillowcase, a 'brain' hat, games, flip books etc to print and make up. She sells a few amazing curriculums here too...Botany, Chemistry etc.

Visit here!

Annenberg Learner

2012-01-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

Annenberg learner site is an amazing tome of free resources both for students and teachers. There are free workshops and courses for learners and teachers in a range of topics. Some courses are available entirely feree including video/printable media etc.

Browse courses here

Paper models of Polyhedra

2012-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

Cool site with printable templates for making a huge range of polyhedra. great for crafty maths!

Math away here

Fossweb science

2012-01-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Fossweb science offers great science units for K-8. they are comprehensive and contain superb workbooks, all teacher resources, video etc etc etc. Highly recommended!
Super science here

NEOK12

2012-01-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

Neok12 is a site with video concentrated learning for kids in all grades. Most topics have quizzes or other games and activities to reinforce the video information. Super place to let the kids loose for a while!

Have fun watching here

Hippocampus

2012-01-18T15:36:00.000-08:00

Free online courses for middle, high schoolers and adults in math, science, and social sciences. Tied to US curriculum and using video and interactives to provide learning opportunities. An NROC powered site.

Click here for more

GCF Learn Free

2012-01-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

GCF of Goodwill Community Foundation is the provider of numerous online free courses, in the areas (loosely) of computers, math and reading. These could be useful for high schoolers or adults, and are current in content. Some courses available as apps for learning on the go.

Click here to learn more

Living Math

2012-01-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

Our favourite current maths site! Living math is described onsite as being

dedicated to sharing resources for learning, exploring and enjoying math in a dynamic and holistic manner, for all ages.

This suits our family perfectly and we are making extensive use of the booklists available for free download....buying some of the books (reviews shortly!) and borrowing more from the library. The site also has some super articles, links etc. and a paid curriculm if you like that approach.
The books explore all areas of mathematics through living books, classics etc and exploit the huge links between math and science.

Live some math here

Illuminations Math

2012-01-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

Illuminations is a great site full of math lessons and activities for all ages. It is not a 'game' site but more a site full of tools to explore math concepts.

Check it out here

World History for us All

2012-01-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is an extremely comprehensive free history curriculum, it appears 'daunting' at first glance but has some very good units and would provide a great secular 'core' for world history.

Learn more here

Free World U

2012-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Free World U is an online curriculum, entirely free for Prek-12. It is an online flash card based system, which works by asking questions and repeating those answered incorrectly. It is touted as being a complete curriculum, however I think the free version is lacking in depth, originality and content.
I'm putting it up as a wondermint though as the girls really like it, and it could be a great add on to other projects or curricula.

See more here

TTMS Writing

2012-01-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is a great site that is deceptive when first viewed. The resources are pdfs and the site gives little hint to how well constructed they are. There are all sorts of printables for all grades, all styles, all teaching philosophies here....some great posters, graphic organsiers etc. Well worth a good poke around!

Get writing here!

HCUSA

2012-01-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

Homeschool College USA is a beta testing site with free 'courses' for high schoolers.

From the site:
Homeschool College USA is designed for homeschooling high school students who would like to tailor their courses toward using college-level exams to earn college credits while completing their high school studies.

Topics cover all 'standard subjects' plus several interesting electives such as critical thinking, ethics, writing, sociology and photography.

Learn more here

SchoolArts digital magazine

2012-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

Need art ideas? this is the magazine for you then. Free online art magazine, with so many fabulous ideas for all age groups. This is available also as a print magazine, but is free online including from this link a back issues tab. Fantastic.

Feb 2012 issue plus back issues here

PHYLO

2012-01-18T14:39:00.000-08:00

Phylo is the most amazing free science card trading game.The cards are exquisitely illustrated and very educational. It is a must see site!

From the site: What is phylo?
Well, it’s an online initiative aimed at creating a Pokemon card type resource but with real creatures on display in full “artistic” wonder. Not only that – but we plan to have the scientific community weigh in to determine the content on such cards, as well as folks who love gaming to try and design interesting ways to use the cards. Then to top it all off, members of the teacher community will participate to see whether these cards have educational merit. Best of all, the hope is that this will all occur in a non-commercial-open-access-open-source-because-basically-this-is-good-for-you-your-children-and-your-planet sort of way.

Learn to play here!

NGA Scoop artist guides

2012-01-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

Free mini guides to over 30 artists from washington D.C's National Gallery of Art. They contain images, information, activities and further links.

Artist guides here

Teachers Pet

2012-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

This UK based site is chocca with free printable resources for primary school, in all subjects. Super cute and clear.
Cute printables here

Free printable periodic tables

2012-01-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

Tierney found these nice clear periodic tables to print free. there is one with pictures for younger or more visual learners which is great! Also here atomic orbitals and particles charts.

Print them right here

A paper plate education

2012-01-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Neat site with activities for several math/science topics all using the humble paper plate!

Check it out here!

Scout Merit Badge workbooks

2012-01-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Wiki carries several pages relating to US scout movement which include a raft of resources in a reasonable range of topics. These are all free to read and download.

http://www.meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Merit_Badge_Worksheets

Free historical boardgames

2012-01-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

Garry Stevens offers his history boardgames here free as printable files. These include games featuring •Henry VIII• Bloody Mary• Mesopotamia• Richard III.
Making history fun for the whole family!

http://www.archsoc.com/games/getgames.html

David Albert

2012-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

David Albert is a homeschooling father and an author of several of my favourite friendly homeschooling books including And the skylark sings with me, Homeschooling and the voyage of self discovery and Have fun. learn stuff. Grow. His website contains many a gem including his essays, book lists and community building advice.

http://www.skylarksings.com/topics/

JASON Project

2012-01-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Jason project is one of the most amazing free curriculum sites I've ever seen. It is comprehensive, living, and allows access to professional scientists...free!
Topics are

All resources are online and downloadable. There are live classes, contests and field trips (not applicable to NZ lol) also.

http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/jason.aspx

Gnarly English newsletter

2012-01-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

This link is to the free to your inbox newsletter with a wealth of literature/literacy topics in a 'newspsper' format. Always interesting and informative for kids and adults alike.

From this link you can buy the entire back catalogue of Gnarly Maths newsletters for a bargain price. A fantastic living math resource!

http://www.gnarlymath.com/news/gnews1_1.html

Comic book classics

2012-01-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Sweet page with vintage comic book versions of Classic books, such as Les Miserables, Moby Dick, Great Expectations, The Iliad and Huckleberry Finn.

http://www.tkinter.smig.net/ClassicsIllustrated/index.htm

Word Play Cafe book

2012-01-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

This is available free from the authors website. It contains a great range of really fun activities for linguistics for kids.

http://dogfoose.com/wordplay-cafe/