Watch Know Learn ***

Watch know learn is a sight that has organized some educational videos. This sight is useful if you have a specific topic you are looking for and want to find a video that goes along with that specific topic.

Additionally, it allows you create a free account to save and load videos you find for your classroom. Also, users rate the videos which help you save time rather than watching a video that is less than desirable.

However, one drawback is it redirects you. So if the site you are being redirected to has commercials you will see them. If you are like me and have a trusty ad blocker, so we don’t get any unexpected suprises, you will run into problems as some videos won’t allow you to watch them, till you watch said advertisement.

Check it out here.

Enjoy!

Free All-in-one Online Homeschool

Homeschools can look like various things to different families. Additionally, the requirements can vary by country, state, etc.  I am not going to rate these sites I am sharing with you below, partly, because I haven’t tried all of them and partly because just because it isn’t our style doesn’t mean it won’t be a great option for some.

However, I remember when I first started to homeschool I would have loved to see a collected list of all the different sites that are an ‘all-in-one’ kind of online homeschool option. Plus the fact that they are free is worth sharing!

Moby Max

This site offers curriculum for K-8. It claims to cover every subject and helps find gaps in students’ education. There are games and rewards to motivate and encourage learning. One feature with this is as a homeschooler parents need to sign up for a teacher account. Here is a video that gives a short tutorial to give you an idea. This site is fully online and also can be used on an iPad.

Easy Peasy

This site is very basic and claims to cover grades PreK (Getting Ready) -Highschool. This site is not fully online at times you will need to either print or copy things on paper, and other materials. There are some options to purchase preprinted stuff you can find here. (aff link) However, it’s not necessary. They also refer you to their sister site for Highschool; All-In-One Highschool. Here is a video of how Easy Peasy works.

Discovery K12

This site is more rigid in design because it is pre-done and does not allow for much change in their curriculum layout. Also, they have a start date so starting later would mean your student is behind.  It covers grades PreK-Highschool. While this site is 100% free for students it does offer “upgrades” in the teacher accounts. You can view a sample account for a seventh-grade student here.

A few other options:

• CK-12 (here is a YouTube video to give you an idea about this site)
• Ambleside Online
• Old Fashioned Education
• Free Homeschool Curriculum

 

Did I miss one that you have tried or heard about? Please share it below.

Enjoy!

Homeschool Share *****

I love, love, love lapbooks! If you have never heard of them you have been missing out till now! Lapbooks are basically unit studies that you put in a file folder. There are all kinds of pockets and things that go in the lapbook.

Additionally, there us usually a good amount of cutting and pasting; the worst part for my son. But I usually help him with that because the point of the lapbook is not the cutting and pasting, it’s the fun and learning!

There is one site that I think is superior, when it comes to lapbooks for two reasons: The quality of the lapbooks are great even though they are free and they have a huge selection.

Check it out here. Notice they are in alphabetical order and they have pages and pages of them. There are some on different units like the cooking one in the picture above. ( If you want a link to that specific one you can find it here.) They also have one on countries and different geographical places. Additionally, they have some on books. There really are tons.

Don’t find one you are looking for? No problem make your own lapbook. They have tons of templates! These ones you can type on. Plus there are more that you can write on here.

They also have an area broken down by grade and after you click on the grade level they organize them in groups like literature based, games, Lapbooks, and more; if the opportunity is a possibility, they organize it. You can check out that section here.  These people speak my love language…organization!

If I may add my two cents in suggestions:

• Cut them out ahead of time and organize them for the kiddos, especially the first one. Sometimes all the cutting takes away from the fun of it.
• Spend the money and get manila folders.This is a great price right now at $8.89. I buy them in bulk and stock up when they are on sale. Manila File Folder (aff link)
• Also, cardstock is easier to work with and will last better in the long run. This is a great price on cardstock (aff link) as well for $9.75. It is comparable to Walmarts cardstock they have typically on their shelves. Don’t go cheap and get the thinner cardstock; in my opinion, you might as well use paper.
• Make sure to read ahead. If you’re like me and try to go last minute with things, your kiddos may be disappointed if they have to wait till you go to the store or library. 🙂

Enjoy!

For those who already do lapbooks…What are some of your favorite lapbook sites?

DLTK’s Growing Together ***

This is another site I used when my kiddos were little. I think it is closely related if not from the same creators of the KidZone site, I shared yesterday. They actually have a lot of worksheets linked to each other but some different.

This is the same simple format. You can check them out here.

The reason I am sharing this with you is I love their Tracer Pages. They also have a cute template for writing checks here. Oh, they also have an okay selection of mini printable books here.

It’s worth checking out and seeing what other things you may find useful. You can’t beat free:)

Enjoy!

 

Kidzone ***

When my kids were little I found a great site with free printables for Pre-K. If I was rating this site on only the PreK-K stuff I would give it a solid **** but I am rating the overall site.

So the site has free printable worksheets; which is always a plus! They claim to cover worksheets for Pre-K to 5th grade.

You can check out their whole site here.

But if you want to skip to the good stuff, my favorite is the  Itsy Bitsy Books. They are a bit tricky to put together the first time but after you figure that part out they are awesome! My son loved them when he was little. The are simple enough kiddos can memorize them and learn the letter sounds at the same time.

We were also a fan of the pre-printing pages.

One thing you will notice is the pages are very simple so if you have one that is distracted by all the other things on the page these are perfect. However, my kiddos found them to be a bit boring. The have a range of subjects including Math, Science, Language Arts, History, and more. Personally, we only used them for Pre-K through K stuff in the Language arts section because I thought the other sections were too simplified.

However, check them out and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Teach Your Monster To Read ****

If your stumped and looking for a freebie to help your kiddo with reading. This is a good one that is free. We now use a paid version from another company; I will tell you more about tomorrow but this is where we started.

It covers the basics of sounding out letters and moves kiddos up to blends in a fun interactive game for kiddos. Warning, we were in a hurry to try this freebie and we didn’t pay attention to the game rules and suggestions. My girls ended up hoping there would be a point that told them they were done for the day and kept playing and playing and playing. The eventually burnt them out on it after a while. There is a spot where you save your progress.

If you want to find out more specifics, go here and check our what each level covers. They also have some demos you can try out before you sign up and you can find them here. If you already know that is what you would like to get here is their home page.

It’s FREE online!

Enjoy!

 

Grammarly ****

So as I mentioned in the post yesterday I am going to share with you Grammarly.

I do love Grammarly. We only use their Free Version. It has been a life saver for my kiddo and me too! I am not the best at spelling and grammar, as you may have already noticed. Grammarly is like a spelling and grammar checker you can take with you to a lot of places on the internet. I use the Google Chrome extension.

However, I give it only **** because it doesn’t catch everything but it does come very close and better than spell checker on Word.  Also, because they have a premium account but I understand, they wanna make money too but the premium is pricey.

So without further ado… Grammarly. ( I do want to note this is a referral link and if you sign up for your free account, it will allow me to have a week of the premium account.)

Enjoy!

Google Docs *****

We love google docs. My son is not especially fond of writing, even though he is a great writer. My daughter is not very good at spelling, but she loves to write. I was desperately searching for a way that would work for them both.

You may hear me talk from time to time about my daughter having dyslexia. That was part of the reason the school system was failing her but that is for another time.  But Google docs helped me, help her.

First, I should probably tell you what Google Docs is… Well, simply put Google docs is Google’s version of Microsoft Word Suite, but different and in some aspects a cooler. It has a version of Word (docs), Powerpoint(slides), and Excel (sheets).

One of the things that I love the most about google docs is multiple users can work on the same sheet at the same time. That is how I got my son to actually write. He and his friends started writing Minecraft stories online together. Sometimes, they would write the same story and sometimes, they would edit each other’s stories.

My daughter also got interested in it too!  She and a friend would write poems, short stories, and she even created her own little magazine.

They have a great editor view; that allows me to make corrections but not change it until she sees it. Remember all those red marks on our rough drafts in English class? Yeah, that’s editor mode.  Plus it saves on paper!!!! Like I need any more paper piles in my house…no thank you!

On a side note, we discovered a free grammar editing program that we use with google docs too. I will write about tomorrow and share with you but that helped her tremendously with spelling and grammar. ( And me too!)

Even more than that, though, I have used the sheets to share a budget with my husband. Create a game plan for my school year. Also, I have used it for power point presentations! It’s a keeper!

You can check it out here.

Enjoy!