Our Top Ten Favorite Homeschooling Websites
Over the 14 years that we've been homeschooling, we've seen some pretty terrific websites created by some pretty terrific people. Many of you will be familiar with our list of Top Ten Favorites because you've been hanging out here for so long. Thank you! But for those of you who may be unfamiliar with at least some of these sites, I hope they inspire and encourage you as they have us.
10. The Well-Trained Mind Forums I've been using The Well-Trained Mind forums since their inception (we had dial-up, and the forum was long lists of posts back then) and I am indebted to the thousands of homeschoolers who have posted there on every possible subject related to educating children at home. When I have a question about a curriculum or grade level or website, The Well-Trained Mind Forum is the first place I go. I also buy and sell curriculum successfully on the sale and swap boards.
9. Schoolhouse Teachers Now, I know that when you click over to Schoolhouse Teachers and see ahem- me- as the spokesperson, you're going to think, "Well, of course she listed this site as a top ten favorite!" But actually, no. I'm super excited about all Schoolhouse Teachers has to offer and so I actually volunteered for that position. No kidding! Watch the promo video (egads) and then look around- it's an amazing resource for classes and lessons and activities to keep our kids really engaged in learning, and it's turning my own homeschool planning for next year completely upside-down. I'll be using Schoolhouse Teachers daily.
8. Homeschool Creations There has always been a preschooler in this house, and so there is always a need for preschool activities. Jolanthe's FREE preschool printables are charming and useful. Plus, I recently had the delight of meeting Jolanthe and our funny conversation about orange t-shirts and bare shoulders make me happy to return to her site just to smile.
7. Homeschool Share Unit studies, Five-in-a-Row resources, lapbooks... and all for FREE! I love Homeschool Share. We've done lapbooks on sea creatures and kitchen safety and reptiles. I'm not an artistic or crafty mom, so I really appreciate when someone (or in this case, someones) do the legwork for me.
6. Heart of the Matter Over the years, Heart of the Matter has provided me with a whole lot of encouragement. I appreciate the authors' authenticity- their willingness to be real and share the struggles of this homeschooling life as well as the triumphs. There's a lot to be gleaned when we stay in community with one another and learn from each others' mistakes. You can add Heart of the Matter to your reader via RSS.
5. Timberdoodle Back in the very beginning of our homeschool journey, back when it was just the oldest three, Timberdoodle was there. We have seriously loved everything we've bought from Timberdoodle, from Kumon books to science curriculum to thinking skills.
4. Hold That Thought One of the easiest ways to record our history studies has been through notebooking pages and map work. At the beginning of each year I make photocopies of everything (yes, everything!) that we will need for the year, file it in each student's binder according to the week's lesson, and we're good to go. Hold That Thought provided beautifully-rendered notebooking pages that we love to use, year after year.
3. CurrClick In addition to the thousands of downloadable resources at CurrClick, there are so many great live classes available there, too. I know that one of my readers in Australia has her kids do the live classes, even though it means they have to take them at odd times. They're defintely worth it! My kids have taken live art classes, live seasonal classes on pioneer living and Christmas, and I already have one signed up for a class in July.
2. Homeschool in the Woods Along the lines of notebooking pages and hands-on projects, I love Homeschool in the Woods! Amy Pak's beautiful artwork makes us look like we're really artistic ourselves, and the projects stick around in my kids' brains, enhancing their studies and making history memorable. I've yet to see a better timeline or more lovely timeline figures.
1. Khan Academy Sal Khan began Khan Academy with the intent of helping his cousins understand math and science. He uploaded videos of himself teaching weighty subjects, and they were so good that they caught on like wildfire. My niece was taking a college chemistry course from a professor who didn't speak English (!) and she was dying. I told her about Khan Academy and she said, "Aunt Kendra, this has saved my life!" It's not only stepped in when an algebra curriculum was not a good fit for one of our sons, it's provided excellent instruction and tracking, too: students must complete a set of problems before they're allowed to move on. Bonus for us this year- the art history series is fantastic!
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This blog hop is inspired by our dear friend and sister Angie of Many Little Blessings. We would love to have you join us during our ten week adventure. Please link up at Angie’s blog by clicking the image below.
