My Audio School

My Audio School is a wonderful new site operated by a homeschooling mother :

"My Audio School exists to give children safe and easy access to classic books, interesting educational radio drama, and television and radio broadcasts of historic events. Each of the over 150 full-length books on My Audio School is displayed in such a way that the child can download the book to Mp3, read it for free online, stream the book at the touch of a button, or listen to individual chapters according to a given day’s assignment. Each book is thoughtfully “illustrated” with beautiful fine art or appropriate photos.

My Audio School also offers a large collection of over 200 radio and television broadcasts, from old-time radio theater performances based on classic books and historic events to newscasts of unforgettable moments in history.

Originally created as an aid for dyslexic students seeking self-accommodation, My Audio School has proven to be a help and a delight to students of all ages and abilities. From the emerging reader to the excelling high school student, My Audio School delivers informative, enjoyable audio content on a large variety of school subjects."

About 25% of the content on My Audio School is free with the rest available at a small yearly subscription. This beautifully done, helpful, timesaving resource is one I am greatly looking forward to using!

Free Character/Habit Training Cards and Notebooking Pages

Click here to download these free character building cards from NotebookingPages.com ; a wonderful resource for training our children in good habits.

Also, be sure to visit the Homechool Freebie of the Day as the notebooking pages that compliment these cards are currently being offered for free! (Don't delay as I'm not sure how long this offer will be available!)

Book Club from Media Angels

From Media Angels:

"Receive a free back pack or t-shirt with the purchase of one of the Truth Seekers Mystery Series action-adventure novels. The characters are homeschoolers who find themselves in life changing adventures in every book.

Buy one, two or all three to complete the set. Literature guides are available for all of the books as well.

For details and information click here and then click on the BOOK CLUB link for all the details.

These books were written by then-14-year-old-homeschool student, Christina Gerwitz and her mom, author, Felice Gerwitz. Discounts are available for bulk purchases. Email felice@mediaangels.com for more information."

Ballantyne Book Review: "The Pioneers" and "Fast in the Ice"

Ballantyne the Brave is an inspiring site dedicated to the works of Ballantyne and G.A. Henty and is especially a wonderful resource for young men.

Click here to read a book review of R.M. Ballantyne's The Pioneers & Fast in the Ice (Both books contained in one volume).

Click here for even more book reviews.

For another introduction to the works of Ballantyne click here.

Note: I was quite interested to read that Ballantyne's books concentrate more on geography, whereas Henty's books are geared more towards history. What a perfect combination!

Sale: Art Books and Supplies at the Old Schoolhouse Store

From The Old Schoolhouse Store:

"This is a great time to gather up your art supplies and art curriculum while our summer prices are hot! We always have a great selection of art items, but right now you'll find a lot of our top sellers on sale, and you only have a few hours left. These prices are good until midnight, July 17. Remember, there's ALWAYS free shipping at the Schoolhouse Store."

Jim Hodges Audio Books Sale

On sale at Jim Hodges Audio Books:

By Right of Conquest: With Cortez in Mexico by G.A. Henty Instant Download - On sale for $15.00 (You can listen to Chapter One for free!)

All 3 Boys of Grit titles and True Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans can be downloaded for only $30 from now until August 15, 2009. After that they will be gone (You can listen to the first chapter of each of these titles as well. Just click on the title's link to go to its individual page.)

Chore Card System

Recently, I have been praying for ideas for a good, but simple, chore system for our young ones. Tonight I came across this wonderful and inexpensive idea for chore cards. This is exactly what I've been looking for and is so simple I feel a bit sheepish that I didn't think of it on my own. ;-).

I can't wait to get this system up and running and am thanking the Lord for answering my prayer.

Free Gardening E-Book from Olde-Books

Visit Gardening for My Family for details on how to obtain a free copy of The Book of Sports: Gardening, a vintage book reprinted as an e-book by Olde-Books.com. Offer good just until tomorrow (Wednesday, July 15)!

Free American History Printables

Download the following American History Resources at HomeschoolPatriot.com:

The Declaration of Independence

George Washington's Rules of Civility (Here is a copy in a nice, printable PDF format. The version I linked to in an earlier post was not formatted so nicely for printing.)

Ben Franklin's Virtue Chart

1623 Pilgrim Thanksgiving Proclamation

And more!

Olde-Books.com

Here is a website I happened across recently: Olde-Books.com. These folks offer a selection of quality, out-of-print books in e-book format. They have some titles I am quite looking forward to purchasing!

Free Downloads: Vintage Counting and Alphabet Charts

Black and White Alphabet and Counting Charts

Color Counting Chart

Wouldn't these look cute in the school room?

Quote of the Week ~ July 8, 2009

The Reading Mother

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.

~ Strickland Gillilan

Curriculum Reviews

Here is a link to some wonderfully informative curriculum and book reviews (grouped by subject) from two experienced homeschool mothers: Marvelous Mondays. I very much enjoyed these and found them to be a great help. Highly recommended!

Free Dover Teacher's Sampler

I have been a fan of Dover Publications ever since I discovered their series of historical paper dolls as a girl. As a mother now I appreciate the hundreds of wonderful titles they offer that are just right for homeschooling families.

Dover offers a weekly free e-mail sampler for teachers that includes pages from their many books for children. Pages include brain-teasers, science projects, stories and poems, nature illustrations, coloring pages and more. They also offer special sales for teachers. Click here to sign up.

Please note that Dover is not a Christian company and not all of their books are edifying. They do carry books that I would not recommend, so please be cautious as you peruse their catalog.

Free Three Week Samples of Tapestry of Grace

Summertime is planning time for many mothers as they look ahead to a new school year. Over the next few weeks I hope to link to some helps along those lines. To begin, here is a free sample of a popular curriculum to assist you in your decision making :-):

"Welcome to your personal tour of TAPESTRY OF GRACE: the award-winning classical, integrated unit study turning the heads of reviewers and homeschool moms across the world. Covering History, Writing, Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Art, Hands-On Learning, Government, and more, Tapestry is more engaging, more extensive, and more flexible than ever. " Click the links below to order your free sampler CDS:

"Go to Egypt"

"Sail to the New World"

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Book of Indians

Here is a link to lesson plans and notebooking pages to go along with Holling C. Holling's Book of Indians

Holling C. Holling Homeschooling Helps: Paddle to the Sea

If you are looking for a good study on the Great Lakes, Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling C. Holling is a treasure. Paddle-to-the-Sea is a little wooden Indian in a canoe, carved by a young boy up north in Canada. Paddle is sent on a journey to the ocean and the story follows him as he travels through each of the Great Lakes (and has many adventures along the way!). Full of wonderful details, drawings and information on the areas surrounding each lake, this book was much enjoyed in our home. Though it's been a year since we read it, the children have still retained quite a bit of what they learned.

Here are a few free online resources to go along with the book:

Paddle-to-the-Sea with Google Earth: "An exciting new program that uses the travels of Paddle to link real-time Great Lakes data to Google Earth’s mapping application. Tracing the path of Paddle's journey to the sea, it includes themes, key words, and Web sites for each chapter of the book." Click here for more information and to download

Paddle-to-the-Sea Film on YouTube: I saved this old film until we finished the book. While it did leave out many details it was still enjoyable, and it was neat for the children to see little Paddle on the big lakes.

Geography and Paddle-to-the-Sea: This is a helpful post from a homeschooling mother on how she used Paddle with her children.