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Fantastic Free Resources for Homeschooling on the Web
By Kendra | November 3, 2008
In my last post I wrote that we home educators have the web at our fingertips, and much of it doesn’t cost a dime. This last year I bought curriculum and resources primarily for our high schooler, but what I purchased for every other child averaged $25 per student. $25! I’ll refrain from my comments about how I regularly wonder why the state demands more and more each year to educate a child. The government schools in California get over $8,000 to educate ONE child. OK, I’ll stop. If I continue, the steam may just billow out of my ears. Did I mention that in our homeschool, the literacy rate is 100%? OK, I’m stopping. Really.
Fantastic free resources:
Homeschool Share- Free unit studies and lapbooks. I use this site for our elementary science and nature studies.
1,000 Great Books- I’ve used this list for ten years and passed it on the hundreds of people. When my kids were little, I’d take the list to the library and use it as a guide. Now I do the same thing when I reserve books online.
Copywork from Simply Charlotte Mason- If you’re looking for solid copywork for your younger kids, Simply Charlotte Mason has excellent downloadable sheets with good passages, poetry, and hymns.
Trip Journal from Simply Charlotte Mason- Turn any trip into a field trip with a downloadable journal for your kids to use.
History Clip Art and Coloring Pages- Not a homeschooling site, but beautiful and interesting historical images.
Crafts for Girls and Moms- Although not being updated anymore, this blog is filled with cute and doable projects for moms and daughters (sons, too!)
Free Forms for Homeschoolers- Sample letters, forms, transcripts, logs, journals, and many more.
Donna Young- Indispensable! A wealth, a priority! I use Donna’s forms every year across the age spectrum.
Flash Card Machine- Input the data, print out the cards.
Ambleside Online- Charlotte Mason resources.
Calvary Chapel Bible Curriculum for Children- These downloadable studies have made up whole years of Bible study for my kids. They love them!
Homeschool Videos- Fun, educational, and did I mention fun?
Free Lesson Plans and Activities- A resource for classroom teachers that can be modified for the home educator.
The National Gallery of Art Loan Program- We’ve checked out some great films on ancient art and culture. I do remember one of the films from when I was in school, so some of the resources are classroom classics.
Free Notebooking Pages- Great for letting your kids learn to take notes while you read aloud.
Worksheet Works- Make your own worksheets featuring many useful topics.
Homeschool Launch- A clearing house sort of site where home educators post their worksheets, lap books, and unit studies. We’ve gotten some very useful tools here.
Writing Prompts and Journal Topics- Journaling is a great way to get your students to write.
Awesome Stories- History tools, video clips, short bios and synopses of historical events make this site the number one resource I used during the year we studied the modern age.
99 Days of Summer Kids Games- P.E. fun!
There are many, many free resources for history and science on the web if you’ll simply enter what you’re looking for in a search engine. If you have a favorite free homeschooling resource that isn’t included in the list here, please feel free to post it.
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources, Uncategorized | 31 Comments »
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
A very helpful resource list, Kendra… thank you, friend!
All’s grace,
Ann
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
(And a few of our favorites:
Librivox http://librivox.org/– free audio books online
and
Seterra — learn geography with free software
http://www.wartoft.nu/software/seterra/ )
Love to you….
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Ah yes, I forgot Librivox. We love it, too. My kids burn CDs of many books here!
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
ooh – thank you so much for this list, Kendra! I can’t wait to look at all of these
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Thanks so much for these resources! I love getting new sites to browse for free stuff!
And too, thanks for all the encouraging posts, especially for homeschoolers. I’ve been reading your blog almost two years and appreciate your wisdom!
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Oh! I never thought of letting the kids burn CDs off of Librivox!! Thank you Kendra!
Dawn
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Thanks, Kim! I’ve made the mistake of buying too much in the past. And I know I’ll probably do this again. LOL
I think that in our third “official” year of home educating (though we truly feel like we have done this since the beginning + our oldest started very early), I’m finally hitting a stride in what our vision looks like. (I told a friend recently that we have become classical unschoolers.
Sometimes it does take trying things out- we need to be willing to do this. That’s why I LOVE free stuff! 
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Thanks!! This is list great!!!
Thanks for passing own all that homeschooling wisdom…..
Oh, yeah, love the little comment about 100% literacy rate!!! How true is that!!!
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Kendra,
Which websites do you use for Math or is that one subject that you “splurge” on with the $25?
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Also, I’ve used a quite a few websites in the past for homeschooling, but quite frequently I get bogged down when it actually comes down to using them. How much time do you spend planning out your school year a head of time? I think I would definitely need to have a lot of this printed out and ready to go. Flying by the seat of my pants doesn’t serve me well, I discovered.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Hey Marla-
Planning is HUGE. I was so unmotivated to plan this summer (hmmm… might have something to do with our topsy turvy summer?) and that lack of preparedness is kicking me. So, yes, you will need to spend time getting your downloads printed out and done ahead of time.
Math- The rundown is this: bought the 10th grade, bought the 8th grade, already had the 6th grade, $18 for the 4th grade, free for the 2nd grade, $2 for the kindergartner.
We should just go to coffee and chat
~Kenj
November 4th, 2008 at 2:13 am
Thanks for this list Kendra!
Our oldest turns 5 in Decemeber. The school year here is end of January – mid December and I really have no idea where to start with him next year. What do you usually focus on during the first year of school? We also have 3 younger children so many of the ideas you list on your site get lots of practise here! Thank-you for sharing your wisdom.
~Amanda in Australia.
November 4th, 2008 at 6:17 am
How awesome! Can’t wait to check all of these out! Thank you for compiling this helpful list!!
November 4th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Amanda-
Have you read the Bluedorn’s “10 Things…”? That’s where we start. That and the Rod and Staff kindergarten (they call them preschool) series. Gently. Slowly. At an enjoyable pace.
http://triviumpursuit.com/articles/ten_to_do_before_ten.php
~Kendra
November 4th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Kendra,
THANK YOU for taking the time to post all of these sights. I can’t wait to check them out.
We are in our second year of homeschooling. 2nd grade, K and toddler.
My second grader has been slow to read and we started the TATRAS program this year. I believe I got that recommendation from your websight. This program has helped alot. Thanks for all your recommendations.
Do you do your lapbooks during circle time?? I am still trying to tweek our schedule.
Thanks,
Jennifer
November 4th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Yes, we do lapbooks during Circle Time, but we do a little bit each day. Never the whole thing at once!
November 4th, 2008 at 10:12 am
I would love to go to coffee and chat, Kendra. Let’s figure out a time. I know your busy!
November 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Wow!! What a blessing this post was!
Thank you, Kendra for taking the time to put it all together for us!!
xoxo
Shannon
PS Happy voting day! Keep praying…..
November 4th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Awesome list of links! I am bookmarking this page; thank you so much!
November 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Thank you–these are wonderful links to save!
November 6th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Great sites – thank you for listing them.
Marla one site we’ve used for extra math fun for the kids is http://www.coolmath4kids.com
We’ve also enjoyed using
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html
November 7th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Thanks, Spacebunny, for the sites.
I also have a website to add. I want to have my children learn Bible verses and I know a lot of churches have them in Sunday school classes, etc. but I wanted a list for specific things (obedience, etc.) to teach them during school on a weekly basis.
I came across this website http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/bible_memorization.html which lists them by subject matter (why Jesus came, obedience to parents, grumbling and complaining, etc.) I think it will be very helpful.
November 8th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
This list is invaluable! Thank you so very much!
Also, I’m admiring your $25/ student budget… and trying not to get enticed by the $800 glossy piles of curriculum out there… With a little bit of extra work, I can create my own glossy pile!
November 9th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Thank you very much for sharing these great resources! I’m linking to you.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Wow, thank you so much! This list is a great addition to my pile. I’m linking to you.
November 10th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Thank you so much for the great list of websites! I am new to Homeschooling and was getting so overwhelmed! This is so helpful to have some recommended websites to look at!
November 11th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Wow! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
November 18th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Hi! Thanks so much for this info! I am a homeschooling mother in Brazil who hasn’t been wanting to spend a lot of money on buying books OR having them shipped here. A great blessing!!!
November 30th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I have another site to post. It’s not homeschooling, but it is a way to possibly get a hold of curriculum you are looking for, for free.
If you go to PaperBackSwap.com you can list books that you want to get rid of and also order books/browse for books that you are wanting. You list 10 books to start with and when someone wants one of the books you have listed, you pay the postage to send it to them. If you want a book that’s listed, the member who has it pays to send it to you. I’ve found a couple of books already that I wanted.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
oh, i agree! between the library and the internet and my home printer, i barely ever spend ANYTHING on homeschooling! i’m always prowling for reputable sites- thank you so much for the list! whew dog! there’s so many great things to go check out!
Megan
December 15th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
[...] much does it cost? Where do you learn about curriculums? How do you know what to do? Here over at Preschoolers and Peace, Kendra has some fantastic sites recommended that I will be checking into myself. My 12 yr old is [...]