Black Holes

This is an awesome lesson on Black Holes, complete with a journey to a couple of different black holes.  Animated, accurate, and interesting.

http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/home.html

mechanical engineering: How a car engine works

This is a cool animated infographic.

http://jacoboneal.com/car-engine/

Family Band video lessons

Learn to play banjo, mandolin, harmonica, spoons, ukulele, etc.

Fun, straightforward lessons.

http://danzanes.com/family-band-workshop

or

http://www.youtube.com/user/danzanesandfriends/videos

(Same videos, different presentation format)

Advanced math practice problems and challenge problems

Art of Problem Solving is not a free site, but their challenge problems section is free with a free registration.

http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/liz/Alcumus/index.php

Unit on musical instruments

http://www.musicfun.net.au/pdf_files/instruments.pdf

and quiz:
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/orchestra/orchestra03.swf

Kids cooking curriculum

http://www.doh.wa.gov/portals/1/Documents/Pubs/345-NonDOH-LetsCookClassCurriculum.pdf

Awesome links library

No longer being updated, but there are some really great links there.

http://web.archive.org/web/20110202223629/http://biblibuzz.com/

Free songwriting course

https://www.coursera.org/course/songwriting

Tour a fireworks Factory

How Fireworks Work

How fireworks work.

The "shooters"--the mortars are the tubes they shoot out of. Get a closer look at mortars and fuses here:
http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how-to/fuse-fireworks-mortar-racks.asp

Setting up the fireworks and what they look like while they're being shot--up close and from a distance:

And snippets from a fireworks shooters school:

A Wealth of Math resources, K-college

http://wheresthemath.com/parents/math-help/

This is all solid, real math, not that fuzzy stuff they're teaching in so many schools.

30 Sensory activities for learning letters (or numbers)

This is structured to show the Hebrew alphabet, but the ideas would work for anything that has to be written--letters, symbols, numbers, shapes, math problems, words, etc.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/127308198/30-sensory-activities-for-learning-the-hebrew-letters-of-the-alef-bet

Free online courses that grant credit for a reasonable fee with exams

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Anj0TVzjWlW2dE1jMC1qZU1raEQ0RG02bWlheEM0ckE&gid=0


Note: The courses are free. The exams that give you credit are not free (but these are particularly affordable).

Science crowdsourcing projects

http://www.notesfromnature.org/#/archives

Eyewitness to History

LOTS of history resources, quotes, movies, and stories: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/

Search engines for free courses, texts, and learning centers online

Skilledup: This site also links to for-fee courses, so be sure you select "free" on the left sidebar.

http://courses.skilledup.com/courses?price=0

Red Hoop: http://redhoop.com/.  This also includes for-fee classes, so be sure to look for the free ones (it's clear which are free when you search).

Open Culture: http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses.  Includes textbooks, movies, and a special page for children's education, among other things.

Engineering activities for elementary age

http://innerchildfun.com/2012/08/activities-for-little-engineers.html#_pg_pin=569477

Science games, experiments, and activities

Both online and offline: http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/kidsite/

Engineering projects for kids

http://constructionmanagementdegree.org/blog/2010/100-awesome-engineering-projects-for-kids/

Free fun worksheets

These are fun worksheets, designed for homeschoolers instead of public school teachers.  They include things like lift-the-flap worksheets, puzzles and mazes, a brain hat, and more.

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/index.php

Not everything on this site is free, but everything on this page is.

Brain resources

Learn about the parts of the brain with an interactive map:
http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/basic-brain-map

Then make a Brain Hemisphere  hat:
http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/lifesciences-games/brainhemishpere.php

Science News for Kids

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/

Read the full articles online; organized by topic. You can get the titles and links in an email format.

Science experiments and activities

http://www.readingconfetti.com/2013/04/50-science-activities-for-kids-kids-co.html

Fun Math Videos (like calculating pi with pies)

https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile/videos

Worksheet and test generator

http://www.problem-attic.com/

Drawing from previously-given tests (NY Regents, International NAEP, and state standardized tests), you can choose from thousands of questions to create worksheets or tests in English, Math, Social Studies, and Science.

Home made paint recipes

http://www.kidnkaboodle.net/paint.html

Math games and worksheets: Johnnie's math page

http://jmathpage.com/

Games and worksheets.

Arts worksheets

http://www.education.com/worksheets/the-arts/

Foreign Language worksheets

Spanish, French, Japanese, and German available:

http://www.education.com/worksheets/foreign-language/

Social studies worksheets, preschool through high school

http://www.education.com/worksheets/social-studies/

You get 10 free downloads per month, and the account is free.

Science worksheets, preschool through high school

http://www.education.com/worksheets/science/

Writing worksheets, preschool through high school

http://www.education.com/worksheets/writing/

Includes: grammar, punctuation, spelling, composition, poetry, and handwriting.

Reading Worksheets, preschool through high school

http://www.education.com/worksheets/reading/

Searchable, printable, free math worksheets

http://www.education.com/worksheets/math/

Spelling Bee Spelling Interactive

This is kind of fun, but is not a full spelling curriculum. It is good practice, though.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/index.html

Fun visual composition site

This is an amazing, addicting music composition site.
http://seaquence.org/

For an example composition, I threw this together in a few minutes:
http://seaquence.org/2d1t

Click on "share" to save your composition.

Learn yiddish (for kids)

http://www.yiddishpop.com/

Thousands of free lesson plans, worksheets, etc.: Share my lesson

http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resources/

teaching children computer programming

This is a fantastic collection of tons of resources, with a brief explanation of why they work to teach programming, and organized in a comprehensive order (starting with games that teach logical thinking and moving toward more complex programming education).

http://marshallbrain.com/kids-programming.htm

Spelling Program: Spelling connections

https://www.spellingconnectionsonline.com/

We haven't had any need to actually study spelling yet. So far I have a bunch of kids who just absorb spelling. So I don't know how well this would work for kids who really need to study spelling.

I do like the proofreading option, though! Traditional spelling programs don't teach you how to find misspelled words, and that's important.

Resource Library: Humpherlinks

http://www.humpherlinks.co.uk/

Home made air-dry modeling clay

Elmer's glue and cornstarch--so easy!

http://www.creativeplayhouse.mumsinjersey.co.uk/2013/02/homemade-modelling-clay.html

Educational Games for PreK-1st: Cookie

http://www.cookie.com/kids/games/viewallgames.html

Using some  of the same games as Turtle Diary (which used to be Gudli), only without the required subscription. These games can be embedded onto your own website for free.

There are also worksheets.

Our favorite ABC videos lately

https://www.youtube.com/user/storybots/videos?view=0

Science books

General science: http://physicsdatabase.com/general-science-books/
Physics: http://physicsdatabase.com/free-physics-books/

Astronomy: http://physicsdatabase.com/free-astronomy-books/

Free science books, by title

http://physicsdatabase.com/book-list-by-title/

Free math books (mostly upper level)

http://physicsdatabase.com/free-math-books/

More opencourseware: Education Portal

http://education-portal.com/academy/course/index.html

Many sources of open courseware (free online classes, usually college level)

http://opensource.com/education/13/4/guide-open-source-education#comment-11962

Free K-5 Ron Paul curriculum

This is not actually posted yet. But this is where it will be posted: http://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/public/department52.cfm

We'll see how it comes out.

Fun websites for making music online

http://www.effware.com/content/8-fun-websites-you-create-music-online-free

Arts and Humanities virtual tours

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/7-good-virtual-tours-for-students.html#.UWHLxpNwqSr

Take courses online free

https://www.coursera.org/

Courses on all topics, upper levels.

Learn to code websites

html, java, etc.

http://www.w3schools.com/#gsc.tab=0

Digital Public Library

http://dp.la/

Internet search tips

Become a google ninja!

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=24554858&nid=1014&title=12-steps-to-becoming-a-google-ninja&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-11

PE and attention training

This program is supposed to teach PE and also train children's brains in attention and focus. It has been recommended for Gifted kids with symptoms of ADHD.

https://c8kids.c8sciences.com/

This is not technically fully free. It's a "pay as much as you want" program that you can put in $0 for. You don't have access to the entire program for $0, but when you sign up it tells you what you have access to and what you have to pay for greater access (mostly of reports to help you assess your child's strengths and progress).

Worksheets

From the creators of The Head of The Class curriculum, a site for worksheets.

Grades preK-5, both printable and online worksheets.

http://www.bestworksheets.com/

7-lesson series on how to sketch

This is a great series written by a dad.

Normally I like right to the source, but there is not a central "home" for the series on the original blog, and this educational site has made a lesson menu:

http://www.freelyeducate.com/2013/02/sketching-lessons-for-kids.html

The World's Living Languages

Encyclopedia of all 6900 of the worlds' living languages

http://www.ethnologue.com/web.asp

American Sign Language Dictionaries (online)

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/10202/asl_dictionary_text.html

http://www.lessontutor.com/eesASLdictionarylinks.html

Sites and Software to learn foreign languages

http://www.byki.com/--free download

http://www.professorgarfield.org/toon_book_reader/index.html --foreign language books

http://www.chillola.com/index.html/ --online and printable materials, geared toward children

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/lingo-show/watch/  --online activities for kids

http://radiolingua.com/shows/other-languages/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ 

http://www.busuu.com/enc/

http://livemocha.com/  You have to create an account, but it's free and includes full courses, not just games

http://www.digitaldialects.com/  Language learning games

Selingua: http://www.selingua.com/ (Java games), http://www.wartoft.nu/software/selingua/ (download), and http://www.wartoft.nu/software/selingua-columns/ (game download)

Learn to program in C++

http://www.learncpp.com/

Free Crochet Lessons

http://www.craftyminx.com/crochet-school/

Complete online homeschool curriculum, K-8

There are also high school lessons here:

http://allinonehomeschool.wordpress.com/

Very similar to Learning Lynx Classroom, but not specifically geared toward gifted students.

Tour of the International Space Station

This is a very cool tour of the International Space Station.

How Books Were Made (copperplate printing)

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/267036/#.UPTh0qJPNSM.email

Video of bookmaking machines from the 1940s.

Onomatopoeia

Everywhere around the world, people try to explain sounds. We all have words for what a mouse says, what a rooster says, what an ambulance says.

This site has recordings of children from all over the world, making the sounds for things--trains, animals, ambulances, etc.

http://www.bzzzpeek.com/

It's really fun to hear what native speakers in many different languages say that roosters say. And mice.

Great, fun site.

Free Art Lessons, 1-7th grade

http://www.cuchicago.edu/experience/arts/visual-arts/art-lessons/

Free computers for schools (including homeschools)

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa060901a.htm

PowerMyLearning

This site is an awesome aggregator of learning activities from across the web. Accounts are required, but free.

http://powermylearning.com/

If you never use any other learning site, this one is worth your time.

Current Events magazine for kids

This is an online magazine of current events for kids.

http://www.youngzine.org/

Well worth a look.

Tablet Math: Free Math Videos

TabletMath is actually a subscription service, but they put over 250 math videos on YouTube for homeschoolers, including videos that correlate with popular homeschooling math programs Saxon and Math-U-See.

http://www.youtube.com/user/tabletclass/videos

These are similar to Khan Academy in some ways, but more visually appealing.

Some of the videos correlate with a free math quizzes site: http://homeschoolmathquiz.com/

Free Online Kindergarten/First Grade

Good feedback is coming in about Learning Lynx "Awakening Woods" Curriculum (which I use for my Kindergartners, but could work for first graders, too). Free, online, and complete, including art, music, math, language arts, history, grammar, science, social studies, and more....and it's fun! If you haven't checked it out yet, you can find it here: https://sites.google.com/site/learninglynxclassroom/awakeningwoods/month-1/k-day-01

Reading "motivator" program

Created by Sylvan Learning Centers, Book Adventures is a place you can register (free) and take quizzes on books (K-8th) to compete with other students or win prizes.

http://www.bookadventure.com/Home.aspx

Grammar and Punctuation course

This is a well-done course for middle school through college. It hits mostly on the places most people make errors (so you won't be placing periods at the ends of sentences here). There are lessons and online exercises with instant feedback.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_41.htm

K-6 Language arts workbooks

Three levels for each grade, in .pdf format

http://www.macmillanmh.com/languagearts/2001/teacher/teachres/workbooks.html

and for Grammar, literature, and spelling:  http://www.mhschool.com/reading/treasure_workbooks/national.html

Animated Tech lessons

http://activities.macmillanmh.com/Techknowledge/TKMacmillan.php

Some of these are outdated, but some are still very useful.

Engineering Activities

Discover Engineering has some awesome engineering activities (how do you keep a plant nicely watered for a week while you're on vacation? Can you build a tunnel through sand without touching it?

http://www.eweek.org/EngineersWeek/DiscoverE.aspx?ContentID=90

There are even more, including full curricular units, here:
http://www.teachengineering.org/

Media-rich history of railroads and steam trains

http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_the_engineer/01.ST.04/?scene=1

Fun science experiments to do at home

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators/classroom_and_homework_resources/resources/~/media/EC513F6B0F28453C8EBF70D6557A2042.ashx

This is a fun booklet of science experiments produced by a science museum in the UK.

Parts of a Computer

http://www.kids-online.net/learn/clickjr/clickjr.html

Free Computer Science Classes

http://www.udacity.com/

Learn to Read Course (for ESL speakers and native speakers)

This requires a free registration. http://www.strivney-english.com/index.asp

Cool interactive world map

You can zoom in and out, write on the map, and find distances between places.

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/socialstudies/eow_notwdb_v2/NOTWDB_1.html

Printable graphic organizers

http://www.mhschool.com/resources/graphic_organizers.pdf

Beverly Cleary Website

http://www.beverlycleary.com/

Free Internet Skills and Safety Lessons, K-12

http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/lessonsbygrade/ (this is only available until July 2012)

This includes lesson plans, links to activities, and free printable worksheets in .pdf format.

The updated version is here: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum/k-5 (this one is available after July 2012 as well)

Free Social Studies Workbooks Grades 1-6

In .pdf format: http://www.mhschool.com/socialstudies/2003-5/teacher/workbooks.html and http://www.macmillanmh.com/socialstudies/2003-5/teacher/workbooks.html.

Includes an Atlas of the World.

There are more:

From TimeLinks - 2009
Grade 3 All About My Community Student Journal
Grade 3 TLX Time Capsule Project
Grade 1 Student Practice & Activity Workbook
Grade 2 Student Practice & Activity Workbook
Grade 3 Student Practice & Activity Workbook
Grade 5 US: Early Ages Student Practice & Activity Workbook
Grade 5 US: Early Years Student Practice & Activity Workbook
Grade 6 PPCEA Student Practice And Activity Workbook

TimeLinks - 2010
Grade 4 State Explorer Handbook
Indiana Grade 4 Student Practice & Activity Workbook

TimeLinks - 2011
Grade 1 Virginia Student Practice And Activity Workbook
Grade 2 Virginia Student Practice And Activity Workbook
Grade 3 Virginia Sol Test Prep Workbook, Student Edition
Grade 3 Virginia Student Practive And Activity Workbook
Grade 4 Virginia Sol Test Prep Workbook, Student Edition
Grade 4 Virginia Student Practice And Activity Workbook
Grade 5 Virginia Sol Test Prep Workbook, Student Edition

Information for every state

Select the state and click go in the upper right corner.

http://www.mhschool.com/socialstudies/2003-5/student/statesvft.php

Or click on the map here:
http://www.macmillanmh.com/socialstudies/2000/teacher/teachres/stateres/index.html

There is even more information here: http://www.50states.com/

Coolest digital art tool I've found: SumoPaint

http://www.sumopaint.com/app/

Check it out. You can even draw in charcoal and smear it. Seriously cool.

Sistine Chapel

Go explore the Sistine Chapel: http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

VERY cool.

Using castles to explore the elements of art

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/eng/art_in_wales_-_castles_-_ks2

The download on this page is free and VERY cool. Great for lovers of art and of castles, both.

11 Math Resources (Guest Post by homeschool mom Chastity Wilson)

Eleven Online Resources for Engaging Students in Math

1. Yummy Math is a free site that features relevant and timely real-world math activities – a recent post, for instance, featured NFL and Super Bowl related math problems. It could be a fun resource for students who have a hard time seeing the real-world value in learning math!
2. Factor Samurai a free iPhone and iPad app for practicing times tables and prime factorization – one reviewer compared it to the addictive game Fruit Ninja, but with math!
3. Sums Online offers several free math games for younger students, as well as app versions for mobile users.
4. Study Jams is a Scholastic website with animated songs and videos explaining elementary level math and science concepts. Karaoke mode encourages kids to sing along!
5. Along the same lines, Rhyme ‘n Learn explains higher level math and science concepts through catchy raps and Kahn Academy-style sketches. Check outDon’t Let Pi Make You Cry
6. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a project of Utah State University offering visual interactive online interactive tools and tutorials for math students in grades K-12.
7. Brightstorm offers free homework help videos for math and science.
8. Do I really need to tell you about Khan Academy? Probably not, but I’ll mention it anyway.
9. Calkoo features a ton of free online calculators for different purposes.
10. Circus Physics is a series of videos from PBS featuring circus tricks accompanied by lessons explaining the physics concepts behind them. This might be a cool resource for students who need to see concepts in order to “get it.”

Math, Science, and Reading/Grammar Worksheets and online Tests

You have to create an account, but the accounts are free!

http://www.mytestbook.com/

It's easy to set up a Parent account that lets you put in all your students, grades 1-8, and it keeps track of the tests your child has taken and if they passed or failed, and allows you to decide if the student should be allowed to retake or not.

Hundreds of free math videos, all levels

http://mathflix.luc.edu/

Math Misconceptions Cleared Up

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/resources/help/miscon.htm

Math puzzles

These are fun and challenging for the math-lovers:

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/resources/puzzles/default.htm

Math games to play at home

http://www.wirral-mbc.gov.uk/maths/maths-homework/index.asp

Graph-making tool--FREE

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph/default.aspx