I have heard John Taylor Gatto speak three times now, and each time I get something a little different out of what he has to say. He came out with a book about the history of American education that is shaking up a lot of people who think that Carnegie, Ford and other industialists who have donated so generously to education were doing so out of the kindness of their hearts.

In the essays below, Gatto speaks about what he knows best and what he’s found out about education. He was New York City and State Teacher of the Year at various times in his career. He taught at a school were teens everyone else had given up on were sent, and he did a good job with them ­ but in a creative and unorthodox way. He let them out of school, to be around town, working on various projects, learning first hand how to work the system.

Here is a John Taylor Gatto website primarily focused on his book: Underground History of American Education. The site has some videos and sound clips of John speaking.

You will not enjoy the essays in the links below. They will make you feel sad and angry. They will make you think.

Bootie Zimmer’s Choice
Our children have been held captive by a method of literacy transmission that ignores reality — and makes a very large fortune each year doing so. By John Taylor Gatto.

The Curriculum of Necessity
Or “What must and educated person know?” By John Taylor Gatto. Includes Harvard’s list of what a well-educated person should be able to do.

I may be a teacher, but I’m not an educator
John Taylor Gatto’s resignation letter in the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: A curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency. I teach how to fit into a world I don’t want to live in. I just can’t do it anymore.”

I Quit, I Think
I was New York State Teacher of the Year when it happened. An accumulation of disgust and frustration which grew too heavy to be borne finally did me in.

John Taylor Gatto
The site to find out more about John and to purchase a pre-publication of his book, Underground History of American Education. You can also view a pictorial essay about the history of education.

Nine Assumptions of Modern Schooling
John Taylor Gatto warned that although there were many caring teachers who worked hard in the system, the institution itself was “psychopathic and without conscience,” and would always overwhelm their individual contributions.

Personal Solutions, Family Solutions
“If you have no time for your family you want to ask yourself, ‘Why must I always be do-ing something?’ God made us human be-ings, not do-ings!” By John Taylor Gatto.

Public School Nightmare
Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought? By John Taylor Gatto

Six-Lesson Schoolteacher
By John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, 1991. If you pay for these lessons, you should at least know what they are.

Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher
A longer version: “The first lesson I teach is confusion. Everything I teach is out of context… I teach the unrelating of everything. I teach disconnections. I teach too much.” By John Taylor Gatto, New Society Publishers, 1992

The Underground History of American Education
A Schoolteachers Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto. A review on Family Unschoolers Network.

Why Schools Don’t Educate
We live in a time of great school crisis. Our children rank at the bottom of nineteen industrial nations in reading, writing and arithmetic. At the very bottom.

My husband, Fred Zeise, and son, Scott, help Gatto and Diane Keith, editor of Homefires, the Journal of Homeschooling, get the video system set up.

Gatto revealing what Carnegie’s motivation was to “help” educate America’s school children, to make them complacent workers.

Photos taken and copyrighted by Ann Zeise and used with permission of John Taylor Gatto.

The post John Taylor Gatto appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Michael Olaf Publications
Free etext downloads of Michael Olaf’s The Joyful Child (birth-3), and Child of the World(ages 3-12+) are used as parent and teacher manuals, and as accessible introductions to Montessori philosophy.

Montessori for Everyone
As a Montessori teacher, I know that a prepared environment filled with high-quality, beautiful materials produces children who are curious, independent learners.

Montessori Reading
A series of books that introduce phonetic letter sounds, phonogram combinations, reading simple sentences, and reading and writing words that name everyday objects. A teaching guide and a child’s journal are included.

Montessori Services
Our expanding collection remains true to Dr. Montessori’s vision of transformational education, offering hundreds of Practical Life items and more-choices that will help you nurture your children as they grow and flourish.

My Montessori House
These beautifully-animated cartoons combine Montessori reading and math instruction with classical music and instrumental sounds, providing young minds with ideal instruction at their own pace.

ShillerMath
A learning kit with activities, sensory components and guidebooks, inspired by Maria Montessori.

Trust Tutoring
Commercial site featuring Evaluation of Basic Skills: A standardized test of reading, writing and math skills for ages 3-18 for those wishing to apply Montessori principles to basic skill development.

See also: Montessori Homeschooling

The post Montessori Homeschooling Materials appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Intermediate and High School Classes
AP Biology Online Classes
Biology Topics

Intermediate and High School Online Classes

Biology 4 Kids
If you are looking for biology basics, stay on this site.

Crash Course: Biology
Hank Green teaches you biology! Learn, study and understand the science of life. Topics covered range from: taxonomy, systems, biological molecules, photosynthesis, evolution, animals, plants, anatomy, and ecology.

Fundamentals of Biology
MIT OpenCourseware. Focuses on the basic principles of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and recombinant DNA.

Troy High Home Labs
These biology labs are easily done at home.

University of California Scout Biology
“A-G” Approved. A first-year course in biology at the high school level. Four themes organize important concepts: science, technology, and society, evolution, the relationship between structure and function, and science as a process.

AP Biology Online Classes

The Biology Project
Fun, richly illustrated, and tested on 1000s of students. This biology class has been designed for students at the college level, but is useful for high school students.

Mastering Biology
Buy the Campbell Biology Plus Mastering Biology with eText — Access Card Package here. Combining the website and book with labs from The College Board AP Advanced Placement Program Biology Lab Manual For Students can prepare a teen for the AP Biology exam.

Concepts of Biology
The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.

University of California Scout AP Environmental Science 
Earth’s Systems, Human Population Dynamics, Natural Resources, Environmental Quality, Global Changes, and Environment and Society.

Biology Topics

DNA From the Beginning
The science behind each concept is explained in this online class by animation, image gallery, video interviews, problem sets, biographies, and links. Available also on CD-rom.

Evolution
PBS TV Series: “Great Transformations” traces how life moved from water to land — and back again.

The post Biology Classes For High School Students appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Parts is Parts – Intelligence Revisited
AN A TO Z ARTICLE
By David Albert. Most homeschoolers I know are partial to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.

Teaching and Relating to Your Child’s Learning Style
AN A TO Z ARTICLE
How to teach anyone to read once you have identified their learning style. By Lorraine Peoples, author of You Can Teach Someone to Read.

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
AN A TO Z ARTICLE
An interesting article appeared in this morning’s New York Times. It debunks much of what educators have been saying about how children learn, and seems to verify what unschooling families have known for years

Early Year’s Child’s Learning Assets
Homeschooling uses childhood energy instead of constantly trying to dam it. Now, curiosity creates interest, interest increases attention to the task at hand, and attention gives rise to learning. By Linda Dobson

Emotional Intelligence, etc.
This site contains lots of practical information on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as Steve Hein interprets and applies it. Many homeschool families value a high EQ more than a high IQ.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter
The questionaire for children identifies four temperament types: Guardian, Artisan, Idealist, and Rational. Parents will need to help younger children.

Learning Styles and Hemispheric Dominance:
Is Your Learning Style at Odds with That of Your Child’s?
These differences in our preferred approaches to learning and utilization of resources were causing some conflict among my children and myself and a great deal of inner turmoil on my part. By Karen M. Gibson, HELM.

Multiple Intelligences and the Concept of Flow
Here are the eight intelligences with some activities where you might find yourself going into a flow state. By Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D.

Multiple Intelligence Test for Children to Identify Their Strengths
Printout. By knowing your child’s strengths, you can help them to succeed in school and life! The multiple intelligences test can determine their specific learning style.

What is Your Learning Style?
Free. No email required. Find out how you learn best to improve your grades or learn new skills.

Young child learning style assessment
You don’t need to take your child to a psychologist to have a young child learning style assessment done; it can be easy to determine your child’s learning style by simple observation and answering a few questions.

The post Determine Your Children’s Learning Styles appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

What is “Curriculum?” It is not just a set of books, but a plan for achieving the goals you and your children set forth. Here are essays that will help you with choosing curriculum for homeschooling.

What is the best homeschool curriculum?
I get this question so often and without any supporting information that I thought I’d post an analogy.

Funderstanding
This company advises other companies about trends in children’s learning. They even have a website where they can “watch” kids try out new online programs. If you want to get an idea about how modern curriculum is created, this site can give you some eye openers! Now includes information on AI learning.

A Textbook Example of What’s Wrong with Education
Every time a friend with kids in school tells me textbooks are too generic, I think back to that moment. “Who writes these things?” people ask me. I have to tell them, without a hint of irony, “No one.” It’s symptomatic of the whole muddled mess that is the $4.3 billion textbook business. By Tamim Ansary

Advice on Where to Purchase

Big Chains, Big Savings?
Okay, I’m biased. As a small independent bookseller, I don’t like what the big chains are doing to the bookselling business, but at least they save you money . . . don’t they? The Family Unschoolers Network.

Buying Used Curriculum
If you would like to know more “behind the scenes” of the homeschool authors and suppliers that are serving you and making these products available to you, there are three articles right here. By Barb Shelton.

Why Don’t You Discount?
If you find a company [or author ] you really believe in, a company that has ministered to you and met your needs, a company you think fills a unique “niche” in the home schooling market, a company you would like to see grow and flourish, then buy from them. By Chris and Ellyn Davis of The Elijah Company.

Assessment

Figuring out where your child is at helps avoid tears for starting too hard or boredom for starting too easy. It also helps you determine your child’s learning style.

Assets 4 Learning
Teach to your child’s strengths. He’s intelligent in his own way. She has a style of her own.

Learning
Understand how learning happens.

Math Assessment
Ways to find out just what your child has mastered in math and what math to do next.

Reading Level Assessments
Two assessments to help you figure out the reading level of your child. Explanation of the RL code on books.

Build in Flexibility

Homeschooling has the big advantage of being able to quickly work around bottlenecks.

Curriculum To Unschooling
AN A TO Z ARTICLE
From off-the-shelf to creating your own, to letting your child lead the way.

How to Create More Dynamic Learning Environments
Dynamic learning environments are more active and engaging for students than the traditional, factory-era model in which students sit facing the front of the classroom while the teacher speaks. They are more likely to help students learn key 21st-century skills that are necessary for success in the workplace today, such as communication, collaboration, innovation, critical thinking, and creativity—and they can lead to better academic outcomes as well. By School Specialty

Advice on What to Purchase

Words of advice from a wide variety of experienced homeschool parents.

Choosing The Right Homeschooling Teaching Material
There are plenty of resources available that can help lead concerned parents to the appropriate teaching materials and methods that work best for their family. By David Dunlap.

Conference Conundrum
AN A TO Z ARTICLE
One way to view curriculum before you buy is to attend a homeschooling conference, convention or curriculum fair.

Don’t buy a curriculum -Do this first!
Curriculum can throw off your child’s learning by making her believe that the way you are teaching her is the way she should learn. In other words, it’s the same paradigm of school, a learning box the child must fit in.

Getting Started With Choosing A Homeschool Curriculum
Five questions to ask yourself before you choose a homeschool curriculum.

The Great American Textbook Scandal
Why you probably won’t want to buy a science text book used in schools. Use hands-on or primary sources instead.

How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum
Many homeschool parents start with the question, “What’s the best homeschool curriculum?” A more productive question is, “What homeschool curriculum is the best fit?” The Homeschool Mom.

One Stop Shopping, or Eclectic Education?
The homeschool shopping season has begun. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you select materials. From Kathryn Stout of Design-A-Study.

The Relevance of Materials and Classes to Real Learning
It’s so hard to let go of the notion that children need to be led through all that stuff in order to learn what it has to teach.

So you’ve decided to homeschool
Karen Gibson reminds new homeschoolers to take it slow, to do your research. Note that Karen is from Alabama where one must have a cover school. This is not true in most other places.

Step 6: Managing Materials
As tempting as it is to jump right in and start scouring the suppliers’ catalogs, if you don’t know what you are looking for, you may never find it. Laying the groundwork for a curriculum search may take you more time now — but save you time and money later!

What curriculum should I choose?
The choice of a curriculum is based on your educational philosophy and the learning styles and developmental stages of each child.

The post Help Choosing Homeschooling Study Material appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

“co-nun-drum: an intricate and difficult problem syn see mystery.” –Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

By Ann Zeise

The season of conferences, conventions and curriculum fairs is once again upon us. So why so many different names? The inclusive (“We don’t care what your religion or lack thereof is”) crowd tends to call their gatherings “Conferences.” The Fundamentalist Christian (“Sign our statement of faith.” crowd) tends to call their gatherings “Conventions.” While both will have a vendor hall, a “conference” will usually have a wide selection of “educational materials and books” and a few tables with anything resembling “textbooks.” A “Convention” is most likely going to have graded, Christian curriculum material, and fewer general “educational toys.” A “Curriculum Fair” will have materials of all sorts, depending on the sponsoring group.

Well in advance …

Decide who will go and who will stay home.

• Would it be best to go alone, so you can concentrate on your needs only?
• Will there be enough workshops to interest Dad? Can he arrange vacation time?
• Children must be supervised at all times, and others will expect you to put the needs of your children first. If yours can’t sit still, and there’s no childrens’ workshops, consider alternatives:
  • Leave them at home (Christian conventions discourage children. Inclusive conferences often make accommodations.)
  • Bring along a sitter
  • See if the conference allows parents to share one pass so you can take turns attending workshops and watching the children.
  • Be prepared to have to leave in the middle of a talk in order to care of your child’s needs quietly outside.
• Will there be special activities for teenagers?
• Would it be a good idea to bring along that “Doubting Thomas” in your family? Maybe not for your very first time to a particular conference, but once you are familiar with it, maybe the second year.

Plan ahead, and make your reservations early to get the “early bird” discount.

Make a list of questions and concerns you have about homeschooling your children at their particular stage of learning.

Read about the speakers and workshop moderators. Decide which ones you simply must hear to get your questions answered.

• Search for their names online to see if they have any essays here on my site or elsewhere.
• Buy their book(s) and read before you go. It will be nice to be able to talk to the authors about their books. (or if the book is just awful, you’ll know who to avoid!)
• Bring the books along and have the authors sign.
• Often you will be encouraged to pass notes with questions up to the speakers, so have your question list with you at all times.

Send for catalogs from the vendors that will be there, or look at their online sites.

• Share the catalogs with your family and think about which products will most likely lead to the educational goals you have all set.
• Make a list of the products and their catalog prices. Online you’ll most likely have to pay shipping but not taxes. At the conference you’ll have to pay taxes but not shipping, if you’ll be taking the products with you.
• Prioritize the items by cost and by how essential they are.
• Decide which products you want to seriously compare.
• Make a list of products you already have, so your spouse won’t go and buy them again. (“No, dear, we don’t need another copy of Mary Griffith’s book.”) If your “curriculum” on hand is somewhat sorted, you’ll be able to see where the gaps are, where you may need to pick up new stuff. (“No, dear, we already have 12 books on “weather,” I don’t think we really need another.”)

What to Bring

Avoiding Hotel Food
How to survive at a homeschool conference with starving children in a hotel room where all the food is way too expensive for your budget.

Bring only the amount of money that you have budgeted to spend.

A camera or smart phone with photography capabilities. You’ll want pictures of speakers, friends you and your children make, products you may want to buy later. Here are some photos one dad took at the HSC conference in Sacramento, 2005.

Clothes to layer up with. Though it’s 100 degrees outside, hotel air conditioning may make workshop rooms about 60.

Family cell phones. Turn them off or to “vibrate” during speakers, but it helps to reunite your family for meals and other breaks.

Extra bags or small suitcase to bring stuff home. One with rollers to bring to the vendor hall for purchases.

Notebook or “organizer” to take notes during speakers and workshops. I’ve been seeing portable computers and iPads as well. You’ll also want to collect addresses and phone numbers of other homeschool families.

Supply of such things as water bottles, lotion, snacks.

A small hole punch and a strong lanyard. You’ll want to attach the conference pass and the hotel door card in some way more securely than you’ll be given originally. Fishing vests were all the rage at one conference!

Day of the Conference

Arrive early.

• You will be more likely to get your hotel room preference.
• You will have more time to go over the schedule.
• You will have time to get comfortable with your surroundings, perhaps take a swim or a shower after a long drive, get a bite to eat, etc.
• Decide on a central meeting point with family members and friends, and expectations on when you will meet there.

Talk to others.

• People who show up for conferences are usually outgoing and friendly.
• They will either be new to homeschooling, and you can discuss your concerns and why you are considering homeschooling.
• Or they will be veterans, and be able to steer you to the resources you are looking for. They’ll be able to tell you who their favorite speakers and moderators are.
• There may be other events a the same hotel, but homeschoolers, well, tend to look like homeschoolers. They won’t be as dressy as the wedding party. They won’t be in suits like the business group.

Attend the opening talk.

• You’ll be told about any conference ground rules, such as what to do about a crying baby.
• There will be announcements about any changes to the schedule, such as speakers who may have gotten ill, room changes, and so on.
• You’ll get a chance to meet conference organizers and figure out who is in charge of what.

Attend your first workshop.

• Inevitably, you’ll want to be at two or three at the same time. Often recordings will be available at the end of the conference, so attend the ones where you most want to ask questions of the moderator.
• If you find that the workshop is not what you expected, or you get enough out of it in the first minutes, feel free to get up and walk out and catch the end of another workshop.
• Select the workshops you need most to get through this year. The ones about homeschooling teenagers can wait until your oldest is 13.
• 90% of the presenters will be back next year, so what you don’t get to this time, you can hear next year.

Take a break.

• Have lunch, take a dip in the hotel pool, meet with friends old and new.
• Take a short nap, if you are good at doing that.

Attend afternoon workshops.

• You’ll get fresh ideas and new perspectives with each different presenter.
• You’ll realize that there are many different philosophies and methods of educating your child.
• Those who thought they’d come away with one formula for homeschooling will be disappointed, and wondering why they feel more confused than ever.
• Others will have their eyes opened to the wonderful possibilities. They will feel the joy of knowing that, yeah, they don’t have to duplicate school at home if they don’t want to. Most methods of homeschooling work, so they’ll be glad to have so many to choose from.
• Take a deep breath, and then enter …

The Vendor Hall

Check out the vendors.

• Depending on the size of the vendor hall, many have their systems and strategies for running the gauntlet.
• If you have been provided with a map of the vendor hall, mark the vendors you most want to look at. If they are clustered in one area start there.
• You still have your shopping and goals list, right?
• If possible, let your children look at the materials, and note how they react. Something that may look dull as dirt may catch their fancy, while another item you feel is “highly educational” may be totally unpalatable to your preteen.
• Some vendors will be homeschool families. Ask the vendors about their homeschool experience: which of their products their own children preferred. It will become quite apparent which vendors really understand the needs of homeschool families and which haven’t a clue.

When to buy.

• Ask if there is a conference discount from the catalog prices. If there’s no incentive to “buy now,” wait until you get home.
• Often vendors have a large supply of each item, and you can take the chance near the end of the conference that they will be discounting the prices so they won’t have to ship the products home.
• Other vendors will have a wide variety, but not much on hand of any one item. These are the hardest to resist. Buy now or order later? If they don’t fit into your goals list, don’t impulse buy! Accept the vendor’s catalog and mark the tempting items. Decide when you get home.
• The religious may want to pray. You’ll see the unreligious doing this, too.
• All do better if they just bring along the amount of cash they are willing to spend, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Evenings

Dinner

• Sometimes we get “peopled out” by this time, and just want to be alone with our family.
• Other times, we’re feeling social and want to be with all our friends and family around the biggest tables we can find.
• Hotel meals are expensive. You may want to check out nearby alternatives. Join in with other families and order pizzas.
• Last conference I attended, I forgot to make hotel reservations early enough and wound up at a nearby associated motel. It was great! The pool wasn’t crowded and the meals were cheaper and so were the room prices.

Party Time

• Often evenings are filled with some fun social events, such as folk dancing or learning how to swing dance.
• You have energy left for this, right?

When you get home

Go through the handouts.

• File according to topic, which will either be a general homeschooling topic, or a curriculum topic.
• Or put them in a binder with tabs for each topic. In a few years, you’ll have your own, custom “How to Homeschool” book.

Go through the vendor flyers.

• Trash those that are of no interest to you.
• Note the web addresses of those that may be of interest later, bookmark them, and trash the paper.
• Keepers I put in a binder alphabetically. Small ones and booklets go in plastic pockets intended for presentations.

New stuff.

• Books are more likely to get read if they go directly to bedside reading tables immediately.
• Reference books I shelve according to topic.
• Games and toys – let the kids start learning with them immediately while interest is high.

Advice from me on other aspects

Avoiding Hotel Food
How to survive at a homeschool conference with starving children in a hotel room where all the food is way too expensive for your budget. By Nancy Friedland.

Choosing Curriculum
Overall advice on selecting learning materials.

Finding Conferences on Other Homeschool Websites

Homeschool Mom
Very up to date with hundreds of homeschool conferences.

The Homeschool Compass – Christian Homeschool Conventions, Conferences, and Retreats
List does not include inclusive conferences.

The post Conference Conundrum appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Free Homeschooling Curriculum Materials
ThisA2Z page has internet locations for ordering physical materials, curriculum and supplies. Get homeschooling and educational supplies for less.

Apple Education Community
Need a quick lesson idea that you can use with your students tomorrow, or new ways to take your own ideas further? Get started with these great resources.

Discovery School Lesson Plans
Find hundreds of original lesson plans, all written by teachers for teachers. Use the pull-down menus below to browse by subject, grade, or both. Also lesson plans to support Assignment Discovery and TLC Elementary School programming.

EdHelper.com
Worksheets – Teacher’s Lesson Plans – WebQuests – Primary Teacher Resources – Math – Writing – Reading – Science – Technologys – Social Studies.

EdSitement
From the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lessons and units for art and culture, literature and language arts, foreign language, and history and social studies.

Education World Lesson Plan Center
A resource for lesson plans and research materials.

Educational Resources and Lesson Plans
Over 1000 links to lesson plans and other resources of potential use to homeschoolers. It also includes lesson plans and resources unique to this site.

Educator’s Reference Desk
This collection contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans which have been written and submitted to AskERIC by teachers from all over the United States.

File Folder Farm
Sets of learning games to print out and store in file folders. Topics are Pre-K through 2nd Grade.

Fresh Plans
Cross-curricular lesson plans on all sorts of fascinating topics.

Google for Educators
This website is one of the ways we’re working to bolster that support and explore how Google and educators can work together.

Homeschool Huskies and Ponies
Sets of workbooks and projects in different topics. Patches given as awards for completion.

Homeschool Launch
At this point there are several hundred files (forms, unit studies, lapbook templates, worksheets, etc) created and uploaded by various members of the site – with several more being added each week.

HomeSchooler Network: Lessons & Activities
Find innovative ideas for learning at home with our large inventory of resources and materials. Search by subject and your child’s age.

I Love That Teaching Idea!
Worksheets, reproducibles, newsletters, books, lesson plans, ideas and more.

Ideas For Homeschoolers
Marty Layne, of Victoria, BC, posts her monthly newsletter in her delightful writing style that will delight and enthral you.

iTunes U
A part of the iTunes Store featuring free lectures, language lessons, audiobooks, videos and more, that you can enjoy on your iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC. Explore over 200,000 educational audio and video files from top universities, museums and public media organizations from around the world.

K to the 8th Power
Over 600 lessons which are organized into integrated and cross-curricular lessons. The integrated lessons teach a computer skill and apply it to grade level academic content.

Layers of Learning
Layers of learning refers to the scaffolding all people need as they learn. The more we can connect ideas together ast teachers, the more meaningful the ideas become.

Learn NC
A program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, finds the most innovative and successful practices in K-12 education and makes them available to teachers and students.

Learners Online
Each week there’s a new online lesson that takes learners on a thematic journey across cyberspace. Lessons are tied to current events and help learners extend their knowledge on a wide range of topics. Small monthly subscription.

Lesson Bank
The Teachers.Net Lesson Bank is your opportunity to share your most precious asset – your teaching ideas and lesson plans.

Lesson Plan Center
Let TeacherVision.com help you create innovative plans quickly with our large inventory of ideas and materials.

Lesson Plan Page
Far more than just a “page,” this site has plans in all typical subjects, as well as holiday units, computer science, and even PE. Add your own plans to the project.

Lesson Tutor
Free reproducible lesson plans, unit studies and print ready worksheets for all levels, all abilities and all subjects of Grade School and High School. Featured articles will give you general teaching and learning encouragement, references and support.

Thinkfinity Newest resources
Check back each Monday to see the newest lessons added to the Verizon Foundation content.

Newton’s Apple: Teacher’s Guides
A complete collection of Teacher’s Guides from season 9 through 15 is available. Mostly science lessons, though a few from other topics as well.

NY Times Lesson Plan Archive
The archive contains hundreds of free lesson plans for grades 6-12. You may perform a keyword search to retrieve a lesson, browse the archive by subject, or scroll down the page to view the most recently published lessons.

Outta Ray’s Head
A collection of lesson plans with handouts for writing, literature, poetry, and using the library, by Ray Saitz and many contributors.

PBS Teachers Source
Updated monthly. Resources so you can integrate PBS shows with your unit studies.

Praetor Education Technology
How to use open source software to develop free curriculum online. Free Java lessons for educators. Good math and science resources already developed.

Pronto Lessons
Each scripted lesson already comes with fully-inclusive content developed around a single homeschool curriculum, the hours that you would have spent putting these lessons together yourself represents time saved for you. Covers some topics in American history and science.

Read Write Think
Access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction through free, Internet-based content.

Scholastic Lesson Plans & Reproducibles
Pick a grade level pre-k through 8th grade and then a topic to locate a variety of lesson plans teaching that skill.

School Express
Free weekly units, free worksheets for online and offline study, and software to download.

Smithsonian Education
Arts, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies plans.

Teach-nology
Offers teachers FREE access to lesson plans, printable worksheets, over 150,000 reviewed web sites, rubrics, educational games, teaching/ technology tips, advice from expert teachers, and more.

Teach With Movies
Through movies, introduce children to major events in history, principles of science, extraordinary people, literature, drama, dance, art, character development, and ethics. Low annual subscription rate for hundreds of movies.

Teacher Created Materials
Free monthly activities, lesson plans, and brain teasers. New each month as well as archives.

Teachers Corner
Lessons categorized by monthly and holiday or date themes, mostly for young children.

Texas Instruments Activities Exchange
Browse by subject area or submit your own activity ideas. Learn to use TI calculators to solve real-world problems.

Today is Fun
The ideas here will keep kids happy and occupied for hours on end, without you having to spend money or buy more stuff. The tips are always entertaining, often educational and developmentally appropriate.

Worksheets for Kids
Take the work and expense out of doing school at home with our VAST collection of free printable worksheets. We have over 1 million pages of free worksheets.

Youth Learn
Relevant, creative materials that can help you make good use of new technology. Look here for planning guides, teaching techniques, activities, projects, and more.

The post Lesson Plans for Free appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Supplies for home schools. This page has internet locations for ordering physical materials, curriculum and supplies. Get homeschooling and educational supplies for less. Free material that is available online is under the relevant page elsewhere on A to Z Home’s Cool. Use the site index or search engine above to find free online resources.

Multiple Topics

Described and Captioned Media
Provides services to benefit students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. Available to schools and families and are a free-loan library of described and captioned educational media and information related to accessible media. U.S. Department of Education funded.

Consumer Information Catalog
Free or nearly free booklets from the US government bookstore for learning activities, college planning, parenting concerns. Cover a huge range of subjects for families, homeschooling, bullying, colleges, distance and local school type activities.

Free Teaching Aids
Resource books, that aren’t free, which list lots of things that are available to homeschool parents as well as teachers.

Freecycle Network
Made up of many individual groups across the globe, it’s a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them’s good people). Membership is free.

Lesson Plans
Websites that have planning home schools can use. The structured lesson plans are helpful. Usually these have goals and objectives and meet state standards for home schools.

Animals & Pets

Bear Safety in Alaska packet
Booklet and sticker to send for, or download pdf file and print for yourself.

TeachKind
Kindness to animals. Videos, DVDs, lesson plans, worksheets all free to network members. About how to affect the kind treatment of all animals.

Arts & Crafts

Free Art Supplies, Craft Supplies and Free Craft Samples
This page has so many links to internet sites that offer free craft samples and free art supplies. Take a look at what you can easily find using a computer.

Computing

Free Color Printer from Xerox
If you are running a home business, an association or large support group, a resource center or cottage school, you may qualify. You must buy all ink through them, and report on your usage. Homeschooling is a perfect enviroment for learning the value of utilizing business resources offered to the educational community including home schools.

Free Computers for Homeschoolers
Here is a list of options that can be availed to get Free Computers for Homeschoolers.

Freebyte’s Guide to Free Computers
Free used and recycled computers, mostly for schools, non-profit organizations and disadvantaged individuals.

Health & Safety

FEMA Publications
You can order printed copies of materials related to individual and community preparedness through the FEMA warehouse using our online ordering tool.

Safe Kids
Order free booklets about safety around electricity and natural gas.

Will Rogers Institute Educational Resources
Educational material on health issues for teens.

Homeschool-Specific

Tip: Many books specifically on home schooling can be found under the Dewey Decimal call numbers 371.042 and 649.68at your public library. Check with your library to see if they have a free mobile app for borrowing ebooks, audiobooks, and videos for free. My favorite is Libby.

101 Ways to Save Money on Homeschooling
This free e-book by Carletta Sanders can help you save hundreds of dollars by showing you what to buy, where to buy it, where to find freebies, how to have fun on a budget, and how to earn income from home.

Math, economics, journalism

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Free curriculum about money, monetary policy, banking supervision, financial services, and more for elementary through high school students.

The post Free Homeschooling Curriculum Materials appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

Before starting, it is important to understand how to meet the needs of the autistic child. Autism spokesperson, Temple Grandin, has great teaching tips for children and adults with autism.

No matter what route you take, it is always great to have a collection of free resources available. We have compiled a list of some of our favorites for you!

Free Resources for Autistic Learners

34 Special needs Books for Encouragement and Instruction 
Find books to help you and your children during your homeschooling journey. This list contains books for on parenting special needs, books for children about special needs, and books to help with homeschooling special needs.

Educational Resources for Special Needs
Free printable picture cards to help with schedules, practice communication, or tell stories.

English Resources for Autism Teachers
Free printables for teaching English. Includes phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.

Fun Activity Ideas for Children with Autism
Ten fun activity ideas that encourage exploration and provide sensory experiences.

Free Calm Down Kit Printables
Calm down kits can be helpful in teaching your child to cope and self-regulate. These printable can help get you started with making ready to use calm down kits.

Five Free Songs for Pre- and Emerging Verbal Learners
Five free songs to help encourage your child to practice their speech.

Free Printable Math Centers for K-5 & Autism Units
Free printables for geometry, algebra, money, number recognition, and more.

Learning Games for Kids 
Free educational videos, songs, and online games.

Minecraft & Autism
Use Minecraft as a learning tool for teaching concepts such as self-awareness, self-control, and planning with this free series.

****Online Support Groups
Find a place to ask questions, get recommendations, and support with this list of online support groups.

Playdough Stamping Activities
A collection of activities to help your children practice fine motor skills with easy to find items and playdough!

Practical Autism Free Printables
A large collection of free printables! This site provides resources for word/picture associations, scheduling helpers, math activity printables, vocabulary, and much more.

Printable Pointing Books
Free printable to help build communication skills and practice pointing communication.

Sensory Ideas for Kids with Autism
It is common for children on the autism spectrum to have difficulty with sensory stimulation. Sensory activities can help these children train their brain on how to react with different sensations. Here are 101 sensory ideas to help!

Sesame Street and Autism
Find information on autism, videos for children, tips for parents, and free online story-book We’re Amazing.

Today I feel… Daily Emotion Activity
Help your child talk about emotions and learn facial cues with this free printable. (This site also offers other great printables for various hands-on activities that you might want to check out)

The post Free Resources for Autistic Learners appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.

So often I get asked “What is the best homeschool curriculum?” and without any supporting information to give an adequate answer, I thought I’d post an analogy.

A woman rushes into a large shoe store, one with a zillion shoes for men, women and children, corrals a sales clerk, and demands to be shown the best shoes they have.

The clerk tries to narrow down her choices, but she will have none of it. Who are the shoes for? What activity does she intend the shoes to be used for? What size is needed? Are they for herself or someone else? What style, brand and color do they prefer?

“I just want your very best shoes, in the size that is the most popular,” she insists.

The clerk points out a high heeled, alligator skin, pair of women’s boots, size 6, made by a noted fashion designer. The boots are expensive, but the woman did ask for the best!

“Would you like to try them on?” The clerk inquires.

“Oh, these aren’t for me,” she explains. “They are for my daughter.”

“I could set them aside, and you could bring her in,” the clerk suggested. “We have a $25 restocking fee if they are returned, and if scuffed, we won’t take them back at all.”

Unfazed, the woman pulls out her credit card and buys the boots. No shoes too pricey for HER child!

She takes her prized bag, and goes out into the mall, contacting her husband and daughter with her cell phone. They are at the big bookseller at the north end. “Meet you here!”

By the time she gets there, Dad and daughter are at the cash register, paying for their selection. There is a certain gleam in their eyes.

“Mom!” the girl explains, “Look what dad and I are going to do!”

She displays their selection: a bunch of garden books and information about organic gardening, and several piece of literature with titles like “A Child’s Garden of Verses.”

“We’re going to build a garden shed and some raised beds for organic vegetables. I promised I’d eat them if I grew them! Dad and I are going to learn how to grow our own food. He already knows how to build things, so he’s going to teach me to use real tools. We’ll use math to make it all fit together perfectly. All these books, with our homeschool discount, only costs us $75, too. Not bad! What did you get?”

“I got you the best shoes that money could buy!” Mom said as she pulls out the designer boots.

The disappointment on the daughter’s and father’s faces was evident. These boots were not going to last 10 minutes in the garden, even if she could have fit in them. And the price was far more than the family could really afford.

Mom realized her mistake at not fitting the shoe to her child, and what she needed shoes for. They went back to the shoe store, returned the fashion boots, and got some rubber clogs that would work for gardening.

Shopping for the “best” curriculum is a lot like this family’s story. The best is what is best for your child and the whole family’s interests and hobbies, and yourbudget. Take time to learn what is best for your child, and don’t rely on others to determine what is “the best in the world.” It still may not be right for your child.

The post What is the best homeschool curriculum? appeared first on A2Z Homeschool – THE A-to-Z of Homeschooling.