Thinkwell Courses Sale

Periodically the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op provides access to Thinkwell courses on sale. I'm a fan of Thinkwell for high school and college prep homeschooling.

Maybe it's Professor Edward Burger that makes me like Thinkwell - he's a kinda cute, geeky, math guy and he makes me laugh. Or the fact that their course is so thorough - he obviously just loves his subject and knows it inside out. Either way, if you're looking for high school online software it's worth checking out Thinkwell.

Courses on offer this time around:

• middle school, high school, and some college level math (except for Geometry, which I really wish they had), including college algebra, trigonometry and calculus
  
• high school biology, chemistry and physical science
• American government
• macroecomomics and microeconomics
• public speaking

Prices range from $49.95 to $84.95 with bigger discounts when there are more subscribers.

For some reason it's hard to access the deals if you just go to the Homeschool Buyers Co-op home page - go straight to Thinkwell courses on sale if you want to take a look. The current offer expires February 10th at noon (eastern).

The Homeschooler's Guide to the Galaxy has no connection to Homeschool Buyers Co-op or Thinkwell. I also recommend The Teaching Company Save 70%! Great Courses by America's Top Professors and Elementary Algebra (these are affiliate links).

Staples Dollar Deals

I know that some of my readers and friends here get a little foamy mouthed, or is that starry-eyed, over discounted school supplies so I'm escaping from lurkdom to point you to Stapes Dollar Deals, which arrived in my Inbox this morning.

So, what delights are in store for you at Staples Dollar Deals, if you just can't resist checking into shiny, new, $1, office supplies?

• small, college-ruled, spiral-bound notebooks
• mini staplers - so cute!
• clear and colored washable glue sticks
• sheet college-ruled paper
• post-it like Stickies pads
• pens

There are also some $2 deals. That's it! If your school supplies have run out, dried up, or you just need a little of that fresh, new smelling, stuff to get you fired up and get you through to Spring Break, take a look at Staples Dollar Deals.

Regards, Alison

P.S. Can someone tell Staples they should pay me for doing this stuff?

Thinkwell Math Online

In my Inbox today was a 30% discount notice from Thinkwell for their online math courses. It seems they would like to increase their take-up amongst the homeschool community.

First let me say that Homeschool Buyers Co-op has the best price for Thinkwell Online Math products.

Both offers expire Monday, October 26th, 2009. You can save 30% direct through Thinkwell and 39-48% through Homeschool Buyers Co-op. Most of the courses at the co-op are currenly just 2 subscriptions short of getting a 44% discount.

Do you like cake? I've been using the Thinkwell Algebra I online course this term and for me it's the most enjoyable Algebra course I've seen. Professor Burger is a really high-thinking mathematician who makes the course fun and just covers math at a deeper level than other courses I've seen. His fun props such a cake and bologne also get his points across.

I don't recommend Thinkwell Online Math courses for every student though. There are a couple of other online math courses I recommend. Take a look at Thinkwell if your kid/student:

• Likes variety - there is a fair bit going on within the multi-screen format.
• Wants to work excusively online.
  
• Asks questions and wants to understand math in its wider context.
• Doesn't need things broken down to tiny steps with lots of repetition.

And if you're already using Thinkwell, or decide to, you might be interested in:

• Thinkwell YouTube Channel
• Thinkwell Blog
• Thinkwell on Facebook
  

Free Online Math, Science, Finance

Khan Academy is a non-profit website site where you can access free online math, science and finance lectures. When you visit you'll see subjects under group headings like Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, SAT Preparation, and Arithmetic.

Under each subject, such as Arithmetic, are listed all the topics, such as Dividing Decimal Numbers. Click on the link and you'll be taken to a YouTube video, such as this one here.

Khan Academy looks like a really amazing resource. Not only are there all the video lectures, but there is also a curriculum, with exercises to work, for some of the math topics, including Arithmetic and Algebra 1. Here is the link to the Khan adaptive math program. I didn't go in and look to see how the exercises are presented because you have to register for that part, but I recommend you check it out if you're looking for a new way to do math.

Now I'm wondering if I could have avoided some of the $$$ I've spent on math curricula over the last 6 years of homeschooling...

Homeschool Math Examination

I've spent the last couple of days absorbed in an examination of homeschool math options for the middle school and high school years. This is most certainly not a new area of research for me, but each time I take a look at homeschool math options I learn something new. Rather than let this research go to waste, here are a few things I've discovered. Today I'll cover online instruction options.

Computer Based Math Instruction
There are several math instruction methods suitable for middle school, high school, and college level math which are entirely computer based. I'm going to write a few notes on things that seem to me unique about each different program.

• iPASS - designed to catch up a student who may have gaps in their learning. Covers math through pre-Algebra - math taught in grades 4-8 in most states. This is a comprehensive program which breaks down math into all it's component parts. The student is not aware of which grade level they are working - levels are simply labeled with letters from A-V and moving from one grade to the next is seamless. For each topic the student completes a timed assessment and they can test out of a lesson if they reach the pass rate. Questions are not multiple choice so a student must actually know how to calculate the answer to get it right. Once a student has mastered the topic they pass on to the next topic. If needed the student will be given more questions from a large pool of questions to provide adequate practice. Students who need additional time for tests can be accomodated. Review is incorporated throughout the program so that the student continues to practice concepts they've mastered. iPASS does not have a free trial - I was quoted a cost of $20 per month and you can sign up for one month and see if it works for you. Find out more about iPASS. You need to talk with a sales representative to sign up. The person I spoke with was Kim and she is very helpful.
• Thinkwell Math begins with their Pre-Algebra course. Their courses cover Algebra from Pre-Algebra to College Algebra, Pre-Calculus and Calculus, and Trigonometry. They don't list a Geometry course - I'm not aware of whether geometry is integrated into their other courses perhaps. Each course must be purchased separately. You can save 39-48% by purchasing through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. The current offering ends on August 21st. I've looked at this course before and I really like the way the teacher covers the work. The software workspace is divided up with the teacher on one side explaining the concept and working the problem, a place to show the math problem being worked on and a key ideas area. It does make for quite a busy screen. You can see the demos at Thinkwell's site and take a look at what the Thinkwell Homeschool Buyers Co-op offering. There is no free trial, but watching the demos should give you and your children a pretty good feel for this program.
• PLATO Learning Math has courses covering everything from Pre-Algebra to Geometry, Calculus 2 and Trigonometry. They do not appear to cover Statistics. This year is the first time these courses have been available to homeschoolers. Homeschool Buyers Co-op is able to make them available through the Kentucky Virtual Campus. While I am not familiar with the PLATO math options I've used some of their science courses in homeschooling my teens and we've liked them a lot. The offering for these courses involves signing up to get access to a very wide range of middle school and high school level courses. At a cost of $299 for the year it would be a really good deal if you can take advantage of several of the courses. The courses cover math, science, social studies, language arts, and job and life skills. The Homeschool Buyers Co-op deal ends on the morning of August 23rd. If you're interested take a look at PLATO demos and Kentucky Virtual Campus then sign up through Homeschool Buyers Co-op. There is no trial period for this software.
• ALEKS Math cover everything from Grade 3 math to college math courses in Algebra, Trigonometry, AP Calculus and Statistics, and Business Math. I'm not very familiar with ALEKS but I've heard good things and they do have a free trial. At the ALEKS site you can see all of their offerings, take a tour and sign up for a free trial. One thing I like about what they are offering is that you have access to all their courses for the one subscription of $19.95 per student.
• Indian Math Online is an online math program I just discovered. It is based on the teaching method used in India. Given that India is now producing some of the leading math and science majors I think it's worth a look. You can sign up for a free trial and then the subscription costs $15-20 per month. Indian Math Online covers grades 1-10 math.

If you are looking for a math curriculum I hope these comments will be of help to you. I also have plenty to say about textbook math, but I'll save that for another day.

Costco Back to School

Below are my picks from the Costco back to school offers, taken from the Costco Connections magazine August 2009 edition. Interestingly Costco this time dedicated one page to homeschooling with articles highlighting two homeschooling moms and their families.

Back to School Books
Books on sale at Costco in August which my family has enjoyed:

• Ripley's Believe It or Not: Seeing is Believing - I can't think of a book more suitable for intriguing and entertaining a preteen boy. Ripley's is a firm favorite in my home. What a great conversation starter! It's not just parent-grossing - it gets kids thinking about science and human behavior and it's the kind of book grasped by many a reluctant reader.
• Dorling Kindersley Hardback Titles - every home with school age kids needs a collection of fact-filled encyclopedia style books and Dorling Kindersley make some of the best. Pictured in Costco Connections are the titles Bird, Flight, Earth, Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, Encyclopedia of Space, and Encyclopedia of Animals. I'm not familiar with any of these specific titles. What I can say is I remember a whole host of library trips where I carted home DK titles for my son to pore over. DK make great books - they're perhaps Usborne's biggest rival in non-fiction children's books.

Worth a Look

• Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath by Cornelia Funk - a great trilogy collection recommended for read-aloud dad and daughter time.
• Casio fx-300ES Scientific Calculator and Texas Instruments TI Plus 84 Silver Edition Graphing Calculator - Costco price and quality can't usually be beaten so if you have a teen who needs to move up in calculators this year check these ones out and compare to what you can get from Amazon.com and office supply stores like Staples.
• The Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook - slow cooking can be such a help when you have a busy home schedule, whether you homeschool or not. Costco describe the Fix it and Forget It Cookbook as follows "offers more than 800 tried-and-true slow cooker recipes for any occasion." There is also the Fix It and Forget It: 5-Ingredient Favorites cookbook. Sounds to me like recipes a homeschooler would want to have to hand to 1) keep the day on-track and 2) teach the kids simple, everyday cooking.
• Olympus VN-5200 PC audio recording device. Writing can be hard work for kids, especially so when they have dysgraphia. A recording device could really have a lot of uses in homeschooling - think interviews, recording personal thoughts, taking lecture notes in co-op or in community colllege classes. I don't know how the Olympus VN-5200 PC compares but it's worth a look if this a need you have.
  

If You Like It
The two homeschool moms interviewed for Costco Connection talked about using the craft supplies, office supplies, workbooks, CDs, and computers available from Costco in their homeschooling. I'm not a personal fan of most of these items but your mileage may vary. If you have needs in these areas do check out Costco's offerings.

Two Costco office supply offerings which have stood the test of time in my home are: the multi-packs of white view ring binders and the Avery sheet protectors. I purchased these years ago and they circulate around my home finding new uses and lasting really well.

Where do you like to shop for your homeschool books, materials and supplies? Have you seen any great deals?

Bonnie and Clyde by Paul Schneider

I first heard of Bonnie and Clyde back in the 1960's when I was too young to have any clue who they were and what they did. Their names really stuck with me.

Bonnie is of course the Scottish word for beautiful and the Clyde is the big river which flows out through the city of Glasgow which I grew up practically on the banks of. It took until a couple of weeks ago when I picked up Bonnie and Clyde - the lives behind the legend by Paul Schneider for me to really learn what they were all about.

If you're looking for a cheerful read, this book is not for you. However as an interesting journey into the human condition and America in the 1920's I'd recommend it. I really found myself absorbed by the downhill slippery slope these two people were on. Of course I already knew the ending, but the twists, turns and agonies which led them there were in a way compelling.

I think this book would make a good college-level, or upper high school read. There's plenty of blood, violence and law breaking of course, so bear that in mind. There is even one really bad photo. The author doesn't turn it into a circus act though - I found myself enlightened about their story without much emotional attachment, either good or bad.

It would also be great for a homeschooling parent who just wants a change of pace and to be reminded that life in the 2000's is overall pleasant and safe, at least for most of us in America.

You can see inside Bonnie and Clyde, the lives behind the legend at Amazon.com.

Free Math Learning Links and Stuff

There are many wonderful websites with free math activities for you to use with your kids. Some of the links are also great if you need, or want, to brush up on, or advance, yourself in math, or maths (as it is called in the UK). All of the links below were sitting in my bookmarks folder - the result of many years of gathering resources for homeschooling. Masses of free math stuff, in no particular order:

• HomeschoolMath.net has a host of free worksheets, interactive tutorials and quizzes, curriculum guides, help on teaching, and links for online games. The site owner Maria also runs the Homeschool Math blog.
• Try Cool Math 4 Kids for a host of very colorful, free, interactive math games. Their companion Cool Math site has activities for the age 13 and up crowd.
  
• At Multiplication.com you can: download flashcards, worksheets and quizzes; find oodles of free resources for teaching the times tables; and find fun, free, colorful math games for kids.
• On the much less colorful front, download a variety of free online graph and grid papers. The variety of papers here is quite surprising - includes celtic knot paper, perspective paper, triangle paper, axonometric paper and tumbling block paper. I'm not sure what you do with all these, but I'm sure your kids will have some creative ideas!
• Personally I enjoy the patterns in mathematics. Boys are often fascinated by codes and ciphers and the accompanying spy stories. Here are some teaching resources for codes and ciphers, or visit Bletchley Park, the home of secret British codebreaking activities during World War II.
• Moving into more advance mathematical concepts, you can find a free online geometry textbook at Learner.org. Mathematics and art are very related. Learn about Fibonacci numbers and the golden section in art, music and architecture, or study geometry in art and architecture.
• Hippocampus has free Algebra courses.
• This Statistics site is not for the faint of heart - see the best and worst of statistical graphics. It's free and you just might learn something. What more could you want?
• Or maybe you'd prefer a little, light, free Calculus. Something new, or indepth and old is good for the brain cells :-)
  
• Last, but not least, Math Forum - dedicated to the teaching of mathematics.

I hope you find something of interest among these free math resources. Of course I do know of a few more links, which I will have to save for later.

Got a favorite free math resource link? Please let me know.

Find math stuff and homeschool math stuff at Amazon.com.
See the award winning Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Math, multiplication wrap ups, learning palette 1st grade math manipulative center. Please ask if you need help or advice on something I've mentioned here.

Science Learning Links and Stuff

Are your kids in the doldrums with science? Maybe you need a new resource to add to their studies, or something scientific to get your own adult brain around. Bookmarks, like Firefox windows and tabs, have a habit of accumulating on me. Here are a few great picks from my science bookmarks. I've tried to mark the level of interest to make your life easier.

• Simple Machines in an easy to understand format - great for upper elementary and middle school.
  
• Mad Scientist Network - self explanatory!
• Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University.
• Connecting Music to reading, math and science.
• Instructables Science Guide has lots of information and projects suitable for budding engineers and scientists at high school level.
• The nature of waves from the Physics Classroom.
• Science Daily brings you the latest in science research news, or try Scientific Blogging for a daily dose of science.
  
• Eepybird's Diet Coke and Mentos spectaculars would get any little, or big, rocket scientist excited!
• At Building Big you can find a teacher's guide to simple hands-on activities for 5th-8th graders about the science of large structures.
• How Stuff Works is a place for older kids and adults to explore everything from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to what's inside electronics. Cool!
• Hippocampus is a source for free college level material. Their science courses include Biology, Physics and Environmental Science.
• Searching for something different in textbooks? Galore Park is a British publisher who provides books for ages 10-16 yrs. Access their home educators page at the above link and you can take a look at what they have to offer then visit book information and download free samples.
• Some school districts provide a great set of links, if you can just weed them out from among the masses of pages on their website. Here is a collection of science links for PK-6 courtesy of Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas.
• Got a kid who likes to invent? Maybe they'd be interested in the Wham-O Inventor Contest.
• At IKnowThat.com kids can see science videos and do interactive activities. It's colorful and bright and should appeal to elementary aged kids.

I hope you find something useful and enjoyable. Do let me know if you have written about science or know of a great link I should add.

Happy exploring :-)

Learning Links

Formerly called Bits and Bobs, Learning Links is my new title for the chaos brought to my computer by manic web surfing. It's happened again, those Firefox tabs have multiplied and I now have 23 windows open, each with at least 5 tabs - that is an estimated 200 or so websites up. It's time to pass along some great learning links, in no particular order, below:

• Fish school - lesson plans for goldfish. Watch Comet the goldfish make goals, swim the slalom, and do the limbo. What a cute, little, well trained guy!
• Do a college search at CollegeBoard.com - I've looked for college information before and this is the nicest site I've seen for finding information. It's very comprehensive, readable and nicely organized, with information that includes majors available, fees, and scholarships.
• British citizens may want to know about the petition to stop Sharia law (Islamic/Koranic law that dictates women cover their faces and that a hand is removed for certain crimes) from being legal under arbitration. I know, it sounds very highly surprising that there could be a loophole to allow this to happen in England (I'm not clear on whether this is just England, but Scotland has it's own law system so I'm guessing that it does not apply to Scotland), but I have checked it out and it's no joke. Read more about it at The Times Online.
• A topic worth a whole post, which I don't have time to write about today, but luckily another homeschooling mom did (she did a muuuuch better job than I would)! Resistance: a communication tool. Every parent and homeschooler has encountered resistance in their kid/spouse etc. This is an extremely thorough and thoughtful article that I think every parent needs to read. Really, make sure you check it out, your stress level will thank you!
  
• How your categories and tags help or hurt your blog. I searched around and this is the best of the articles I found on effectively using tags/labels. "A great blogger will take the time up front to plan out the blog's categories..." Ummm... I'm not a great blogger yet I guess. I'll work on it!
• Blogcarnival.com - the place to find and submit to carnivals. Think outside the box - you might find a whole new set of readers.
• EyewitnesstoHistory.com Wow, this site is beautifully laid out and jam-packed with links to help bring history alive! Check out George Washington's Rules of Good Behaviour, Writing the Declaration of Independence, and, for my British friends, The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots. I must add this site to my right-hand homeschooling links menu!
  
• Take a look at the wonderful, homemade, books, and more from a homeschooling family working with autism, visual-spatial learners, unschooling and foster/adoption. I love how they made books where the child is the star and somehow pasted amongst bison, bears and wolves.

There are many more learning links for me to post. Later... Do let me know your favorite!

Wizard of Oz Lesson Plans

If you're like me and are just a bit fond of The Wizard of Oz, you'd be amazed at the homeschooling lessons you can do based on this old favorite. Firstly, if your kids are not familiar with the original story or movie you'll want to read the free e-book (link below) and check your TV stations, cable service, local library or video store for the movie. Want to watch it over? You can obtain your own movie copy, and lots of other Wizard of Oz stuff besides at Amazon.com.

I looked through some of the study options and picked out these favorite resources:

• WizardofOz.info - has a huge array of ideas which includes every conceivable subject from science and math to psychology and language arts. Armed with this you could spend the whole year on The Wizard of Oz if it sustained your attention.
• Reach some highbrow discussion and college level assignments from Web English Teacher.
  
• LiteraturePlace.com offers a downloadable guide for grades 4-6 at a cost of $12.95.
• Download the original story on e-book from Project Gutenberg.
  
• A 7th-8th grade drama unit from Yale.edu.
  
• Oz artifacts at the Library of Congress.
  
• Party ideas for 1-9yr olds at BirthdayPartyIdeas.com.
  
• More lesson plans from LitPlans.com.
  
• Items selling on Ebay.
  
• Usborne's Young Reading Wizard of Oz - perfect for 1st and 2nd grade young independent readers
• Teach with Movies - Wizard of Oz - suggested by Julie.
  

We all need a little magic in our lives. Enjoy!

Brought to you in association with Amazon.com - home of Amazon Video on Demand.