Great Homeschooling Internet Sites

Since my husband and I are both disabled veterans, it also means that we are also on a tight budget too. That also means that I need to keep my eye out for things I can find to use while homeschooling our nine year old autistic son. Along the five year old road of homeschooling, I've found a lot of really great sites that I've either used or plan to use while homeschooling him. I thought it might be useful if I posted my list to my blog in case someone else could possibly use any of them. If you find out that any of them don't work, I would really like to hear about it. If you want to pass the list along to others, great! If you have  a favorite site or two that might be useful, drop me an email at Familytreeclimber@Yahoo.com. I know, I know where's the list already? If there are asterisks (*) before the link, that means it's a site that I really like! Well, here it is:

General sites for homeschooling Resources
 http://www.tes.co.uk/ lessons on various subjects
 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html coloring pages & etc
 www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com
 www.schoolexpress.com
*Currclick.com (some free stuff, some low cost, some expensive!)
 http://www.newbeehomeschooler.com/
 http://www.learningtoday.com/corporate/curriculum.asp
 http://teachers.net/gazette/AUG03/printable.html#moose Teachers Net PreK-12
 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com Over 5,000 freebies but you have to sign up, products created by teachers
*http://www.amblesideonline.org/ free entire homeschool curriculum like Charlotte Mason K-12
*ww.brillkids.com resources for special needs, gifted and talented
 http://www.senteacher.org/Files/ Downloadable pages for Math, using computers, science, communication, the Arts, and other areas.
 http://www.melissaforney.com/blog/the-scoop Teacher blog
*http://allinonehomeschool.wordpress.com/ Entire Free Homeschool Program!
*http://oldfashionededucation.com/index.html Free Homeschool Curiculum, liturature and text books

Books
Audiobooks http://www.allyoucanbooks.com/
***ebooks http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Great site for classic books like Tom Sawyer, Alice in Wonderland, & Treasure Island!
ebooks (read on site) http://www.wegivebooks.org/books
http://www.read.gov/books/

Math
www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets
http://www.meetpenny.com/2012/03/free-multiplication-worksheets-fact-cards-with-visual-cues/ multiplication worksheets
http://www.math-drills.com/
http://www.mathfreebies.com
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Basic math concepts to pre-algebra games
http://myteacherpages.com/webpages/jgriffin/job.cfm Math Task Cards
http://www.makingmathmorefun.com/news.htm some free some have fee!
http://www.321know.com/g8-int-eval-exp.htm#section1

English
http://www.mcguffeysonlinetutor.com/ McGuffey Reader Weekly Newsletter
http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/preschoolalphabet.html PreK Learning Alphabet

Reading
carlscorner.us.com
readingteacher.com

Writing
hubbardscupboard.org

Penmanship
http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/

History
http://mappinghistory.uoregon.edu/english/index.html
http://www.besthistorysites.net/
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/ Limited, but good history link for making Power Point
http://www.historicaltruth101.com Great to bring history alive through interviews
http://www.mrdonn.org/index.html
another
http://ancientweb.org/
middle ages
http://www.abookintime.com/crafts/projectsmidages.html#knights
Romans
http://www.brims.co.uk/romans/towns.html
gladiator,mummy, exploring,whaling
http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.html
ancient rome
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/ancient_rome/rome.htm
pics for ancient Greece and Rome
http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/Maecenas/
kings,queens and castles
http://happyhomeschool.familyclassroom.net/Archives/History/KingQueens.shtml
history and science
http://www.prontolessons.com/lessons.html


US History
http://jobehistory.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html
http://thomaslegion.net/intro.html
Founding Fathers http://colonialhall.com/biodoi.php
www.AmericanHeritage.org (great curriculum for all grades from elementary through high school)
http://www.scholastic.com/ellisisland a vertual exploration of Ellis Island
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4wzVuXPznk
Links for Presidents of US: http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/uspresidents.htm

Native Americans
*** http://www.ri.net/schools/Glocester/WGES/Rsrcpgs/NA/page22.htm
*** http://www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/curriculum/nativeamericans/index.html
2nd Grade Lesson Plan http://aam.govst.edu/projects/kyoung/index.htm
    Native American Pictures: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?category=Native%20American%20History
7th Grade Lesson Plan http://www.wmsrivera.com/americans/native/americans.html
http://webs.rps205.com/curriculum/ssandvoc/NA.html

Government
http://publications .usa.gov/ USAPubs.php? PubID=6099 - free poster showing how to
get to be the president
iCivics.org - several games to play to understand
government/laws/ bills/courtrooms
Kids.gov - several games and other links to help them understand more how things work
http://www.unitstud y.com/Elections_ Study.html

Geography
http://theopenmindacademy.weebly.com US geography work pages

Maps
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/outline-map/?map=The_World&ar_a=1
http://www.wdl.org/en/
http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxusx.htm Blank US maps
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/outline-map/?ar_a=1 Map Blank Maker
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/mapsofcontinents.htm Continent Maps
Outline Map links
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/
http://geography.about.com/cs/blankoutlinemaps/ (many links listed)
http://www.50states.com/maps/ (one for each state)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm

Worksheets
 www.education.com  I don't know how good this one is but it has been suggested to check it out.
www.spellingcity.com      "          "          "          "

Posters
http://www.values.com/media_requests

Free Homeschool Materials (Notebook, lapbook, etc)
http://notebookingnook.blogspot.com/2009/10/freebies-organized-by.html
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
http://dynamic2moms.webs.com/ Lapbooks
http://yeeshallknow.com
http://www.staidenshomeschool.com/ Unit Studies
http://notebookingfairy.com/ Notebooking how tos

Science
https://www.msu.edu/~carusosa/rainforest.htm Rainforest
http://msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-6/uc/index.html
http://www.neok12.com/    this site has science videos and games all free
http://www.starfall.com/   great site for beginning readers.
http://www.superchargedscience.com/lnc512-7.htm e-Science Activities & Experiments available for limited time!
      Astronomy
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/ Great kids science site and astronomy
In spite of the "kids", there's stuff here for upper levels too - if you go
to Free Online Classes, there is a track for 12 and up.

Classical Music & Art
http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/download.htm
Biography of Beethoven: www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html
Site dedicated to Beethoven: www.lucare.com/immortal
Free listening, videos, concerts: www.last.fm/music/Ludwig+van+Beethoven
Beethoven videos: http://video.search.yahoo.com/
Johannes Brahms free notebook store.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_76_77&products_id=258
world's greatest artists: Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Claude Monet, Henry Matisse, Georgia O’keefe, Michelangelo, and Leonardo Da Vinci. If you are interested in this, follow this link:
http://store.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_76_78&products_id=194 may or may not be free!
http://www.naxos.com/qcomp.htm
http://www.classicalarchives.com/
http://www.composers.net/ A Music Glossary
http://WWW.thekidswindow.co.uk/homework_help

Religion
http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos?lang=eng Bible videos
http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/new-testament-stories?lang=eng Children's New Testament Stories
http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/old-testament-stories?lang=eng Children's Old Testament Stories

Games
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/fireworks_ofglass/games_k2.htm#
http://www.filefolderfun.com/index.html
http://www.currclick.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=624 Low cost learning games

Flashcards
http://www.myfreeflashcards.com

Paper Crafts
http://jacques-mylittlehouse.blogspot.com/search
http://www.korthalsaltes.com/
http://marilee.us/paperdolls.html Paper Dolls

Cooking

http://www.childrensrecipes.com/how_to_make_homemade_marshmallows.htm Homemade Marshmallows

Low Cost Homeschooling materials
*Currclick.com
www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com
http://edhelper.com/    some free stuff, but only costs $20 a year for full access. worth the money for K thru 8
*schoolexpress.com Unit Studies

Lapbook companies
ajourneythroughlearning.com       sign up for newsletter and get free lapbook of their choice
HandsofaChild.com                      free quarterly lapbook and weekly $5 lapbooks
KnowledgeBoxCentral.com          sign up for newsletter and get coupon good for $5 off purchase which means either your first one free or half off! All their lapbooks are either $5 or $10 each!


I know the list is pretty long, sorry about that but some of them I found and others have been passed on to me. After five years, you kind of end up finding a lot of sites if you are looking for things that can be helpful to you! I do hope it is helpful to you though. If anything, take a look at the sites with an *.

Our Son's Favorite Subjects

     Well, school has been going on now for close to a month. Believe it or not, our 9 year old autistic son has asked me to ADD lessons to his schedule! He really likes learning about habitats which covers science and US Geography which I believe is considered social studies. We've also tried astronomy and American History but he didn't care for those subjects much. Since I've always like history, I'm hoping that eventually he will discover a love for the subject also.
     The company I bought the curriculum from is called Intellego Unit Studies. The materials were designed by a mother of a special needs child. I know my special needs son LOVES learning from the science and social studies portion of their curriculum. Each selection is usually broken into grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. The K-2 level tends to have more hands on activities so we have been using them although our son is actually ready for fourth grade work.He's more of a hands on learner and using manipulatives seems to help him learn a lot better than any other activity I have tried.  I add additional materials, like lapbooks from Hands of a Child or Knowledge Box Central, we've even made a couple of our own. I also include games that I have found on Currclick.com or I have created myself. We've also made cookies in the shape of the states we have been studying too or an entire meal with dishes or foods from the state we are studying. There are so many things you can do to help a child learn a subject, you are only limited by your imagination, Intellego Unit Studies is a great starting point.
     The way the program works, you download an eBook with instructions on how to use it. Each lesson is pretty short, most of the time we are done in about half an hour. There are pages to print out for the student to either fill in or draw pictures. Instructions about what is being taught and how to go about doing it. Lastly, there are links to click on to take you directly to internet sites that will teach a child about each subject. Those links can be anything from short reading assignments, games, or videos. Many times, we end up playing the games several times or finding and watching several videos associated with what is being taught.
   Believe it or not, I have already picked up our next eBooks for our next classes when they were on sale about a month ago. That way, when we finish what we are studying now, we will be ready to go on to our next ones. We will be learning about maps then world geography for social studies. The animal kingdom then living things for science. Sooner or later we will advance up to higher grade level sooner or later and I'm sure the higher grade eBooks will study the subjects more in depth or from a different perspective.