Free Coupons Online

I'll also add these to the sidebar. Note that these websites offer free coupons. Never, ever pay for a coupon clipping service.

• Coupons.com
• CouponNetwork.com
• SmartSource.com
• RedPlum.com

And only print what you need for this week's shopping trip. You don't want to waste money on paper and ink.

Free e-Books for Homeschoolers

I've been wanting a Kindle forever but just couldn't bring myself to spend the money. I asked for it for my last birthday but then pulled the request as I just thought that maybe it was too frivolous. You know -- Want vs. Need.

However, now I'm completely rethinking the whole thing.

As a homeschooler, I use a lot of classic books. A LOT. And most of them can be found for free download on the internet. I have take advantage of some of these free books but not much as I'd like as it isn't easy to read on my computer. Reading on a Kindle (and I imagine other book readers are similar) really is much like reading a regular book. You can even make annotations in the columns and highlight passages. I do love real books. My home is decorated in Early Library but maybe it is time to enter the modern age. At least a wee bit.

Yes, I know there is the public library and I do take great advantage of it. In fact, I have a daughter who works at the library and I often enlist her to do my library grunt work. But there are times when even the classics are hard to get via inter-library loan. (Our small town library didn't even offer inter-library loan until a few months ago!) Or I need a book for an entire semester or I need it quick.

Anyway, with all those free books out there I think the Kindle would pay for itself easily in less than a year. Now, all my geek friends tell me to forget the Kindle and go for an i-Pad but I really, really can't bring myself to spend that kind of money. Cha-ching, cha-ching!!!

So, the whole point of this blog post was to share links to all those free books with you. Let's get to it ...

Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project
Bringing Yesterday's Classics to Today's Children. We're using this currently for our Ancient Greece and Rome books including Famous Men of Greece and Famous Men of Rome.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library
From Calvin College, loaded with lots of Church Fathers and Catholic saints. It even has large selections from Summa Contra Gentiles. I've downloaded Chesterton and others here.

Google Books
In addition to classics, authors have uploaded current books. Also magazines.

Gutenberg Project
THE original producer of free e-books. Over 100,000 books.

Heritage History
Similar Baldwin Project, only dedicated exclusively to children's history books

Internet Archive

Librivox
Free audio books!

Literature Page
The Literature Page is your place to read classic books, plays, stories, poems, essays, and speeches online, brought to you by the creators of The Quotations Page. Our collection currently includes 243 works from 89 authors. We add new titles regularly.

Many Books
All free books in a wide variety of genre. They contain books from Project Gutenberg, and has links to Librivox when available. You can download them already converted to a variety of formats if you don't want to go through Calibre.

Munseys
This site absolutely has things you will not find anywhere else.

TextKit: Resources for Greek and Latin
Our Latin textbooks for this year are from this website.

As with any book, make sure anything you download is acceptable. Even classics contain trash.

I'll put these links up in the sidebar here at the blog so you find them there in the future.

Happy reading!!!

Free Farming Unit Study

OHC Co-op Farming Unit Study

This is a free 227-page unit study from CurrClick. I'm not sure how long it'll be offered for free.

We live in a rural area and have been slowly adding to our own family farm. So far we have chickens and ducks. We're currently testing the soil to see if our land will sustain a fruit orchard. So, this unit is of particular interest to us.

It's geared for pre- to grade school but the list of links will be helpful to older children. If anyone knows of a good, free unit for middle to high school please leave a comment below.

Free Stuff in the Blogosphere

To celebrate 5 years in the blogosphere, Alicia Van Hecke is giving away loads of free gifts including (more to come as the week progresses):

1. Subscriptions to mater et magistra magazine (Catholic homeschooling magazine): (3 copies)

2. I Remember Mama - Irene Dunne, 1948 (3 copies)

3. Christmas in Connecticut - Barbara Stanwyck, 1945 (3 copies)

4. Books by Melissa Wiley (3 books)

5. The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden (1 copy)

6. The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten (1 copy)

7. The Catholic Homeschool Companion, edited by Maureen Wittmann and Rachel Mackson (1 copy)

8. Homeschool Connections Subscription Service (1 month free subscription)

Check out Studeo to learn all the details.

Free Webinar on Online Education

UPDATE: The webinar went great! You can watch the recorded event here: Advantages of Online Education.

Maureen Wittmann will be the presenter for Homeschool Connection's upcoming free webinar: Online Education vs. Distance Learning.

The internet, used correctly, can be a big plus for your homeschool. This webinar will focus on online education but will also explore other internet resources including research options for students, finding homeschool support, and money saving deals.

Distance learning has been around for over a century. Studies show that distance learning is as effective as classroom instruction. Today we have a new model of education coming to the forefront: Online Education which is interactive and goes beyond distance learning. New studies indicate that online education is leaving classroom instruction in the dust.

Join us for this free and informative webinar to find out why and how. See firsthand the future of education. Attendees will get to personally tryout some of the online educational options. If you own a headset with a microphone, plug it in before entering the webinar and we'll let you use to experience one of the interactive parts of online education.

Bring all of your questions as there will be a Q&A segment.

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Starting time: 8:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (7:00 pm, Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Presenter's biography: Maureen Wittmann is co-founder of Homeschool Connections along with Walter Crawford. They are bringing online education to homeschoolers around the globe in an effort to help parents provide a faith-filled, world-class education to their children. Maureen is also the author of For the Love of Literature and co-author of The Catholic Homeschool Companion. She and her husband Rob homeschool their seven children in Michigan.

Free DVD's from the History Channel

Free DVD Set from the History Channel The History Channel is giving away a free DVD set to every school in the United States, including homeschools! This soon-to-be-released set is entitled American-The Story of Us. Here is a quote from the website stating what this 9 1/2 hour DVD set will include: A riveting adventure of how America was invented, AMERICA The Story of Us focuses on the people, ideas and events that built our nation, covering 400 years of American history in the most extensive and in-depth television series ever produced by HISTORY. From the rigors of linking the continent by wagon trails to the transcontinental railway, the engineering of steel-structured buildings, through to landing on the moon, this epic 12-part series is a grand cinematic vision of how this country was built. Sharing their thoughts on the building of America, and what it means to be an American, are a world-class group of individuals including Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Buzz Aldrin, Colin Powell, Donald Trump, Tom Brokaw, John Legend, Melissa Etheridge, Brian Williams and more. From executive producer Jane Root of Planet Earth, comes the breathtaking journey through history–unlike any other in the past 40 years–with live-action recreations of key historical events through the use of cutting edge CGI animation, giving viewers an immersive view of history in the making. These DVDs will be shipping in August. The deadline to request a copy is July 1st. If you are interested, click here to see more information on this DVD set. Then click here to request your free set! **Note: This DVD history set will NOT be done from a Christian perspective, so you may want to preview these before having your children watch them.**

Freebies for Tax Day

After writing my check to Uncle Sam I'm so ready for a freebie. Here is a list of Tax Day Freebies from Cinnabon to Starbucks and more.

Become a Facebook Fan and Win a Free Book

Join the Homeschool Connections Fan Page, leave a comment, and you could win one of three copies of For the Love of Literature: Teaching Core Subjects with Literature by Maureen Wittmann. Contest ends Friday at 7 PM Eastern.

Paying for College Without Going Broke

ADDENDUM: The live webinar went great! You can watch the recording for free:
How to Pay for College Without Breaking Your Bank

Homeschool Connections is hosting a free webinar on How to Pay for College Without Breaking Your Bank.

I don't know about you, but this is a hot topic at my house. Not just when talking about my 19- and 17-year olds, but the 9- and 7-year olds too! This is one free event I'll not be missing!

Free Stuff from NASA for Homeschoolers!

Last week Domenico Ruggiero gave an awesome webinar on his work at NASA. It was a wonderful learning experience for my family. The great news is that the webinar was recorded and you can watch it yourself at: One Small Step for Parents, One Giant Leap for Homeschool Kids: Insights from a NASA Engineer.

If you have a child with the least bit interest in aerospace, astronomy or engineering, you absolutely should not miss this one.

PLUS, Domenico arranged with NASA to give away all kinds of neat NASA goodies -- posters, decals, rulers, and more. To receive these giveaways drop Domenico an email. He'll email back a form so you can choose what you would like to receive. But don't wait! The deadline is August 19, 2009.

Free Math and Science Online Conference Talk

Bringing Joy to Your Homeschool Math and Science Lessons

This is a remake of the original webinar with the same name. Since we experienced some audio and visual challenges with the first one we wanted to improve your experience by trying it all over again. It worked! Enjoy!

Literature isn't just for reading! You can teach math, science, language arts, and more using living books. This is the third in a series of three talks on the topic of teaching through real books.

Have you ever said out loud, "I hate math!" Or, "Math was my worst subject!" Was science always a tough subject for you? Do you struggle wondering how you can bring the fullness of the subject to your children? If so, you've come to the right place.

In this talk Maureen Wittmann shows you how to let go of your math and science phobia and keep from passing it onto your children. Math can be fun and interesting. Really. You just need to look at it in a new light. Science can go beyond the kitchen experiments and come alive in a child's imagination. Really.

Maureen brings lots of books with her for show and tell. You'll leave this online seminar loaded with book titles, fresh ideas, and practical tips. You won't want to miss it!

Maureen is the author of For the Love of Literature: Teaching Core Subjects Through Literature published by Ecce Homo Press, available from your favorite bookseller or maureenwittmann.com.

To sign up for other live webinars from Homeschool Connections, please visit https://homeschoolconnections.webex.com.

To view recordings of past webinars, please visit http://tinyurl.com/pasthomeschoolwebinars.

Thank you to our sponsors who make it possible to bring these webinars to you for free:
Living Math
Ecce Homo Press

Free Online Homeschooling Resources

From the Homeschool Buyers Co-op and ClickSchooling:

This week we have more free curriculum discoveries and ClickSchooling reviews by Diane Flynn Keith

• Free Math Activity Book for K-5
• Free Sunflower Seeds for Bee Science Project
• Free Writing Study Guide & More
• One Hen - Microfinance for Kids
• Virtual Field Trip to Gummi Bear Factory
• Fun Things to Make with Paper

Please let us know if YOU find any great educational websites!

Free Math Stuff

If you could use a little free help in the area of math, from kindergarten through high school, I've been posting loads of cool links over at Unity of Truth (math and science blog).

Free Coloring Pages and More

If your children like it when you print out coloring pages, mazes and the such then you've got to visit Dover Children's Book Sampler. I'm signed up for the newsletter. Once a week I get an email to links so I may print out samples of their reproducibles. It's worth checking out.

Free Pocket Constitution

Free copies of the US Constitution are available from The Heritage Foundation at:

http://www.askheritage.org/Premium.aspx

Free Shakespeare Audio

Speak the Speech: Universal Shakespeare.

Win One-Year Subscription to mater et magistra

The Teaching History with Real Books webinar went great. Those things are so fun to do. I think all the attendees enjoyed the experience too. If you weren't able to make it but would still like to learn more about using literature in your homeschool, you're in luck. The entire webinar is available for download for a mere $4. Just go to: How to Teach History with Real Books.

My next webinar is Teaching Music and Art Appreciation with Real Books on Wednesday March 4th at 7:30 PM Central. Hillside Education will be giving away a free subscription to mater et magistra to one luck attendee! It's such a perfect tie-in as the talk is on art and mater et magistra is the most beautiful little magazine you've ever seen. For those who already subscribe, Hillside will simply add a year to your subscription or you can give it away as a gift.

There are also free Mom's Night Out events to check out too. I plan on attending. Now that I'm out in the country, I need all the mom chat time I can get!

UPDATE: All Homeschool Connections webinars are now FREE!

Win a Free Book

One lucky attendee to the Teaching History with Real Books webinar will get a free copy of For the Love of Literature. Autographed no less!

You get to attend a fun mini-conference from the comfort of your own home AND possibly win an awesome door prize. Hey, life doesn't get much better!

See you there!

Free Online Chat and Other Offerings from Homeschool Connections

Hey, have you been longing for a Ladies Night Out? Yearning for an evening of chatting with some other homeschool moms? Well, have I got a cool opportunity for you: Mom's Night Out While In on February 19th at 7:30 Central Time. This will be a free monthly get together to chat and hang out without leaving the comfort of your home. This is especially nice for moms who may be feeling isolated due to the lack of a local homeschool community.

I've already registered and I hope to see several of you there! Space is limited to only 30 participants to keep the event cozy so don't wait too long to sign up.

On another but similar note . . . being an awesome techno genius, I finally figured out how to get to the recorded webinars directly instead of sending you to the home website and then making you search for the right link. Oh, okay, I admit it, I'm not a techno genius and Walter sent the direct links to me.

Anyhoo, here they are:

Homeschool Organization 101: FREE

Caring Connections: Maximizing the Benefits of Homeschool Family Relationships with Danielle Bean: $2.oo

And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for my upcoming webinar:
How to Teach History with Real Books
The fee is $10 but it is money well spent. It'll be fun as well as informational! Perfect to beat the February Blahs.

UPDATE: The Feb. Mom's Night Out While In is all filled up. But there are still openings for March and April. Also, there are still a few seats for the Teaching History with Real Books online conference.

Teaching Sight Words

How do you teach sight words, words that are not phonetic?

Charlotte Mason suggested having children look at the word on a card, flip it over, and then write it.

With my dyslexic children, we called sight words "red letter words." I wrote them in red marker on index cards. They would then trace them with their fingers, spelling them out loud. They would also "put the words on their shoulders." That is, they put their right hand on their left shoulder, said the word, then tapped down their arm as they spelled it out. Amazingly enough, this worked wonders in helping them remember their sight words. In fact, after my son learned to read well, he would still occasionally put his hand on his shoulder when trying to remember how to spell a sight word. It helped him pull it from his "mental filing cabinet."

However you go about it, you may be interested in these websites:
Author Jan Brett's Home Page - A Great Place for Ideas
Free Sight Word Helpers
Word Search Puzzles: Find Dolch Sight Words

Thanks to Beate, from the Literature Alive Yahoo Group, for bringing these to my attention! Beate's daughter is a late reader and uses the sight words cards to help build confidence. She writes in the air, traces on the carpet, etc.