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.

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.

Organizing My Homeschool

Wednesday's live webinar Homeschool Organization 102 was fantastic. The audience was great -- participating to the fullest, sharing their best tips, advice, and websites.

The event was recorded and you may view it for free: Homeschool Organization 102. Enjoy.

Thank you to the sponsors of this event who make it possible for Homeschool Connections to bring it to you for free:
Ecce Homo Press
Love 2 Learn
Living Math

Survey: Homeschool Connections Courses and Webinars

Walter and I are spending the month of May scheduling courses, seminars, and free webinars through the end of 2009. We'd like your help if you don't mind. In fact, this is a great opportunity for you, as you will have a direct input on what we schedule.

Click Here to take survey

Our goal is to serve the homeschool community and prayerfully this survey will help us do just that. Please feel free to pass this link onto other homeschoolers.

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

American Government and the Constitution for Homeschoolers

Homeschool Connections is proud to announce their first ever online class for homeschooled high school students and it's sure to be great!

If you are not familiar with Homeschool Connections, we provide free webinars for homeschool parents as well as online classes at a reasonable price for homeschooled students.

Course Description:
Democracy, Government & Citizenship
American government has been called the most radical experiment in self-governing in human history based on its unique system of democracy and citizen involvement. Learn how the fundamental elements of American government are supposed to work, how they actually work, and the role and responsibility each citizen has in our government and our future."

Instructor's Biography:
Ed Rivet has a B.S. in Pre-Law and Public Policy and a Master's in Public Administration both from Michigan State University. He served three years as a legislative aide in the Michigan House of Representatives. For 21 years Ed has served as the Right to Life of Michigan's Legislative Director. He has written and helped enact dozens of laws, including the nation's first complete ban on human cloning, and banning assisted suicide in the face of the assault on human life by Jack Kevorkian and Geoffrey Fieger. Ed was the director of the state of Michigan's largest all-volunteer citizen petition drive which also was the state's most accurate petition drive ever, 97.3% valid signatures. Ed has done countless media interviews, appearing in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, plus live interviews on CNN and Good Morning America.

Fee:
Seven-week course for $87.50. Seating is limited to 25 students.

Dates and Time:
Classes will begin Friday, March 27, 2009 and meet every Friday through May 8, 2009 with Good Friday off. The time will begin 12:00 PM Eastern Time and end at 1:15 PM.

Enrollment Period:
Enrollment will close on March 20, 2009. This will provide students time to learn about the educational software Moodle and the instructor time to provide a syllabus and Welcome.

Misc. Details:
All coursework will be provided by the instructor or available online for free. Homework and research projects will be given and graded. Mr. Rivet will be available via email in between classes to answer questions and take comments.

Equipment requirements:
Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone. If you do not own a headset, you can find them for a reasonable price at Amazon.

Online Classes for Homeschool Students / Free Help for Homeschool Parents

I'd like to share some awesome news with you.

First, I've decided to partner with Walter Crawford and Homeschool Connections. I love the webinar concept so much that I want to be an active part of it. Kind of like that Schick (or was it Gillette?) CEO who loved their razors so much that he bought the company.

Second, all live and recorded webinars are now free! Yes, FREE!

Third, we're going to offer online classes for high school students and possibly middle school students. There will be a fee for that but it'll be very reasonable. More information on that will be forthcoming in a few days.

In the meantime, here are links to my upcoming free talks:
Bringing an Appreciation of Art and Music to Your Homeschool
Bringing Joy to Your Homeschool Math and Science Lessons

Homeschool Dads Night Out

UPDATE: All Homeschool Connections webinars are now FREE!

I've been doing some research and have found that motivational and educational webinars (online seminars) run from $50 to $500. That's a lot of money! Fortunately for the homeschooling community webinars are coming onto the market with us in mind and with our pocket books in mind. For example:

From Walter Crawford:

Dr. Mary Kay Clark and Gene McGuirk discuss with you the significance a dad can have in the success in everyone's homeschool efforts.

If you are a dad, they will provide you practical advice and encouragement on how to be the best homeschool dad you can be. If you are a mom, they will provide you insight on how to leverage the expertise of your husband. Please come and participate in this wonderful discussion with some of the most experienced homeschoolers around.

The fun starts at 7:30 PM Central Time on Wednesday, March 11, 2009. It's only $5 to register. To find out more and/or register visit Homeschool Connections: Homeschool Dads. (If you get a message about time difference just click Yes -- that has just started happening to me in the past day.)

And while you're there, check out the other offerings from Homeschool Connections. Recorded and live events run from Free to $10.