St. John Bosco Academy

Faith

Took Will to his CC Music theory class
Came home, fed Becky breakfast, out again and picked up Sean from sleepover.
Read Bible History to B and S. Reread the last story since we haven't read the book in 2 months. It was about Moses building the Tabernacle.
Picked up Will from MT class
Josh looked at the intro lecture from the Art Reed dvds on Saxon Alg II.
Had very short reading lesson with B. I told her we were going to start having a reading lesson every day for 10 minutes. I put on the timer. I used the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I just had her read some random sentences out of the book. She has not been noticeably reading at all, all summer. But she did well except that those pesky letters kept tricking her. She read 'mup' for 'mud' and 'ben' for 'den' and 'ton' for 'not'. I told her this was just a warm up to get her in the groove again but we'd start in on using Little Angel Reader B as soon as she got warmed up. She starts VT on Wed.
Took Will to his piano interview. I was uncertain as the Levine school said they only did classical piano and he said he wanted jazz and blues. But the interview went really well and Will is psyched. The teacher he wound up with is a Mr. Pei who, Will said, sat down and played Stravinsky for him. Will was blown away! Mr. Pei said Will had a good ear and good intuition when it came to music but he had to work on the mechanics. Will agreed with this. The teacher also said that he would help Will a lot with sight reading. So Will is happy and can't wait to start in two weeks.
Had S read the first chapter in his Faith and Life book and then asked him about it. He is all draggy from his sleepover and was not into it at all.
Weather is beautiful. Made kids take the dog for a very long walk. I'm trying to cut back on screen time, we have gone overboard all summer on it and it is time for a change!
Will finished up his on line driver's ed course today. Hurrah! Tonight at 6 he starts his behind the wheel portion.
Gotta go make meatloaf now!

Faith

I realized I want a master list of all events happening in September, not just the liturgical stuff. Also I need to put the actual day of the week down because that helps in planning things out. So here's the full list:

Thursday, September 3 – St Gregory the Great – read about and do copy work perhaps? Need to find a good quote or two!

Monday, September 7 - Labor Day - Rick might take off.

Tuesday, September 8 – Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday – Homeschool group picnic and cupcake rosary.

Wednesday, September 9 – St. Peter Claver – read or tell a story about him – find Colombia on globe.

Saturday, September 12 - Teacher training for RE.

Monday, September 14 - 1) Paula's Birthday! 2) Sean's piano lessons start up again.

Thursday, September 17 – St. Robert Bellarmine - He defended Galileo so maybe star gaze? Learn something about our solar system?

Friday, September 18 – 1) St. Joseph of Cupertino – learning about flying??? Make paper airplanes??? 2) Also Rosh Hashanah!!! Make traditional meal to celebrate New Year. (Probably have Grandad over on Sat or Sunday to celebrate) 3) First tennis classes 4) Will plays Beatles concert

Sunday, September 20 - The Barber of Seville @ 2:00 p.m.

Monday, September 21 – 1) St. Andrew and St. Paul and Korean Martyrs – read about them and locate Korea on globe. 2) First day of RE.

Wednesday, September 23 - First day of drawing lessons for Sean and Becky.

Sunday, September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul – watch Monsieur Vincent; Also it's Yom Kippur!!! –read about it. http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/568364/jewish/Guide.htm

Monday, September 28 – St Wenceslaus – read about him – find Bohemia (Germany) on map.

Tuesday, September 29 – Michaelmas – Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels. Make/buy angel food cake, cover with blackberries and whip cream! Make and light three white candles for the day.

Wednesday, September 30 - St. Jerome – annual reading of picture book by Margaret Hodges about St. Jerome.

Friday, Oct. 2nd – 1) Sukkot – clean and decorate backyard fort, eat at least first meal of Sukkot out there.

Saturday, Oct 3 - Will takes the SAT.

Monday, Oct 5 - Rick's birthday! Gotta start thinking now!

Things that are still missing from this list: Latin class - no info from teacher yet. I hope everything is still on and she's just late and waiting until after Labor day. Perhaps I should e-mail her. Also I don't know when Will's piano lessons will start and I need to look into violin lessons for Becky. Don't know when clubs will start up again either. Gotta work on that. Also, I need to sign Becky and Sean up for the homeschoolers gymnastics class. I'll ask L. about that today.

This coming week - 8/31 - 9/3 - I think we'll start up our LCC schedule somewhat. For Becky and Sean I think I'll start our read aloud regime again: Monday - Christian Studies (Bible History), Wednesday - Ancient Studies (Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green), Thursday - American Studies (Carry on, Mr Bowditch will be our new book), Friday - Science/Nature (Life in a Bucket of Soil - maybe we'll make that wormery Becky wanted to make last spring!). I'm skipping Tuesdays because hopefully very soon we'll have Latin class that morning.

I think we'll also try to finish up our Code Cracker workbook and review a little Latin at least once or twice. Also, I think we'll slowly start into math.

For Will and Josh - I'm thinking maybe Josh should start up his Algebra II and Earth Science lessons this week. Will has already started his CC Music Theory. He has to spend September getting ready for the SAT, so he should start that now as well. Maybe one time this week we'll meet and discuss our Ancient Studies program and prepare for that. And maybe we'll also begin reading Paul's Epistles at least once this week. Also I'd like to watch a couple more lectures on How to be a Superstar Student.

September is always a bit overwhelming and heady because we go from summer low tide to fall high tide, but it is exhilarating too. At least for me, I get so tired of summer's idleness.

Faith

I stumbled across this site today www.wf-f.org while planning out the month of September. I wanted to get back to really living out the liturgical year. I bought a big dry erase calendar that I've stuck on the side of the fridge. Each month I hope to note important days. Planning means looking over these dates and coming up with suitable activities to mark them. Really there is so much one could do and I know that we'll already be very busy, but I do hope that we can at the minimum acknowledge these days as they go by and perhaps sometimes do more than that!

Here's what I've got for September:

September 3 – St Gregory the Great – read about and do copy work perhaps? Need to find a good quote or two!

September 8 – Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday – Homeschool group picnic and cupcake rosary.

September 9 – St. Peter Claver – read or tell a story about him – find Colombia on globe.

September 17 – St. Robert Bellarmine - He defended Galileo so maybe star gaze? Learn something about our solar system?

September 18 – St. Joseph of Cupertino – learning about flying??? Make paper airplanes??? Also Rosh Hashanah!!! Make traditional meal to celebrate New Year.

September 20 – St. Andrew and St. Paul and Korean Martyrs – read about them and locate Korea on globe.

September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul – watch Monsieur Vincent; Also it's Yom Kippur!!! –read about it. http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/568364/jewish/Guide.htm

September 28 – St Wenceslaus – read about him – find Bohemia on map.

September 29 – Michaelmas – Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels. Make/buy angel food cake, cover with blackberries and whip cream! Make and light three white candles for the day.

September 30 - St. Jerome – annual reading of picture book by Margaret Hodges about St. Jerome.

Oct. 2nd – Sukkot – clean and decorate backyard fort, eat at least first meal of Sukkot out there.

Faith

Well, we got here safely. The flight went well. I was nervous as expected. I really don't know how I am going to have the gumption to fly back by myself. I guess I'll manage somehow. I am just a scaredy-cat, no two ways about it! Then for the first time in my life I got a rental car. And then I drove around Irving Texas. Did I mention that I am a nervous driver? And also not a very good driver? But I got us here to the hotel. We ate lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant called Papasitos recommended by the lady at the front desk. We actually went into Dallas for that.

Irving Texas is ugly, I hate to say it. It reminds me a lot of Loudoun County in the way they are building it up except that the countryside isn't as pretty. It is hot and polluted today. Of course it is hot and polluted back home too! I did notice that the birds outside the restaurant window were different from the ones back East. And I love the Mexican influence on the architecture. That's different. Driving up and down Route 114 is nerve-wracking to say the least!

Anyway, after lunch we went to the University of Dallas campus and walked around a bit. She saw two kids she already knows! Man, when I went to college I did not know one single person. I was so scared and lonely. Hannah won't have that experience. Her dorm room looks like a prison cell though. Will's dorm at Berklee was nicer. The room is small with not much storage. The bathrooms down the hall are pretty bad too. However, there was a nice lounge area and kitchen and a nice study area. Plus her best friend will be across the hall from her and they have the one bigger double room. There's enough room in it for a little living room area. I can predict that that will become the room to hang out in.

We went to the bookstore and Hannah bought all her books used. Only paid $426 for all of them! That's pretty darn good. Then we found our way to a Starbucks to see how much the coffee grinders were with her 30% discount but it was still over $100! Since Hannah is paying for all this stuff from her savings, she gave up that idea. I think she is going to try to buy one at the Walmart tomorrow. She really hasn't been feeling well, so now she's lying down.

Tomorrow we'll go to the orientation at 9:00 a.m. Then we have to pick up her roommate from the Airport at 11:30 or something like that (gotta check). Then we'll hit the Walmart. I know there is parent orientation going on too. I don't know how much of that I'll be doing. I hate having to make small talk with strangers, though I might actually be acquainted with a couple of other students' parents.

Now I'm going to look through Hannah's books. I was oohing and ahhing over them earlier.

Faith

So we are newly back from Boston. Will had a great time at Berklee and he, now more than ever, is determined to go there for college. However, we learned some things:

1. While Will is very good for someone who's been playing the guitar for just under 2 years, he is not as good as a lot of other guys who have been playing longer. (They grouped the campers by ability. There were 3 groups, group 3 being the most accomplished. Will got put into group 2. He was the only one who'd been playing such a short time and they were impressed by his ability.) And those are the guys who he'll be competing against to get into Berklee for the 2010-2011 year. If he wanted to go right into Berklee in the fall of 2010, after this, his 12th grade year, he'd have to audition in December. That's only 4 months from now! This is disheartening to him in a big way. He wants to be there right now! He didn't want to leave! However, it looks like focusing on his music for another solid year would be a good thing to do because realistically, he isn't ready for the big audition yet.

3. Will is weak on sight reading and it is obvious he needs to get much better at that to get into Berklee.

3. Rick wants Will to go for a B.A. He wants him to have that B.A. so that Will has better job opportunities post college, could maybe get a teaching certificate later if he decides to earn a living that way, go on to grad school, etc. Keeping in mind that Will is a guy and might have to support a family one day, getting a B.A. seems very practical. However, Berklee really is a conservatory and the liberal arts facet of its program, we have the distinct impression, isn't really all that great. All the school's energy goes into its music. For example, Berklee will accept any liberal arts credits from other colleges, but will not accept any music credits. So Rick thinks that Will should take the year 2010-2011 to work on his guitar playing and also take some basic college level, non-music classes, such a college math, a science course, history, etc.

4. Having Will go to NVCC will cut the costs of Berklee. Berklee is very expensive! It seems like it is not uncommon for folks to transfer to Berklee after a year or two at another school. This would be a good plan because if Will didn't make it in (oh, he'd be soooo crushed) he could still transfer to another VA state college or Catholic U. VCU apparently has a good jazz studies program. Will really wants to go for a Composition degree at Berklee, but jazz studies could do him in a pinch (I think). You can always reapply to Berklee after a year. It seems people do this because they want so desperately to go there!

5. The hard part is that Will wants to be gone. He is emotionally ready to be out of here! But his skills and his maturity have to catch up. I predict this last year of high school will be a hard one! Will sees anything other than music as an irritating distraction. But I want him to to study Ancients with Josh and me. He needs to get more writing under his belt (the one thing Berklee seems to care about other than music is writing ability, they do seem to stress that a bit.) I guess I think education is a broadening thing and I can see that Will wants to focus very narrowly on his passion. I kind of see it as my job to make sure he gets a solid, broad (liberal, in the old fashion sense of the word) education before he goes off and specializes.

6. This makes me wonder about taking the SAT. We went through all this rigmarole to get testing modification for Will for when he took the SAT this past spring. However, they didn't give us their decision until after the last SAT test. So he was going to take it the first Saturday in October. But frankly, with all we are going through right now and the fact that he'll be so unmotivated at this point in his life. . . . Also, Berklee does not care about SAT scores. They don't even require them. Everything is based on the audition and interview. For homeschoolers they want a portfolio or list of books read/studied and a writing sample. That's it. If Will took courses at NVCC and wound up not going to Berklee but to a VA state college, he might not even be required to take the SAT. I think it might depend on the major. So. . . . what to do? Will would have to spend September prepping for the SAT. UGH!

Well, I have more to say but I've run out of time!

Faith

Sat. 8/15 - took train to Boston. Got off at Back Bay station and after a little trouble walked to our hotel. Made it to Mass at the St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential/Copley shopping mall complex. The mall is huge and very ritzy. Walked around some trying to orient myself to Boston. Was thoroughly confused. Sean and Josh slept in one bed; Becky and I in another. Poor Will had to sleep on the floor in his sleeping bag.

Sun. 8/16 - Let everybody watch a paid for movie (Monsters vs. Aliens) while I signed Will into his camp. Turns out Berklee is just about 3 blocks from us. We got him registered, found his dorm room and dropped off his stuff, went and got his photo i.d. then returned to another building for his audition. Saw Kenny G! He was checking in his son!!! Will was really psyched after the audition. I left him then and went back to the hotel. Kids were squabbling terribly. Very disheartening. Between the emotional trauma of saying good-bye to Will, the kids squabbling and the heat we wound up just wandering the huge shopping mall. We ate at CA Pizza Kitchen, hung out at the B&N for a long time then went back to hotel room. Took Becky and Sean swimmming at the hotel pool. Josh found a little alcove out by the elevators where he can read in peace. He got a book based on the game Halo and spent many hours reading it.

Mon. - 8/17 Had nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Took the Duck tour (had gotten tickets on Sun.) Drove around the Boston seeing the sights. Saw Will walking to class!!!! Boston is a lovely small city. Too bad it is so terribly muggy and hot. After tour came back to the room and hung out. Sean went swimming, Josh read (finished his book), Becky watched TV and played. In the evening went walking to the Public Gardens. Saw the Swan boats and Trinity Church. Wilted terribly from the heat. Came back to the mall and ate at the food court. Came back to room. I've been reading Johnny Tremain and Little Town on the Prairie out loud. Sean's still reading Trumpet of the Swan. Josh read the second book in that Percy Jackson series.

Tues. 8/18- Got breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. There are 95 Dunkin Donuts in Boston!!!! Only 33 Starbucks. Took taxi to Bostom Museum of Science which totally rocks! Huge museum, very interactive. Stayed until 4 p.m. Came back. Made reservations to take ferry to Salem, MA tomorrow for the day. Trying to make plans to take Johnny Tremain tour on Thursday. Becky wants to go out this evening and wade in the wading fountain in front of Trinity Church. Josh finished the second book and is now on the third. I predict another trip to the B&N before the week is over.

Wed. - 8/19 Hopefully we'll take the ferry to Salem and have a nice day there. Rick is flying in at 7:00!!!! Yahoo!

Thurs. - 8/20 Rick has to work during a chunk of the day. Hopefully we can go on the Johnny Tremain tour. Supposed to be cooler. Thursday night we are going to see the Blue Man group. It's a surprise for the kids.

Fri - 8/21 Going to see Will's show in the morning, then in the afternoon we can tour the Berklee campus and find out about applying there for college and financial/scholarships, etc.

Sat. - 38/22 -train to home!

Faith

This blog entry actually began as a post on the Well Trained Mind board. Seeing various people post about their plans for their fall schedules, got me thinking too.

This is kind of our last week with slow summer days. This Saturday we leave for Boston. And the following week Hannah goes to the University of Dallas. I am hoping though that the first week of September we can began this routine:

6:45 Mom up, load laundry, unload dishwasher, tea and e-mail, walk dog, shower.

(I gave up on Curves for now. I've decided it would be better to be at home and try to work in more exercise along with the kids instead of it being something that takes me from home and excludes them. We'll see.)

8:30 Kids can get up anytime earlier, of course, but they must be up and dressed by 8:30 a.m.

(I think this is a good compromise between the ones in the family who like to get up early (Sean and I and sometimes Josh) and the ones in the family who like to sleep in later).

8:45 leave for daily Mass
(Josh and Will are supposed to be going to one daily Mass for their CLC group. And I like the idea of having an external force to help get us up and going in the morning. And I love going to daily Mass! I just am often too lazy!).

9:00 Mass plus socialize for a few minutes with other homeschoolers
(I think seeing other homeschoolers for a few minutes in the a.m. is great for the kids. When we went to daily Mass back when Becky was first born, I remember how much the older kids enjoyed seeing friends, even if it is just to say hi!).

9:45 or 10 Easy breakfast
(all quick stuff from Trader Joe's; instant oatmeal, cold cereal and milk, fruit and yogurt, toast, bagels, cheese, hard boiled eggs (I'm so lazy I buy them that way!) Over breakfast I'll read aloud Religion geared to 5th and 3rd graders (Saints stories, Bible Stories, Faith and Life catechism) Teens(12th and 9th graders) may munch and listen in or go off and start their studies on their own.

Right after breakfast - quick 2 minute kitchen tidy up and then Vision Therapy homework for about 15 minutes.

Learning Centers time - rest of morning is spent working at learning centers. I have a Math/Science center, Religion/Arts and Crafts center, Reading/History center, Writing/Latin/Greek center. I would like to get math and Latin done before lunch.

(Will and Josh will work on their own. I'd like Josh to tackle Math, Science and Writing in the morning and then work on his History and Lit reading in the afternoons or evenings. but I'll leave it up to him how he wants to structure his day. Will isn't doing any Math or Science but he does have Writing, Music Theory and lots of reading to do.)

12:30 or 1:00 - Lunch - I may read history aloud to younger ones if we didn't get to it during the morning. Check up on what teens have done in a.m. (Lunch is soup and/or sandwiches, quesadillas, leftovers, frozen pizzas)

After lunch -5 minute tidy up. Writing and reading, if we didn't get to it in the morning. Otherwise catch up or continuation of anything the kids didn't finish or got really into during the morning session.

2 or 3 - Music lessons, clubs, gymnastics (depends on the activities slated for the afternoon),or free time, Mom may squeeze in some housework, kids help with chores as Mom directs. Check in/work with teens.
(Mondays teens and I will work on our Latin homework. At least two other afternoons of the week I'd like to meet with them to study Scripture and to discuss our Ancient Lit and History readings and writing.)

5:30 or so - Mom starts dinner, kids do 15/20 minute tidy up of general living quarters.
(Wednesdays Sean, Becky and I might be out at this time for a drawing class I've yet to sign us up for, but intend to do so soon!)

6:30 or 7 - dinner - after dinner, kitchen clean up, Mom checks with teens on their work, teens do more schoolwork as necessary or they can have free time.
(Mondays I'm teaching RE at our parish, so I need to think about getting the kitchen cleaned up BEFORE I leave.)

8:00 Read alouds to youngers.

8:30 prayers, showers (if not taken in a.m.)

9 or 9:30 younger kids go to bed and read; teens hang out until 11:00 or so.

I've bolded the times or pegs when specific things should happen every day.
I've italicized household stuff that I am prone to forget to do!
I've bolded and italicized the academic things I'd like to get done every day: Religion, Math, Latin, History, Writing, Reading.

Tuesday mornings will be different. Will, Josh and I have Latin and have to leave the house at 10 a.m. I foresee us doing last minute homework and review before we leave, so I don't think we'll get to Mass that morning. I'm just not that organized! Becky and Sean are tagging along and doing Catholic Heritage workbook stuff during class. Then if they are good we'll eat at Chick-fil-a.

I've typed permutations of this several times before. Have I already posted about this? Anyway, this is the version I'm going with in a couple of weeks!

Faith

I really am illegitimate in doing this 7 Quick Takes thing. Today I alert Jen at ConversionDiary/Et tu! That will at least put me on the road to legitimacy! Then I have to figure out the doohickey thing!

1. Very cool thing: William downloaded an audio production of the Bible from itunes and has been listening to you this week as he reads along. He's read the Gospel of John and the Psalms!

2. Not so cool thing: This week has been very uncomfortable physically. I hurt my back somehow and it has been aching, not enough to stop me, but enough to slow me down (and I'm already pretty darn slow!). Also, I've been having hot flashes this week. I think maybe menopause is getting a little more intense? Both these things have effected my ability to get a good night's sleep!

3. Hannah counted up the days she'd actually be at home to say goodbye to her siblings (and they'd be home too!) and it came out to 4 days I think. This week she worked two days as sub sitter for a family (that was all day), now she's gone off to visit friends this weekend at Va Tech. August is moving at the speed of light! Our trip to Boston is coming fast as is her trip to San Diego and then she and I leave for Irving TX on 8/26. Gadzooks!

4. I did something slightly crazy this week and volunteered to be co-leader of our homeschool group. I have a meeting with the other co-leader and the soon-to-be-former leader on Monday morning to get all the details squared away!

5. Poor Becky woke up with some kind of flu yesterday. I was expecting her to be up in the night as well but she slept like a rock all night long. She slept a lot yesterday too.

6. We've been chipping away at the basement trying to get it cleaned up. We cleaned out the guest room closet (which had become a repository for junk!). I ran out and bought some of those plastic stacking drawers to put in there to serve as a dresser for Will. There are also several nice shelves in the closet he can use as well. ("Shelves in the closet! Happy thought, indeed!" Name that quote!!!!) He slept last night for the first time in his own room!

7. I have run out to the grocery store 3 times in as many days and yet each time I forget to buy kitty litter.

Faith

Art:
1. Dick Blick Lessons
http://www.dickblick.com/lessonplans/

2. Meet the Masters
http://www.getinvolvedineducation.co...ram-Manual.pdf

3. A Lifetime of Color
http://www.alifetimeofcolor.com/main.taf?p=1

4. Teach Art at Home
http://www.teachartathome.com/FreeProjectCurrent.html

Teacher helps (planning/support):
1. Donna Young - Tons of planning stuff, including some things like handwriting masters.
donnayoung.org

2. Homeschool Inc. - Online planning software (very versatile)
http://home-school-inc.com

3. Homeschool Tracker (planning software - basic free, full pay)
http://homeschooltracker.com/

4. Online Lesson Planner, Scheduler, and Tracker
http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/H...isplayLogin.do

5. Super Teacher Worksheets. Lots of well done worksheets for all subject areas. Grade level 1st-4th
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/index.html

6. Free Forms
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/forms.html

7. Freebie of the day
http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

8. Currclick. They feature a free product once a week to download. It usually changes Monday afternoons
http://www.currclick.com/index.php

9. Freely educate. Lots of great links here
http://www.freelyeducate.com/

10. Hoagies Gifted. Tons of Free high school curriculum links
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm

11. Education World
http://educationworld.com/

12. Internet Activities to coordinate with each grade and subject
http://www.gsc.amdsb.ca/

13. Scholastic
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp

14. Softschools
http://www.softschools.com/

15. Videos (creationist site -- have not used)
http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids/videos

16. Worksheets
http://www.worksheetworks.com/miscel...rganizers.html

17. Charlotte Mason stuff (not all free)
http://simplycharlottemason.com/

18. FossWeb by Delta Education. Click on the subject, then teacher resources. You will then have to click on Teacher Prep videos for the lessons. Everything else on the page supports the lessons. There are games, worksheets, and many additional resources listed
http://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/index.html

19. Higher Up and Further In blog
http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/

20. Pioneer Woman blog
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

21. Well-Trained Mind
welltrainedmind.com/forums/

22. Teacher Tube
http://www.teachertube.com/

Science:
1. Engineering for kids ages 8 and up. Single subject lesson plans. Nicely done and easy to understand
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forum...ree+curriculum

2. Earth Awareness Curriculum for Middle Schoolers
http://cygnus-group.com/use-less-stuff/NSTA.html

3. Life Science Curriculum
http://www.eequalsmcq.com/Thank%20yo...%20Science.htm

4. Otter’s Science
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschoo...ence_main.html

5. K-12 Science
http://www.msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html

6. Take a Cloud Walk (Cloud unit)
http://www.takeawalk.com/cloud-walk/

7. Science plans for 6th grade based on the "Prentice-Hall Life Science" book
http://www.smithlifescience.com/

8. Hands-On Technology Program
http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/

9. NASA for educators
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

10. Science Songs
http://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/

11. Invitations to Science Inquiry
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/eri...0/1e/27/27.pdf

12. Science Videos
http://www.teachersdomain.org/

13. Animal Units
http://www.scribd.com/people/documen...06/folder/1072

14. Animal Activity Packs
http://www.kidszoo.org/education/zaps.htm

15. Videos that demonstrate experiments for every element on the periodic table
http://www.periodicvideos.com/

16. Click on the element and then on the microphone to hear about the element
http://www.webelements.com/

17. Inventor's Timeline
http://inventors.about.com/od/timeli...Nineteenth.htm

18. BODIES, the exhibition ~ includes educator guides for various grade levels from Carnegie Science Center. Even if you aren't interested in the exhibit or pictures of the preserved bodies, there is good info in the guides that can be used for lessons:
http://wheresciencehappens.org/bodiesguide.htm

Computer Science:
1. Blender 3D animation creation
http://www.blender.org/

2. Computer Programming Course
http://www.alice.org/index.php

3. Computer Training Courses
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/

4. Computer Animating and Design
http://scratch.mit.edu/

Typing:
1. Online typing Course
http://www.goodtyping.com/

2. Dance Mat Typing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

3. Touch Typing (Online)
http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

4. Kiran's Typing Tutor
http://www.kiranreddys.com/products/typing.html

5. Learn2Type
http://www.learn2type.com/

Foreign Language:
1. BBC Languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

2. Elementary/Middle School beginning Spanish. The first book listed is a free download.
http://nflrc.iastate.edu/pubs/units/unitsList.html

3. Greek and Latin
http://www.textkit.com/

4. FSI Language Courses
http://fsi-language-courses.com/default.aspx

5. Live Mocha - This is a social site, so you may want to monitor your kids closely on this one.
http://www.livemocha.com/

6. OFS (Online free spanish)
http://www.onlinefreespanish.com/

7. Spanish Unlimited
http://www.spanishunlimited.com/

8. Latin Resources
http://www.cdacademy.com/class/2007/...-games-online/
http://www.gettingstartedwithlatin.com/
http://hungryfrog.com/classics.html
http://homeschool.online.program.lat...lyfishfun.com/
http://www.memoriapress.com/help/Latin.htm

9. French Resources
http://www.poissonrouge.com/
http://lexiquefle.free.fr/learn-french.htm

10. Boca Beth (Spanish)
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f

11. Salsa (Spanish)
http://www.gpb.org/salsa/term/episodes

12. Mommy Teach Me Spanish
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f

13. In the Beginning Greek
http://www.inthebeginning.org/

Home Economics/Life Skills:
1. Future Christian Homemakers (Have not used or looked into this)
http://www.futurechristianhomemakers...sonsIndex.html

Virtual Field Trips:
1. Take a field Trip
http://www.uen.org/tours/fieldtrips2.shtml

2. Meet Me at the Corner
http://www.meetmeatthecorner.org/

High School/College (have not used these or looked closely at them):
1. HippoCampus Free Courses
http://www.hippocampus.org/

2. Mixed Courses in many subjects
http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/

3. Printable Courses in all subject areas. Not sure who funds this one, but I like how the curriculum is laid out
http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Speci...t%20Areas.aspx

4. University of Berkley Courses. Tons of Free Courses available here
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

5. Yale University Open Courses. Nicely done and easy to access IMO
http://oyc.yale.edu/

6. University of Washington free courses
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/openuw/

7. M.I.T. open Courseware. Tons of completely free courses in many subjects
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm

Bible Studies:
1. http://www.padfield.com/

2. Calvert
http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm

3. Notebooking Pages
http://www.notebookingpages.com/stor...5bc3631269ff94

Health and Nutrition:
1. http://www.nutritionexplorations.org...ssons-main.asp

__________________
Hi, I'm Melinda!
Mom to:
Jared 6 (6/9/03) Math and science loving kid!

Hannah 4 (8/10/04) To dance is to live!

Nathan 2 (3/30/07) Getting into stuff...

I've seen the village, and I don't want them raising my children!

__________________

St. John Bosco Academy

Monday, August 31, 2009

Journal 8/31

Sunday, August 30, 2009

More September Planning

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Women of Faith and Family and Calendar Planning

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Greetings from Irving, Texas!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Thoughts on William's future!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Boston

Sunday, August 9, 2009

September Routine

Friday, August 7, 2009

7 Quick Takes 8/7/09

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Incredible long list of free homeschool online resources!

Nature Studies

Some of Our Current Tools for Learning

A Brief Introduction

Mass Readings

My Blog List

Dumb Ox Academy

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