ixl.com is on sale!

One of my favorite math practice sites is on sale!

ixl.com isn't a game and doesn't have cute critters running around or aliens to shoot.  It is a no nonsense math practice site.  You can check it out for free (and get up to 20 problems a day for free year-round).  Better yet,  subscribe for a wonderfully low price and get certificates of accomplishment for students and regular status reports for mom and dad!

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1029&c=1

There's an App for That

Looking for some awesome new apps?
Check out the wonderful Apps for Homeschooling web site!

http://appsforhomeschooling.com/free-on-sale-homeschooling-apps/

Enhanced Education

What is enhanced education, other than a current buzzword in edu-speak?  It is a push to try to get classroom teachers to read to their students more, to play more math games and to allow their students more time to read materials that interest them.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Curriculum Freebies in the HRC!

The Friends of the Johnsburg Public Library book sale is over.  There was a lot of wonderful homeschool curriculum left over though, so I placed some of it in the two 'freebie' boxes in the Homeschool Resource Center.  Be sure to check it out the next time you drop in!

Kids Maps | Best Kids Apps

Kids Maps | Best Kids Apps

Fun and educational apps abound! Wondering how to use them in your homeschooling? Join us on Monday! (see below)

The Internet and Beyond: Homeschooling for the 21st Century

What are you doing next Monday?

Join me Oct. 10th at 7pm at the Des Plaines Public Library for:

The Internet and Beyond: Homeschooling for the 21st Century


Children learn amazingly well from the world around them. Learn about how movies, audio books, classic literature, magazines, computer resources and cell phone apps, field trips and, yes, even TV shows, to create a custom curriculum. Tips on how to teach a child with learning differences, how to find the right resources for your family, and where to find resources inexpensively are included.  


Please register at:
http://calendar.dppl.org/evanced/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=14059&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=&returnToSearch=&SignupType=&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=10/1/2011&df=calendar&EventType=ALL&Lib=&AgeGroup=ALL&LangType=0&WindowMode=&noheader=&lad=&pub=1&nopub=&page=&pgdisp=

Classics on a budget

(copied from an article)

If you are homeschooling on a budget, here are 25 literature classics
from the 1800s that you can download saving the expense of purchasing
them or worrying about library due dates. Over 9,000 pages of work from
authors such as Lousia May Alcott, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens,
Mark Twain, Washington Irving, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Rudyard Kipling,
and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Preview each classic now
<http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-denver/preview-the-downloadabl\
e-literature-selections-picture> !

The collection of downloads includes stories like Little Women, Oliver
Twist, Jungle Book, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Treasure
Island, Moby Dick and the Great Expectations. Click here to go to the
download page
<http://www.christianhomeschoolhub.spruz.com/available-downloads.htm> .
(Each will be under the category: Literature from the 1800's)

Once you've previewed the classics
<http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-denver/preview-the-downloadabl\
e-literature-selections-picture> and you've downloaded each title that
you want to incorporate into your lesson plans, you can go to A-to-Z
Titles <http://classiclit.about.com/od/atoztitles2/AtoZ_Titles.htm> to
find lesson plans, quotes and links for additional learning about the
individual authors and more.

The Microscopic Biology class starts one week from today! Register now!

I need to know how many students I will have so I can order our specimens!
You won't want to miss seeing fresh (not preserved slides of) Volvox and Spirogyra.  They are simply amazing!

http://inet-reg.crystallakeparks.org/wr/wr5234.tbred?page=wrsearch&householdid=-REVIEWONLY-&SESSION-ID=734384.71819444BDJTLVAJVZBIUBXJGFSZ&action=desc&member=000&classid=%20%204242-6&pgmsno=53032606531

BIG Changes!

I accepted a new job today!  It is a part-time teaching job at St. Mary's Catholic School in Woodstock. I will be teaching their Jr. High math classes.

Sadly, I am having to resign from both Heritage and GIFT completely. I have really loved the many wonderful families I have met through these groups and hope that I have a chance to work with them again in the future.

My day at St. Mary's will be ending in the early afternoon and I am working to try to reschedule my local classes and all of my private students to these afternoons.

The classes I am hoping to reschedule include the Conceptual Physics class in Cary on either Mondays or Wednesdays, the Math & Science Club in Crystal Lake on Thursdays, and the High School Biology and Environmental Science classes in Crystal Lake on Fridays.

I will be contacting my private students after I have a better idea when the rescheduled afternoon classes are. That way we can, hopefully, make firm plans and not bounce people around from day to day, time to time.

I realize this is chaotic right before the school year - and I very much appreciate everyone's blessings on the new job and willingness to juggle what we all thought was a fine schedule.

High School Sciences

Interested in a science class for your teen?  I am offering quite a few options:

Physics classes offered on Wednesday mornings in Cary using Paul Hewit's Conceptual Physics textbook. The start date is September 14th.  

Chemistry classes offered on Monday mornings in Elgin through the HERITAGE Home School Workshops using Apologia's Exploring Creation through Chemistry.  http://www.heritagehomeschoolworkshops.com/ 

-OR- Environmental Chemistry classes offered on Friday afternoons through the Crystal Lake Park District (one 6 week session in the fall and one 6 week session in the spring).  

Biology lab classes offered on Friday afternoons through the Crystal Lake Park District (replacing the now defunct MCC program's offerings) with Microscopic Life in the fall, Genetics during the winter and Anatomical Survey with dissections in the Spring (each class will be 6 sessions long).  

As of today, the Crystal Lake Park District has not opened registrations, nor have they announced specific dates, but I hope to hear from them soon!