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JennGM
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Homeschooling for Free or a limited budget.
Remember these threads?
Real Learning on a Budget
Homeschooling for Free
I still think of the last thread in particular, with Marihalojen living on a boat the freedom (and limitations) that come with the "lifestyle". Could that contribute to Living the Slow Life?
I was coming across so many sites that have online resources for free. We should have some threads in the different categories covering free online resources. Here are a few I use or found:
Baldwin Project is so huge.
By Gosh
Rosetta Children's Book Project
Complete Works of Shakespeare
International Children's Digital Library (Baseball fans might enjoy this rare book
Bibliomania
Classic Authors
20-20 site
The Literature Network
Google Books has a tremendous amount of books online. If you search for "Full View" you can see the ones that are scanned and available for viewing online or .pdf downloads.
Feeding America The Historic American Cookbook Project
Classical Kids Library
EWTN Library
Project Gutenberg
Early Christian Writings
The Online Books Library useful tool that searches the internet and catalogs all online books.
Children's Vinyl Records Series
Kiddie Records Weekly
Storynory
Of course, by no way comprehensive. It does seem like you could easily give a great education on a very limited budget. The online syllabi and programs, reading lists are varied and wonderful.
But that leads me to a question I keep pondering. If I want to encourage reading real books and keep my son off the computer as much as possible at this young age...how can I use these tools? Printing would be expensive. For audio files that is an easy remedy, because one doesn't have to be ON the computer staring at the screen.
Seems like I'm always back to my original plan of using the library and building our own home library.
I'm all ears for suggestions...
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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SuzanneG
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Great List, Jenn!!! 
This past year, I've been using lots of the public domain books available on Baldwin Project and Gutenberg....for reading aloud. Most of our living books are read from those, and then I spend $$$ for things that are NOT available online.....which are lots of Catholic resources, picture books that our library doesn't own, and books that the readers want to snuggle up with, that our library doesn't own.
There is actually very little I have to buy after using that criteria.......books on-line and the library.
I also still feel like I'm experimenting to see what HS looks like with us...and don't like investing in books that maybe we won't use or like. That's part of it too.
Anytime you don't have something to put away or store is always a plus in our small space that we school in.
But, like you, I'm not sure I'm crazy about my kids seeing us READ from a COMPUTER all the time. There is still something in me that doesn't like learning from a computer as opposed to learning and reading from actual books....even though WE know it's exactly the same.
But, there IS both, of course.....our books we own, library books and on-line, so there is that balance.....but STILL....
Looking forward to others thoughts.
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Suzanne in ID
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lapazfarm
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Jennifer I know what you mean about the online resources! There are so so so many out there. I have a huge list of bookmarked sites for everything from grammar lessons to science experiments, to American history, and on and on. Books online, podcasts, webinars, audio files, YouTube videos...entire curricula are there for the taking. I don't think I would have to buy another book (at least non-fiction or curriculum-type books) ever again.
But the truth is...I almost never use them.
Why? One reason may be that I don't like my kids to be stuck in front of a computer all day because that promotes exactly the kind of passive learning that I find to be the very least effective means of gaining knowledge.
I find that we tend to use those types of resources only as a back-up for when our real-life investigations lead us to questions we cannot easily answer ourselves. Or when the books that are already on our shelves do not satisfy and we don't want to wait until library day to find out something.
I also use video clips and such as launching pads for real-life inquiry--a Netflix watch-it-now documentary or a YouTube clip may spark a desire to set up the telescope, pan for gold or visit a historical site, etc.
But other than those limited uses, I just don't care for internet-based learning. I guess it just isn't my style.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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JennGM
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SuzanneG wrote:
But, like you, I'm not sure I'm crazy about my kids seeing us READ from a COMPUTER all the time. There is still something in me that doesn't like learning from a computer as opposed to learning and reading from actual books....even though WE know it's exactly the same.
But, there IS both, of course.....our books we own, library books and on-line, so there is that balance.....but STILL....
Looking forward to others thoughts. |
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I don't retain nor do I enjoy reading long passages on an electronic screen. And I can't imagine it's the same experience for my son, either.
So how do you read-aloud? Crowd around the computer screen? Print off a few pages at a time?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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MrsM
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I love the idea of homeschooling for free, and I don't think you have to spend a tremendous amount of money to provide an excellent education.
I want to throw another idea out there that might be new to some people. We joined a public charter school around 4 years ago, and receive $1600 per year per child to spend on secular books and activities. We use this money to pay for things we otherwise could not afford--guitar lessons for the boys, ballet for the girls, and horseback riding lessons for my horse crazy 10yodd. I usually spend around $150-200 of the curriculum money for each child on quality art supplies. This year I'm planning on using a lot of our money to buy all of the Bethlehem books that we don't already own, Teaching Textbooks 6, IEW TSS and SWI, and other good stuff like Usborne books and Kingfisher encyclopedias.
This has freed up all of our personal money to spend on Catholic curriculum and books. So far I've spent around $300 on Seton materials, but through the years I've purchased most of the Catholic Mosaic books, etc., and I probably won't need anything else. I'm hoping this year's homeschooling is only going to cost us $300 out of pocket for 4 children.
Of course, there are a couple of trade-offs. We do participate in our state's yearly standardized testing, but I don't object to this because the kids always enjoy it (don't ask me why  ), and I like to see how we're doing in comparison to kids in the same grades. The other thing is that we meet monthly with a certificated teacher from the charter school. Sometimes these meetings consist of me handing her our attendance sheets at the front door, other times we spend several hours together. The nice thing is, she is there to help ME, so she always asks me what I would like her to do. I usually ask her to work with the kids on trouble areas, or to do some grading, and sometimes we'll discuss curriculum and I'll get her take on materials I'm considering. Since she's been working with our family for three years, she knows how we do things and is very supportive, so what others might consider a drawback has been a plus for me.
We certainly are not homeschooling for free (although it almost feels that way), and I know that tax payer dollars are being used. I just want to point out another way that we can homeschool for very little money out of pocket. There are many things that our government spends money on that are objectionable (especially in California), so I'm happy to report that at least some of our tax dollars are going to support homeschooling families! 
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Lynn in California
Homeschooling dd13, dd11, ds10, and ds8
Mom to Miracle Baby ds3
Mom to darling Elizabeth and Francis, held in Mary's arms and always in my heart
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SuzanneG
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JennGM wrote:
I don't retain nor do I enjoy reading long passages on an electronic screen. And I can't imagine it's the same experience for my son, either.
So how do you read-aloud? Crowd around the computer screen? Print off a few pages at a time? |
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These are only for read-alouds....I'm reading to them.....for example, the Blue Fairy Book....is on Baldwin....we just read The Forty Thieves this morning. They sat, combing doll-hair, while I read a few paragraphs, stopped, talked/narrated, read a few more paragraphs, etc. I'm reading directly from the screen....I don't print off.
Occasionally there is something I want them to read, and I print it off....1 or 2 pages at most. This is very rare. I don't ever ask them to read from the screen. I think Theresa said WHY here:
lapazfarm wrote:
| Why? One reason may be that I don't like my kids to be stuck in front of a computer all day because that promotes exactly the kind of passive learning that I find to be the very least effective means of gaining knowledge. |
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Passive learning.....yes....that's the phrase that makes sense to me.
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Suzanne in ID
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JennGM
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lapazfarm wrote:
Why? One reason may be that I don't like my kids to be stuck in front of a computer all day because that promotes exactly the kind of passive learning that I find to be the very least effective means of gaining knowledge.....
But other than those limited uses, I just don't care for internet-based learning. I guess it just isn't my style.
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Thanks for your answer, Theresa! I guess that's what I'm feeling about the resources. I use them for me, to test drive some books, learn about things, but then go away from the computer. Occasionally I show ds things to stimulate his imagination and off we go. I'm only beginning our homeschooling journey, but even with me I have so many website bookmarks but only use a few.
These online books instead of saving me money actually make me spend more money, because once I really like the book and my library doesn't have it, I try to find a copy.  Maybe I shouldn't use the resources so I can save money.
Passive learning = internet based learning
I do agree with you. I like to use the internet as a tool, or stepping stone, but I don't want it to be the basis of our education. I just keep thinking there must be a way to translate the intangible online into something we can use away from the computer but still keep it low budget and less clutter. And I'm not seeing a way.
Is reading passive learning? Is reading a classic book from a computer screen different (more passive?) than holding a book in one's hands?
Recently I had watched a Duggar Family episode that featured their homeschooling day. While I know they do some hands-on learning like building their house, I was surprised to see the older children do their own school work in front of the computer for several hours. I know many people choose that approach, but it seemed so isolated and a "bucket-filling" approach. Where were the discussions, ponderings, the experiments? And where were the books? Not just workbooks, but the classic literature to read?
Just random thoughts....
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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MrsM wrote:
I want to throw another idea out there that might be new to some people. We joined a public charter school around 4 years ago, and receive $1600 per year per child to spend on secular books and activities. We use this money to pay for things we otherwise could not afford--guitar lessons for the boys, ballet for the girls, and horseback riding lessons for my horse crazy 10yodd. I usually spend around $150-200 of the curriculum money for each child on quality art supplies. This year I'm planning on using a lot of our money to buy all of the Bethlehem books that we don't already own, Teaching Textbooks 6, IEW TSS and SWI, and other good stuff like Usborne books and Kingfisher encyclopedias.
This has freed up all of our personal money to spend on Catholic curriculum and books. So far I've spent around $300 on Seton materials, but through the years I've purchased most of the Catholic Mosaic books, etc., and I probably won't need anything else. I'm hoping this year's homeschooling is only going to cost us $300 out of pocket for 4 children. |
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I mislabeled the subject line, and should probably change it. My springboard was the previous threads, but I'm not really looking for inexpensive homeschooling, just somehow using the online resources without, as Theresa said so well, having a passive education.
I became familiar with the Charter school when Rick Santorum was Senator from Pennsylvania, since they have that option. I would definitely go that route if I had that choice.
I had to  at your testing remark. We did the CAT here for my son. He just loved it. He keeps asking me everyday to do more tests.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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MrsM
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JennGM wrote:
| Recently I had watched a Duggar Family episode that featured their homeschooling day. While I know they do some hands-on learning like building their house, I was surprised to see the older children do their own school work in front of the computer for several hours. I know many people choose that approach, but it seemed so isolated and a "bucket-filling" approach. Where were the discussions, ponderings, the experiments? And where were the books? Not just workbooks, but the classic literature to read? |
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Since you mention it, I enjoy watching the Duggers too, but it's hard to get a realistic view of how they run their homeschool from a highly edited 30 minute show. (Sometimes I think TLC goes out of its way to present them as lovable, but not too bright, rubes for the more "sophisticated" folk to laugh at.  )
ETA: Not that you were doing that, just that I don't know how real the presentation of their life is.
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Lynn in California
Homeschooling dd13, dd11, ds10, and ds8
Mom to Miracle Baby ds3
Mom to darling Elizabeth and Francis, held in Mary's arms and always in my heart
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Revisiting Incorporating Online Resources
