New Home School Teacher Tools
I've been having a hay day on Pinterest and Google Image Search lately and came up with a lot of really neat photos and ideas to help brainstorm when planning a home school room!
I also posted a new page about a homeschool
organizational wonder: the Workbox System...
And updated my Teacher Tools for Home
Schoolers page, which is full
of oodles of teaching ideas I wanted to remember.
Happy Home Schooling!
TT PreSchool Curriculum
A while back I linked to various PreSchool Resources. Today I'm excited to share with you something I've been compiling for a good while. If you know anyone with PreSchool aged children or grandchildren, please share this link with them. Basically, it's all of the fabulous at-home PreSchool ideas and activities I've come across from all sorts of sources and places...
It's for Moms (working and stay-at-home) & Grandmas who want some ideas of fun activities they can enjoy together with their Pre-School age child...
It's
for Home Schoolers who may be
interested in a FREE Pre-School curriculum...
Enjoy!! And happy pre-schooling!! 
**Click HERE to see Tracy's Treasury
Pre-School!!**
Read-Aloud, Toddler & PreSchool Resources!
Here are
links to several pages I've recently added or
updated... Enjoy!
Reading Aloud
How to get
your child to love reading!
Read-Aloud Family Favorites
My family's
favorite books for babies and toddlers!
Toddler Days (age 1-2)
Here are some fun ideas to enjoy your time together!
Pre-Schooling (age 3-4)
Here are the best pre-school age activities you can do at home!
Science Experiments at Home
Science Bob... Website with a bunch of science experiments you can do with the kids at home! It includes step-by-step instructions for doing the experiment, then at the end explains why it works. Great site!!
Paper Back Swap!!
Nifty and
Thrifty!
Check
out Paper Back
Swap!! You
can "swap" your books that you no longer want, for
books you do want! You can swap paperback or
hardcover, even audio books, but they must all be in
good condition.) After you've listed at least 10
books, you receive 2 free credits so you can go
ahead and receive 2 books to get started. Each
book costs 1 credit (books on tape are normally
2 credits). You pay no money for the books you
receive - but you pay the postage (usually $2-$3) to
mail a book media mail or the cheapest rate (when
someone requests one of your books). They even
have a handy 2-page mailing-label page to print out
- and you can wrap it around your book and not even
pay for an envelope! Or you can print out one
page with the mailing address and attach it to a
larger mailing envelope.
This is a great way to get a lot of books for your
family! They also have two sister sites for swapping
CD's and DVD's, and you can transfer your credits
between the various sites.
If you do sign up, I'd appreciate it if you tell them I
referred you (put "spunkytigrr" in the referral box)!
Thanks! 
New Study Shows Home Schoolers Succeeding in College
I added a little more info, and a new link to the "Home Schooling Works" page, directing you to the new study which shows home schoolers succeeding in college.
To read more about the results of this study, click HERE.
Valedictorian Speech
Read it
here: "Here I
Stand"
Deficiencies in Public Education
Deficiencies in
Public Education
What About Virtual Schooling?
New Article: Natural Learning
At the
back of the book is a supplement which includes
letters written by her teacher, Anne Sullivan.
From an educational standpoint, I found these to
be very interesting, and also found that much of
what Anne did with Helen (which worked far better
then what those in the institutional settings were
trying with their deaf-blind pupils) is consistent
with what so many home schoolers are discovering
to be educational jewels for their children.
This quote is added to the Reading Material & Resources page:
Anne Sullivan, (Helen Keller's teacher) says that she "always observed that children manifest the greatest delight in the lofty, poetic language which we are too ready to think beyond their comprehension... (She is also) convinced that original composition without the preparation of much reading is an impossibility... Reading should be kept independent of the regular school exercises. Children should be encouraged to read for the pure delight of it..."(6:287) She also remarked that a byproduct of such reading with Helen made "her mind.. so filled with the beautiful thoughts and ideals of the great poets that nothing seems commonplace to her; for her imagination colours all life with its own rich hues."(ibid)
And this quote is added to the writing page:
"Too often, children are required to write before they have anything to say. Teach them to think and read and talk without self-repression, and they will write because they cannot help it."
(Click
HERE to read
the new article on Natural Learning)
