School Report, Winter 2011

Snow. Lots of snow. Weeks and weeks of snow, on the ground since sometime in the beginning of December.

We've been sledding several times since mid-December, usually with Elizabeth and once with Ken. Or rather, they've been sledding. Going down the hill on a sled makes me nauseated, which is really, really wimpy, I know. So I sit in the van at the bottom of the hill and read books on the Kobo reader that Evan gave me for Christmas. Can't get bored with 150+ books along!

Any suggestions for books to download?

As for our school report...

Ken as started studying Geographic Information Systems online with Columbus State. Basically, he'll be making sense of all the magnificent information that is available from satellites, Google, surveys, etc. He's been into geography since he was able to think about the world. I think that it started with this book:



We recently got one for Brenna and Noah. Now they can plan their trips around the world, and start their own imaginary travel agency!

Neal and Alanna are studying Twentieth Century History together. We're using a wide variety of books, and a set of videos:


They're nice for giving an overview of time periods, and they help make mental pictures that stay in the mind. They're a bit graphic, though. I skipped through the parts about amputation in the Civil War. It was more than we needed to see!

I also looked up a list of interesting people, places and events that the kids should know, put them on slips of paper, and let them draw three or four a day. They look them up online and report back to us on what they've found. We discuss not only the subject matter at hand, but also the methods of research used and the reliability of various sources.

In the end, it's most important that they know how to learn and how to find out. Knowledge will grow, and many 'facts' they learn today will be disproved tomorrow, but the thrill of the chase of knowledge will still be there.

Neal is taking a break from Algebra to do some Geometry, as is Alanna.

I'm reviewing a Chemistry book from CK-12 that is online, excellent and entirely free! Open Source texts are awesome! I've also found a Conceptual Physics text that is also OS.

A Few Favorite Online Resources for Lesson Planning and Worksheets

JASON Science 

 -  Weather, ecology and energy are presented to kids from about 10 to 15 in really cool multimedia units. (Bright, interested younger kids might enjoy these also.) There are videos, activities and printables all available for free. It's easy to teach, or your self-starter can do it on her own. Not enough for a year of science, but certainly good for some variety. Has my kids' Great rating.

Curriki

- As a confirmed Linux user (can't wait for Ubuntu Karmic Koala!!!), I've been hunting Open Source educational materials as well. Curriki is the home of thousands of such projects - some ongoing, some finished. There's even a homeschool section. This is the home of the software developed for the One Laptop per Child initiative, which means that much of the curriculum is web-based rather than text-based. It covers from toddlerhood to college. Submissions are welcome also. Every time I go there, I'm amazed!

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers (including homeschool types) put their best  lessons, power point presentations, worksheets etc online, and other teachers (again including us radicals) throw them a few bucks to get the resources. Again, it's little ones on up, and there are quite a few few freebies. The previews are good, also. It's possible to make a bit of money on this site. The indexing is a bit clunky, though.

If you don't have Power Point and would like to use the ones offered on any of the sites above, try Open Office, a free, open souce program by Sun Microsystems that is much better than MS Office and includes quite a bit that MS doesn't. And it's awesome.

There are quite a few more to add to this list...but this should offer a nice beginning!

The Future is Open Source: Linux and Homeschooling

I'm in the middle of learning a new language now. I'm learning Linux.

I've been with Microsoft since we got our first 'real' computer...back then it was MS-DOS, then Windows 3.1, which held records for Most Blue Screens in a Single Hour. We struggled through a few more versions with varying degrees of satisfaction, then settled in for a nice, long and fairly successful trip with XP Pro.

I don't use Windows as much anymore, and if the summer's crop of annoying minor illnesses hadn't slowed me down, I'd be a nearly-full-time Linux user. Linux is easy, intuitive, and fun. It has much better security, excellent support, reliability (I have yet to see a blue screen!), and...it's free!! So are the programs that run on it!! Linux also works on machines that can't handle Windows easily. A program called Wine even allows me to run most Windows programs in Linux!

The basic Linux programs and their add-ons, games, educational programs, etc. are all free. To be sure, some do sell Linux, but they are peddling their own support and such. The programs themselves are all free, and excellent tech support is available free at Ubuntu Forums. That is one of the main reasons why schools all over the world are switching to Linux.

In a way, switching to Linux is a bit like embarking on the waters of homeschooling: we stop relying on a larger entity to do it all for us, and start becoming more self-reliant.



Edubuntu - the educator's version of Linux. Check out these screenshots
Linux for Education - Links and resources for Linux
Schoolforge UK - Lists open source software for Linux, Windows and other systems. Also has a list of educational programs with Wine.

Schooltool - Useful teacher programs...lesson planners, record books, etc.
The KDE Education Project - Developers of Linux educational progams (and they are free!)
Thornburg Center - listing of Linux programs and resources for educators
Technology and Learning