Category Archives: FREEBIES
Homeschooling Your Child For Free!
I stumbled across this extremely helpful book in my local library the other day and I must let you all in on it!
As Home Educators we are all looking for FREE resources right?
Well, this book is LOADED with free resources – more than 1,400 of them!
The free resources are links to very useful sites on the internet that help with our homeschooling. The authors have done a great job in organising the content so it is very easy to pick it up and flip to the information that you need - use it like a reference book. Here’s a list of the type of topics it includes:
- Why we homeschool
- Homeschool how-tos
- Curriculum Core: scope and sequence
- Education essentials
- Language literacy
- Mathematics mastery
- Art appreciation
- History highlights
- Music marathon
- Social studies skills
- Humanities home
- Science scholarship
- Health handbook
- Graduation guidance
Now it is not just a list of internet links – the authors describe why the website is useful for homeschooling and they add a bit in each chapter on how they have succeeded in each area. So you are learning so helpful tips and hints as you read.
This book is for veteran homeschoolers as well as new homeschooling parents. I have been reading up on homeschooling for 14 years and I gained from reading this book.
One section that was very beneficial was how to motivate students to learn. This book would not only be useful for homeschoolers but teachers and parents as well!
Check it out at your local library or buy it from The Book Depository
Why do I recommend The Book Depository? click here to find out
Enjoy Homeschooling!
Rachel
Like this:
Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyer
My women’s Bible Study has been going through Joyce Meyer’s book “Power Thoughts”.
It has been a life changing experience for everyone. Joyce really brings the Word alive and makes it very practical to our daily lives. The subtitle of the book is “12 Strategies to win the battle of the mind” and it certainly gives that.
I looked everywhere on the internet for a guide on how to study this book in a home group situation and I couldn’t find anything. So I had to work it out myself.
How I tackled this book:
I required everyone to buy their own copy from The Book Depository (the cheapest by far).
Then the group was to read up to page 71 (the introduction) themselves and then we came together for the first night and discussed what we read. We then had 12 weeks looking at one Power Thought each week. We would all read the Power Thought during the week then come together on the Tuesday night and discuss it. As the leader I would briefly review the next week Power Thought with the group before they read it. I did this by choosing Scripture that went with the Power Thought and wrote the references on little pieces of paper and then gave these out to the women to look up and read out to the group.
I also created some Power Thoughts Cards that go with each of the 12 strategies. I gave out the next weeks Power Thought to each group member and they would stick these cards on their bathroom mirror or any place that they would see frequently. This helped to keep the Power Thought in their minds while they study the chapter for the week.
I am happy to share the Power Thought Cards with you. I printed them onto A5 paper with page 2 on the back and then laminated them. Or you could print them onto cardstock.
Power Thought 1 “I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ”
Power Thought 2 “God loves me unconditionally”
Power Thought 3 “I will not live in fear”
Power Thought 4 “I am difficult to offend”
Power Thought 5 “I enjoy people and I love helping them”
Power Thought 6 “I trust God completely; there is no need to worry”
Power Thought 7 “I am content and emotionally stable”
Power thought 8 “God meets all my needs abundantly”
Power thought 9 “I pursue peace with God, myself and others”
Power thought 10 “I live in the present and enjoy each moment”
Power thought 11 “I am disciplined and selfcontrolled”
Power thought 12 “I put God first in my life”
Enjoy!
Rachel Larkin
Freebie — Bird Watching Journal—Apologia Zoology 1
We are going to be studying Apologia Zoology 1 next term and I have made up a Bird Watching Journal for my boys. I would love to share it with you!!
There is only 4 pages on this PDF file – I have left it up to you to make as many copies of pages 3 & 4 (the actal journal pages) as you like. I made one up with 15 journal entires. Once printed I took it down to the local printing shop and got it bound. It looks very professional. Please note that I have made it for A5 paper so that it is an easy thing to carry around while bird watching.
Please note – this is no longer available but you can purchase it on Currclick – an improved version!
I also have notebooking pages for sale on Currclick based on the zoology books
Rachel
4GB Digital MP3 Player Giveaway – Christmas on The Lounge
I have just entered into The Homeschool Lounge’s Christmas Giveaway!
It is for a 4gb MP3 player!!!!!!!
You can too – here is the link The Homeschool Lounge Giveaway
Dining on a Dime Book Giveaway
Living on a Dime is having a giveaway!!!
I have just received an email from Tawra from Living on a Dime about a crazy sale they are having. Here’s what she said:
We are going to be having a 50% off sale on all our books and 63% off if you buy 3 you get one free. (yes, this is just barely above our cost but it’s not worth having books sit around
Here is the link to check it out:Mothers Day Crazy Book Sale
She has given me one ebook to give away to one of my blog readers – this is the giveaway lowdown
Dining On A Dime – e-Book
Eat Better and Spend Less with Real Food for Real People!
Dining On A Dime Cookbook – Money Saving Recipes, Grandma’s Home CookingSave $10,000 a year on food?
Without cutting coupons! Unbelievable? Read Tawra Jean Kellam and Jill Cooper’s advice in their e-book: Dining on a Dime (formerly Not Just Beans) and find out that it really is possible.
Tawra has told her story to millions of listeners and readers on the radio, on the web and in women’s magazines (including Woman’s Day and Woman’s World) and now she’s put her best tips and tricks into a 476 page e-book. Using these tips and suggestions, Tawra shows how anyone can tighten his or her food budget.
Dining on a Dime is packed with over 1,200 money saving recipes and tips, kids tips and snack ideas, gift baskets, menus, food storage directions, Cleaning Cents and Pretty for Pennies. The recipes are easy to cook with ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. To make shopping easy and economical, Tawra has also included a pantry list and a shopping list.
This is worth $19.95 and 481 pages!!!!!!!!! – you could be the lucky reader who will get this for free!!!!
Here is how you can be in to win:
I am a speaker at New Zealand’s H.E.A.R.T retreat this year and my topic is “Avoiding Burnout” I would love to hear your ideas on how you avoid burnout as a wife, mum, homeschooling mum etc.
Just leave a comment with your avoiding burnout advice and the suggestion that appeals to me will win the “Dining on a Dime” ebook. You will have until 20th April to post your ideas.
Good Luck!
Rachel
“The Missing Link” Contest
There is a contest over at Learning at His Feet Blog this week. You can have a chance to win the fiction book called “The Missing Link”
is the first of The Truth Seekers Mystery four book series published by Media Angels, Inc. It was written by Christina and Felice Gerwitz, a homeschooling daughter and mom duo. I received a letter from Felice with the book and loved this excerpt from it:
“My then homeschooled daughter, Christina, at 14 said she wanted to write a mystery novel. I explained, “We don’t know how to write novels” and she said, “That’s okay, Mom! We’re homeschoolers, we can learn how.” (Well, how could I say no?)”
The Gerwitz’ wanted to help children stand up for their faith, so they wrote a book with good role models that are not only Christian, but homeschooled kids. These children are along for a wild adventure in The Missing Link: Found, helping out their uncle with his archaeological dig. It is believed that the Missing Link has been discovered which would be compelling evidence for the theory of evolution. This book is full of interesting tidbits and factoids and is written from a Creationist view.
I have been wanting to read this book for ages – it sounds awesome!
Chance to win a little ebook on…
……Staying Trim Over The Holiday Season.
This is a pdf report on how to stay trim over the upcoming holiday season. It is packed full of great advice to keep sane in the food department.
Here’s what you have to do to gain this ebook – just leave a comment on how you stay trim, what motivates you to lose weight or keep healthy. Have you got any great ideas for looking great and staying healthy over the Christmas season?
Hear from you soon! (leave your email address so I can contact you with the freebie)
Chocolat Magazine Issue 11 is out!! FREE!
Issue 11 is now here!!
This is choc-filled with articles, quotes and thoughts – it is the biggest one yet!!
This issue’s theme is close to my heart lately – Praying for our Children and Grandchildren. Recently my sister and I took 20 or so ladies away to a retreat and we discovered that the most pressing issue on their hearts was for the salvation of their children and grandchildren. What better way to see this manifest than by prayer?
Enjoy!
Rachel Larkin
LAPBOOKING and NOTEBOOKING
The internet has so enriched our home education. There is a vast array of websites that can help us to teach our children. From -blogs that show us how other home educating mums teach their children, to watching videos on your chosen topic of interest, to searching online bible tools.
Its all about balance though isn’t it? The Internet can enrich but it can very quickly frustrate and steal your time. I have to continually force myself to focus once I am sitting at the computer. What are my goals for this computer time? Do you catch yourself jumping on the computer quite often during the day, maybe with the excuse that you have to check the emails and then find yourself surfing for longer than you had anticpated? Hands up, that’s me!
How can we keep focused and still be able to use the internet to enrich our teaching? This is what I have had to do – keep a “Computer To Do List”. Whenever I think that I must check up about such and such, or I have to do that bank transfer, or I must write another blog entry, or I want to look up about our current topic etc – I write it down on my list. Then in the afternoon, after our table time and lunch are over, I am able to sit down and go through that list. Having a Computer To Do List keeps me focused. As soon as I start to wonder off onto something that is likely to just waste my time I pull back to ticking off my to-do’s on my list.
If I had to boil it down to ONE THING on the internet that has really impacted my home educating journey – it would have to be the ability to attend live online homeschool conferences. It is such an awesome opportunity to be able to listen to well known and respected homeschool veterans sharing live, from all over the world, what they have learnt while sitting in my own lounge room. Some of the conferences are free to listen in live. The only problem is that most of the sessions are in the middle of the night for us – but there is always the option to buy a ticket and you get access to a membership site where you can download the sessions’ audios and print out heaps of other stuff like articles and ebooks. Last term I was involved in speaking at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo (you can visit my website www.Rachel-Larkin.com to click on the link for more information) which was incredible! There were so many great home school mothers AND fathers who shared on all sorts of topics. The next homeschool online conference is happening in August – here is the link to find out more: http://cindyrushton.com/BackToSchoolBlast.html
The other main reason that I use the internet (ok I couldn’t leave it at ONE THING!) is to gather resources for our lapbooks or notebooks. Here are some great sites that I have personally used:
LAPBOOKING
What is lapbooking? Here is a site that has very helpful articles on lapbooking http://www.cindyrushton.com/Lapbooking.html
http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking – More information on making lapbooks plus free templates
http://www.homeschoolshare.com This is an awesome site – I have only looked and used the free lapbooking resources. Check out the Olympic Lapbook – all for free!!!
http://www.currclick.com this is a great site – every month they have a free ebook to download, this month it is all about butterflies. Join their newsletter to get the heads up on any free or discounted ebooks.
http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/ full of really cool ebooks for different lapbooks. They also have a freebie; this quarter is all about Zebras.
NOTEBOOKING
What is notebooking? Check out a blog entry on my website – there is a FREE 30 page+ ebook from Cindy Rushton on notebooking – http://rachel-larkin.com/2008/04/17/reluctant-writer/
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Notebook_Pages.php This is part of the same site that I listed in the lapbooking section above – heaps of FREE notebooking pages.
http://www.notebookingpages.com/ This is the best notebooking website ever – plus there are free resources available.
Enjoy!
Rachel Larkin
Chocolat Magazine issue 10 is out!!!!!!
Hi there
Chocolat is an inspirational magazine that is free for you to download!!!!
Here is the link:
This issue has a theme – Seeking God in Prayer! It is sure to bring you closer to God!
Rachel Larkin
