Art Appreciation

Classic Art Appreciation

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Here’s a wonderful page that’s chock full of art appreciation lessons, art activities and downloads from Nadene Esterhuizen at PracticalPages. Of particular interest are the excellent resources about famous artists & their work, and an extensive art era timeline.

As Nadene writes in her introduction, these follow the Charlotte Mason method of study:

“Children should learn pictures, line by line, group by group, reading, not books, but pictures themselves … After a short story of the artist’s life … the pictures are studied one at a time. Children learn not merely to see a picture but to look at it, taking in every detail.”

These are excellent art history/appreciation tools for all ages!

CLICK HERE to go to the download page

Reading

How to Be a Reading Tutor

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“HOW TO BE A READING TUTOR” by Brad Hill

This is an excellent six part tutorial specifically on how to be a Reading Tutor for older students and teens who cannot read at the third grade level. It was written for people who are volunteer one-on-one tutors in schools, but it is extremely helpful and adaptable when working with homeschooled students who have reading problems too. It is filled with specific tips and suggestions, along with a breakdown of what you want to do and accomplish with each session. Very practical and effective “hands on” tutoring.

Unfortunately, the author’s website has been taken offline, and We’ve had no luck at all trying to track him down. However, an archived version of the page IS available, and the links to each part of the six part series are working fine as of this moment. Therefore, if this is something that would be useful to you, I’d strongly suggest that you go ahead and print it out, as it may not always be available online.

CLICK HERE to go to the site on Archive.org

Just for Fun

Dinosaur Mazes & more

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KrazyDad.com offers dozens and dozens of collections of easy (and not-so-easy) mazes that you can print out for your kids.

These come in handy downloadable PDF ebooks containing 12 mazes per ebook and include collections of geometric shaped mazes, animal shaped mazes, and yes, even Dinosaur shaped mazes. Dinosaur shaped mazes! It doesn’t get any better than that! These are great “thinking puzzles” that keep young hands busy for extended periods of time.

CLICK HERE to go to the website

History, Horses, Living Books

Horses in Legend and History

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The Horse Fair by James Baldwin (PDF ebook)

In this neat mix of stories, legends and history, Young Philip, resting after his plowing, is surprised by a mysterious gentleman who invites him to a wondrous and magical horse fair at which he sees great horses from literature and history. This is an excellent “living book” by James Baldwin that will appeal to horse lovers, fans of classic “living books”, and history buffs!

To download this PDF ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE and “save link” to your computer. Mac users, press the “control” key then click the link and save to your mac.

Games, Grammar

Classic Grammar & Games: The Child’s Own English Book

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The Child’s Own English Book (PDF ebook)

Today we feature this little-known gem, which is a terrific introduction to grammar: You have an introductory story/essay on each part of speech, how it is used, and why it is important. This is followed by several games to play that will help teach young students to identify and properly use their nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, interjections, etc. A unique and innovative approach to beginning grammar, this is a playful and child-friendly classic text! Highly recommended!

To download this PDF ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE and “save” to your computer.

Mac users: Hold down the CONTROL button and click the above link, then “save” to your mac.

Games

Real Life Games for Kids…

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…as opposed to virtual computer games, that is!

Here’s a wonderful page at activityvillage.co.uk that offers a couple HUNDRED hands-on games for children, for just about any occasion: solitaire games, memory games, car travel games, party games, math games, make-your-own games and many more. Many include printable and/or instructions on creating your own game boards and pieces (which makes them even more special to your kids).

CLICK HERE to go to the site!

History, Music

American Traditional Music

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Here’s a unique site all about American Folk and Traditional Music from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The site offers hundreds of songs, with lyrics, midi files, tune information and the history behind the folk songs and ballads. Not all of these tunes were written by Americans, but they are songs that were known in America. Most songs of the Colonial and Revolutionary Era were songs that originated in England, Scotland and Ireland and immigrated with their people. The songs on the site are arranged by time period and major events or themes, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Sea Shantys and Songs, Cowboy songs, etc.

This is a great site to refer to whenever you are studying American history. Just find a few songs from the era you are studying and you’ll learn a lot more about what was going on in regular people’s lives and what they listened to during that time.

Click here to go to the site!

Audio, History

You Are There: Columbus Discovers America

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You Are There: The Voyage of Christopher Columbus (mp3 audio)

Imagine what it might have been like had radio reporters been tracking the hazardous voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Here is a fascinating audio program about this historic and dangerous journey, with lots of interesting insights and details, as a reporter onboard the Santa Maria interviews the Captain and crew, and give you a first-hand look at the voyage. This classic episode of the radio program “You Are There” was originally broadcast in 1948.

To download this 30 minute MP3 audio, RIGHT CLICK HERE and “save link” to your computer. Mac users, press the “control” key and click the link to save to your mac.

Audio, History

The Fight Against Fire

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The Fight Against Fire – Firefighters battle fires to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Today, firefighting is a highly technical profession which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient — but it wasn’t always so. In this excellent episode of the classic series “Adventures in Research”, we hear how firefighting has changed and developed through the centuries. (15 minute audio)

Here is your download link: The Fight Against Fire

(To download these MP3 files, RIGHT click the links and “save as” to your computer. Mac users, press the “control” key then click the link and “save” to your mac.)

Audio, Living Books

Understood Betsy

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UNDERSTOOD BETSY by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (PDF, kindle & nook ebook + mp3 audiobook)

A truly classic children’s book by Dorothy Canfield Fisher that is a real treat especially for homeschooling families. This engaging tale follows the adventures of thin, pale, 9 year old orphan Elizabeth Ann who is whisked away from her sheltered, overprotected city home and is taken to live on a Vermont farm where her cousins, the “dreaded Putneys,” live. However, it turns out that the Putneys are not at all what Elizabeth was told to expect, and under their care she blooms into a capable, independent and confident young lady.

UNDERSTOOD BETSY is a deeply satisfying story with wonderful insights into education and learning for its own sake, your family will love this delightful heroine and her heartwarming story will stay with you for years to come. Highly recommended!

We have the PDF and kindle and nook versions of the story for you, PLUS a link to the unabridged audiobook version! Enjoy!

To download the PDF version of the ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE.

To download the kindle version of the ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE.

To download the nook (EPUB) version of the book, RIGHT CLICK HERE.

To go to the AUDIOBOOK page, where you can play this audiobook online or download to your computer CLICK HERE!