Free or Frugal Homeschool Friday: Art Lessons

Today, I am focusing on Art for Free or Frugal Friday.  I believe I only saved free ones, but some may have the option to purchase more lessons or supplies.  I already downloaded a free Drawing Curriculum, but I can no longer share it, because the giveaway has expired.  I may use that one, but there are several others I found that I like more, or just as much as the one I downloaded.  So, I am still undecided.  Kinderart, and Math Art Projects look to be two that I am definitely leaning towards.  But, I also want them to learn the Masters as well.  Maybe we will do the Masters another year.  You can always make your own Art Curriculum, but that does take a quite a bit of time.  There are quite a few links, so be sure and look through them carefully.  The book at the bottom, Draw and Write Through History, I am considering getting for my youngest child.  There are six books in the series.  She enjoys these kinds of books.

http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2014/05/math-art-projects-kids.html
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/school-educator-programs/teacher-resources/arts-curriculum-online
http://artinspired.pbworks.com/w/page/13819585/FrontPage
https://cdaltonkhs.pbworks.com/w/page/57753036/Mr%20Dalton%20Knightdale%20HS
http://panthers.k12.ar.us/high_school/departments/art/art_web_pages/lessons/syllabus/Art_1_Syllabus.htm
http://www.donnayoung.org/art/index.htm
http://kinderart.com/artlessonsbygrade/highschool.shtml
http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/lesson-plans
http://www.teachartathome.com/lessons.html
http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/high/highlessons.html
http://homeschoolarts.com/main.htm

Free or Frugal Friday Test Sites We Used This Year

We are pretty much done with our regular school year.  Caitlin is done, and she did real well.  She only got tested on Math, Writing and Spelling.

DJ on the other hand gets tested in all classes.  I gave him his final for Writing, yesterday.  I gave him the option to pick the topic, but he could not come up with one for sure.  He loves to make up funny parodies to songs, so his assignment is to write a parody about Biscuit, that is the dog, to the tune of, We Will Rock You.  He was quite excited, and already has part of it done.  It will be posted to his blog and then printed to add to his homeschool evaluation portfolio.  Of course he has to use proper Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation. 

He did Earth Science for Science class.  He did not complete all the lessons, we used CK12, but Science is not a priority.  We are working our way through the tests on this website, for the topics he did cover.  I just write down the grade and topic when he is done. 

For Math, again we used CK12, I am using Math-tests.com for testing.  He is testing on the Pre Algebra section not, 8th grade Math.  I can print the results as he finishes each section.   Not every section has a test yet.  He was graded on CK12 for all sections, so I will see if I can print them from his portfolio.  I am happy to see he has retained his Math very well. 

History, he did Middle Ages.  Can not find an online test, so he will probably just write up an essay about what he learned.

Language Arts and Reading:  DJ did 9th grade Language Arts through the open network of Utah learning website.  He has done a book report for each book he read.  I used Easy Test Maker to create a final exam on the things he covered in the lessons.  He will not take this until he has finished reading the last book, To Kill A Mockingbird.  In the meantime he has been working his way through the Grammar tests on Cengage.  Again I print the results as he takes them.  I am only picking one test from each section. 

All of the websites mentioned are free to use.  Please be supportive to them, so they can stay free for all users, not just homeschoolers. 

Now for Summer Vacation!  Don't worry I will continue to post over the Summer.  Summer is when I get to write posts on opinions, hot topics, and fun crafty things to do.  So, stick around.

Free or Frugal Friday Homeschool Lessons

This week I am sharing some Language Arts websites that are free, or frugal to use.  The first one, Coursera, is free, but not just Language Arts.  These are college level courses, that anyone can take.  My 8th grader just started his first week of lessons in the course Introduction to Forensics.  He loves it so far.  If it works out well, and is not too awful difficult he will do other courses.  You can get a certificate at completion, for a fee of 40 dollars. 

Help Teaching, offers both free and paid services, for all courses offered in a school.  So far, I have only used this website for Grammar and Language Arts.  It is a nice quality site.

Cengage offers free online grammar quizzes.  I have not actually used this site yet, but will be being used in the very near future. 

At one point, I had typed into my search browser, fun ways to learn Language Arts.  I mean lets face it, it is pretty boring, unless you love Grammar rules, bleh.  Well one of the websites that came up was, Many Things. org.  I have not tried this website yet, but my 4th grader will begin using it here at the end of the year to review. 

Free or Frugal Homeschool on Friday

Ooh I am excited about the first one I am going to share.  I just found this website, when I was browsing new apps in the playstore.  I signed up for the app, and now I have signed up on their website.  Coursera offers free courses, most taught by colleges.  You can get a certificate for some of them, for 49 dollars.  DJ will be starting the Introduction to Forensics, that starts on Monday, and runs for 8 weeks.  I actually am going to replace it with the Science he is currently doing, since he is almost done with that anyways.  I can not wait for him to dig in and give this a try.  I want to take it too, and may sign up for the next class when it is available. 

Next is McRel Lesson Plan Library.  This is a new website to me as well, so I can only share it and encourage you to check it for yourself.  


Last, but not least, for this week, is the Watch Know Learn website.  They offer thousands of videos for History, and other classes.  We use it mainly for History.  They are a nice supplement to the American History we are learning right now.  Read the chapter, then find the video that corresponds to what you read, and History becomes more fun. 

Be sure to check back next week, for more awesome resources to help in your homeschooling journey.

Free or Frugal Friday

Happy May!  May is a busy month around here.  It is our last month of homeschool.  The first week of June is officially the last week, and I do testing.  My son is getting tested a lot this year.  Caitlin is not used to testing, and since she is using Time 4 Learning, this last month, she gets tested on every chapter.  This has been a challenge for her, especially History, she hates History.  So, her testing will not be as intense come June.  She just doesn't know it yet, lol.  We are not using the Math on T4L, only because I want her to keep on doing what I already planned out for her.

 Speaking of testing, I found a cool website last night, while looking for American History tests for my son.  It is Easy Test Maker.  It is free, and there are paid options as well.  DJ started 9th grade American History, a couple weeks ago.  To my disappointment, the website does not offer chapter tests, at least not that I can find.  So, I made my own.  I just read the info supplied and make my own questions.  He also enjoys History videos, so I find videos for him on the chapters he is reading.  The American History website is free to use, and says it is advanced placement.  There is another website that offers free tests for American History, but I find it does not go in the order I need it to, and I have to browse through them all.  Just easier to make my own, but you can check it out at USQuiz. 

Next week is Mother's Day, and we have three birthdays all right before Mother's Day.  I am hoping all this rain will be out of here by then.  Have a great weekend!  If you have any free or frugal websites, related to the topic of this post, please feel free to share in the comments.

Free or Frugal Friday

First off let me just say something quick about Time 4 Learning.  For the month of April, your first month is only 10 dollars.  That is 50% off, and April is almost over, so you might just as well try it.  No, this is not my review, I am just aware of the offer and sharing it.

There are so many wonderful free, or almost free websites to use for homeschool, after school, or just to supplement your kids over Summer.  I won't share the ones I don't like, lol.  None of these I have affiliation with, except Currclick.

First one is Easy Peasy Homeschool. This woman has dedicated so much time to making a free curriculum for anyone to use.  It is amazing.  My kids didn't care for it a ton, but if you have no money, or money is really tight, it is awesome.  There is even high school now too. 

Second is, Currclick.  Currclick offers free and paid options for the items offered.  Most are made by homeschoolers.  They have live classes that are just amazing.  Check out Currclick for sure.

Last, but not least, for this week, is Forensics Illustrated.  This is a free, and complete Forensics class for High School.  I will definitely have my son take this one during his high school years.  Check it out!