Free or Frugal Friday Homeschool

 Happy Free or Frugal Friday!  I am late, I know.  It is almost 11 PM, and I am just getting to this now.  It has been a crazy week, and tomorrow, and Sunday are crazy busy too.  First, I want to share two of my favorite apps.  The first one, Distant Suns, is not free, it is $5.99.  But if your kids love to look at constellations, planets and stars you will love this app.  Plus, if you do not have a super powered telescope this is fabulous. It is very detailed and gives tons of info.  The second one Google Sky Viewer, is not as fancy, but it is easy to see the constellations, and find them in the sky.  Plus, this one you can zoom in on the planets and get an awesome up close view.  We look at the moon a lot with this one, and the details are amazing.  Google Sky Viewer is free.  I share only Android apps, because I have an Android phone.  I do not have an Iphone or Ipad, so no Itunes apps here.  We used the Distant Suns app last year, for the International Observe the Moon Night.  This year that same event is on Sept 6th.  So, I will have to decide if I want to do a group viewing again, or just a family viewing. 

Today, I was looking through my Eclectic Homeschooler Pinterest Board, trying to find all the websites I saved for testing.  I still did not find them all, so I will share those on another Friday, but I did find Turtle Diary.  Which is one of the newer websites I had discovered, and saved, for future reference.  Now, the only option for 4th grade is Math games.  5th grade is being created, so I will be watching for that.  There is no History option, which is kind of disappointing.  But, all the other subjects look awesome.  I signed up for the free version, and I can not wait to have Caitlin give it a try.  The 3rd grade Science, and Language Arts could still be applicable to her, so that is nice too.

Then I found Playing History, which could easily make up for the lack of History in the above website.  I have not tried this one yet, but it is free, and if you sign up as a member you can review the games they play.  Both of my kids can benefit from this website, and the both love games, so it will be a win win.

Well that is it for this Friday.  Be sure to check back next week, to see what goodies I find. 

My Favorite Free Apps

As promised I will share my favorite apps that I have used so far.  There have been several that were not worth the time it took to download, and they have been removed.  I have a 12 and 8 year old, so most of these are geared at that age group, medical, gardening, games, reading a couple of others.  You will not see any music apps.  I hardly ever listen to music.  I do love to read though.  So, here they are.  Oh, and they are all free, no paid, though some of them were the free app of the day, and probably are no longer free.  If they are not, I probably would pay for these ones anyways.  I did have one on gardening that was good, but after I read it I didn't want it anymore.  These apps work on my Android run tablet.  I did not buy an expensive tablet, 89 bucks, and I love it.  Works awesome, and does everything I need and want.  My children are only allowed to use the tablet for educational apps, other wise they are on the laptop.

Netflix
Allnurses.com
SAT Free
Words With Friends
Words Scramble with Friends
Gre Word List
My Spelling
Facebook
School in Mobile:  This particular one my kids have not used yet, and they are adding new content.
Amazon Kindle for Android
Amazon App Store
Brain Pop
Beans Quest:  My kids really like this one and they each get a turn when they have complete other work.
Child What Time
Children's Bible
Counting Coins
Droid Sky View:  This one is awesome if you can get a clear night
Free Kindle Books and Tips
Interactive Telling Time:  This is actually too young for my daughter, but she likes it anyways gets free fish.
My Spelling
My CME
Overdrive Media
Stickman
What's For Dinner

Christmas Is Almost Here, Already!

I really can not believe that Christmas is almost here, already. I think next year I will put my tree up earlier. It just doesn't seem like it has been there that long. I love my tree, and all the decorations.

Each year we take the kids to see Christmas lights. Last year we went to a very fancy one, where you could walk or drive, and we went on a horse carriage ride. It was fun, and it was very expensive! So, this year we went to the next city over, which happens to be Gainesville. We ate dinner at Applebees, not inexpensive, but we do that each year, and plan for it. This was my first time eating at Applebees. I think I like it better than any of the other places we have eaten. The Napa Valley Chicken and Portabello Mushrooms were to die for. We even had dessert, which normally we do not. Then off to find some lights. At first it was kind of lame, couldn't find much of anything. Then I remembered a friend of mine had said to go to N Florida Hospital, and walk around the lake. It is just a small lake, probably a pond, but the decorations were marvelous and Christmas music too. It was free, so that is always nice. It was freezing, however. I was the only one who didn't bring a coat, argh! Then we went to a fancy housing complex, trust me it is fancy, and they had a mini Candy Land display with Christmas lights. The kids got to play on the playground and it was nice and cute, small but lovely. Then home for a hot shower for me. After defrosting it was just about time for bed.

My husband and I both got tablets for Christmas. We have been using them though, LOL! I have to say there are some really cool apps, and then some really dumb ones. This weekend I will share some of my favorites that are educational and fun. If you have some apps you love, please share. Right now I am going for the free ones, but I have seen some paid ones that I am considering getting as well. Mostly educational ones. If I forget and do not get back on here, I hope everyone has a blessed and very Merry Christmas!