Category: News

I’m sitting on a pile of links I intended to share going back to September when I got really busy. Here are some I saved related to homeschooling and education. We kept Tre home this school year and a few months later took Henry out of public school. So far, it’s working out well, though there are definitely challenges.

• My Daughter’s Homework Is Killing Me – Atlantic Mobile

  What happens when a father, alarmed by his 13-year-old daughter’s nightly workload, tries to do her homework for a week

• 200 Free Kids Educational Resources: Lessons, Apps, Books, Websites… | Open Culture

  Get free K-12 video lessons; mobile apps; audiobooks, ebooks and textbooks; foreign language lessons; test prep materials; and web resources!

• Teach kids programming — Medium

  I’ve been gathering the best resources to teach children & teens programming?—?books, environments, apps, courseware and games.

  These resources are meant for teachers and parents who want to have their children fall in love with computers and see the magic of programming.

• Homeschooled: How American Homeschoolers Measure Up

  A look at the history, performance and outcomes of the American homeschooling movement.

• Report: Attendance Crisis in California, Martinez USD Truancy Rate Higher Than Statewide Number – Schools – Martinez, CA Patch

  Contra Costa is one of nine counties statewide with an elementary school truancy rate greater than 25 percent, according to a new report by the state Attorney General.

• 4 Free Websites Where You Can Learn The Basics Of Game Development

  Over a decade ago, I taught myself the basics of game programming and game development through the limited tutorial resources I could find on the Internet. Since then, the landscape of game development has changed drastically, and anyone can start creating their own games within weeks with a few Google searches. But let’s say you want to start developing your own games but don’t know where to start. Where do you go?

These look to be great resources for fellow homeschoolers.

New “JREF in The Classroom” Lessons!

The James Randi Educational Foundation is pleased to announce the release of four new additions to our JREF in the Classroom offerings:

• Pareidolia: Do You See What You Think You See?
•  Illusions: Our Visual System
•  Cognition: Are You Rational?
•  Power Balance: Sports Enhancement, or Placebo?

These are downloadable lesson plans for use in high school and junior high school science and psychology classes that use topics in pseudoscience and the paranormal to teach critical thinking, skepticism, and scientific inquiry. Each lesson is designed to expose students to concepts identified in the National Science Content Standards and AAAS science literacy benchmarks.