The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - part 6, 'Online resources'

June 29, 9:18 PMNorfolk Homeschooling ExaminerSherene Silverberg

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Technology is making it easier and easier for homeschoolers to educate their children.  In this edition of the Carnival of Homeschoolers we read about a few of the myriad of online educational options.

Did you know that you can have your children learn Chinese from native Chinese speakers online?   Guava Talk offers an online Chinese language tutoring service .  I tried to learn Chinese using Pimsleur and failed horribly. Yet when I spent time interacting with Chinese speakers while I was in Beijing I found that I was able to better hear the subtleties of this complex language. I have no doubt that children will find learning from native Chinese speakers who provide one on one tutoring much easier than learning from a language program or group class in the USA.

Online University Lowdown provides a long list that she says barely scratches the surface of all the music lessons you can take on YouTube 

Emma Taylor lists the 25 TED talks that will change your life.  One TED talk in particular peeked my interest.

Jonathan Drori on what we think we know: BBC Online Head of Commissioning Jonathan Drori considers the nature of learning and human learning systems, while conducting an interactive experiment involving science and knowledge. You may be surprised to learn that Drori believes his 7-year-old guinea pigs do better than adults.

Are you looking to learning  more about health and fitness? If so, many colleges and universities have supplied open courses on those subjects. These courses, which range from anatomy to nutrition and reach every age group from prenatal to the elderly, can help you get on your game.

Nursaholic  has chosen fifty open courseware classes  on health, anatomy and fitness from top universities around the country. They are categorized and each link within a given category is alphabetized. They use this method to assure readers that they do not favor one resource over another.

History at Our House takes all the hard work out of teaching history by teaching it for us.   Scott Powell uses telephones and the internet to teach the first "full integration" history curriculum for students in grades 2 - 12.

The History At Our House program can fit any homeschooler's schedule and approach to academics.

 Students and parents who enjoy live lectures, who like to ask and be asked questions, and who can attend classes on a regular schedule are welcome to call in to live conference-calls, taught by Mr. Powell. Parents who operate on a more fluid schedule can have their children attend on any day of the week and time of day by means of internet-based recordings provided in MP3 format. (These recordings are easily downloaded into an iPod for listening in the car, during a commute, or on a walk. It doesn't get more convenient than that!)

 A range of materials are also provided, which can be implemented at parents' discretion. Live lectures are supplemented by maps, images, web links, history vocabulary exercises, and lecture notes. (Students are not encouraged to take notes independently until Junior High.) Tests, test preparation sheets, and grading keys are all available--and can be used (or not) as parents see fit.

This concludes the 181st edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.

Do you teach an online class or have you experience with one?  Consider writing a blog post about it and submitting it to the next Carnival of Homeschooling.