FREE Homeschool DEALS Your Wallet Will LOVE

August 8, 2019January 11, 2020 Nike Anderson2 Comments

Homeschool can get expensive but the great news is it can also cost close to nothing! When we began homeschooling five years ago, we utilized free resources to make our journey affordable. Some of those free resources are listed here.

Five years—and too much money spent on fancy curricula—later, we’re back to the basics. This year, I’ve researched more resources to add to our arsenal of homeschool freebies. These resources span across grade levels and subjects, so this post has something for everyone.

Why opt for freebies?

Taking advantage of free resources is a cost-effective way to test what types of subjects, lesson plans, and teaching styles help your child thrive best. It’s also a great way to save money for what really matters—lots of field-trips, adventures, and social opportunities!

Listed below are FREE resources to help you save some coins this upcoming school year. Of course, most of these resources require you to at least have access to a computer, printer, and some ink. Other than that, all you really need are basic school supplies—which you can snag for free at your local back-to-school teacher supply drive. However, please only participate in these drives if you’re truly in need.

*Note: This is an updated version of 30 FREE Homeschool Deals That’ll Help You Save Some Coins

So, without further ado:

FREE Homeschool DEALS Your Wallet Will LOVE

1. Free Homeschool Deals

Free Homeschool Deals offers free unit studies, supplement materials, and much more. Free resources are available for most subjects and grade levels.

2. Easy Peasy Homeschool

Easy Peasy offers free curricula in all core subjects for levels pre-k through high school. This is also a great site for elective courses like physical education, foreign language, and more. The reviews are mixed on this curriculum, but people like it for the most part. The common complaint is that it’s not challenging enough for advanced students.

3. How to Homeschool for Free

This site offers free unit studies, electives, and other resources for homeschool families. You can find materials in all core subjects for all grade levels.

4. K12 Education

K12 is an online public school, not a homeschool. Therefore, you will be subject to public school laws. However, this program is great for families on the go. Some people love it, others hate it. The common complaint is the program includes too much busywork and not enough flexibility. A great benefit, though, is that you’ll receive free school supplies, books, and other materials needed for your child’s courses.

5. Homeschool Math.net

Homeschool Math.net is a great lesson-plan resource for mathematics. The site only serves students up to the seventh grade so you won’t find much for high school students, here. The great thing about these lesson plans is they come with video instructions and lectures as well as follow-up worksheets. You can find any math subject from simple addition to pre-algebra.

6. Homeschool Buyers Co-op

This site offers a wonderful database full of free homeschool curricula and resources. You can even find promos, coupons, and great homeschool deals on just about anything you need to plan your curriculum.

7. The Pioneer Woman

The Pioneer Woman offers another great database for free homeschool resources, awesome tidbits on motherhood, and more!

8. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a free virtual academy for pre-k through high school students. You may select a course in any core area of your choice, or create a course of your own. What’s unique about this academy is you’ll find free courses in engineering, computing, economics, and finance, among others. They even have SAT prep and other standardized test prep courses to prepare your high schooler for college.

9. Teachers pay Teachers

Not only can you find MY free resources here, but a plethora of other free resources and curricula for grades pre-k through high school. What’s great about TpT is all materials are made for teachers by teachers. Check out my growing shop to find some free goodies!

10. Weather Unit Freebie

Encouraging Moms at Home shares an awesome weather unit freebie for preschoolers. Take advantage! You can also find other great deals and homeschool tips on this site.

11. United States Unit Study

Midwest Modern Momma shares a free United States unit study that can be adjusted for any age. The study comes with a load of free printables. Check it out!

12. The Magic School Bus

If you’re looking for a free science curriculum for pre-k through second grade, look no further. Cornerstone Confessions shares a Magic School Bus science unit for the entire school year! This unit is full of awesome experiments and activities. If you already have a Netflix subscription (or other subscription that offers The Magic School Bus series) this course is completely free.

13. Ambleside Online

If you’re a fan of the Charlotte Mason method, you’ll love this free resource. Ambleside Online offers free courses from pre-k- through high school in all core subjects. This site also offers free Bible courses for those looking for a religious curriculum.

14. Budget Homeschool

Budget Homeschool offers free study guides, lesson plans, books, and more!

15. An Old Fashioned Education

Are you old school? Well, An Old Fashioned Education is the site for you! It’s important to note that this site is Christian inspired. The site offers core subjects as well as elective subjects like etiquette, speaking, and art appreciation, among many others.

16. Classroom Freebies, Too

This site is a great resource for all things “freebies!”

17. NASA Image and Video Library

NASA launched a new resource that offers free searchable audio, video, and imagery library for the public. Popular images include that of the Earth, unique observations of the Milky Way, and vivid auroras in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Check it out!

18. Free Kids Books

This site has a book for every age from 0-100. And, yes, the books are free to download! Or, you can simply read them online. What I really like about this site is most of the books have ratings. The site also offers a user-friendly category search so you can search for anything from coloring books to early reader books in a jiffy.

19. Lesson Pathways

Lesson Pathways is a curriculum-building site that offers free resources for curriculum customization. The resources offered covers grades K-5. Registration is free and gives you access to some awesome goodies.

20. Guest Hollow

Guest Hollow offers a free science of the seasons curriculum, geography curriculum, and many others. There are some great resources for all ages, including high school students. Go take a look!

21. Scholastic

Scholastic has a teacher’s corner that serves teachers of all grade levels. This site is full of lesson plans, unit plans, teacher guides, activities, and more. Not to mention, they offer recommendations on awesome books to accompany your lessons!

22. Crayola

Believe it or not, Crayola offers free lesson plans for language arts, math, STEM, social studies, and, of course—art!

23. School Zone

School Zone has a program called Anywhere Teacher. If you sign up for a free subscription, you have access to 28 educational activities that rotate monthly. The program connects children ages 2-8 to online learning and resources.

24. Hoffman Academy

It doesn’t get any better than free online piano lessons at Hoffman Academy. We’ve personally taken advantage of this resource, so I can truly say that my kids enjoy these fun, quirky lessons. The lessons are step by step and offer units for beginner and intermediate levels.

25. STEMfinity

STEMfinity offers a database for all things STEM. Check out their resources for activities and lesson plans for science, technology, engineering, and math.

26. Code.org

Code.org offers free videos, games, and lesson plans for all things coding. This site serves parents and teachers of grades pre-k through high school. It’s also user-friendly for independent learners. My fourth-grader utilizes this site frequently to improve his coding skills.

27. Scratch

Scratch allows students to program their own stories, games, and animations. The site also includes guides and tutorials for parents and teachers. This is another site my kids frequent. It’s very kid-user friendly. My boys coded several games and animations using this resource and have been doing so since their kindergarten days.

28. Kidzone

Looking for worksheets for your children? Kidzone has got you covered. All worksheets are printable for grades pre-K—5. You can find worksheets on letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and more. The site also offers worksheets for phonics, math, science, and geography. Lesson plans and thematic units are also available. This was my go-to source for kindergarten worksheets our first homeschool year.

29. Education.com

Education.com offers worksheets, lesson plans, games, and more for grades pre-k through high school. They offer resources for math, reading, writing, science, social studies, foreign language, and more. Be sure to check out their Teaching Tools section because you can read the ratings and comments on the lesson plans they offer.

30. National Geographic Kids

National Geographic Kids is a great virtual dictionary for fun facts about animals, geography, the solar system, and more. The site also offers educational games, quizzes, and videos for kids of all ages. We loved it as a supplement to our curriculum on life science and habitats. We also used this resource to supplement our geography curriculum.

31. Nike Anderson’s Classroom

Of course, I’m including my growing online shop, Nike Anderson’s Classroom. I offer free resources for pre-k through second grade. Check out my free geography resources, reading comprehension worksheets, memory verse activities, handwriting practice printables, and more! Be sure to follow me on TpT to be the first to know when I upload a new free resource.

32. National Treasures Workbooks

National Treasures Workbooks is a McGraw Hill company. Right now, NTW is offering free workbooks for reading, spelling, and grammar practice for grades K-6. All you need is software that supports PDF files and a printer, of course.

33. California Science Workbooks

California Science is another McGraw Hill company that’s offering free downloads for their science workbooks. These workbooks are offered for grades 1-6. Among the free downloads are interactive textbooks, reading and writing in science workbooks, and activity lap books.

34. The Math Learning Center

The Math Learning Center is offering free downloads for its Bridges in Mathematics practice workbooks. Downloads are currently available for grades K-5 and provide practice in key skill areas. They even offer the workbooks in Spanish!

35. Duolingo

Duolingo offers free foreign language courses for any age. The site offers a variety of languages from Spanish and French to Chinese and Hebrew—and more! If you’re a parent or teacher, you can sign up and customize lessons for your students to keep track of their progress.

36. EWorksheet.Org

E-worksheet offers educational resources for all grade levels. Subjects included are English, math, and science for grades 1-8, and economics, political science, and civics for high school levels. There are also other electives available so go and check them out for yourself!

37. Math Drills

Math Drills includes over 50, 000 free math worksheets. The worksheets cover a wide range of topics, including—but not limited to—geometry, pre-algebra, money concepts, and more. The site also offers holiday-themed and interactive math worksheets.

38. Lynda.com

Get a free one month trial with Lynda online courses. Try a course on business, web design, photography, and more for up to one month free of charge. Not only is this a great way to try a course for free, but also to decipher if the program is worth the investment. While these courses are geared toward higher education, children as young as 9-years-old can participate. My fourth-grader enjoyed some of their coding courses.

39. XtraMath

XtraMath is a free web program that offers supplemental math activities. The site also offers a service to parents and teachers that allows them to sign up for a free account and track students’ progress. This program covers the basics; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It’s aimed at helping children develop the fluency they need to prepare them for advanced math.

40. Typing.com

Typing.com has a comprehensive typing curriculum for all skill levels and it’s FREE! Students, parents, and teachers can create custom lessons and monitor progress with timed tests. The lessons are also available in Spanish.

41. Vocabulary.com

You can create classes, assign lessons, and track your students’ progress with Vocabulary.com. This site offers featured vocabulary lists on topics like test prep, literature, speeches, and more. You can also customize your own list. This summer, my kids learned Minecraft terms.

42. Kiddle

Kiddle is a safe visual search engine just for kids. Your child can research and receive results on safe sites and pages written specifically for children. However, as with most filter systems, it’s not entireley foolproof.

43. Starfall

Starfall is a great resource for early elementary students that offers free reading resources. This site provides tips on teaching beginning and emerging readers, as well as free downloadable practice worksheets.

44. Fun Brain

Fun Brain offers hundreds of games, books, and videos for grades K-8. Subjects covered are math, literacy, reading, and problem-solving.

45. Storyline Online

Storyline Online is an award-winning website that “streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.” You can find popular titles like The Rainbow Fish, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and more.

46. ABCya

ABCya offers over 400 educational games for grades K-6. You can find games that offer fluency practice on a variety of skillsets from reading to math. There are even fun holdiay-themed games for extra practice during holiday breaks that won’t feel like learning at all!

47. Math Game Time

Math Game Time is a great resource for games, worksheets, and instructional videos for grades pre-K through 7. This resource covers basic math concepts like problem-solving, probability, physics, fractions, percentages, and decimals, among others.

48. Sheppard Software

Sheppard Software is an educational website that offers hundreds of free online learning games. Kids can enjoy fun games on geography, chemistry, health, nutrition, and history, just to name a few. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy this website, as Sheppard Software also offers educational games for high schoolers, college students, and even adults.

49. Into the Book

Into the Book offers interactive reading comprehension activities for students, teacher tools for educators, and resources for professional development. Strategies students will learn are visualizing, summarizing, inferring, making connections, synthesizing, prior knowledge, evaluating, and questioning.

50. Cool Math 4 Kids

Enjoy games and lessons in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and fractions. Cool Math 4 Kids also offers virtual manipulatives that allow students to work with ten frames, base ten blocks, number lines, and pattern blocks. Students may take a quiz and earn a certificate for a job well done. Games are designed for children under the age of twelve.

51. Dance Mat Typing

Dance Mat Typing is an interactive system that helps students learn to type with ease. There are four levels and three stages for each level. The site includes typing games, tests, and keyboard tricks.

52. Sum Dog

Sum Dog is an online learning service that helps students excel in math, English, and spelling using game-based learning. The service helps parents and teachers keep track of their student’s progress, allowing them to identify and recify potential learning gaps.

53. Scholastic StudyJams!

StudyJams is a Scholastic resource for teachers and parents that offers interactive math and science activities. The resource introduces and reinforces more than 200 important topics ranging from volcanoes to photosynthesis. Key vocabulary terms and quizzes are also available.

54. Math Blaster

Math Blaster is a virtual hub for outer space-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming.

55. Fun 4 the Brain

Fun 4 the Brain offers games for math, science, English, and more.

56. A Plus Math

A Plus Math is a resource offered by Varsity Tutors to help improve math fluency in basic math concepts. The site offers worksheets, flashcards, games, and homework helper services. Subjects covered are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and geometry.

57. Science Kids

Science Kids is a resource for all things science and technology for kids. The free site offers experiment ideas, games, facts, quizzes, projects, lesson plans, videos, and more. Lesson plans include subjects like earth, animals, chemistry, space, biology, and technology, among others. Images are also available to aid instruction.

58. PBS Kids

PBS Kids offers educational videos and games for preschool and early elementary students.

59. Arcademics

Arcademics combines the excitement of arcade games and education. Teachers and parents can enroll students, assign games, and track scores. Subjects covered include—but is not limited to—spelling, geography, typing, language arts, integers, money, time and more. You can find games for grades 1-6.

60. Turtle Diary

Turtle Diary offers games, videos, quizzes, worksheets, lessons, contests, assessments, and apps for students, teachers, and parents. The site serves grades K4 through 5. There is also a teaching tools service that allows you to generate your own worksheets, create assignments, and more.

61. Cool Math

Cool Math is an educational game site that serves users ages 13 and up. The site covers topics like geometry, algebra, trigonometry and more. Some interesting features are their math dictionary, math survival guide, and geometry and trig reference.

62. The Good and The Beautiful Curriculum

The Good and the Beautiful offers free downloads for their level 1-5 language arts curriculum. This curriculum encompasses geography, art, reading, spelling, phonics, and grammar. There are lots of gorgeous illustrations, so I highly recommend using a color inkjet printer. The company also currently offers a free download on their Marine Biology Science unit.

63. Epic! Books for Kids

Epic Books for Kids is the leading digital library for children ages 12 and under. The site features award-winning books on fiction, non-fiction, STEM, biographies, and more. There’s a low-cost monthly subscription but you can sign up and receive a FREE one month trial. The site will track your child’s reading progress and log the amount of time they’ve spent reading.

64. Physics Crash Course

There are a ton of awesome educational YouTube channels out there, I list some, here. However, this Physics Crash Course channel deserves the spotlight on this post. This channel features over 40 videos on topics ranging from Newton’s laws, kinetic theory, and Maxwell’s equations, to name a few.

That concludes my list. I do hope at least one of these free resources is new to you.

Your Turn!

If you have other resources you’d like to mention, let us know down below! Sharing is caring!!!!

Black History | Martin Luther King Activities

Free Martin Luther King Coloring Page and More!

January 21, 2019May 10, 2019 Nike Anderson1 Comment

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is approaching! Teachers are you ready? Don’t worry, I got you. Enjoy this FREE MLK coloring page on me. This FREE download consists of palatable fun facts suitable for preschool and early elementary students. All you need is an application that supports PDF files.

Download this freebie, here.

Why honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr? The MLK holiday celebrates the birthday and legacy of a man who fought for, and helped establish, freedom and equality for all. Dr. King played an integral role in the Civil Rights Movement by leading peaceful protests to help end legal segregation and discrimination in the United States.

Dr. King’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” was delivered at the 1963 March on Washington. The speech, which called for freedom, equality, and harmony for all mankind, marked a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Read the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, I Have a Dream, here.

I do hope that you take full advantage if this MLK freebie. If you’re looking for more resources on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I highly recommend you check out the full MLK packet at my online store. Click here to view Martin Luther King Jr. Activities and Fun Facts.

The full packet includes the following activities for preschool and early elementary:

Coloring activity
Reading comprehension activity
Cut and paste activity
Handwriting activity
Reflection activity
Key terms word search
Key terms definition sheet
Kinesthetic Activity Game
Answer keys

This packet aims to develop and strengthen the following skills:

Reading comprehension
Critical thinking
Analyzing
Creativity
Fine motor
Sequencing
Vocabulary
Reasoning
Spelling
Handwriting

Be sure to visit Nike Anderson’s Classroom for more quality resources like this one! Don’t forget to follow my store to be the first to know when I upload new freebies.

How I Plan for Homeschool and Manage My Life | FREE Printables Included!

July 17, 2018June 30, 2019 Nike Anderson3 Comments

Hi there! Join me this month for My Journey to Homeschool series. In this series, I’ll be sharing the why behind our homeschool and the process it took to get from there to here.

If you’re new to this blog, welcome! My name is Nike and I’m entering my fourth homeschool year with a new kindergartner and third grader.

Last week, I shared How We Pulled Off an Entire Year of FREE Curriculum.

This week, I’ll be sharing how I plan for homeschool and manage my life.

We couldn’t have made it through our first three homeschool years without a vision and a plan. My planning routine has pretty much stayed the same over the years, the only difference is I’ve gotten a bit fancier. Instead of just typing everything out on a Word document and printing it, I made a customized home management binder with cute inserts.

Why do I use a home management binder rather than a store-bought planner? Because most planners are too small for my needs. With a home management binder, I can literally three-hole punch my entire life into it—and I have!

Read on to see what I put into my home management binder. There’ll be free printables at the end! For privacy purposes, I won’t be sharing my exact write-ins for certain schedules. I hope you don’t mind.

1. Daily Do-To List

This is pretty self-explanatory. What’s different than most to-do lists, though, is that I also include a water intake tracker and a section to list my daily gratitudes. I got this great idea from a Youtuber called Jady Alverez. I simply laminate this insert so that I can reuse it with a dry erase marker. Check out my sample “To-Do List” below.

2. Events Calendar

This comprises all events from homeschool fieldtrips, sports games and practices, co-op days, playdates, birthday parties, extracurricular activities, local family events, holidays and more. I will also chart doctor and dentist appointments here. Check out my sample events calendar below. Of course for privacy reasons, this is an unofficial sample. Wouldn’t want anyone showing up at my kid’s soccer games.

3. Daily Tentative Schedule

This is more of a routine than a schedule. I basically like to picture what a perfect day would look like and write it down. That makes it more of an ideal than a reality, doesn’t it? Haha. But it does help our days flow better even if we don’t follow it verbatim.

I know some of you like seeing other people’s schedules, so here it is! Our REAL schedule. Just know “momma time” seldom happens, but I do workout in the evenings so that sort of counts as momma time, right?

You’ll notice that I’ve also noted the days I plan to rest, have a family day, and buy groceries. Optimal grocery shopping time happens between 3 and 5:30 on Thursdays. However, if we have a fieldtrip or some sort of outing that week, I’ll typically pick up groceries straight afterward. In fact, as I’m typing this, I’m realizing Tuesdays after co-op is probably the best day to swing by the grocery store since it’s on the way home. Hmmm.

It’s safe to say this schedule only works when it’s a non-event day. I think the key to a functional routine is to leave some wiggle room. That way there’s more flexibility on the days we have fieldtrips, co-op, and other events to attend.

4. Daily Homeschool Schedule

I keep a separate homeschool schedule so that I can go into more detail as far as time management goes. It also helps me plan how to divide my time between my two children. Typically, all the subjects my oldest son can work on independently is the time I’m scheduled to work with my kindergartner. Again, this is ideal, but we try to stick with it as much as we can.

I will share our actual schedule so that you get a gist of how things work with teaching more than one child around here. This is tentative, so it’s likely to change as we get into a good groove.

One thing you’ll notice is that some subjects are missing. That’s because we’re working with the Good and Beautiful curriculum this year and it comprises multiple subjects that include phonics, spelling, grammar and punctuation, literature, art, writing, and geography. I labeled that curriculum “Fluency” and “Course.”

Another thing you’ll notice is that we don’t have “free” days. Many families reserve Fridays for makeup work or fieldtrip days. We don’t. One reason is that we attend fieldtrips primarily with our homeschool group and choose dates that are available, which isn’t always on a Friday. Another reason is that we don’t take as many breaks as public-schools, so I sort of view those extra school days as a way to stay on track.

5. Blog and Work Schedule

I don’t have a 9-5, but I do work on many projects throughout the year. Since most of those projects are monetarily compensated, I label them as “work.” I like to keep a separate blog and work schedule because they allow me to see the full picture at a glance. I laminate these schedules so that I reuse them with a dry-erase marker.

Here is my actual “work” schedule. My goal was to keep it pretty light because I want to enjoy the last few weeks of summer with my family.

When do I work on these projects? VERY late at night. However, I do try and commit to the bulk of my projects during school breaks and summers. I have set work days, but I honestly just work whenever I have time. Today has been a sixteen-hour day so far, but that is normal for Mondays.

Yes. I said sixteen. I’ve been working on this project from noon to past four in the morning and counting. I don’t think people realize the time it takes to create and publish quality content.

And this is why I only blog once a week. For one, blogging is not all that I do. For two, I’d be super sleep deprived trying to cram a bunch of blogs in during the homeschool year. I love blogging and earning extra income, but not at the expense of my well-being. If I’m a mess, my kids will also be a mess. They are only this small once. When they’re older, they’ll be plenty of time to invest more of myself in these types of ventures. The internet isn’t going anywhere.

6. Workout Schedule

This isn’t a fantasy schedule. I actually do workout 3-5 times a week. It’s typically during the evenings between 8 and 11 pm at our local gym. I do cardio each of the days I go and have a different target muscle group for each weight training session. Below, I share my workout routine.

They say you make time for what’s most important, and physical fitness is important to me for three reasons. One, it lifts my mood. Two, it makes me look and feel great. Three, it’s my me-time. Most people like to listen to music while working out, I love listening to podcasts and learning more about my interests!

7. Cleaning Schedule

I like to break my cleaning schedule into two categories: Daily Cleaning and Weekly Cleaning. I used to also have a monthly cleaning agenda, but NEVER lived up to it, haha. You know, things like washing the windows, walls, etc.? Yea, those things got done when they got done.

For daily cleaning, I try and do a load of laundry each day. Admittedly, some days I forget. We also take turns unloading and loading the dishwasher and doing afternoon and evening pickups to get the house in order. Sweeping the floors and wiping down kitchen counters and bathroom surfaces is also a given.

For weekly cleaning, on my list of to-do’s is washing the bedding and linens, cleaning out the cars, deep cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, and mopping the floors, and taking the trash to the curb on trash day. Everything else like dusting, washing baseboards, and cleaning the windows, fridge, oven, etc. will get done on an as-needed basis. And by as-needed, I mean when I’m tired of looking at it. Got to keep it real, here.

I DO NOT. I repeat, DO NOT, do all the cleaning. My boys have a chore checklist. My husband primally cleans the bathroom and takes the trash out. And we all pitch in on the dishes and other daily chores around the house. Therefore, laundry, cooking, and vacuuming are primarily the things I do by myself on the regular basis.

8. Weekly Meal Planning

I also laminate my weekly meal planner so that I can reuse it with a dry-erase marker. The categories are broken down into breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Here is our actual meal plan for the week. Try not to judge me too much, haha. This is primarily for my boys. My husband and I do smoothies for breakfast and leftovers for lunch.

I’ve been asked about meal planning a few times and the key for me is eating the same thing in rotation! One week, we’ll have PB&J with fruit and cheese for lunch. Another week, we’ll have cheese quesadillas and apple slices for lunch all week. The same with breakfast and snacks.

For dinner, we have a few tried and true recipes we like to rotate with. I always cook extra for leftovers the next day and a possible lunch for my husband and I. In total, I only cook dinner about 3 times a week. That is the power of leftovers! Spaghetti leftovers in itself will last us three days—lunch included.

9. Favorite Recipes

Yes, I have a list of all my favorite recipes. I get most of my recipes from Divas Can Cook and tweak them to suit our needs. While I made cute inserts for my recipe lists, I find it’s just easier to print them from their home website. I then put them into sheet protectors and place them into my home management binder. These recipes are great to have on hand when meal planning and making my shopping list.

Here’s an example of how to use the planner inserts to record recipes. And, yes, beef stew is one of our favs!

10. Monthly Budgeting

The most dreaded of them all, but it must be done. Once again, I laminate these inserts for repeated use. I’m still learning the art of budgeting, but found it helpful to log these expenses in an excel spreadsheet at the end of each month. Since we are business owners, this helps keep us in the practice of being financially responsible. We also keep a business log specifically for business expenses, but that’s best done in Excel.

For obvious reasons I won’t be providing our exact budget figures, so here’s a sample version of how to use this planner insert for your home management binder.

11. Business Receipts

As business owners, keeping track of important receipts is vital. I place the receipts into a plastic pocket folder made for binders. This way they are easily accessible and we don’t have to go looking for them when we need them. I also place my warranties in this folder.

12. Important Documents

I currently have three pocket folders in my binder labeled the following: Medical Records, Homeschool Records, Important Records. This is where I’ll keep vaccination and health records for my boys, homeschool DOI’s and registration info for programs and sports, family membership info, birth and marriage certificates, and other legal documents. This is especially convenient when I need to register my child for something and I need their birth certificate, vaccination records, and so forth.

13. Vision and Mission Statements

You must have a vision for where you’re going and a plan to get there. That’s why I chose to write a vision and mission statement for our homeschool, businesses, and family. It’s helpful to refer to these statements often to keep me on track with my life goals.

Below are our actual vision and mission statements for homeschool. They change every year.

Vision and Mission Statement for Home Management

14. Inspirational Quotes and Scriptures

This is a new addition this year. I wanted to compile a list of inspirational scriptures so that I can read them every morning before I start my day. I thought it would be helpful to print and laminate them so that I can keep them in my binder for easy reference.

Here’s one of the pages. I currently have three pages worth of favorite scriptures. I’m working on filling out my favorite quotes page.

Other things in my home management binder that I find extremely helpful and convenient?

15. Birthday Reminders

16. Important Numbers (Pediatrician, Dentist, Contact Persons, Etc.)

17. Address Book

18. Password Log (Use password hints rather than the actual password)

19. Business Log

20. Shopping List & Notes

21. Weekly At-a-Glance

Here’s what they look like at a glance! Get a real preview, here.

Cute Planner Inserts for Home Management Binder

I must say, this home management binder is a real blessing to me. It makes life so much easier and cuts down on the time I have to search for things. What’s also great about it is my husband, or any family member, can use and refer to it if I’m traveling, sick, or out of town. They’ll know everything from our daily schedule to our favorite recipes and where to find important medical info for the boys.

Today, I’m sharing three FREEBIES from this awesome collection of planner inserts! Click the image below to download and get a great start to the upcoming school year!

GET THE FULL SET!

I want to hear from you: What types of things do you include in your planners?

Summer Schedule to Combat Learning Loss and Restore Order + FREEBIE

June 12, 2018June 11, 2018 Nike Anderson2 Comments

The summer vacation sort of crept up on us.

In Georgia, most kids are out of school by the third week of May. But in our homeschool, summer vacation wasn’t supposed to begin until June.

What happened?

My second-grader decided he wanted to take his final assessments early. All his friends at church were already out of public school, and he wanted to join the crowd.

So, I let him.

It was a win-win, really. We had a family trip approaching and I thought It’d be nice to come back home and not have to worry about school work.

The problem?

After that lovely trip to Maryland, where we got to visit my siblings and explore the beauty of Washington, DC, there was total chaos in our home. Fighting over games, tablets, toys, and personal space ensued. Our living room floor was full of Legos, art supplies, and Cheerios. Our kitchen sink housed every single dish from the cabinets by the end of the day. And I was close to losing it.

Capitol Building Washington, DC — Our Family Trip to Maryland Included a Day-Trip to the Nation’s Capital

But then I remembered something; amid our travel adventures, I’d forgotten to write out our summer schedule. So, I did just that.

When I say peace was restored almost immediately, it’s no exaggeration. I showed the schedule to our boys and it was like a weight was taken off them. Knowing their daily expectations offered them a sense of security and control. Even more, creating a schedule that carried out my vision to combat summer learning loss gave me peace of mind.

Let’s not get it twisted. There are still those days when everyone’s mood clashes. Today, as I write this post, is one of them. However, incorporating a summer routine has definitely given us smoother days when we’re stuck at home.

So, what does the schedule entail?

The purpose of the schedule, other than to restore order, is to ensure our boys keep their brains sharp, limit technology usage, and learn something new this summer. I understand resting from the demands of schoolwork is essential for developing brains, but I also wanted to ensure our boys were spending a little time each day building fluency with old skills and taking the initiative to develop new ones.

Take a look at our summer schedule below and download your FREE editable copy, here!

Summer Schedule to Combat Learning Loss — Click the Image to Download Your Editable FREEBIE and Create Your Own Summer Schedule!

As you can see, I’ve split the schedule into three parts: mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Every morning, there are three requirements to enjoy afternoon screen time:

First, our boys must read at least one book or two chapters. My five-year-old is still new at reading so we’ve worked it out where my oldest son does shared-reading with him. There are several studies that illustrate the significance of summer reading to prevent learning loss. However, our reason for ensuring our children hit the books during summer vacation is to simply encourage the lifestyle of reading.

Our Boys Love to Read Books by Mo Willems

Second, our boys must do at least one math activity. I made each of them fun interactive activity binders that house at least 35 activities for math fluency practice. You can read more about it here or purchase it here. These binders are a great alternative to worksheets because the Velcro attachments allow for repeated use until mastery. Additionally, these activities are perfect for kinesthetic learners who thrive with hands-on learning.

Boys Interactive Math Binder — My Son Practices Fluency Using His Interactive Math Binder

Third, our boys must complete their chore checklist. This checklist is basically a reminder for them to clean up after themselves, which is super helpful to me. Since they’ll either be playing with their tablets or watching TV, completing their chores in the morning means the house is likely to stay tidy all afternoon. I laminated the checklist (and schedule) to make them reusable with dry-erase markers.

Believe it or not, these requirements only take my boys about an hour or two to complete after breakfast. After that, they usually build Legos or draw pictures until the afternoon. I also created a list of activities to choose from should they grow tired of building skyscrapers with their Legos or drawing Sonic characters with scrap paper.

Why have a summer schedule?

Like most children, my boys thrive on structure. It offers them a sense of control and limits the frustration that can often trigger defiance and sibling rivalry. I’ve also made it a requirement that both must complete their checklist before afternoon screen time, which encourages them to work as a team.

Schedules are also great for me and my husband, who work from home. We know that from noon until four in the evening is going to be the quietest time to get important things done since the kids are typically quiet during screen time. To be honest, they’re actually so quiet, they’ve finessed us into having longer screen time because we’ve lost track of the clock. We must remember to set that egg timer!

Lastly, schedules are a great way to ensure we reach our summer goals. In our case, our main goal was to ensure our children were still sharpening their brains and building new skills. Trust me when I say that summer learning loss is real, but over the years we’ve discovered that making fluency practice a requirement decreased the amount of re-teaching we’d have to do for reading and math in the Fall. Repetition is one of the keys to mastery for children.

What are some alternatives to screen time?

Evenings in our home are scheduled to help our boys get their minds off the screen. Children must be encouraged to try new things and develop interests apart from television and video games. Therefore, our schedule reminds the boys of some of the things they like to do. Those activities include:

Playing the keyboard
Cooking
Dancing
Listening to audiobooks
Telling jokes
Making crafts
Drawing pictures
Playing sports
Playing board games
Storytelling
Playing outside
Playing MadLibs

Educational Board Games for Boys — Board Games are Great Alternatives to Screen Time During Those Summer Days You’re Stuck at Home.

Not only are these activities fun, but they’re also a sneaky way to incorporate additional learning into our daily summer routine. Of course, most of these activities will hold the attention of older children. But if you have wee ones, visit my friends Zoe, Josephine, and Angela at ThinkBaby.org and read their post “FUN & EDUCATIONAL DIY CRAFT IDEAS FOR TODDLERS.” They’ve got an awesome website full of gems for new and veteran moms!

What happens when we’ve got somewhere to be?

Summer vacation is filled with camps, traveling, sports, swimming, fellowship, and much more! This week, my boys have Vacation Bible School in the mornings. Next week, they’ll have afternoon swimming at our local pool. We try as much as possible to keep them involved with outdoor activities. When we have somewhere to be, we just pick up the schedule where we left off.

For instance, after VBS, my boys complete all their morning requirements and enjoy screen time for the rest of the afternoon. Next week, morning requirements must be completed before afternoon swimming. The remainder of the schedule will commence when we return home in the evening.

Schedules are made to be broken in our home. Therefore, we invite spontaneity. We are known for taking impromptu trips out of town, fellowshipping with friends until the wee hours of the morning, and hopping in the car to attend that local event we just learned about an hour ago. It’s no big deal if we ditch the schedule for things we find more enriching to our lives.

Vacation Bible School FUN Time Travel — Vacation Bible School Shenanigans With My Futuristic 8-Year-Old

HEART 360 (2) — My Boys Had a Blast Spending Their Mornings at VBS Where the Theme Was “Time Travel.”

Why do we have so much screen time during summers?

Summer screen time is a treat because my boys are only allowed screen time on weekends during the school year. Screen time basically consists of anything from watching tutorials, to coding and playing video games. While the allotted time is from noon to four in the afternoon, I admit some days our boys are probably watching screens much longer than that.

My husband and I have no qualms about children and screens, but we do see the value in controlling the amount of time our boys spend watching screens in order to help them develop other interests. Likewise, we’ve recognized that eliminating screen time on school days helped increase their concentration and work ethic, as they no longer tried to “hurry up and finish” school work in order to get to their video games.

There are many scholarly articles that make a case for why screen time is or isn’t good for children. I say, it all boils down to what’s best for your family. I know parents who can’t do any screen time whatsoever due to their child/ren having sensory processing disorders. Our boys can handle limited screen time, but we do heavily restrict what they’re allowed to consume (i.e. no violent or inappropriate games or shows).

Coding on a MAC for Boys — My 8-Year-Old’s Favorite Pastime Is Coding New Games with Scratch.

I hope you enjoyed me sharing a glimpse of what our summer is looking like this year. I decided to write this post because some of you liked the summer schedule I posted on Instagram and I wanted a way to provide an editable copy for you. I also love sharing what works for me in hope that it may work for you, too.

If you’re looking for activities to do with your children this summer, I highly suggest connecting with your local library, homeschool group, or recreation center and check out their schedules. You’d be surprised how many free and low-cost activities these resources have to offer.

I want to hear from you: What are your summer plans? Let me know in the comments!

5 Realistic Ways My Kids Stay Entertained During Winter Break

December 19, 2017December 18, 2017 Nike Anderson2 Comments

Winter break is here and with it enters the dreadful question, “How on earth am I going to keep my children entertained?” Trust me, as a momma to two young boys, I know this dilemma all too well. But before you allow the television to takeover this winter break, I want to share some alternative ideas to help balance out the inevitable screen-time while helping to keep those little minds sharp. These methods work so well for our household. Even better? They are realistic and require very little effort on your part. So, let’s get into it, shall we?

5 Realistic Ways My Kids Stay Entertained During Winter Break

Read, Read, and Read Some More! For leisure, that is! We all know that reading is fundamental, but why? For starters, reading improves cognitive development in children—that is, your child’s ability to process and recall information, solve problems, and make decisions. It’s easy to see that reading is a great exercise for the brain, but did you also know reading can reduce your child’s stress levels and improve their vocabulary and concentration? More reasons to visit your local library this winter break and let ‘em loose! Books we love? Basically, anything Pete the Cat, Frog and Toad, and Mo Willems related. Don’t have readers or book lovers? Try audiobooks!

Break Out the Paint Supplies. If you’ve never heard about the benefits of painting, allow me to inform you. Obviously, painting encompasses a multitude of creative benefits, but it can also provide therapeutic benefits for children and provide them a platform to better communicate their emotions. Even more? Painting helps children develop decision-making skills and it increases the mobility skills necessary for mental and physical development. My boys have been loving their paint therapy sessions! I can’t believe how long this activity actually keeps them quiet.

Control Screen-Time. Let’s not act like screen-time isn’t going to happen for most of us. But you don’t have to feel entirely guilty about giving your child a tablet and sending them to their room. Instead of letting them spend hours watching YouTube videos of other kids playing with toys (Please tell me my kids aren’t the only weirdos that do this, haha), make your children a playlist of educational YouTube channels that are parent-approved. Here are some YouTube videos we love! Additionally, Schoolhouse Rock videos have become a favorite around here.

Give Brainteasers a Try. Puzzles, mazes, and riddles are fun ways for children to challenge their cognitive thought processes. In short, these games can help reduce boredom and improve concentration, memory, and brain strength. Education.com is a great resource for all things games, mazes, and puzzles for all ages. I’ve talked about how helpful Education.com has been to our homeschool in the past (Read about it here), so it’s a pleasure to feature this resource in today’s post. Since my boys love brainteasers, we’re excited to download additional resources at Education.com to help combat winter break boredom. Check out their sample activity below and get in on the fun! Although this is a partnership, all opinions are my own.

Education.com Maze — **Splash around and help our little sea friends find their way home! Check out additional games and resources at Education.com! FREE Download! Get the answer key.**

5. Learn a new skill. Whether it’s baking, origami, playing an instrument, or exploring a new sport, every child has an interest they don’t mind spending hours mastering. School breaks are the perfect time to challenge your child to learn something new. The key is to set realistic goals. A checklist of goodies to bake, perhaps, or learn how to play a song on the keyboard. My second-grader has taken it upon himself to learn about computer programing, so he checked out some books from the library and started taking virtual courses with Khan Academy to learn the basics. Whatever they choose, it should be totally up to them—and fun!

I hope everyone enjoys their winter break! I want to end by saying that learning should not only be fun but a way of life that inspires children beyond the classroom. At least that’s how we see it! And now it’s your turn: What are your winter break tips? Let us know in the comments. And, P.S. it’s okay to say your winter break tip is to simply survive, haha. We get you!

30 FREE Homeschool Deals That’ll Help You Save Some Coins

August 8, 2017August 8, 2019 Nike Anderson8 Comments

Homeschool can get really expensive. But the great news is it can also be relatively free!

Read the updated post, here, featuring over 60 FREE legitimate homeschool deals you’ll actually use.

Here are twenty FREE resources to help you save some coins this upcoming school year. Of course, most of these resources require you to at least have access to a printer and some ink. Other than that, all you really need are some basic school supplies.

Taking advantage of free curricula is a great way to test what types of subjects, lesson plans, and teaching styles help your child thrive best. It is also a great way to save money for what really matters—lots of field-trips, adventures, and social opportunities!

So, without further ado:

30 FREE Homeschool Deals That’ll Help You Save Some Coins!

1. Free Homeschool Deals

This site offers free unit studies, supplement materials, and much more. Free resources are available for any subject and grade level.

2. Easy Peasy Homeschool

This site offers free curricula in all core subjects for levels pre-k through high school. This is also a great site for elective courses like physical education, foreign language, and more. The reviews are mixed on this curriculum, but people like it for the most part. The common complaint is that it’s not challenging enough for advanced students.

3. How to Homeschool for Free

This site offers free unit studies, electives, and other resources for homeschool families. You can find materials in all core subjects for all grade levels.

4. K12 Education

This is an online public school, not a homeschool. Therefore, you will be subject to public school laws. However, this program is great for families on the go. Some people love it. Others hate it. The common complaint is the program can be stressful because there’s too much busywork and not enough flexibility. A great benefit is that you will receive free school supplies, books, and other materials needed for your courses.

5. Homeschool Math.net

This site is a great lesson-plan resource for mathematics. The site only serves up to seventh grade so you won’t find much for high school students, here. The great thing about these lesson plans is they come with video instructions/lectures, as well as follow-up worksheets. You can find any math subject from simple addition to pre-algebra.

6. Homeschool Buyers Co-op

7. The Pioneer Woman

This site offers another great database for free homeschool resources, awesome tidbits on motherhood, and more!

8. Khan Academy

This is free a virtual academy for pre-k through high school students. You may select a course in any core area of your choice, or create a course of your own. What’s unique about this academy is that you’ll find free courses in engineering, computing, economics, and finance, among others. They even have SAT prep and other prep courses for other standardized tests.

9. Teachers pay Teachers

Not only can you find MY free resources here, but a plethora of other free resources and curricula for grades pre-k through high school. What’s great about this site is that all materials are made for teachers by teachers. Check out my growing shop to find some free goodies! There will also be an upcoming Back-to-School sale soon!

10. Encouraging Moms at Home

This site shares an awesome preschool weather unit freebie. Take advantage! You can also find other great deals and homeschool tips on this site.

11. Midwest Modern Momma

This site shares a free United States unit study that can be adjusted for any age. The study comes with a load of free printables. Check it out!

12. Cornerstone Confessions.com

If you’re looking for a free science curriculum for pre-k through second grade, look no further. Cornerstone Confessions shares a Magic School Bus science unit for the entire school year! This unit is full of awesome experiments and activities. If you already have a Netflix subscription (or other subscription that offers the Magic School Bus series) this course is completely free.

13. Ambleside Online

If you’re a fan of the Charlotte Mason method, you’ll love this free resource. This site offers free courses from pre-k- through high school in all core subjects. Ambleside Online also offers free Bible courses.

14. Budget Homeschool

This site offers free study guides, lesson plans, books, and more!

15. An Old Fashioned Education

Are you old school? Well, this is the site for you! It’s important to note that this site is Christian inspired. The site offers core subjects as well as other subjects like etiquette, speaking, and art appreciation, among many others.

16. Classroom Freebies, Too

This site is a great resource for all things “freebies!”

17. Curr Click

This site offers free classes and curricula in all core subjects. I do advise, however, to make sure all the clickable links work for a particular course—especially BEFORE you start depending on them as your homeschool curriculum. I’ve come across some links that no longer work. However, there’s some good stuff on this site.

18. Free Kids Books

This site has a book for every age from toddlerhood through adulthood. And, yes, the books are free to download! Or, you can simply read them online. What I really like about this site is most of the books have ratings. The site also offers a user-friendly category search so you can search for anything from coloring books to early reader books in a jiffy.

19. Lesson Pathways

This is a curriculum-building site that offers free resources for curriculum customization. The resources offered covers grades K-5. Registration is free and gives you access to some awesome goodies.

20. Guest Hollow.com

This site offers a free Science of the Seasons curriculum, Geography curriculum, and many others. There are some great resources for all ages, including high school students. Go take a look!

21. Scholastic

22. Crayola

Believe it or not, Crayola offers free lesson plans for language arts, math, STEAM, social studies, and, of course—art!

23. School Zone

24. Hoffman Academy

It doesn’t get any better than free online piano lessons. We’ve personally taken advantage of this resource, so I can truly say that my kids enjoy these fun, quirky lessons. The lessons are step by step and offer units for beginner and intermediate levels.

25. STEMfinity

STEMfinity offers a database for all things STEM. Check out their resources for activities and lesson plans for science, technology, engineering, and math.

26. Code.org

Code.org offers free videos, games, and lesson plans for all things code. This site serves parents and teachers of grades pre-k through high school. It is also user-friendly for independent learners. My second-grader utilizes this site frequently to improve his coding skills.

27. Scratch

Scratch allows students to program their own stories, games, and animations. The site also includes guides and tutorials for parents and teachers. This is another site my kids frequent. It is very kid-user friendly. My second-grader coded several games and animations using this resources.

28. Kidzone

Looking for worksheets for your children? Kidzone has got you covered. All worksheets are printable for early learning through grade five. You can find worksheets on letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and more. The site also offers worksheets for phonics, math, science, geography, and more. Lesson plans and thematic units are also available. This was my go-to source for Kindergarten worksheets.

29. Education.com

30. National Geographic Kids

31. Nike Anderson’s Classroom

As a bonus, I’m including my growing online shop, Nike Anderson’s Classroom. I offer free resources for pre-k through second grade. Check out my free geography resources, reading and comprehension worksheets, memory verse activities, Black history worksheets, and more! Be sure to follow me on TpT to be the first to know when I upload a new free resource. I literally uploaded five FREE resources today, so you don’t want to miss out!

That concludes my list. I do hope at least one of these free resources is new to you.

Your Turn!

If you have other resources you’d like to mention, let us know down below! Sharing is caring!!!!

Tot-School Tuesdays | Preschool Addition Facts

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 Nike Anderson1 Comment

Welcome to Totschool Tuesday! If you’re new to this series, join me every Tuesday this month as I share what types of activities I do to prepare my three-year-old for the next phase in his education. Last week, I shared my “Number Matching” preschool busy box. This week, I want to share my “Preschool Math Facts” busy box.

What is a “busy box?” You may have heard of “busy bags”—that is, bags full of educational goodies designed to engage busy tots. My busy boxes are the same concept with a different storage solution. These 5×12 boxes are stored with activities that encourage fluency practice for everything from counting to phonics.

Last week, I shared that these boxes full of goodies make my preschooler feel like he’s receiving a gift each morning. And he is! The gift of learning, that is (*wink). However, another pro to these boxes is that they don’t have to be used for formal learning, per se. You can store them with loads of fun and interesting objects that encourage creative learning.

So, what’s on the agenda for this week? Adding! We’ve reviewed counting, number recognition and matching, sequencing, and now it’s time to dabble with a little addition. We’ve reviewed addition many times before, but of course with young children, repetition is key to mastery.

This week’s busy box includes a Preschool Addition Facts worksheet, pony beads, fuzzy sticks, popsicle sticks, drawing paper, and three markers. All items can be purchased at Walmart or Dollar Tree. If you’re wondering why I only offer three markers at a time, it’s because my three-year-old is learning to place the caps back onto them. We’ve had one too many dried-out markers!

As always, we like to complete our worksheet first. I include worksheets in these boxes because I can save and keep records of them to track my three-year-old’s progress. This week, I’m offering these simple, yet fun, Preschool Addition Facts worksheets for FREE at Nike Anderson’s Classroom. Head on over to take advantage!

Next, we have a little “adding” fun with our pony beads and fuzzy sticks. Using the worksheet as my guide, I prepared seven fuzzy sticks by adding the exact number of beads to match the number of crayons on the left side of the worksheet. My preschooler then adds more beads to the fuzzy sticks, matching the number of crayons on the right side of the worksheet. This illustration ensures he internalizes the concept that adding two numbers together means the total sum is “more.”

We take the same concept of our pony beads illustration and apply it to the popsicle sticks. Using different manipulatives helps a child internalize that the sum of one set of numbers will be the same regardless of the objects used. Therefore, 3 popsicle sticks plus 2 popsicle sticks will equal 5 popsicle sticks, just as 3 beads plus 2 beads will equal 5 beads.

Lastly, I must include markers and drawing paper for some freestyling fun. To make the most of this busy box, your preschooler can try categorizing the pony beads by color, count how many beads each color group has, and then determine which group has the greatest and least number of beads. Or, he can make a popsicle stick masterpiece (if you include Elmer’s glue in the box), make their own bracelets with the pony beads and fuzzy sticks, or simply decorate the popsicle sticks using markers.

Download your FREE Preschool Addition Facts worksheet, here!

Don’t forget to grab these latest FREEBIES at Nike Anderson’s Classroom!

I Can Count!

Number Matching and Sequencing

See you next week!