Here are 6 easy ways to integrate technology into your homeschool. Don’t try to do them all at once – just try implementing one way first and then add as you go.

Ideas for ways to do that:

Keep track of community service hours and grades at the very least. Google Sheets is a free option, but you can also use a tool like Homeschool Tracker

Some suggestions for tools to use:

Make it fun by using websites like Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizlet – use readymade ones until you feel comfortable creating your own. You will plenty at all these websites on any topic you want to test your children on.

Web-based unit studies mentioned in the episode can be found at:

Online classes mentioned in this episode:

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If you have 8th – 12th graders, don’t miss the annual High School Challenge from show sponsor FundaFunda Academy. High schoolers can win gift cards and money while completing challenges that teach them about being prepared for college.

Tips on using Zoom

2. Babysit – obviously not with babies but 5 – 8-year-olds could be entertained over Zoom. Read books together, build legos, tell stories etc

3. Quiz night – Select a ready-made quiz from Kahoot or Quizizz. You can also do Quizlet Live if you use breakout rooms.

4. Game night. Here is an article that explains how to play board games over Zoom. You can also play an online version of Codenames.

5. Scavenger Hunt – this idea is from Scott Bowen, the husband of Heather Bowen from Mom for all Seasons. Give those on the call an item to find and see who gets back first with it. Then repeat!

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In this episode, my 3 guests each explain different online income opportunities they are currently using. All have low start-up costs and should be doable for most homeschool moms.

Bekki offers a class on how to do it – use code TOGETHER! for a special discount.

Etsy Quickstart Guide – this ebook will get your Etsy shop up and running FAST! Save 50% with the code HALFPRICE.

Selling on Etsy Masterclass for Teens – even moms can take this course! Take it together with your teens and start an Etsy shop while the demand is high! Etsy has requested that sellers start making and selling fabric face masks. There’s no better time to open your Etsy shop. Use the code FLASHSALE2020 for 50% off this comprehensive online course.

Be sure to also listen to my other 2 podcast episodes where I interview Abby:

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Students should keep records of the community service they do as it will help them win scholarships and look impressive to colleges. In addition, they can achieve certificates and medals in the Congressional Award program.

Show Sponsor, FundaFunda Academy, is hosting its 3rd annual High School Challenge in April and May. 8th – 12th graders complete assignments related to preparing for college that earn them points. Students with the most points win gift cards or cash from $5 to $150. Lots of prizes, lots of fun, lots of learning!

Here are 9 ideas for virtual community service:

1. Virtual Babysitting

2. Virtual Greeting cards/emails

3. Fun and games eg create online jigsaw puzzles

4. Explainer videos/tutorials

5. Old weather: Use ship logs to transcribe historical weather data.

6. Zooniverse has a number of projects. Some are.

7. iNaturalist allows students to become citizen scientists and record observations about nature.

8. The Library of Congress has opportunities for students to transcribe, approve and edit historical documents.

9. All for Good is a website that lists many different volunteer opportunities and some of them can be done virtually.

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Our guest is Dr Kristin Moon from Kristin Moon Science . You can find her on Facebook too.

Dr. Moon teaches Chemistry for show sponsor FundaFunda Academy and Biology at True North Homeschool Academy.

Be sure to listen to our other interview with her where she talks about PHET Simulations.

3 virtual labs from their site that she mentions:

1. eMind Frog: virtual frog dissection lab (and 4 additional mini-labs).

You can use their demo page to get a feel for what it’s like to use the virtual lab.

It costs $5.99/family for a single license (giving you 12-month access)

2. eMind Animalcules and Other Cells: virtual microscopy lab

So many cool specimens to view using their virtual microscope.

Once again, you can use the demo and get some of the features:

3. eMind Fly: virtual genetics lab

This virtual lab makes genetics come alive as students virtually “breed” fruit flies. They predict the results using a Punnett Square, breed the flies, observe the progeny and note the outcome, and analyze their results.

Find the demo site here.

It costs $5.99/family for a single license (giving you 12-month access) but is a freebie that comes with any purchase.

Worth noting: You can buy access to ALL of the virtual labs eMind has to offer (including the frog, a cat, a fetal pig, invertebrates (including earthworm, squid, crayfish, and sea star), and fish ( including the lamprey, the dogfish, and the yellow perch) for $19.99 (for an individual license).

Additionally, if you are buying for a class or co-op, there are volume discounts.

There are many virtual labs your students can perform on this site, all related to chemistry. These are all free.

Examples of some of the labs:

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Here are 3 resources show sponsor FundaFunda Academy is offering that will help you!

30 days of educational activities for elementary school – 5 activities per day all laid out for you!

1. Exercise: find online videoas. YMCA has a number they are offering.

2. Documentaries / Educational programming: Consider a subscription to a streaming service. One Netflix show the whole family is likely to enjoy is “Churchill’s Secret Agents”.

3. Audiobooks / ebooks: In episode 67 Dr Monica Burns talked about Epic. Other options are digital library books through your library. Audible is offering free kids audio books currently. And you can listen to actors reading kids books on Storyline Online.

4. Podcasts

5. Gaming! For ideas listen to the episodes “Homeschool Moms can be Gamers” and “Learning History through Video Games”

6. Virtual Field Trips

7. Educational quizzes/games/apps: some examples

8. Hang out virtually: listen to the episode on Communication Tools for your Homeschool for ideas on how to do that

9. Buy things you can use offline – board games, puzzles, printable games.

Fundafunda Academy is offering a $3 coupon – use code CORONA – to use on ANYTHING in their store (items under Teaching Resources are cheap!). Expires 31 May 2020.

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In this episode, you will learn about some free resources to help you understand the coronavirus and teach your kids about it.

If you haven’t already listened to episode 58 How to Teach your Kids to Identify Fake News, I suggest you listen to it. In that episode, I share resources you can go through with. your children. Understanding fake news will help children figure out what the facts are and what is just hype and false information.

These are the online resources to teach about the coronavirus mentioned in this episode. Please note that often the data in the tables is a day old which that accounts for some discrepancies between the different sources.

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Here are the 5 communication tools mentioned in this episode. Listen to the episode to hear more about them.

All these are free or have a free version that is all you are likely to need.

Use the GroupMe app when you need to communicate with a group of people.

WhatsApp can be used to message and call people all over the world.

Marco Polo is an asynchronous video app that makes it easy to send and receive video messages.

Zoom is a video conferencing tool. The free version allows you up to 40 minutes at a time, and up to 100 people on a call!

Here is a video showing you how to use it

Slack is a messaging app where you can create channels for specific topics. It is a good tool to use when not everyone in the group wants to get all the messages all the time.

Thie show sponsor is FundaFunda Academy. The classes mentioned in this episode are

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Project-Based Learning is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

From pblworks.org

In the episode, I explain in more detail what PBL is, and I provide some examples. in addition to the examples I mention, you can find more ideas for projects here.

1. Online research that can include

2. Online presentation that can include

Be sure to listen to the whole episode for further explanation of how to do this with children of all ages.

Visit our sponsor FundaFunda Academy and check out their online classeses. Lots of options for all ages! Classes often include online games, interactive websites, videos and techie projects.

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In this episode, I talk about the following free tools to create slideshows. Listen to the episode for more detail about each of them.

Macs come with Keynote and many PCs will have Powerpoint on them when you buy them. These are both very powerful and have lots of features.

Google Slides allows people to collaborate and work on the same slideshow. It also allows one to leave comments.

Prezi has a unique look and feel and allows you to zoom in and our of different areas of your presentation.

This tool easily allows one to search for copyright-free photos online to add to the presentation

Emaze has a very cool modern look and it is very intuitive to use. You can also download the presentation to use offline or you can share the link.

Canva also allows you to link to your presentation or download it. It also offers the ability to make presenter notes

And visit our sponsor FundaFunda Academy and check out their online Computer Applications class for 7th – 12th graders. It covers most of these slideshow tools and many more tools your teen needs to learn how to use.

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Contact Meryl via email on [email protected] or connect with her on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook

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