Homeschooling with Technology

Our guest in this episode is Emily Boyle and she shares with us online forensic science resources. Emily coaches Crime Busters and Forensics for a homeschool Science Olympiad team and she teaches Forensic Science to high schoolers at FundaFunda Academy.

These are the resources Emily mentions:

Emily mentions that one can use TV crime series as a discussion point for Forensics Science, even though they are often not true-to-life. It gives students the opportunity to use critical thinking skills.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool. If you know of other online stock market resources please share them with the other listeners there.

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In this episode, the following online stock market resources are mentioned:

1. TED ED talk How does the Stock Market work?

2. Stock Market rap song

3. Quizlet and Quizizz are good websites to use to teach students the basic terms in a fun way.

4. New Generation Personal Finance has videos, games and activities including the game Build Your Stax

5. How the Market Works simulation

6. The Stock Market Game contest which is a team event for 4th – 12th graders that includes an essay contest – Investwrite.

7. FundaFunda’s web-based Stock Market Unit Study for 4th – 8th graders.

8. FundaFunda’s Stock Market Contest.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool. If you know of other online stock market resources please share them with the other listeners there.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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When you consider online classes and their costs, you need to remember that you usually get what you pay for.

Free online classes will expect parents to grade and may not be as in-depth as paid classes.

Low-cost online classes are usually self-paced with automatic grading (ie assignments are quizzes) or parent grading. These kinds of classes can afford big sales on their products as most of the work is done during course creation.

The more involvement by teachers the more classes are likely to cost. It takes hours to create a module – whether creating one’s one videos, prepping for live sessions, or gathering online resources. Then a teacher will spend more time if there is a live session involved, and even more time if there is grading to be done. In addition, some subjects (eg languages) will require a lot of teacher involvement. The higher grades are also going to cost more than younger grades.

Show sponsor FundaFunda Academy keeps costs down by using teaching assistants to help with grading.

AP classes and specialized classes usually cost more as teachers need more knowledge for them. There are generally also fewer students in each class.

Listen to the episode as you will also get a breakdown of how much time a teacher is likely to spend on a class.

Episode 24- How to Select Online Classes for your Children is a related episode that can help you decide what type of onlince classes will work best for your children.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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Our guest in this episode is Heather Bowen from Mom for All Seasons and in this interview you can learn about the year-round virtual curriculum fair she has created.

This virtual curriculum fair allows you to find curricula based on age, subject, type of curriculum, and worldview. It is very easy to narrow down your search to find a number of options that fit the criteria you specify. Each week all the special offers from vendors are listed on the main page.

The website is Top Picks Homeschool Curriculum Fair and there is a companion Facebook group that hosts giveaways, Facebook parties, workshops etc. It is also a place you can ask questions and get answers from fellow homeschoolers and the vendors.

Both the website and the Facebook group are free for attendees.

Show sponsor FundaFunda Academy is one of the over 100 vendors you will find at this virtual curriculum fair. Other vendors include Apologia, Sonlight, Grammar Galaxy, Media Angels, and Math Mammoth. So you will find many old favorites AND find many new exciting vendors.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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Our guest in this episode is Peggy Ployhar, founder/CEO of SPED Homeschool, and she is going to share with us about using tech with special needs students. Peggy has a wealth of wisdom to share, and you will need to listen to this episode to get the maximum benefit.

This sums up what Peggy covers in this episode:

Teaching struggling students is difficult, thus many parents look to technology to ease that difficulty, but if not considered properly it can complicate the teaching and the learning process.

She explores 4 myths:

Myth 1 – A child who loves tech will best learn on/with tech

Learn more from Peggy on her weekly live show where she talks with guests about topics relevant to homeschooling special needs students. This live show is from 8 – 9pm CT each Tuesday on Facebook or Youtube. You can catch the replay as a podcast.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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August Smith, who is now studying to be a Mechanical Engineer is our guest and explains how your teens can build their own computer – because it is something he did as a high school student.

August has been a student at, and then a teaching assistant for show sponsor FundaFunda Academy. The classes he has assisted with are the Scratch and Python coding classes.

August explains why teens should build their own PC, the different parts they will need, how to select the right brand, model and size, how to put the parts together and how to decide on and install an operating system. Listen to the episode for all the info. He also talks about the cost.

And if you are listening to this episode before the end of July 2020, you will get a coupon for a BIG discount on August’s Stop Motion Animation class.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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In this episode, our guest, Shannan Swindler, shares how to make virtual field trips engaging. Shannan’s home base is in Scotland, where she and her husband homeschool their two kids (ages 11 & 15) and they learn on location throughout Europe as much as possible. She is a classical style home educator living out her God-breathed dream of raising her family in Europe. She’s passionate about many things, especially helping others learn on location using the world as their classroom. You can join her at Captivating Compass for homeschool and family travel inspiration.

Shannan explains how her family stumbled upon virtual field trips & museum tours and you can read about some of their favorites in her Virtual Museum Tours for Doing School at Home post.

I have also covered the idea of Virtual Field Trips on this podcast before – so be sure to listen to that episode for ideas too.

Shannan goes on to explain how homeschoolers can get the most out of virtual field trips. Two resources you can find on her website are:

Another exciting resource from Shannan that is free and will be fun to use this summer is her Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt

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Mentioned in this episode are show sponsor FundaFunda Academy’s web-based unit studies which often include virtual field trips!

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

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In this episode, I first explain why I believe homeschoolers should add electives for high school and then I dive into the topic – creating electives with online resources

** The Linguistics contest I mention is NACLO

If you find a MOOC or other class that you can use as part of the elective, it may have tests and assignments you can use.

Otherwise, get your child to do one or more projects to show what they have learned. The project could be to create a video, slideshow, website, children’s book or a portfolio if they are doing something creative. (See many of our other episodes for ideas on these)

If you want ready-done for you electives, take a look at the ones offered by our sponsor FundaFunda Academy

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

The post Creating Electives with Online Resources appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This is a replay of episode 36. You can find the show notes here

The post Replay: Tips for Buying and Selling Curriculum Online appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

In this episode, show sponsor, FundaFunda‘s science teachers share some of their favorite online resources to make science more engaging.

Until 30 June 2020, you can get $10 off any of FundaFunda Academy‘s science classes with the coupon mentioned during this episode.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

The post Online resources to make science engaging appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.