Homeschooling with Technology

1. Throughout the year collect ideas in Evernote

2. Get your family to create wishlists (Pinterest, Amazon, Google docs/sheets)

3. If you need more ideas

4. Use Google sheets to keep track of what you want to buy, where you have bought it, how much you have spent and if it has arrived.

5. Read reviews before you buy – Amazon is a good place to start)

6. Be sure to compare prices at various online stores

7. Read email newsletters for free shipping and specials

8. Shop through portals to save money

9. Buy gifts that can be delivered electronically as last-minute gifts

10. Use tech to “take” oversized gifts with you if you are traveling – either print out a picture or create a QR code from the picture (first save the picture on a Google doc and then use the url to create the QR code.)

If you found this useful, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review!

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

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I usually use Google maps, select the area and download.

Here’s the one I use: EasyAcc Slim 10000 mAh Power Bank

One of my favorites is Planet Money.

This is the one we have: Petsafe 5 meal Pet Feeder

Google Drive is an online filing system. Listen to episodes 2, 3 and 4 for more detail on how to use it to organize your homeschool

Our sponsor, FundaFunda Academy offers 2 classes that teach about Google Drive and the associated apps.

They have a 4 module Intro to Google Drive web-based unit study on all the Google drive apps as well as a full year (1 credit) Computer Applications class.

Scannable is only available for the iPhone but it integrates with Evernote and allows you to easily scan and send documents. You can save them as pdfs or pngs. Adobe Scan is similar but for Android and iOS.

Padlet is like a virtual version of a corkboard you would find in a classroom to pin children’s work.

If you have a file in a format you can no longer read, Zamzar will rescue you. It does conversions from and to most file types in seconds.

If you have Netflix, don’t miss Churchill’s Secret Agents: The New Recruits

Our next episode will be “Christmas shopping the techie way” so be sure to tune in for that.

And to say thanks for being a listener, you can go online shopping now in FundaFunda Academy’s store. You can get all their teaching resources (printable games and interactive activities) free until the end of November, with the coupon code I give on the show. Yes! You have to actually listen to get it. You can find the audio below the show notes if you aren’t already listening via a podcast player.

If you found this useful, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review!

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

The post 10 Techie Tools I Am Grateful For appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Google Drive is an online filing system. Listen to episodes 2, 3 and 4 for more detail on how to use it to organize your homeschool

Our sponsor, FundaFunda Academy offers 2 classes that teach about Google Drive and the associated apps.

They have a 4 module Intro to Google Drive web-based unit study on all the Google drive apps as well as a full year (1 credit) Computer Applications class.

Toby allows you to save your tabs to collections so you can close them – but still access them later.

Once you go through links on Toby and find ones you want to keep, you need Evernote

It is basically a big filing system. You create notebooks related to specific topics (eg curriculum ideas, interesting websites, books to read). Then every time you find something related you save it as a note in the relevant notebook.

The Evernote web Clipper (available for Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer (IE) 7+, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge) makes it even easier to use.

Trello is a project management system that works really well as a way to organize your own to do list and to organize what your children have to do (assignments and chores).

You create a Trello board and then within the board you create lists. For my personal board, I have lists titled: Month, week, day, doing, done. Under each list are cards containing tasks and as I complete a task I drag that card to the ‘Done’ list. Each Monday I can see what I achieved the previous week – and then I archive the cards in the Done list, create new ones for the “Day” and “Week” and drag over anything from the “Month” I plan to do.

Amy from HSP Mom.com uses Trello in a different way. She has a board with different lists for each month and plans about two weeks out at a time. She has one card that has easily “checklistable” items, such as math, and any workbooks. (Trello lets you add checkboxes to cards).

Then each subject has its own card where she jots down what they do and she snaps occasional pictures of things to keep as a record of what they have done.

Trello is ideal to list all a child’s assignments and/or chores and that way they can easily see what they still have to do, and if they check them off as they go, you can see what they have done.

Trying to plan an event and find a time that works? Stop emailing back and forth to the people involved. Instead use Doodle.

I just use the free version, enter all the options I want to offer the recipients and then send it to them. It is easy to find the time that will work for everyone.

If you found this useful, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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

The post 5 Techie Ways to Organize Your Homeschool appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Google Slides offers all benefits of Google Drive apps like easy collaboration and access anywhere you have wifi. Listen to episode 2 on Google Drive for more info on all the Google Drive apps.

Google Drive does have fewer features than many of the slideshow programs available, but it should be able to do everything you and your children need it to do. Here are some features I often use:

Start teaching your children to use it in a simple way when they are in elementary school.

It is easy to figure out how to use Google Slides, but if you would rather your children learn it as part of a course, FundaFunda Academy (the sponsors of this podcast) offers 2 classes that include a module on Google Slides.

They have a 4 module unit study web-based unit study on all the Google drive apps as well as a full year (1 credit) Computer Applications class, both which include a module on Google Slides.

When your children are ready to go further with Google Slides, here are some more ideas.

To do this add the voiceover extension and when you are done choose to “publish on the web”. Now you will have a video to share with others

Google Slides is ideal to make simple flyers and posters. First, change the document size (Go to “File” – “Page Setup” – “Custom” and then enter 8.5 X 11 or whatever size you need). When you are done, download the slide as a png, jpg, or vector file.

Select “Insert diagram” and then “Timeline”

Make a table with the number of rows and columns you want. Then use callout shapes to make your comic strip.

Find icons from places like the Noun Project

You can do this really easily by creating links that go from one slide to another. And of course, it is easy to add graphics and videos so all students will enjoy a creative writing project like this. You can also use it instead of a more typical written project in any subject.

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

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Google Forms is great for moms (and dads) to use it to create self-graded quizzes and for surveys. You could use it to collect responses to questions like “what field trip your homeschool group might most want to go on”, and “which date works best”.

But it is even more useful for your children to use.

It is easy to figure out how to use Google Forms, but if you would rather your children learn it as part of a course, FundaFunda Academy (the sponsors of this podcast) offers 2 classes that include a module on Google Forms.

They have a 4 module unit study web-based unit study on all the Google drive apps as well as a full year (1 credit) Computer Applications class, both which include a module on Google Forms.

Although you want your high school students to be able to do all these things, you can start introducing your younger children to Google Forms and just use some of the features. Sit with your elementary age children and together create a simple survey to send to family and friends. This will help them learn what to do and as a result, they will be ready to do it on their own by high school.

Be sure to incorporate Google Forms into your homeschool so that your children learn how to conduct online surveys. Help them send it out to an appropriate sample of people. And teach them how to interpret and manipulate the data they collect.

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

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National History Day is one of my favorite contests because it combines 2 things I love – history and technology.

Our show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy also combines these two in their web-based unit studies on World War 2. These are delivered online, use online resources and incorporate techie projects. Until Friday 26th October, you can enter a giveaway to win two web-based unit studies.

National History Day begins at the school level, but usually, homeschoolers can bypass this and go straight to the regional contest. The winners of that move on to the state competition and those winners attend the National History Day Contest in Washington DC during the summer.

National History Day is for students in 6th through 12th grade, but the information in this episode will also be useful for parents with younger students.

The contest always has a theme – this year it is Triumph & Tragedy in History. Within that theme, students can select any topic that fits. It can cover American or World History.

There are 2 parts to the contest: research and presentation. Both of these contain techie elements.

Students need to gather a variety of source material, both primary and secondary sources. At the regional level, I suggest they have at least 15 – 20 different sources.

Some places they can find sources are:

Once students have a number of sources, they need to learn how to use online tools like Easybib to create a bibliography and citations.

After students have done their research, they must choose one of 5 different presentation categories. They can work alone or in a group.

While presenting the research as a paper isn’t very high tech, students will need to use a word processor, know how to do a word count, correctly lay out the paper etc.

Once again word processing skills will be needed to produce the script and bibliography.

In this category, the visual appearance of the text is important. Students will also need to use fonts and colors well. Exhibits are created on trifold boards.

Students use Weebly to create websites for the National History Day contest. They will need to know how to use hyperlinks, insert interactive elements, upload files, and include videos.

Students can use any video editing software (including whatever comes free on their computer) to create a documentary on the topic. This category will stretch a student’s techie skills as they need to know how to edit video and audio, insert photos and provide their own narration.

You will find a LOT of help on the National History Day website, and you are also welcome to reach out to me. All my own children participated in this contest and 3 of them reached the National level. A number of my students have achieved this as well.

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

This story embraces the imperfections that make us human, offers a way to set ourselves free and asks us all to take a good, long look at the wild birds in the sky.

Watch the trailer here!

The post A Techie History Contest appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Google Docs is a spreadsheet program and I love using it.

One reason I love it, is that it is good to use when I am collaborating with others on something. You might be wanting to collaborate with other homeschool moms, or you might be working on something with your children. I have planned trips together with my kids using Google Docs.

If you work together on a Google Doc you know that everyone is accessing the same version. Once you share the document with others, you don’t have to email the latest file to each other. You automatically have the latest one!

My favorite way to use Google Docs in our homeschool was to get my children to use it for their essays and other assignments.

There are a number of benefits to getting your children to use Google Docs:

However, if you would like your children to have more formal training, our show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy, offers a 2-semester Computer Applications online class (worth a full high school credit) and also a 4 module Google Drive Unit Study. The latter includes a module on Google Docs.

Under ‘Edit’

Under ‘Insert’

Under ‘Format’

Under ‘Tools’

Under ‘Add-ons’

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

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Google Sheets is one of the Google Drive apps and if you aren’t familiar with all the benefits of those apps, listen to my previous episode. In this episode, you will learn some of the applications for Google sheets in your homeschool.

Google Sheets is more limited than many spreadsheet programs – which is actually a good thing if you or your children are just starting to use them. Google Sheets is nice and easy to learn to use.

This podcast is sponsored by FundaFunda Academy and they have a web-based unit study on all the Google drive apps which includes a module on Google Sheets. It is aimed at 6th – 12th grade, but parents can learn alongside their children!

You can also use the “Help” in Google Sheets or find videos on Youtube to show you what to do.

So, I will leave you to learn the basics on your own, and in this episode, I am just going to give you ideas on how you can use Google Sheets in your homeschool.

To start with, you can practice using Google sheets by playing a game of Battleships against your child (or get 2 of your children to play against each other). Each will need a computer. You can follow the instructions here:

Spreadsheets are essentially rows and columns and are really great to use for

If you found this useful, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts.

This story embraces the imperfections that make us human, offers a way to set ourselves free and asks us all to take a good, long look at the wild birds in the sky.

Watch the trailer here!

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In this episode, you will learn what Google Drive is, why you should be using it and how to use it in your homeschool.

Once you have high schoolers you can add a college folder which has more sub-folders for information about colleges, one for scholarships, one for the documents needed to submit to the applications. You just need to find a solution that works for you.

You can have top-level folders for all the major areas in your life you will use this for. For instance, I have one for my online classes, one for vacations and one for Science Olympiad (which I coach).

Of course, if you realize you want to move a document to a different folder, it is very easy to do that!

If you use Gmail, you can save attachments directly from your email. At the end of the email, look for the Google drive icon. Click on that icon instead of downloading the file to your hard drive.

There is a Chrome extension called Save to Google Drive that makes it really easy to save files while browsing the web. You may want to download a document from a website you visit or a class you or your children are taking.

Open the file in your browser. Then click on the Chrome extension and the file will be automatically downloaded into the folder you designate. You designate this folder when you set up the extension and then everything will go to the same folder. (Call it ‘Downloads’ for instance). You just need to remember to go to that folder and move the document to the correct destination.

If you have never used Chrome extensions before, here is a video to explain what they are and how to add them to Chrome.

If you would like your children to learn to use Google Drive, take a look at FundaFunda Academy’s web-based unit study which also covers how to use Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides and Google Forms. In fact, you can learn along with your children!

If you found this useful, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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Welcome to episode 1 of the Homeschooling with Technology podcast.

My name is Meryl van der Merwe and I am a South African. My father bought us a personal computer when I was a teen and I both gamed on it and learned to program. I went to college to get a B.A.  but during the vacations, I earned money running programming camps for children.

After graduation, I got a job with Shell SA programming in their payroll department. I got married and around the time our first child was born, we started our own computer company and created a Fixed Asset Register software package which I programmed.

Our family kept growing and my children and I would game together. We would play Kings Quest, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail. You can still find some of these old games here:

My children started helping me in the children’s clothing factory outlet I was running at this time by creating flyers and advertisements for the business and helping operate the computer in the store.

Then we moved to America and I started homeschooling. Obviously, I began homeschooling with technology!

I taught our children to program when they were in elementary school and some of their assignments were done online. But they didn’t just use technology to do their schoolwork, they also made money with tech. One started creating websites as a business when he was 10 years old. One did all the layout and typed up recipes for someone who was publishing a recipe book and one did computer repairs.

And of course, they gamed. In fact, I often assigned them games like Civilization for “homework”.

Now that my children have left home I still use technology for homeschooling other peoples’ children – both in my co-op classes and in my online classes. At co-op we play games like Kahoot and I use QR codes and anything else that will engage the students in their learning.

If you are worried that technology is beyond you, don’t be. Vicki Davis, an educator and podcaster says: “Innovate like a turtle”. What she is saying is, just do a little bit of something that is new at a time. Just take one idea from each show and try to implement it.

Alice Keeler, another educator has this great quote: “The only difference between “I’m techie” and “I’m not techie” is the willingness to click on stuff and see what happens.” So go ahead, click around on websites and new software. You aren’t likely to break anything (just stay away from spammy looking links!)

If you find any great techie resources you think I may not know about, please share them in the comments. And if there are any topics you would like me to cover, let me know that too!

Be sure to subscribe to the Homeschooling with Technology show wherever you listen to your podcasts!

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