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Annotated List of Online Resources
Online Magazines Online Organizations Online support and resource sites
Gentle
Spirit
- http://www.gentlespirit.com/#athome
Published
both in print and online, this magazine advocates a back-to-nature type of
lifestyle. Articles cover topics including homeschooling, homesteading,
gardening and agriculture, home births and political information.
Heart
of the Matter
- http://heartofthematteronline.com/
From
the website – “The purpose of The Heart of the Matter is to provide a place
for homeschooling parents and teachers to find all of the resources they desire
in one convenient location. Although all homeschoolers are welcome, please be
advised that articles are written by Christians of all denominations and may
contain their views. The Heart of the Matter does not necessarily endorse or
share the views of the individual writers. It is our hope that you will find
inspiration, practical advice, objective reviews of curriculum and products,
fantastic giveaways and more!” Easy
to browse site with good basic information for new homeschoolers as well as
support information for veterans. Has
a Christian slant, but much of the information can be utilized by any
homeschooling family. This is a new magazine (Jan 08 – first edition).
Home
Education Magazine
- http://www.homeedmag.com/index.html
From
the website – “This website presents homeschooling information, support and
encouragement, resources and reviews, free newsletters, networking and
discussion lists, and - best of all - the online archives of Home Education
Magazine…FREE! Home
Education Magazine is owned and published by founders Mark and Helen Hegener and
their third-generation homeschooling family. They understand homeschooling
because they have always been homeschoolers. In 1983 the Hegeners began
publishing Home Education Magazine for homeschooling families across the
country, and now, over twenty-five years later, HEM is respected as the premier
magazine in the field, described as "informative and commonsense" by
Library Journal's Magazines for Libraries and "highly recommended" by
EBSCO's Librarian's Handbook. Winner: Forbes Awards, Parents' Choice Recommended
Awards, and many others.” Simple
layout makes this site easy to use. Good
links and relevant information. Highly
recommended by professional reviewers, this magazine has a fee for subscription
but free information is available online including indexes of back issues. Homeschool
Sports Insider -
http://www.hsinsider.com/
This
is a new magazine covering the homeschooled athletes.
Many of the articles cover the successes of home educated athletes as
they travel to college and beyond. This
magazine’s accompanying website - http://www.hsinsider.com/ - carries quite a
few articles of interest to the homeschooler with an interest in athletics.
For fee subscriptions are available online or in print at http://www.hsinsider.com/subscribe.htm.
Homeschooling
Digest - http://www.homeschooldigest.com/
From
the website – “In the Home School
Digest, you'll find practical tips, simple homeschooling suggestions and
bold biblical challenges that make up an open forum for wrestling through the
complex issues that affect homeschooling families. We pray that the broad, yet
uncompromising approach you'll find in the Home
School Digest will strengthen, encourage and equip you in your journey of
homeschooling, raising Godly children, and walking closer with Jesus Christ.”
Distinctly Christian viewpoint, a for fee subscription, links to other
websites, homeschooling and family resources.
Homeschooling
Today
– http://www.homeschooltoday.com
From
the website – “Homeschooling Today magazine, a distinctively Christian
publication, is committed to delivering trustworthy and timely articles that
provide encouragement and spiritual growth to Christian families involved in the
mission of educating their children.” Magazine
has a subscription fee but website has quite a few links, free information and
events listing. Also contains a list
of retailers with offers for homeschooling families. Homeschool
World -
http://www.home-school.com The
home of Practical Homeschooling Magazine. Contains current links for
homeschooling groups, events and organizations.
Also has an online forum, home life catalog and homeschool mall.
Has a Christian slant, but most information can be used by any
homeschoolers. There are several
free articles and extensive archives; there is a fee for a subscription to the
magazine. Jon’s
Homeschool Resources
- http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/index.html
From
the site – “a source of neutral, non-commercial homeschooling information”
This site has a wealth of information about intent links available for
homeschoolers. The author of this
site strives to be neutral in approaching homeschool philosophy and will not
recommend curriculum. He does,
however, provide a wonderfully organized list of online resources.
Good networking site. NHERI
– National Home Education Research Institute
– http://www.nheri.org/About-NHERI.html
From
the website “NHERI is the National
Home Education Research Institute. NHERI conducts and collects
research about homeschooling (home-based education, home schooling), and
publishes the research journal called the Home
School Researcher. The institute has hundreds of research works
documented and catalogued on home schooling, many of which were done by NHERI.
Simply put, NHERI specializes in homeschool research.” Back issues available
online, links for researchers and parents and an online store. Subscription fee,
online selected articles available free. The
Old Schoolhouse
– http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/home.php
From
the website – “Our mission is to produce a high quality biblically-based
magazine that is a practical resource itself while introducing other products
and services to the home educator that will strengthen, support and challenge
the family both spiritually and academically as they impact their world for
Christ.” This fee based
subscription for the print magazine, the weekly e-newsletters are free.
There are featured articles, home educator resource links and checklists.
The
Teaching Home
- http://www.teachinghome.com From
the website - “The Teaching Home magazine was founded in 1980. Our purpose has
always been to provide information, inspiration, and support to Christian
home-school families and Christian home-school state and national
organizations.” Back issues
available online, free subscriptions.
Legal
Homeschool
Legal Defense Association
- www.hslda.org From
their website – “Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit
advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right
of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family
freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families
united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.”
Good site full of vital information including state by state information
on laws, organizations, pending legal cases and pending legislation.
HSLDA has several lawyers on staff. This is a highly recommended stop on
a parent’s journey to homeschooling. National Home
Education Legal Defense
– NHELD - http://www.nheld.com From
the website – “national organization open to all who wish to join, that
seeks to protect and defend the rights of families who wish to educate in
freedom.” This site states that
they cannot give legal advice but they can help navigate through some legal
issues. Contains lists of statues on
home schooling, articles of interest on legal issues pertaining to homeschoolers
and a list of events on this topic. Christian Christian
Homeschool Association of From
their website – “CHAP, the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania,
exists to support and encourage home educators. It is a distinctly Christian
organization with a statement of faith. CHAP seeks to nurture education that is
Christian, and supports education that is in harmony with Judeo-Christian
principles.” Good site, easy
to browse. Contains check lists and
a timeline for beginner homeschoolers, newsletters, lists of evaluators, testers
and support groups. This site is focused on homeschooling in
With
information for Pennsylvania
Home Educators Association – PHEA
- http://www.phea.net From
the website – “Pennsylvania Home Educators Association (PHEA) is an
inclusive statewide coalition of home educators whose primary purpose is to
provide accurate information and advocate for Pennsylvania Home
Education Network – PHEN
- http://www.phen.org From
the website – “This site was developed to answer the need for accurate
information on the internet about home educating in National
Organizations Sites for
national, state and local support groups:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/8259.local.html American
Homeschool Association
– AHA – http://www.americanhomeschoolassociation.org/index.html From
the website – “The American Homeschool Association (AHA), is a
service organization sponsored in part by the publishers of Home Education
Magazine. The AHA was created in 1995 to network homeschoolers on a national
level. Current AHA services include an online news and discussion list which
provides news, information, and resources for homeschoolers, media contacts, and
education officials.” This site
included an email discussion list, free newsletter and links for homeschooling
information. This site is in a
simple layout, making it easy to use. It has a nice list of resource links and a
section on the history of homeschooling. National Home
Education Network – NHEN
– www.nhen.org From
the website – “The
National Home Education Network exists to encourage and facilitate the vital
grassroots work of state and local homeschooling organizations and individuals
by providing information, fostering networking and promoting public relations on
a national level. Because we believe there is strength in a diverse network of
homeschoolers, we support the freedom of all individual families to choose home
education and to direct such education.” This
is a well laid-out website with information for reporter, librarians and
legislators as well as homeschoolers. This site includes several well written
articles on why to homeschool, how to begin, some advice from experienced
homeschoolers and a description of several major homeschooling methods.
Online support
and resource sites A
to Z Home’s Cool
- http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/index.htm
From
the website – “A to Z Home's Cool community website will help you homeschool
your kids from preschool, kindergarten, through homeschooling high school with
free online education, home-friendly lesson ideas, educational websites, helpful
articles, top homeschool programs, books, materials, curriculum... and best of
all... Homeschool Friends.”
This extensive website holds a vast amount of information.
Set up in a blog style, there are links for beginner homeschoolers,
various online communities, magazines, curriculum shopping and homeschool
methodology. In addition, resources
for home educating teens, the costs of homeschooling and current issues are
covered. A list of recommended reads
and educational resources are also included.
There are quite a few articles on the What, Why and How of homeschooling.
There is lots of information; a little confusing in its organization but overall
a good site. Cable
in the Classroom - http://www.ciconline.org/home From
the website – “....to
foster the use of cable content and technology to expand and enhance learning
for children and youth nationwide.” This
site contains links for newsletter, programming guides and online video for
using cable television shows for educational purposes.
Titles include: CNN Student News, C-Span, DonnaYoung.org
– www.donnayoung.org From
the website - “This web site offers free homeschool planners, school
calendars, household planners, print-ables in various subjects, and homeschool
planning tips.” This simply designed site has a well organized set of
reproducible planners, calendars, and worksheets on many school topics – Art,
English, Handwriting, Science, Math and History.
Also holds forms for lesson plans, high school diplomas, forms for long
term planning and several checklists. This
is a very practical site with lots of great help, no need to reinvent the wheel.
All forms are free to use as long as copy write information is retained.
Adobe Reader is required for this site. A Home for
Homeschoolers
– www.ahomeforhomeschooler.com
This
online community consists of a set of forums on all sorts of homeschool topics.
While you can view some of the posts as a guest, registration is
necessary to access the entire website. Registration is free.
Topics include curriculum, information for beginners, "unschooling", unit
studies, various age and topic related discussions, special needs children and a
section of things to buy or sell. A
good online community for the home educator. Homeschool.com - http://www.homeschool.com/ This
one stop website is full of homeschooling information. There are links for those
just starting homeschooling, where to get free stuff, Curriculum help, support
groups, a list of online articles on various topics and an online forum.
Of particular interest are the offers for homeschool instructional
materials. These prepackaged kits could be of help to the novice homeschooling
parent. Lots of information, though not all of it is free. A recommended stop on
the Internet.
Homeschool
Talk & Swap
- http://vegsource.com/homeschool
This
online community has dozens of links for both religious and secular
homeschoolers. If you can ignore the multiple advertisements, there is quite a
bit of good information and helpful links on this site. There are for sale,
wanted an for swap items, links for single parent, military, religious and
secular homeschoolers as well as teen, high school and kids boards.
This site also links to a blog, online store and newsletter dealing with
living a vegetarian lifestyle. Learn
in Freedom
- http://learninfreedom.org From
the website – “This
site is about learning in freedom, taking responsibility for your own learning.
It shows you how to use your own initiative in learning, so you can use schools
and teachers just when they are helpful to you, and voluntarily chosen by
you.” Included in this site are
rational for homeschooling, curriculum recommendations and a list of college
that accept homeschoolers. This site
has quite a bit of information but is not laid out in a user friendly way.
My recommendation is that you begin at this link - http://learninfreedom.org/homeschool_hotlist.html
and branch out from there. Pennsylvania
Department of Education
- http://www.pde.state.pa.us From
the Website – “The mission of the Pennsylvania Department of Education is to
lead and serve the educational community to enable each individual to grow into
an inspired, productive, fulfilled lifelong learner.”
This official state site includes information on current events in PA
education as well as links for parents, information on public libraries and
higher education. There is
information for home educators, however you must search for it – there are no
visible links for this information. This
address will take you to the site - http://www.pde.state.pa.us/home_education/site/default.asp
.
From this location you can access a FAQ page, documents, organization and
standards information. In addition,
these pages include information on school districts that allow homeschooler to
participate in curricular and extracurricular activities and copies of forms
necessary for homeschooling in PA. Power
Library
- http://www.powerlibrary.net A
library card from one of the public libraries of From
the website – “The POWER Library is offered as a service of The
POWER library allows you to access thousands of full text periodical articles,
newspapers, a major encyclopedia, plus photographs, pictures, charts, maps,
reference materials for young people and more. You will find materials of
interest in most subject areas for all age groups from young children to
adults” The
reference material found on this site is priceless.
Databases on music, art, animals, health and business as well as online
encyclopedias, author information, EBSCO periodical database with full text
articles and access to the AP images database are all included.
A basic resource for online research, this database is available for free
with your
Online
Stores Homeschool-books.com
- http://homeschool-books.com/xcart//home.php
Christian
based online store providing gooks, clip art, games, projects and videos for
homeschoolers. Swapping
Curriculum:
curriculumswap@yahoogroups.com Why
Homeschool
- http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/ From
the site – “ Bruggie Tales - http://bruggietales.blogspot.com From
the site - “Bruggie
Tales is a record of our adventures since July 2003. Homeschooling, Catholicism,
Family Life, Living in Southern USA and Returning to Australia with a renewed
love of home and of far away places.:” Guilt-Free
Homeschooling
- http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org/blog/index.html From
the website “Guilt-Free Homeschooling is
comfortable, it's relaxed, and it fits your family's lifestyle.
GFHS is run by Carolyn Morrison, an 11 year veteran of homeschooling her
two children, from leaving public school in the elementary grades through high
school graduation and into college.” This
site contains tons of links to other homeschoolers, homeschooling organizations
and curriculum links. Full of
information, lots of links and many recommendations.
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