Every month, Homeschooling Horizons Magazine reviewer Nancy Matychuk will share her favourite educational websites.  If you have a website that you think she should share with our readers, drop her a line at nancy@homeschoolinghorizons.com

Some of Nancy's favourite websites of 2005 include:
 

---JANUARY 2005---

Fly Lady
http://www.flylady.com
Flylady has been around for a long time but we are talking about organization here and it is the premier site for getting your home in order. It is appropriate for everyone from the basically tidy sort who just needs some helpful reminders to tackle the forgotten areas (Kelly's Missions) to the confirmed messy who is having trouble climbing over the piles of laundry to get to the computer (FLYing Lessons.) Just start poking around and have a look. Take what you like and leave the rest. Those "baby steps" she talks about really do add up to a home that looks good and functions better. For me, that leads to more motivation and productivity in other aspects of family life.

Homeschool Tracker
http://tghomesoft.com
I seem to drift in and out regarding record-keeping in my homeschool. One year I have a paper trail a toddler could follow; the next year my records consist of a shoebox full of random samples, a few photographs and the odd checklist. If you desire more structure in your record keeping or are moving into a phase that requires better records, have a look at the Homeschool Tracker. The basic download version is an excellent tool for organizing your time and resources and, best of all, it is free with no expiry date or strings attached. To start exploring, click on "Learn more about Tracker" and then "View Screen Shots."

---FEBRUARY 2005---

Family History Package
http://familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156,35-10913,00.html
We always love to hear true stories and the closer they relate to us personally, the more fascinating. In the interest of bringing our history studies closer to home, I've been doing some online research on genealogies. What I've discovered is that our search for our family's history cannot begin on the internet (though it may eventually take us there.) This link is to a series of articles about exploring your family tree, from talking to your kids about your own childhood to locating vital documents pertaining to your ancestors. It looks like a great starting point and I wouldn't be surprised if it leads us into the most memorable history lesson we ever do.

Cemetery Studies
http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/cemetery/ 
We live about a block away from a very old and beautiful Lutheran cemetery where we have taken to wandering around now and again. For some reason, my children enjoy doing this very much. I have my favourite spot where a couple of generations of one family are buried and I always find myself standing there doing the math - trying to figure out how old the mother was when her first child was born (and died) or how long she lived after her husband. I like to try and fill in the holes in my mind and imagine her life. That is why this site caught my attention. Put together by a junior high teacher, the basic premise is that there is lots to learn in a cemetery. Click first on the link "An Education World Teacher Feature" to learn a bit more about the concept and then you can decide if you want to dig deeper (no pun intended.)

---MARCH 2005---

Houghton Mifflin Education Place - Monthly Themes   www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/october/bugs_activities.html
With the return of warm weather, we also find the need to get the screens back up on the windows. If you want to make the most of the return of the bugs, you'll find this a neat little grouping of activities. They are appropriate for K to 8, and are definitely focused on fun with web games, puzzles, word games, and art projects. Many of the activities also include printable worksheets. This isn't serious entomology, but it might get them moving in that direction.

---APRIL 2005---

The Poetry Zone
http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/index2.htm
If you are struggling (like me) to instill in your children a love of poetry, you might want to try setting them loose in The Poetry Zone. To read poetry written by other kids and inspire personal creativity, the Poetry Gallery is a great first stop . The aspiring poet can post poems or enter one of the contests/challenges. For parents, the Teaching Zone has great book recommendations and excellent tips and worksheets for teaching poetry. I was hooked from the moment I read this Roger Stevens poem on the home page:
We held a Hold-Your-Breath contest
Me, Sammy, Sean and Sid
Sid held his breath for a fortnight
We're gonna miss that kid.

The English Room - 30 Days of Poetry
http://www.msrogers.com/English2/poetry/30_days_of_poetry.htm
Your older student might find 30 Days of Poetry an interesting exercise. It is a simple introduction to various types of poems and contains lots of samples. The exercises are quite short and the student writes a poem every day, often by simply following a formula.  The beauty of these kinds of lessons is that they are not at all intimidating and your child will end up with a small portfolio of poems he has actually written himself. This site won't teach him how to interpret the works of a great poetry master, but it might be enough to crack open the door on a concept of expression he has considered irrelevant to this point.

 ---May 2005---

Enchanted Learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/list.shtml
In this part of the planet, we tend to favour the warmer months for outdoor experiences. As your elementary-aged children interact with nature this summer, they might enjoy creating their own book of animals they've seen or find interesting. This website has an amazing variety of creatures with labeled pictures to colour and a few paragraphs of information. There are also links within the text that your child can click on for definitions or to dig deeper. The pages can be printed directly from the web page though I prefer to cut-and-paste to a Word document to edit out headers and footers. After you've explored the animals, you can check out the home page for more fun projects. One of my favourites is the monthly activity calendar with little daily projects - a tiny bit of structure to those lazy days of summer. (Note: some activities on this site, not including those described above, are available to paying members only.)

Darlington School Summer Reading Program
http://www.darlington.rome.ga.us/Handbooks/home.asp?page=summerreading/intro.asp
We have, in our home, what is fondly referred to as "the library basket" which is a large, rectangular wicker basket in a prominent position next to the couch. You might have something similar. During our school year, the basket is filled with books primarily about the historical time period we're studying (as well as the usual array of hockey books and Tintin comics). When we are making up our weekly schedules, I send the kids to the basket to decide on their reading for the week. But what should I put in there in the summer when they have endless hours to lay around reading? I need a list. This site is a great summer reading list for grades 4 through 12.  The choices tend to be contemporary which might be just right for the relaxing summer months. Many of them would be great for read-aloud as well, which is often easier in the summer when we are less likely to be running off to activities. If you are looking for even more ideas, I suggest checking your library website which will likely have similar lists (or check my library - www.epl.ca.) And while the kids are busy reading, I look forward to putting up my feet and doing the same.

 ---June 2005--- (coming soon)