The Time Warp Trio Website

Today I discovered a nice history resource. It is the website for the show called Time Warp Trio.
Here's a quote:

The TIME WARP TRIO television series offers a wonderful opportunity to get kids excited about history. Its lively humor and irreverent attitude combine to make the programs refreshing and appealing, while providing solid historical facts. Based on the widely popular book series by Jon Scieszka, the television series will attract readers and non-readers alike.

To help you use the show in the classroom, we offer lesson plans, books and links, and other educational tools.

They have advice about teaching history and lists of books and links for each time period. So even if you don't want to watch the show, you might find another resource for your family.

• Here's the website: http://www.timewarptrio.com/teachers-parents/ 

• I have found many episodes on YouTube! Here is a playlist of them to get you started: 

• You can find the books here.

Updated 3/24/2020.

New Dimension Media Educational Films on Amazon

Updated on 3/24/2020.

Homeschoolers have discovered a line of educational films is being offered on Amazon Prime for FREE right now. They are from a publisher called New Dimension Media (NDM). This quote about NDM is from their website:

Providing Premier Media Content to K-12 Schools for Over 30 Years

Founded in 1978, New Dimension Media, a division of Questar, Inc., is the premier producer and distributor of original core curriculum media content created for K-12 classrooms. NDM programs have won over 100 of the industry's most prestigious honors, including the CINE Golden Eagle and the Golden Apple. NDM content is used in over 100,000 schools around the country. 

The problem is Amazon makes it hard to find NDM films that are relevant to our homeschool curricula, plus it doesn't offer information like subject or grade level. And the NDM website seems to just list DVDs schools can buy. So, I have started compiling a database of the NDM Amazon films for your convenience! The database contains:

Film Title - The title of the film. Some titles though don't convey what the film is about, so in those cases I have inserted more information in parentheses.

Subject - I made up these subject categories. There is History and American History. These subjects include biographies. Geography includes countries and their cultures. Modern Studies includes politics, careers, economics (unless they seemed more mathish) and issues teens face (like drunk driving, cutting, etc.).

Suggested Grade Level Range - This information comes from the NDM website. If a film does not have a range listed, I did not find it at their website. I used zero for kindergarten so the columns would sort correctly.

Link - This is a direct link to the film on Amazon. You have to click the first cell that contains the link (in column D).

I am still working on this database, but I wanted to share what I have already. It is in the form of a Google Spreadsheet and can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PG2KL9CqqyiKBtx53d-eSX47ZkP284WCIBcYyJtPgkA/edit?usp=sharing

I can't vouch for the content of the videos. So, I suggest we leave reviews for other educators when we watch the films since many of them have too few or no reviews.

I hope my database is a blessing to your family! Please let me know if you find any errors.

Update 11/18/2014: This database is now finished. Enjoy! 

Update 12/5/2015: It has come to me attention that some of these are no longer part of Prime free instant streaming. I know Netflix rotates what it has on instant, so maybe the ones not on Prime right now will be again in a few months. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Read-Alouds for Younger Children

Updated 3/24/2020.

This list is courtesy of Powell's Books in Portland, OR.

But I have it here with convenient Amazon links. I like using Amazon because I'm a Prime member and get free shipping on many things. I have marked the ones I have read with @ and the ones I have read AND like with *. If any of these books are favorites, I marked those with #.
 

The Mouse and The Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary
In this imaginative adventure from Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, a young mouse named Ralph is thrown into a world of excitement when a boy and his shiny toy motorcycle check into the Mountain View Inn.

Kenny & The Dragon
by Tony DiTerlizzi
Kenny is a little rabbit with a very big problem. His two best friends are heading into a battle of legendary proportions—with each other! In one corner there’s Graeme, a well-read and cultured dragon with sophisticated tastes. In the other there’s George, a retired knight and dragon slayer who would be content to spend the rest of his days in his bookshop. Neither really wants to fight, but the village townsfolk are set on removing Graeme from their midst and calling George out of retirement. Can Kenny avert disaster?

Moomins Series
by Tove Jansson
The are a family of trolls who are white, round and smooth in appearance, with large snouts that make them vaguely resemble hippopotamuses.

Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The book that started it all! Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series, which was based on her life growing up as an American pioneer.

Betsy-Tacy
by Maud Hart Lovelace
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.

The Borrowers
by Mary Norton
The Borrowers—the Clock family: Homily, Pod, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, Arrietty, to be precise—are tiny people who live underneath the kitchen floor of an old English country manor. All their minuscule home furnishings, from postage stamp paintings to champagne cork chairs, are “borrowed” from the “human beans” who tromp around loudly above them. All is well until Pod is spotted upstairs by a human boy! Can the Clocks stay nested safely in their beloved hidden home, or will they be forced to flee?

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
by Betty McDonald
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house ans smells like cookies. She was even married to a pirate once. Most of all, she knows everything about children. She can cure them of any ailment. Patsy hates baths. Hubert never puts anything away. Allen eats v-e-r-y slowly. Mrs Piggle-Wiggle has a treatment for all of them.

Winnie-the-Pooh
by A.A. Milne
For nearly seventy years, readers have been delighted by the adventures of Christopher Robin and his lovable friends.

*My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
My Father's Dragon is a children's novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon.

*Pippi Longstocking
by Astrid Lindgren
Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. She has crazy red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a flair for the outrageous that seems to lead to one adventure after another!

Mary Poppins
by P.L. Travers
From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life!

Wind in the Willows
by  Kenneth Grahame
For more than a century, The Wind in the Willows and its endearing protagonists--Mole, Mr. Toad, Badger, and Ratty--have enchanted children of all ages. Whether the four friends are setting forth on an exciting adventure, engaging in a comic caper, or simply relaxing by the River Thames, their stories are among the most charming in all English literature.

*Catwings
by Ursula K. LeGuin
Mrs. Jane Tabby can't explain why her four precious kittens were born with wings, but she's grateful that they are able to use their flying skills to soar away from the dangerous city slums where they were born. However, once the kittens escape the big city, they learn that country life can be just as difficult!

Puberty Film

This film called Your Body During Adolescence is refreshingly simple, while still being helpful and thorough.

Updated 3/25/2020.

Video-Based, Online Writing Program

 

When I was at my local homeschool convention this June, I ran across the booth for Here to Help Learning. I met the founder and listened to her description of the program. I was pleased with the approach and the price. I have started using the program with my two learners. I am using both levels of the program - mastering paragraphs and mastering essays. So far, we have really been enjoying it!

It is a two-day-per-week program. On the first day, you watch the videos and do a little writing. The other day of the week, kids do an assignment (like homework).

I feel like I know what good writing looks like, but explaining it without a curriculum was daunting for me. I was also concerned about introducing literary concepts without structure or guidance. So, I knew I needed help, but my kids (especially my son) HATED everything I tried. This program has been more palatable to him. He likes how it is broken into digestible chunks. My younger daughter loves the fun videos and the doggie mascot.

The program is Christian, but the focus is definitely the writing! I had never encountered a video-based writing program before and I thought perhaps you had not either. I hope this post proves helpful to you. Enjoy!



Updated 3/24/2020.

Fall Travel

One of the best things about schooling on your own schedule is being able to take advantage of off-season prices and events! So many destinations offer lower prices, shorter lines, and better weather than you will find in the Summer. Plus, many schools are not doing field trips this early in the year. Here are some ideas for taking advantage of this great time of year to get out there and see things!

A growing number of parks and venues offer special days just for homeschool students. I encourage you to search for days like that for you favorite attractions. But here is a list to get you started:

• Homeschool Days at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park (IN)
• Homeschool Day at Disneyland (CA)
• Homeschool Day at the Biltmore Estate (NC)
• Homeschool Days at The High Museum of Art Atlanta (GA)
• Homeschool Page at The National Museum of the U.S. Airforce (OH)
• Homeschool Day at Space Center Houston (TX)
• Homeschool Days at Mount Vernon (VA)
• Homeschool Programs at the Oregon Coast Aquarium (OR)
• Homeschool Days at Legoland Florida (FL)

I hope you find something in your area that interests you. Enjoy your kids and this time you have together.

Updated 3/25/2020.