Computer Programming Classes Made Easy

Whether you have a computer geek in-the-making or you need to add some technology coursework to your homeschool curriculum, Codeacademy is a great option for teaching kids how to code.  Codeacademy is free, interactive and it's a web app, so it runs entirely through a web browser and there is nothing to install.

Codeacademy starts off with a really, really basic lesson, so total newbies need not be intimidated.  The site promises to put the student "on the path to building great websites, games, and apps", so if your student is more advanced, have them just go through the more rudimentary stuff to get to programming lessons that are more their cup of tea.  Badges are awarded as the student completes each class.

If you have multiple students doing Codeacademy or some of your student's friends are going through the program, they can track one another's progress, which provides a social aspect.

Tip:
To use Codeacademy in your homeschool classroom, remember to set up a free account for each student so they can save their work and track their progress.

Have your kids used Codeacademy?  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks to LifeHacker for the heads-up on Codeacademy.

• Visit Codeacademy

When to Start a New Paragraph - Middle School Writing

Recently, my homeschool student wrote a short compare and contrast report of the book, Nim's Island and the Nim's Island movie. What was handed in consisted of two long paragraphs when it should have been broken down into several paragraphs, although I reviewed that a new idea or subject requires a new paragraph before the writing began.  My student thought that anything written about the book was one idea and one paragraph, and anything written about the movie is another idea and paragraph.

Even though I write for a web site professionally, I wasn't effectively teaching the concept of how to know when to start a new paragraph.  Worse yet, after decades of "just knowing" when to start a paragraph, I could not come up with another way to teach this.

I did some research to get help with teaching about paragraphs, and found Purdue's Online Writing Lab's On Paragraphs to be a great resource to help with explaining paragraphs.  Homeschool teachers can translate this information to the appropriate grade level for their students, while older students can use it as a refresher when needed.  On Paragraphs is printable, and check out the Purdue OWL resources for grades 7-12 for more writing resources and instructional material.

Chronicles of Narnia Study Book 1: The Magician's Nephew

I've been learning more about C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia after my middle school daughter was looking to do some end-of-summer summer reading. I didn't realize that The Chronicles of Narnia actually consisted of seven books, and neither did my daughter.  Although the books weren't written in chronological order, they can be read in this order.

I found a Narnia boxed set of the books on Amazon for around $30, which brings the cost of each book down to around $4.25 a piece.  My daughter loves fantasy stories, mysteries and books that reflect a character's ethical growth.  After reading a few of the reviews on the Amazon page, I decided the books would be perfect for my daughter, and I was looking forward to reading them, too.

I decided to tie her reading in with some sort of a study and vocabulary words, and would use the time spent on the home work toward the 875 hours of education per year that kids are required to complete in Wisconsin.  It's late in August, she has many free hours on her hands, and she is gobbling up the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, so why not "make hay while the sun shines"?

I had a difficult time finding Narnia unit studies that were age-appropriate for a middle schooler.  Just about everything I found was for grades 3-5, which surprised me because although the books are a fairly quick read, there are a lot of upper level concepts in the books.  So, I started putting together my own Chronicles of Narnia study for middle school by using the study questions found at love2learn.net and some of the vocabulary words list on this Narnia Unit Study.  I found these pages while doing some searching off of The Old Schoolhouse Chronicles of Narnia study page, which is an excellent resource for putting together a Narnia unit study.

Here are the questions I compiled for the first book in the Narnia series, The Magician's Nephew:

• Book 1:  The Magician's Nephew Study Questions for Middle School Students

I'll publish the study sheets I put together for each book in the Narnia series as I complete them.

Bookswim : Convenient Homeschooling Book Rentals

Here's a great resource for renting books for home schooling students from preschool through high school, without leaving the house.




Bookswim is an online book rental service that lets you put together a queue of books to be delivered to your door. Among the classifications for children's book rentals are sections by age, literature, science and nature, animals, people and places. Adults will find tons of books covering all genres and topics as well.

To get started, go to Bookswim.com and set up an account, choosing a pricing plan that meets your home schooler's reading schedule. Plans start off at $23.95 a month to have 3 books out at once, all the way up to $59.95 to have 11 books out at once, and there are no due dates. The monthly fee includes shipping and handling, and a convenient return envelope. When you return a book, Bookswim automatically ships the next book on your book rental list.

There are no late fees, due dates or time limits with Bookswim book rentals. Right now, you can use promo code HOMEREADS to get 3 months book rental for the price of 2 at Bookswim.

Signs of Stress in Children and Family: Are Your Kids Doing Too Much?

We often hear that kids are too busy these days, yet most families continue to participate in multiple activities with little or no downtime. Home school families can be just as susceptible as other families to the lure of getting kids involved in too much, whether it's out of pressure from comparing to other home school households, insecurity about developing curriculum, or other reasons.

Keep tabs on your homeschool activities to avoid over-scheduling and burn out, and read Do Your Kids Have Too Much to Do? to determine if your kids or your family is stressed out and in need of some time relax together.