Resources for Curriculum Building

Each year I build my own curriculum in many subject areas. The Web is full of excellect free resources. Here are a few that you might find useful.

History

This year we are doing American History 1865 to present. I am using a college book as my spine. The American Journey. Vol 2 I still like to use web pages for maps, photos, narritaves, books and graphs.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/  Love this site. So much information, maps, photos and more.

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/  Another fabulous site. Good timeline. Lots of documents.

http://free.ed.gov/  This site is a bit tough to navigate at times. Be patient! Its worth it. Narritives, photos, timelines and so much more.

http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/index.html Very basic American History.

http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html fabulous visual map of American History.

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=americanhistory videos. Review first. Many choices.

Geography:

Maps:

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm

Interactive Games

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/  lots of fun!

Lesson Plans

http://countries.mrdonn.org/usa.html  Mr Donns plans. Very basic ( which I like!)

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/matrix.html Tons of lessons at all age and stage levels.

http://teachers.net/cgi-bin/lessons/sort.cgi?searchterm=Geography  more lessons.

Worksheets

http://www.tlsbooks.com/geographyworksheets.htm easy. Good for review.

http://bogglesworldesl.com/geography_worksheets.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/geography/provinces.htm Canadian

  Art

http://www.harmonyfinearts.com/   Love this site! CM style.  Plenty of free downloads and low cost downloads. This very talented homeschool mom has passed on her skills for us to enjoy and use. From her site:

"This is the art and music appreciation program for busy people. We have done all the research and organizing. You are able to open our plan and offer a great program for your children."

http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/Art_and_Design/ I get tons of ideas and inspiration here. I hope to go to DC this year and see the museum.

http://www.artgraphica.net/free-art-lessons/free-art-lessons.htm 

http://www.creativespotlite.com/

http://www.artyfactory.com/sitebody/gallery1.htm

http://www.blehert.com/lessons/lesson.html

 Science

This year we are doing Biology. I divide biology into four units: Botany, Anatomy and Physiology, Zoology, Cellular, and Molecular. I love using web sites that show the real thing.

http://science.pppst.com/biology.html Very good powerpoints! Great visuals. Lots of videos.

http://www.biology4kids.com/  Basic biology.

http://www.mysciencebox.org/ General science lessons. Very basic.

  Anatomy

http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html  Awesome click and view anatomy

http://www.stcms.si.edu/hbs/hbs_student.htm Tremendous amount of info on each body system. Good visuals.

http://texasheart.org/HIC/Anatomy/Anatomy.cfm Heart. Good visuals.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/heartmap.html Interactive heart. Simple.

Cells

http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm My favorite cell site. Interactive and fun!

http://science.howstuffworks.com/cellular-microscopic-biology/cell.htm Great videos.

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/zoomIn/index.html DNA up close.

http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/blood/blood.html Blood Very basic.

Digestive

http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/westmin/science/sbi3a1/digest/digdiag.htm Very basic. Interactive.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/kidneys.html# Kidney. Very basic and interactive.

Endocrine:

http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/index.html

http://yucky.discovery.com/noflash/body/pg000133.html

Lymphatic

http://www.innerbody.com/image/lympov.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/immune-system.htm

Muscular:

http://library.thinkquest.org/5777/mus2.htm

http://sv.berkeley.edu/showcase/pages/bones.html a bit difficult to do but good!

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/seehowtheyrun/index.html  active gamesFrog Dissection

 Nervous System

http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/ dissection and more.  ( brain)

http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=4909 30 minute video on the brain.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.html#hrh vast amount of information. Kid friendly.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/ Excellent 3D interactive stuff!!!!

Respiratory System

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookRESPSYS.html shows all different types of systems. Very good.

Skeletal System

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookMUSSKEL.html Excellent for showing different types of skeletal systems, bone growth, and bone tissue, joints and more.

http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.asp interactive

http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001873 Build a skeleton

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/bones/kids_mazeGame.htm games!

 

http://www.ofsd.k12.wi.us/science/frogdiss.htm

http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu//Frog2/home.html

Engineering

http://teachengineering.org/index.php Fabulous resource! ( for all grade levels)

Videos

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ I use this site often. Skip the ads. Preview. Good demo videos, photos, and explainations.

http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nestcams/camera/index bird cams.

Music

http://datadragon.com/education/reading/  how to read music

http://makingmusicfun.net/ very basic easy lessons, tons of free resources. 

http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=31 audio lessons on composers. Really nice.

http://www.playmusic.org/  interactive with games.

Chinese ( because my daughter is passionate about learning it and wants to be a missionary to China)  It takes four years to master chinese. My daughter is going into 8th grade. I am hoping by next year to have the cash for tapes and books and a tutor. Its around 400.00. I did find a very basic book and CD by DK. It is very good.

http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Book_Get_Talking_Chinese_Dk~linkin_id-8046646

http://www.chinese-tools.com/learn/chinese  30 lessons or weeks worth of lessons. Geared for tourist. However it is a good beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh2Gt4HzAw8 Awesome You Tube Videos on the tones.

http://www.semanda.com/ Wonderful Flash Cards

http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/ccol/content.htm Short Audio Lessons.

http://www.learnchineseez.com/lessons/mandarin/ More short Audio Lessons

French.  Daughter number one is learning french The curriculum she needs is 250.00 for the full two year course. Since I do not speak the language I need a complete course! The below sites are not perfect but untill I can get her the books it is a good start.

 http://www.frenchspanishonline.com/beginnersfrench/freefrench.html 14 weeks basic lessons

http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/ 10 simple lessons on the basics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj/ 12 basic lessons with lots of conversation.