Mr. Q of E=MCQ has produced a second course for homeschooling families. Called Elementary Earth Science, the first chapter is available for download free of charge so you can evaluate the material. The course is designed to be completed over 36 weeks, and comes with both student and parent materials. It includes readings, worksheets, tests and lab work for kids aged roughly 7-10.

The Elementary Life Science course, also 36 weeks for the same aged kids, is still available free for download PLUS Mr. Q has added extra resources. The full text of the new earth science course, if you decide to buy it, is $50 for the complete material (parent & student texts.)

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My autistic son has been very busy with scissor work lately. It’s taken him about 4 years to get the hang of using scissors, and he’s still kind of awkward in the way he holds them. But he’s really starting to do a good job of cutting around an outline. Not terribly close to the lines as yet, but still he’s preserving the general shape of a thing, which is super!

I got a simple scissor work booklet earlier this summer, which my son & his youngest sister have been enjoying these last few weeks. If you are looking for scissor work for your preschooler or special needs child, it’s still available free at CurrClick: Simple Scissor Practice by Middaysnack.com.

Today’s freebie from Homeschool Freebie Of The Day, though, was a neat surprise. It was unscheduled, as the expected download was temporarily unavailable. The replacement, When Mother Lets Us Cut Out Pictures, has lots of really cool outlines for kids to choose from. It’s an early 20th century book that’s been scanned, and all the “patterns” are negatives so kids can colour the plain white interior of their shapes, once they’ve cut off the black exterior. These are more complex than the easy scissor practice, and the book also provides written instructions on how to cut a variety of shapes and objects. This is a good book for older children. It might lead to an interest in papercutting as a craft.

If you want a free copy from the abovementioned site, you must go before the end of today. If you miss it, you can also download it free from the Internet Archive.

Do check out Homeschool Freebie Of The Day, regardless. They offer a new freebie each weekday, and usually one extra freebie per week for their subscribers. (You don’t have to subscribe, but only subscribers get the link to the extra weekly freebie.) I find that I pick up a few neat things every week or so from their site. It’s fun for the bargain hunters and lovers of freebies.

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Recommended reading by Emru Townsend, who is approaching his own stem cell transplant date in the near future. This free download is a colouring and activity book for kids that looks at what happens to a pediatric stem cell recipient in the hospital. This would also be an excellent resource for kids who have a family member in need of a stem cell transplant, or for friends and classmates. Or use it as part of a broader discussion on health.

Get your free colouring book from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society here!

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In Memoriam: Randy Pausch, Innovative Computer Scientist at Carnegie Mellon,
Launched Education Initiatives, Gained Worldwide Acclaim for Last Lecture
PITTSBURGH—Randy Pausch, renowned computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, died July 25 of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47.

Celebrated in his field for co-founding the pioneering Entertainment Technology Center and for creating the innovative educational software tool known as “Alice,” Pausch earned his greatest worldwide fame for his inspirational “Last Lecture.”

That life-affirming lecture, a call to his students and colleagues to go on without him and do great things, was delivered at Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 18, 2007, a few weeks after Pausch learned he had just months to live. Titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” the humorous and heartfelt talk was videotaped, and unexpectedly spread around the world via the Internet. Tens of millions of people have since viewed video footage of it.

Pausch, who had regularly won awards in the field of computer science, spent the final months of his life being lauded in arenas far beyond his specialty. ABC News declared him one of its three “Persons of the Year” for 2007. TIME magazine named him to its list of the 100 most influential people in the world. On thousands of Web sites, people wrote essays about what they had learned from him. His book based on the lecture became a #1 bestseller internationally, translated into 30 languages.”

Read more…

For more on Mr Pausch you can visit his web page. There are several videos to see, and you might want to look as well at the one posted here below.

Those interested in Alice, his innovative program for teaching kids to write computer programs, will be delighted to discover that Carnegie Mellon offers the software for free download here.

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The folks who brought us CurrClick, my absolute favourite homeschool curriculum & supply store, have branched out to create a new store called EcoBrain. As the name suggests, this is a place to buy e-books about the environment and related issues. There are some books for kids, but this is a store for grown ups too.

Here’s a little more detail from their “about” page:

EcoBrain: Our Story

EcoBrain was started by two families living across the continent from each other - one in Canada and one in the US - who were both passionate about learning to live green and setting an earth-friendly example for their children.

Both families also have publishing backgrounds. They love books, but they are also familiar with the environmental costs as well as the actual production costs absorbed by the publisher. So how can people learn more about the environment from the experts while helping reduce waste and costs? By selling books and other media in a digital format!

EcoBrain knows it isn’t always easy to get published. And the costs can be staggering. But by publishing in an eBook format, new publishers can produce and publish their material much more quickly, cheaply and profitably. Publishers who are going green can and should be rewarded for their efforts by earning more, while reducing both their own costs and environmental costs as well. EcoBrain makes it possible for publishers to get the green word out in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner!

The two families are proud of how EcoBrain has come together and how its conception has helped their children learn about new ways to help the environment. EcoBrain is becoming the green community destination and resource and continues to be a great success not only for publishers and authors, but for the environment. And that is how it should be.

Best wishes from EcoBrain.

Kids environmental materials, including unit studies and study guides, are available. There are also weekly free downloads just like at CurrClick. Check it out!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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