Freely Educate

Free Reading Program for Struggling (or Beginning) Readers

Stairway to Reading is a reading program especially for those students who struggle with reading (beginning readers may use the program as well).  If your student or child is struggling with reading in school, consider checking out Stairway to Reading. 

The program includes lessons, flashcards, games, reading material and more, all for ... of course, free. And, there is a free diagnostic test on the site (quick, easy to administer), which will help you determine where the student should begin lessons. 

Here are a few testimonials from others who have used  Stairway to Reading:

I have had the opportunity to try Stairway to Reading with a number of my students. It is a program that teaches towards a variety of learning styles. ~ A teacher in Ontario, Canada

One month later (one half hour per day) and my son has come a LONG way with his reading. The only problem is that I see how simple it is, and it makes me angry that they can't do this during the six-seven hours he spends at school every day.
Tym Barker, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada

Thank you very much for your reading program. I have successfully used it with my now 10 year old daughter, who had difficulty in grasping reading with other programs. Now we have a child we care for over the summer who is in public school, and we are using it also to teach her to read. She's very excited as she will be ahead of her class when she goes back to school in the fall.
Angela Webster, Boone, North Carolina, US

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Thank you, Jess of the D.A.I.L.Y. blog, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at loriseaborg @ gmail.com

For Preschool through 6th Grade: Free Curriculum in All Subjects

Today we have another one of those vast sites that offer something in many subject areas.  The Learning Site is primarily for preschool through about 6th grade.  You're going to have to visit it yourself to see all there is to offer you!

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another that I haven't yet noticed, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

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Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another that I haven't yet noticed, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

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Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Free Art Lessons from a Children's Author & Illustrator

It may snow today even here, on the FloraBama Gulf Coast.  We haven't seen snow in over 5 years!  It's a good day for an indoor project:

Our children adore children author and illustrator Jan Brett's how-to-draw videos.  We have spent many indoor days following her pencil as she teaches us how to draw animals. 

  

Included in the video series are:

How to Draw a...

• dolphin
• rhinocerous
• creature of the deep
• lion
• baby polar bear
• hedgehog
• chick
• rare African Okapi
• bunny
• elephant
• horse
• Siberian Husky dog

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Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Our children adore children author and illustrator Jan Brett's how-to-draw videos.  We have spent many indoor days following her pencil as she teaches us how to draw animals. 

  

Included in the video series are:

How to Draw a...

• dolphin
• rhinocerous
• creature of the deep
• lion
• baby polar bear
• hedgehog
• chick
• rare African Okapi
• bunny
• elephant
• horse
• Siberian Husky dog

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Subscribe to FreelyEducate here 

Tweet FreelyEducate here

Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Free Music Appreciation and Composer Study @ Classics for Kids

Again, I'm sharing one of our family's favorite sites. 

Classics for Kids is a kid-friendly website that teaches children about, well, classical music. 

Each month, a different classical composer is highlighted.  This month:  Gioachino Rossini. 

Each week, a different score of music is highlighted through a weekly "radio" show.

From the introduction on the Classics for Kids website:

This site is designed to help you introduce your child to classical music. Music not only has the power to stimulate the mind, enrich the heart and soothe the soul; it can help children to think more creatively, develop craftsmanship and discipline and learn the value of excellence.

What is available at the Classics for Kids website?  Here is just a sample:

• Lessons plans for K-5th are available for certain composers.
• Games, including Compose Your Own Music (our children's favorite on the site)
• A weekly radio show, based on the current month's composer's music
• Music selections from various classical composers
• An interactive chart of Instruments of the Orchestra

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Free Computer Typing Program for K-6th

Earlier this week, I highlighted TuxPaint & TuxMath.  Today, I have one more program to show you from the same (and, yes, with the same cute penguin).  This one is for practicing typing skills.

The developers write this about TuxTyping: "TuxTyping is an educational typing tutor for kids starring Tux, the Linux penguin. This educational game comes with two different games for practicing your typing, and having a great time doing it."

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A Free Computer Math Program for K-6th

Earlier this week, I highlighted TuxPaint, a computer art program for K-6th graders.  Since then, I found two more programs from the same developers (and with the same cute penguin).  One of those program is called TuxMath.

TuxMath gives your students the opportunity to practice math skills.  The developers write, "TuxMath is an arcade game that helps kids practice their math facts. The main goal is to make it effective and fun!"

I'll showcase the other program tomorrow, for teaching typing to kids.

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A Free Computer Art Program for K-6th

TuxPaint looks like fun! It's a computer art program ("open source drawing software," to be exact) for children.  You'll probably find yourself having as much fun as your students with this one.

The program developers describe the program like this: 

Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

Kids are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative. (See the full list of features.)

Want to know more about it before you download the free program? 

• Schools Using the Program
• User Comments
• Magazine and Online Reviews

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Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

StoryNory: Free Audio Books for Preschoolers, Kindergartners, Elementary Students

StoryNory offers audiobooks (audiobooks = books, read aloud and recorded) for children.  You may listen to these children's stories either online or by downloading the audios onto your Zune, mp3 player, iPod , or what-have-you player.  

There are over 100 tales, so I'm sure you'll find several you enjoy. The site is split up into five types of stories:

• Educational:  examples include the history of soccer and several Greek myths 
• Original Stories 
• Fairytales : Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault
• Classic Authors : Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll
• Junior:  stories for little ones, such as The Three Little Pigs and The Little Red Riding Hood    

Angelle, who recommended StoryNory to FreelyEducate.com, wrote, "these are readings of classics and original stories read by a woman with a lovely British accent."   (thanks, Angelle!) 

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Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at loriseaborg @ gmail.com

Free Reading Curriculum for Beginning Readers

Okay, I have a good free reading curriculum for you today, especially if you have preschoolers, kindergartners and/or beginning readers traipsing around the house.  We have a couple of those in our house, and Starfall.com is definitely a favorite site for them! 

Starfall teaches children the alphabet and how to read.  It's interactive, brightly-colored, and fun (that opinion is based on my children's frequent requests to visit the site). 

Here is a screenshot of the "Learn to Read" area of the Starfall.com website:

Click on a "book," such as Zac the Rat and the program reads a book to the child, sounding out, through audio, each word in the book.

Do you want to know exactly how Starfall teaches students how to read?  Visit the Educators' Page for a full description of the teaching methods used.

Enjoy!

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Have a resource or giveaway to share?  Email me at loriseaborg @ gmail.com

My Favorite Site for Preschoolers & Kindergartners: Poisson Rouge / Red Fish Soup

If you have preschoolers, especially, but also perhaps   elementary-aged kids, they will probably love Poisson Rouge as much as we do. 

Poisson Rouge, or, Red Fish Soup, is....um...it's a site that is hard to explain, that's what.  Here's a screenshot of it:

Your little student simply clicks on something.  Anything.  He or she can then move it, build it, learn the alphabet from it, listen to it, play with it...all depending on what he or she chooses to do.

The makers of Poisson Rouge didn't post instructions on the site, as they'd prefer that children freely do whatever they'd like to do on Poisson Rouge,  but with more than a little reluctance, they wrote up a User Guide for Teachers & Parents, which is well worth a read not only for the lesson tips, but also for their insight into how children learn.

Here are a couple of reviews posted on Poisson Rouge:

"The site encourages, relies on, and rewards exploration.  It's only gotten better as I let students cooperate with each other.  While some of the more complicated puzzles may not entertain many students, I was very pleased to find one autistic student who happily spent hours on those."

"I have a little girl just about to turn three and she loves it. It has done wonders for her mouse skills, unlike any other websites we have found she can use it completely independently and she is still finding new things to do on it."

See those little French and British flags (circles) at the bottom of the screenshot, above?  If you click on the flag of France, you'll read the site in French.  If you click on the British flag, you'll read the site in English.   A few of the children's games are affected by this, such as the alphabet.  I can see it as a neat way to teach the little ones a bit of French (or English).

I dare you to try not to get addicted to Poisson Rouge yourself! 

~ Lori

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Poisson Rouge, or, Red Fish Soup, is....um...it's a site that is hard to explain, that's what.  Here's a screenshot of it:

Your little student simply clicks on something.  Anything.  He or she can then move it, build it, learn the alphabet from it, listen to it, play with it...all depending on what he or she chooses to do.

The makers of Poisson Rouge didn't post instructions on the site, as they'd prefer that children freely do whatever they'd like to do on Poisson Rouge,  but with more than a little reluctance, they wrote up a User Guide for Teachers & Parents, which is well worth a read not only for the lesson tips, but also for their insight into how children learn.

Here are a couple of reviews posted on Poisson Rouge:

"The site encourages, relies on, and rewards exploration.  It's only gotten better as I let students cooperate with each other.  While some of the more complicated puzzles may not entertain many students, I was very pleased to find one autistic student who happily spent hours on those."

"I have a little girl just about to turn three and she loves it. It has done wonders for her mouse skills, unlike any other websites we have found she can use it completely independently and she is still finding new things to do on it."

See those little French and British flags (circles) at the bottom of the screenshot, above?  If you click on the flag of France, you'll read the site in French.  If you click on the British flag, you'll read the site in English.   A few of the children's games are affected by this, such as the alphabet.  I can see it as a neat way to teach the little ones a bit of French (or English).

I dare you to try not to get addicted to Poisson Rouge yourself! 

~ Lori

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Free Literacy Site for Preschool through Elementary: Learning to Read

"The Literacy Center aims to provide safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. It follows a modified Montessori approach to teaching reading. As a pre and early reading curriculum, it assumes that each online lesson will be supported by appropriate offline instruction, either at home or in school."

There are two main areas of the Literacy Center site:

Play and Learn is for students.  In this area, there are letter recognition and word recognition sections, among others.  

Parents and Teachers is the other main area, where you'll find sections labeled:

• Colors
• Letters
• Numbers
• Phonemes
• Shapes
• Writing
• Words

p.s. The site is also available in Espanol, Deutsch, and Francais.

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Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

"The Literacy Center aims to provide safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. It follows a modified Montessori approach to teaching reading. As a pre and early reading curriculum, it assumes that each online lesson will be supported by appropriate offline instruction, either at home or in school."

There are two main areas of the Literacy Center site:

Play and Learn is for students.  In this area, there are letter recognition and word recognition sections, among others.  

"The Literacy Center aims to provide safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. It follows a modified Montessori approach to teaching reading. As a pre and early reading curriculum, it assumes that each online lesson will be supported by appropriate offline instruction, either at home or in school."

There are two main areas of the Literacy Center site:

Play and Learn is for students.  In this area, there are letter recognition and word recognition sections, among others.  

Parents and Teachers is the other main area, where you'll find sections labeled:

• Colors
• Letters
• Numbers
• Phonemes
• Shapes
• Writing
• Words

p.s. The site is also available in Espanol, Deutsch, and Francais.

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

The Princess & the Frog Lesson Plans

Lesson Planet always has a lot to offer the teacher - we've featured the site on Freely Educate before - but I thought you'd be especially interested in this one, if you're educating little girls who like princes, princesses, and fairy tales.

Disney's newest movie, The Princess and the Frog is opening in theaters on December 11th (I'm sure those little girls you're educating already know this!). 

As incentive to get some schoolwork done, Lesson Planet has put together a series of lessons related to The Princess and the Frog movie. The subjects include frogs, Louisiana, and the Grimm Brothers among many others

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The Learning Site: Free Lessons in Many Subject Areas for Preschool - Elementary

Today we have another one of those vast sites that offer something in many subject areas.  The Learning Site is primarily for preschool through about 6th grade.  You're going to have to visit it yourself to see all there is to offer you!

Here are a few screenshots of random pages within The Learning Site:

At least one area of the site (math) requires registration, including adding the author's name of a Harcourt textbook as a password.  Other than that area, and perhaps another, the site can be freely used, even without registration.

~~~~

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Keep up with FreelyEducate tweets (Twitter) here: @freelyeducate

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this high quality, 100% free educational find with us! Do you have a resource to share, too?  Email me at freelyeducate@gmail.com

Classic Records from the Golden Age

     

the following is from the Kiddie Records site:

Introduction

Kiddie Records Weekly began in 2005 as a one year project devoted to the golden age of children's records.  This period spanned from the mid forties through the early fifties and produced a wealth of all-time classics.  Many of these recordings were extravagant Hollywood productions on major record labels and featured big time celebrities and composers.

Over the years, these forgotten treasures slipped off the radar and it became our mission to give them a new lease on life by sharing them with today's generation of online listeners.  Each week throughout the year we added a new recording and before we knew it, our one year project turned into three!  Although we will not be continuing beyond 2007,(updated: they started adding more content in 2009!) Kiddie Records Weekly will remain online and we will update the Bonus Records section every now and then.  

So whether you are hearing these records for the first time or reuniting with a childhood favorite from long ago, we hope you take great pleasure in your trip down memory lane!

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Thank you, Angelle, for this high quality, 100% free, educational find!

the following is from the Kiddie Records site:

Introduction

Kiddie Records Weekly began in 2005 as a one year project devoted to the golden age of children's records.  This period spanned from the mid forties through the early fifties and produced a wealth of all-time classics.  Many of these recordings were extravagant Hollywood productions on major record labels and featured big time celebrities and composers.

Over the years, these forgotten treasures slipped off the radar and it became our mission to give them a new lease on life by sharing them with today's generation of online listeners.  Each week throughout the year we added a new recording and before we knew it, our one year project turned into three!  Although we will not be continuing beyond 2007,(updated: they started adding more content in 2009!) Kiddie Records Weekly will remain online and we will update the Bonus Records section every now and then.  

So whether you are hearing these records for the first time or reuniting with a childhood favorite from long ago, we hope you take great pleasure in your trip down memory lane!

Subscribe to FreelyEducate here

Thank you, Angelle, for this high quality, 100% free, educational find!