Homeschoolers love free stuff. So, here are some sites where you can find free educational software.

• Sheppards  Software  has some great free educational software as freeware and shareware. Geography, Math, SAT and more.
• Nonags has a selection of educational freeware to download. Math, science, language arts, music and more.
• Free Educational Software  - you will find some interesting choices here
• Gnu Operating System has a few you might want to try
• Nasa - free aerodynamics software for the braniac. Does have some interesting software like kite modeler and rocket modeler

One of the heroes of the homeschooling movement has died due to illness from complications of MS. Chris Clicka was senior counsel at the Home School Legal Defense Association. He was instrumental in guarding the freedoms of families to homeschool.

Obituary can be found at HSLDA

Updated Oct 22

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Of course one of the most important goals of homeschoolers is to teach their kids how to read and how to read well. We have found some free reading comprehension web sites that will give you some extra help in this area. Without good reading comprehension, the whole idea of reading is rather pointless.

• Free Worksheets from RHL School 
• ABC Teach - has worksheets including short stories with questions for grades K-12
• Handipoints - has many worksheets for beginning readers (short paragraphs with questions)
• Super Teacher Worksheets - has worksheets for grades 1-4
• ReadingMatrix.com – has advanced reading comprehension resources

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You can always use something for free and as homeschoolers we are always looking for practice worksheets for the kids.  Here are some places that you can pick up some free math work sheets to supplement your current math curriculum. Practice makes perfect!

• Math-Drills.com - use the links across the top of the page right under the Free Math Worksheets heading to find all the drills you need including algebra.
• Math Fact Cafe - great spot for grades 1-4 with pre-made worksheets, build your own, time and money, and flash cards.
• Math.com – has an algebra worksheet generator
• Grade A Math help - has a great section of free algebra worksheets
• Helping With Math – has free geometry worksheets. You can also find math worksheet resources here by grade 3-7.
• Edhelper.com- has math worksheets from pre-k through high school geometry

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A ten year old girl has been ordered to attend public school because the girl’s Christian faith was a “bit to0 sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews.” 

The girl’s parents had divorced in 1999 and a court appointed guardian stated that the girl needed exposure to a public school setting.  More of this story at OneNewsNow.com.

Whatever happened to freedom of religion? And since when is it not a parent’s right to choose the education of their children? Why is the government so afraid of our Christian beliefs? This is really a disturbing event. It would be one thing if the child was not being taught up to standards, but to say that her religious beliefs are too rigid is none of the governments business.

I hope that homeschoolers in New Hampshire will stand up in numbers against this outrage.

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An option that may be available in your area is that many junior colleges offer homeschoolers the opportunity to take college classes for free in their senior year.  This is an option in Colorado and may available to you. We were able to have our kids take math and English courses their senior year that also counted for them as college credit.

To do this in Colorado homeschoolers take part in The Options Program which is actually a program by the public schools that offers homeschoolers free curriculum and licensed teachers chosen by homeschool parents and one day of classes a week. We participated in the program and found no problem of government influence. Our group chose the teachers and the curriculum but we were able to offer kids some of the harder classes in math and science that many parents don’t want to tackle.

Anyway, the point is that you may be able to get college classes for free in your area. Check it out.

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One of the great things about homeschooling is the ability to take field trips. When you homeschool you can make it so that these trips fit into your schedule. And field trips don’t have to be expensive either. Just about every major zoo and museum has free days. Visit their web sites or give them a call.  They generally have the schedule of free days available for the entire year. It might be next week or four months from now.  That’s why you want to find out now, so you can plan your field trips for the year.

Homeschool support groups are a great place to find out about field trips and often you can get a group together so your kids can get together with other homeschoolers.

When thinking about field trips, don’t just limit yourself to museums and zoos.  If you have manufacturing plants in the area, they often are open to tours. An example is Celestial Seasonings Teas in Boulder, Colorado. They have tours daily that are quite interesting and your children can learn about production, automation, and how businesses work. There are probably businesses close to you that you might be able to tour.

Don’t forget places like fire departments as well. If you contact them they might set up a tour for you. Get creative.  There is a lot to do that offers up a great deal of learning opportunities for your children.

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Well, those of us that have homeschooled our children have always known that our children did as well or better than public school children, but the last study proving that is over ten years old. That study in 1998 by Dr. Lawrence Rudner of the ERIC Clearinghouse a part of the University of Maryland showed that homeschool students performed thirty percentage points higher on standardized tests.

The latest study looking at over 11,000 homeschool students who took the major standardized tests such as the Iowa Basic, the California Achievement, and the Standford Achievement in 2008 showed an average of thirty seven percentage points better. It also showed that income level, education of the parents, certification of parents, cost of materials, or how strict state laws were had no profound impact on the results.

Parents that were teachers didn’t achieve better results. States with heavy regulation didn’t improve results. Whether a parent had gone to college did not show a profound difference.  In all cases the children averaged the same thirty seven percent higher score.

You can see a summary of the study at the Home School Legal Defense Association website.

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Sometimes people are afraid to enter into homeschooling because they worry about the possibility of having problems with authorities over home education. Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states but there are varying degrees of freedom associated with the homeschooling choice in every state. The truth is there are only a few states that are very restrictive concerning homeschooling. You can see a map that shows the United States in relation to how difficult it is to homeschool at the Home School Legal Defense Associaton website (HSLDA).

If you find yourself located in one of the more difficult states or if you just want peace of mind while going about educating your children at home, you can join the HSLDA. They provide legal support in the event of any intrusion into your homeschooling by the state you live in. In most cases you will never need their help, but it might set your mind at ease to have them at your side.

Visit our details page to see the easy way to learn about homeschooling.

Well, you’ve decided that the public school option isn’t right for you. You want an atmosphere where your child not only learns morals but also develops in character. With the economy in disarray, private schools may not be an affordable choice at this time. The answer is homeschooling. Depending on how well you research homeschooling you will find that it can be a very reasonable option that will not wipe out your wallet.

If you visit homeschool curriculum fairs (many cities have a homeschool group that will sponsor these fairs), you can find great deals on used curriculum. There are also many used curriculum websites to find great deals. There are even many new curriculum that you can get for about $400. If you think $400 is a lot, take your daughter to get clothes and supplies for school and it won’t seem as much as you thought. But if this is still too expensive, you can either go with an eclectic approach, piecing together your own curriculum from used sources or you can even find some free options. Our members area can show you how to homeschool for free.

No matter what your budget, you can afford to homeschool your children.