Favorite Things:
Member-Recommended Links and Learning Materials

Multimedia | Math, Logic and Computer Skills | Language Arts | Science | History and Civics | Art and Art History | Field Trips and Travel Tips

Multimedia

• Don't miss!  TED: Ideas Worth Spreading is a fantastic resource for older students, and for adults, too. This website is full of "inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers" is easily searchable and will keep you and your children busy for hours, learning from the most brilliant minds of our time. Topics include technology, business, science, art, culture, entertainment, design, and more. 
• New! WatchNow -- Well-organized site with educational videos of all kinds!
• HippoCampus -- multimedia lessons and course materials of all kinds, in English and Spanish!
• Boomerang -- kind of like NPR's "All Things Considered" for kids. Great for multitasking kids who will work on an art project or build something while listening, or for the car.
• Little Mammoth Media -- BIG Adventure series takes children behind the scenes at the Big Auto Plant, the Big Aquarium, the Big Zoo, the Big Plane Trip, the Big Space Shuttle, and more.
• Netflix -- online video rentals; has HUGE collection of historical, scientific, and other interesting titles.
• Schlessinger Media -- a subsidiary of LibraryVideo.com, they have *everything* on video! Science, history, social studies, geography... all topics for all levels of ability and interest. Most of these are available at your local library.
• Schoolhouse Rock — Ah, memories! The same collection of musical videos that you loved when you were a kid is still out there . Your children can sing 'Conjunction Junction' or learn multiplication in song.
• Standard Deviants --  This highly entertaining video series covering many subjects is geared toward the middle and high school levels
• The Teaching Company -- Lectures on a variety of topics by some of the best college professors in the country. Available in a variety of formats.
• Moving Beyond the Page -- "a comprehensive curriculum that provides gifted educational strategies for all homeschoolers."
• Thinkwell's textbooks, video clips and online resources "combine the power of multimedia technology with compelling content" to earn recommendations from many GHF members. For the college level (more or less).
• BrainPOP -- Animated educational site for kids, covers virtually every topic.
• Internet Archive: Open Educational Resources -- The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. The Education page includes links to coursework, study guides, exercises, and recorded lectures  that are meant for students, teachers, and self-learners at all levels.

Math, Logic and Computer Skills

• Let's start with the basics: Keyboarding skills!
• New! Calculus Tutorials on line at MidnightTutor
• The Barron's Painless and Painless Junior series includes Painless Algebra, Painless Geometry, Painless Fractions, Painless Word Problems, and more. All concepts are explained clearly and in understandable terms. Terrific for the student who claims to 'hate' math.
• Go Figure: A Totally Cool Book About Numbers by Johnny Ball -- Fun and interesting information, intriguing illustrations, anecdotes and puzzles for a wide range of ages!
• Living Math -- Web site and mailing list from homeschooling mom and math expert Julie Brennan.
• MathStart -- series of math stories by Stuart J. Murphy that teaches and reinforces math concepts at different levels of ability. Fun for all ages, up through early elementary levels. These are awesome!
  
• MathUSee -- A multi-sensory approach to math that works well for visual spatial and kinesthetic learners.  The emphasis is on finding patterns to make math easier and several methods are presented for arriving at a solution. Low repetition.
  
• New! Carrot Sticks --  Online multiplayer math game for grades 1-5!
• Preparing to take the SATs? SAT Math by Video Aided Interactive is pricey but comes highly recommended.  Some copies can be found through interlibrary loan.
  
• Key Curriculum Press offers a variety of textbooks, software and other materials for exploration of mathematics.
  
• New! Puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles! Conceptis Puzzles: The Art of Logic
• Kendall-Hunt has a series of products developed by the College of William and Mary that is intended for homeschoolers. Specifically recommended to GHF is the Project M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds series.
  
• Developing Mathematical Talent: A Guide for Challenging and Educating Gifted Students, by Susan Assouline and Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik
• Algebra Survival Guide: a Conversational Guide for the Thoroughly Befuddled, by Josh Rappaport
• The Algebasics website motto is "show me how, now!" and it does. In sounds and pictures, you'll find explanations for algebra at every level, from simple to complex. Definitely worth checking out!
  
• A Kid's Guide to Creating Web Pages for Home and School by Benjamin and Peter Selfridge
• MOOSE Crossing is a virtual world for kids ages 9-13yo where they can expand their creative writing skills and learn to program computers at the same time.
• Even YouTube.com is getting in on the educational action. Here are some homemade videos explaining SAT math concepts.
  
• The Calculus Page - from UC Davis, resources for the calculus student
• Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
• Theoni Pappas has written many terrific books for the student who prefers to learn math concepts in a "fun" way, including The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat and Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales
• The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger is another enjoyable read.
• For the younger set, Funbrain has math games that will make math entertaining and interactive.
• Edmark's Mighty Math computer software has gotten very positive reviews from GHF members!
• The spiral-bound book Calculus by and for Young People (Ages 7, yes 7, and up) by Donald Cohen also has worksheets available for purchase.
• An online resource for learning math through science is AIMS Education Foundation, "integrating math and science."
• Brain games, puzzles and logic - lots of terrific links!

Language Arts

• Reading and story suggestions (audio & visual)
  • New! Lit2Go is a free, searchable online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. Launches directly into iTunes!
  • Calvin and Hobbes — The "instruction manual" for gifted kids!
  • Muse Magazine — explores science, history, and the arts. With this and other publications from Carus Publishing (Cricket, Ladybug, Spider, Odyssey, Click, etc.), gifted kids are often ready for them at ages younger than recommended. 
  • The Stuart Brent Childrens' Book Club — Unlike other book clubs that send you a catalog, SBCBC sends children books selected especially for them based on their interests. Offers special club for gifted young adults.
• Literary Analysis
  • Literature Links, by Teresa Smith Masiello, is a very nice companion to that long-time classic for guiding gifted readers, Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers from Pre-School to High School, by Judith Wynn Halsted. Aimed at advanced elementary age readers, Masiello's book provides activities and materials for ten of the titles recommended by Halstead.
  • Web English Teacher — Lists of links to biographical and critical information, e-texts and lesson plans related to specific authors. Includes Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fiction and Children's Literature.
• Writing 
  • Homeschool Writers: Writing Contests and Resources
  • Don't miss! From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Writing Center offers resources of all kinds to help with everything you ever wanted to know about writing a paper.
  • Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly is a readable new book by Gail Carson Levine, prolific author of novels aimed primarily at middle-school aged girls, with lots of practical suggestions for writing fiction.
  • If You're Trying to Teach Kids to Write, You've Gotta Have This Book! — That pretty much covers it, doesn't it?
  • New! Recommended by our friends over at Homefires, here are some Free Writing Resources that may help you and your students:   
    • Fact Monster: Writing Skills - Get simple instructions for how to write everything from a simple sentence to a research paper.   
    •  7 Stages of Writing Assignments - This site provides a textbook description of how to develop your topic, identify your audience, research, organize, write a draft, revise and proofread your work. 
    • WritingFix - This terrific website offers free interactive writing lessons and prompts for all ages and grade levels so that "writing is taught well, not simply assigned." You simply won't believe the variety of engaging lessons and innovative activities to help writers of all ages learn the skills and practice the craft of writing. Bonus! This site offers fun, creative Family Writing Projects that are sure to create heartfelt memories for all. Enjoy
• Poetry
  • Poetry for Young People — This series of books covers a wide range of poets, with something for just about everyone.
  • If you like silly poems and rhymes, you'll love anything by Shel Silverstein. His classics include Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic.
  • Prolific author Jack Prelutsky's  Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme is a fun way to teach young children about poetry.
  • For older kids, try Mary Oliver's New and Selected Poems (nature oriented and philosophical); A Poetry Handbook; (insight into writing and understanding poetry); or the Pulitzer Prize winning American Primitive.
  • U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003) Billy Collins' Sailing Along Around the Room is very accessible and often quite entertaining for teen poetry readers.
  • Living Between the Lines by Shelley Harwayne and Lucy Calkins have woven insights, practical suggestions, references, and anecdotes into this inspirational book on teaching writing from the heart.
• Etymology, Spelling & Grammar
  • Etymology for Gifted Students -- Etymology is the study of the history of words. It explains when a word entered a language, from what source, and how its form and meaning has changed over time. It is fun, interesting, and helps to build vocabulary.
  • New! Atlas of True Names -- Reveals the etymological roots, or original meanings,
    of the familiar terms on today's maps of the World, Europe, the British Isles and the United States.
  • Grammar Resources for Homeschoolers -- The Homeschool Diner has a listing of links and resources on this subject.
  • Check out Michael Clay Thompson's Word Within the Word program and other vocabulary building materials.
  • We can always count on Hoagies to have great resources. Try Links for the Love of Words...
  • Vocabulary from Classical Roots is a thematically organized vocabulary program by Nancy Fifer at all.
  • English from the Roots Up is a program by Joegil K. and Jeanne Lundquist designed to help children understand where words come from based on their roots. Includes flash cards as well as books.
    
  • Inspiring! Akeelah and the Bee is a wonderful movie about a girl and a spelling bee, but it's also much more. This family-friendly movie encourages spellers of all ages, demonstrates the relevance of understanding word roots, and demolishes the idea that giftedness exists only in families with the resources to nurture it. The lessons are many, and gifted children will relate to the characters and to the memnonics they use for learning.
• Other
  • The Barron's Painless and Painless Junior series includes a range of language arts topics, including Grammar, Research Projects, Spelling, Poetry, and Reading Comprehension.
  • Jim Weiss Storytelling -- Some favorites: Shakespeare for Children, Greek Myths, American Tall Tales. Greathall Productions.

Science

• Books
  
  • Can You Feel the Force? by Richard Hammond — "Putting the fizz back in physics"
  • Check out Enjoy Your Cells (series), Cells and Things (series), or any of Fran Balkwill's terrific books about cells and DNA for children
  • Let's Read and Find Out — Series of books explaining the world through science. Levels pre-K/K and Primary Grades.
  • The Mysterious You series of books has amusing titles such as Zzz... The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Sleep,  Achoo! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Germs, and more. (Can you guess what Burp is about? Or Aha!, Baaa or maybe Hmm?) Aimed at grades 3-6, these are really a lot of fun for the whole family.
  • For a younger audience, the Why Should I? series includes topics including recycling, saving water, saving energy, and protecting nature. These are fairly simple but effective for little ones.

• New! NobelPrize.org offers games and simulations based on Nobel Prize-awarded achievements
• LivingScience is an email list for discussions about secular living science books for homeschoolers and children of all ages. Topics include "Secular, living science books, websites and documentaries. Secular, living textbooks or curriculum. Free science curriculum. How to secularize non-secular materials. Cool science experiments. Science kit reviews. Kid-friendly, parent-tested science websites. Science fiction. Science resources that overlap with nature study, nature journaling, art, music, math, history, language, poetry, etc."
• Check out NASA's SpacePlace, complete with fun projects like Edible Rocks, an introduction to understanding meteorites.
• Geography Matters is a tremendous resource for geography and all the ways in which it can be applied.
• Animal Diversity Web is a site put up by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology that will answer all (most?) of your child's questions.
• New! EdHeads has all sorts of interesting educational activities, including cell phone design, virtual hip replacement, weather and simple machines.
• The Exploratorium in San Francisco has information, activities and educational materials on just about any scientific subject that interests you.
• The Smithsonian National Zoological Park (aka the National Zoo) has a Just for Kids section with games, puzzles, and other educational "goodies."
• The Physics Front provides resources for teaching physics and physical sciences at the K-12  levels.
• Flash animations for Physics is a database of links to Flash illustrations of physics principles. Don't understand the words? Try looking at the demonstrations, which are available in Catalan, Spanish and Basque, as well.
  
• New! Science News for Kids -- website with articles about the latest in scientific research, written for kids of all ages!
• How to Teach Science -- website with a variety of fun and interesting materials (some are free).
• Instructables: step-by-step collaboration -- The home page of this searchable site says it all: "share what you make and how others can make it."  Directions for anything you ever wanted to know how to make plus many things you didn't know you wanted to create (such as smoke bombs, a marshmallow shooter, or a chocolate printer)!
• National Geographic — web site, videos, magazine... for kids of all ages.
• Bill Nye the Science Guy — humorous and informative science web site, videos, and other educational materials.
• New! Genetic Science Learning Center has some interesting material, including this amazing sliding scale that lets you see relative cell sizes. Check it out!
• Interesting anatomy videos: American 3B Scientific
• Some inspiring reading, especially for girls: Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists by Jeannine Atkins, and Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenius Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmesh and Melissa Sweet.
• Anything by Janice Van Cleave — hands-on books of science experiments in a range of disciplines.
• If your child is interested in archaeology, don't miss dig - the archaeology magazine for kids.
• New! Phun: the 2D Physics Sandbox - you have to see this to believe it!
• Bite-Size Physics offers a fun way to learn about physics "one bite at a time"
• TryEngineering is a portal that allows anyone to "try out" being an engineer through lesson plans, games, and more.
• The Way Things Work — Wonderful animated video series exploring various topics based on the best-selling book of the same name. Teacher's guides available.
• The Young Scientist Club — Provides fun, inexpensive science kits aimed at children ages 4–8
• Musically Aligned — Science songs and more; CDs for kids.
• NASA has many educational programs and online activities for kids of all ages. This site has user-friendly information and interactive opportunities to explore concepts from many branches of science.
  
• New! Concept Demonstration: Global Climate Data — This website allows you to plot climate data and temperatures going back over 300 years!
  
• The eSkeletons Project has multidimensional skeletons of both human and non-human primates ranging from the gorilla to the tiny mouse lemur, all of which can be seen in full color, with animations and supplemental information. All of the large apes are represented as well as other species from different parts of the world, including many endangered species.
• For chemistry supplies, try Edmund Scientific for some very cool stuff! Alternatively, you can purchase UC-approved curriculum and lab equipment from the Laurel Springs distance high school without enrolling in their classes (unless you choose to); try Fry's Electronics (their stores have an entire aisle of lab equipment); or peruse the SKElementary online catalog for chemistry, math and reading supplies for all ages.
• New! For even more chemistry supplies (not to mention jet engines, radiation protection, caffeine soap, experiment kits and "fun science stuff"!) don't miss United Nuclear Scientific Supplies. While you're there, take a look at their stunning Periodic Table poster.
• Physics to Go is a searchable collection of websites where you can have tons of fun learning physics in the way that suits you best.
• While you're online, check out Neuroscience for Kids, a website with experiments, activities and resources of all kinds relating to the nervous system.
  

History and Civics

• New! Trailblazing: Three and a half centuries of Royal Society Publishing is a user-friendly, ‘explore-at-your-own-pace’, virtual journey through science. It showcases sixty fascinating and inspiring articles selected from an archive of more than 60,000 published by the Royal Society between 1665 and 2010. Searchable by historical events or scientific articles.
• New! Congress 101: How it actually works explains the complex rules and traditions of Washington, DC.
• The Smithsonian has created Our Story: American History Stories and Activities You Can Do Together!
• The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer is a series of four books available as books or audio that cover history from "the earliest nomads" through "the fall of the Soviet Union." Each book becomes increasingly more complex, as the author describes the situations and dynamics that impact people and countries around the world and through time.
• Some kids learn best from interactive games... Here's one for the younger set: IKnowThat.com has a plethora of subjects, including some fun social studies activities. There are even more USA Games available at Sheppard Software.
• Childhood of Famous Americans (series) — series of books exploring the childhood of a variety of figures in American history. A new, related series is called Childhood of World Figures.
• Kulture International — offers a fantastic selection of performing arts videos and DVDs from around the world.
• New! National Geographic has a terrific interactive Underground Railroad site!
• "A world of primary resources" can be found at the University of California's Calisphere
• Biographical stories of creative people in history — from Devine Entertainment. Galileo, Einstein, Edison, Bach, Handel, Monet, Degas, Cassatt, and more. Each story is true to the historical facts of the figure's life, and imagines an encounter and mentorship with a young person (age 10–12) at a critical junction in each of their lives. 
• The Picture Book Biography series by David Adler is a good introduction to history for younger children.
• Look up today in history at History.WorldSearch.com.
• Go back in time and view the Bradshaw Foundation's Journey of Mankind genetic map, exploring the peopling of the world over the last 160,000 years. Links on this site include rock art and other ancient-ancient-ancient history.
• For more resources on history and social studies, look at Field Trips and Travel Tips or see our multimedia suggestions!

Art and Art History

• The Art Book
• Try this fun-to-read series of Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists by Mike Venezia. They are a mix of comics and real works of art.
• Cave Paintings to Picasso: The Inside Scoop on 50 Art Masterpieces, by Henry M. Sayre
• Learning to Look:  A Handbook for the Visual Arts by Joshua C. Taylor
• Lots of great resources can be found at the Homeschool.com Art Resources page.
• Origami turns out to be a highly popular activity amongst some gifted homeschoolers! For something a little different, see Origami Chicken and Other Animals,  Ductigami: The Art of the Tape, or Origami to Astonish and Amuse (for a slightly older crowd).

Field Trips and Travel Tips

• New! Visit some British learning resources at Schoolnet in the UK.
• You need a map to know where you're going, right? Check out the cool selection of every kind of maps, globes and atlases imaginable at Map Link.
• Virtual Field Trips — Virtual tours of places far and wide.
• eFieldTrips — Offers interactive, online "trips" including the opportunity to complete a trip journal, as well as the chance to chat with experts live. Lots of national parks are included here, and the subjects are multidisciplinary but seem to involve a lot of science, nature and history.  
• Hittin' the Road — The Bright Kids @ Home website has all kinds of terrific and useful information for taking your learning on the road (or in a plane, on a boat or a train, etc).
• Taking the kids on a long road trip, or just driving all over town? Check out Diane Flynn Keith's Carschooling: Over 350 Entertaining Games & Activities to Turn Travel Time into Learning Time.
• National Park Service — This may seem obvious, but if you're looking for places to go (in the United States) with your kids where they will learn as well as enjoy themselves, you can find something for everyone here. The NPS has a program at many locations, where kids can use written materials as a guide and earn a badge or certificate certifying them as a "Junior Ranger." many state park systems have summer programs, as well.
• New! When you can't get there in person, try finding a penpal: Homeschool Penpal Exchange or Home School Pen Pal for Kids or 
• California Interactive History Museum: California Legacy Trails
• Boston Interactive History: The Freedom Trail
• Looking for archaeology- and paleontology-related events around the United States? Try dig's state-by-state guide for an updated listing!
• Taking your gifted child to Europe (or dreaming about it)? A Travel Guide to Scientific Sites of the British Isles: A Guide to the People, Places and Landmarks of Science and The Scientific Traveler: A Guide to the People, Places, and Institutions of Europe may be available as close as your local library!
• A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering — This terrific resource is dedicated to "spotlighting how engineering improves our lives." Click on a U.S. map or do a search by engineering discipline or other category... you'll find information and links to all kinds of engineering-related sites.