There’s been some great freebies out there over the past week or so. We wanted to share a few of our favorites, so our readers and LessonPathways.com users can enjoy the savings too!

History Channel: America the Story of US DVD Even shipping & handling is free!  Public, private and home schools receive this spectacular series shipped right to your door.

7 Secrets to Homeschooling Through a Financial Storm The HomeScholar is offering this special reports that reveals 7 secrets that will help you homeschool wisely and inexpensively.

16 Crafting eBooks These craft books from Interweave include crochet, knitting, beading and even watercolors!

Printable Labels for Folgers Cans Okay, so this doesn’t quite fall under “educational”, but thanks to Robin at the Heart of Wisdom blog, you can repurpose those large red coffee cans into decorative containers and keep everything nicely organized.

Homeschooling & Loving It This hard copy book (not an eBook) is your free, offered by the Laurel Springs store.  You do need to pay shipping & handling ($5.95 for Priority Mail).

Homeschool Planner Forms Get a jump on organizing for the next school year with this collections of printable planner forms at the Heart of the Matter Online blog.  There’s also a few links for free computerized planners too!

Mental Math Secrets This is a series of 6 free online videos (you can subscribe via iTunes as well) for learning how to complete mental math.

Paper Dolls of Ancient History What a great way to add some hands-on learning to your history curriculum!  Practical Pages offers free printable paper dolls for Rome, Egypt, the Elizabethan era and more!

Do you have any freebies to share?  Please tell us about it in the comments section.

Miamiopia (pronounced “mee-yuh-mee-oh-pee-yuh” not “Miami-opia”) is a new virtual world just for kids. This site is totally FREE and totally educational to boot!

From the website:

The World of Miamiopia is where balloons go when they escape from the hands of a human. Once here, these balloons seek to improve themselves by learning as much as they can about the world around them. Each building in Miamiopia is filled with learning games.

Some of these games teach the little Miamiopians about math, others about dinosaurs, biology, animals, music, history, and many other topics. Miamiopians “learn to earn”. Each time they plan a learning game, they earn coins. These coins can be used to buy things in the shopping district.

New Miamiopians get to pick the color of their body, and also the type of eyes that they will sport. As they play learning games, they can use the coins they earn to purchase clothing, wigs, and other accessories.

After watching a rather lengthy introductory video, your child will get to create his or her character (a balloon), which consists of color choice and eye choice. Once in this virtual world, your child’s character will explore different areas of the world and play educational games to earn coins. After earning coins, they can buy “add-ons” such as wigs and clothing for your character.

Navigation of Miamiopia is relatively intuitive. There is a map, and your child will pick where he or she wants to go. There is a zoo, science lab and more.  Once your character enters a building, he or she will look for boxes.  Walk to the boxes, wait for it to open to display the name of the game.

The games are fun and it is very easy to get coins for later spending. We played the “Identi-cell” game, where we had to identify different parts of the cell. What was nice about this was that we got many chances to get the answer right. Not only that, they offered a link in the lower right-hand corner of the game to learn more.

The other game we tried was a counting game, where the “Count” would say a number and we clicked on it.  Each correct answer earned 1 coin, a bonus of 100 coins after answering 20 questions.  This game was definitely for the younger set, but we really had no way of telling until we clicked and read the description.

Since the site is still in “beta mode,” the number of places to visit is still limited, but there should be more coming within the next week or two.  Additionally, I did not notice an obvious “log out” button or link, making it difficult to use with multiple children.  Unlike other virtual-world sites, I did not notice any type of chat, mail or messaging system. While this may be developed after the beta version, I feel much safer knowing that my child isn’t communicating with someone we don’t know.

Kids will love this site because it will give them the freedom to explore the areas they are interested in and parents will love this site because its educational content. While I personally think that a quality educational resource can be used across multiple grade levels, those in the middle school set and above may not like this site, because of its overtly cartoon-ish appearance.

The Bottom Line:

Pros:

• FREE
• Easy to Navigate
• Wholesome, quality educational games
• Entertaining and encouraging

Cons:

• Still in beta mode, limited areas to explore
• No log out button or link
• Unable to gauge activity difficulty until playing

Final Verdict:

Despite the limitations in beta mode, this is a great, wholesome, supplement to homeschool and classroom-based learning.

This post was written by Christina S..  She is completing her 10th year of homeschooling and lives in Detroit with her husband, 2 daughters, cat, dog and turtle.

Wow!  So many freebies lately!  Here’s FREE webinar for parents on homeschooling high school, presented by Kris, of the Weird, Unsocialized, Homeschoolers blog an Lee of The HomeScholar.

These two ladies are sure to bring great advice and wisdom to the table.  Be sure to sign up for this event happening on May 24th.

From the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers Blog:

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be hosting a free webinar with Lee on Monday, May 24!  If you’ve never done a webinar, it’s an online seminar where you can log in and listen to Lee speak.  At the end of her talk, she’ll be available to answer your questions in the webinar chat room!

Make sure you sign up today to reserve your spot for her free webinar on homeschool credits, grades and transcripts: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/701574937!

….I am holding a FREE one-hour MUST-SEE webinar called “Credits and Grades and Transcripts, OH MY!!!” In it you will learn how EASY it is to make EFFECTIVE homeschool records that can gain college admission and secure great scholarships for your children.

Thanks,  Kris & Lee, for putting this webinar together and making it available for FREE!

The battle during allergy season is a tough one, especially if you tend to shy away from prescription or over-the-counter medication.

If you suffer from allergies, or care for someone who does, you may want to check out this FREE webinar tonight, sponosred by KIWI Magazine:

The webinar is TONIGHT (May 12, 2010) at 8:00pm EST, and registration is a must.

Our family of LessonPathways.com users is a great one! Every day we receive emails with suggestions and feedback for our site and information to share.  Very recently, this site for ordering free butterfly eggs was sent to us, and we’d like to share it with you!

FreeButterflyEggs.com offers free butterfly eggs – you only pay the cost of shipping!

From their site: Why do we offer FREE Painted Lady Butterfly Eggs? Two reasons!
One: To encourage butterfly awareness and butterfly conservation and to encourage establishing butterfly habitats in yards and neighborhoods.
Two: To draw your attention to live butterflies and other butterfly products we offer at Shady Oak Butterfly Farm

These would make an excellent compliment to many of our Pathways featuring butterflies:

Frog & Butterfly Life Cycles

Letter B – Butterflies

Caterpillars (Language Arts)

You can use the search feature on LessonPathways.com to find all kinds of engaging butterfly resources.

Do you have a suggestion or a resource to share?  Drop us a line at Blog@LessonPathways.com

As mentioned last Friday, each week we will be featuring a new Pathway here on our blog.  In addition, we will be giving everyone FREE access to this unit for a full week.  Each Pathway contains enough resources for a full week’s worth of learning.

This week’s Free Featured Pathway is all about Booker T. Washington.

Explore the life of Booker T. Washington in this unit. Your child will create a diorama, design a stamp, and make a collage. A map and an online story are included to help your child learn more about Washington. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach history.

To access this Pathway, simply click the link above.  While there is no registration needed, we encourage you to sign up for a 7 day free trial to access all of our great Pathways!

*Booker T. Washington clip art courtesy of ClipArtGuide.com

We’re pleased to announce that each Friday we will be featuring one of our great Pathways found on LessonPathways.com here on our blog.

Not only will our readers get to preview each of these unique Pathways, we’ll also be giving everyone FREE access for a full week to explore and use the resources we’ve assembled for you!

This week’s FREE featured Pathway is all about Harriet Tubman.

In this unit, you will learn about Harriet Tubman, one of the heroines of the Civil War Era. Through reading lessons, participating in interactive sites, and using printouts, you will learn about this remarkable woman and the Underground Railroad. You will conduct a pretend interview with Harriet Tubman, make a timeline, create a hero card, and look up vocabulary words. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach history.

To access this Pathway, simply click this link.  You don’t need to be a subscriber to use the Pathways we will be featuring each week, but you may want to consider signing up for a free one-week trial to have access to all of our Pathways!

Congratulations to …..HEATHER!

Tara has won “Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers” book and lapbook set!

Another big THANK YOU to Susan K. Marlow, author of the Circle C books series and generous sponsor of this prize. And a special “thank you” to everyone who participated. I wish we could give you each something!

LessonPathways would like to recognize the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the impact he had on the lives of everyone.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, we are giving everyone FREE access to our Martin Luther King Jr. History Pathway.  Here, you will find all the resources you need to complete a one-week study on the life of this great leader and visionary.

FREE Martin Luther King Jr. History Pathway

This Pathway will only be free for one week.  Please enjoy the learning and activities with your child this week.

Image courtesy of  Free-Stock-Photos.com

We are VERY pleased to bring you another wonderful giveaway!!

You could win…

Susan Marlow’s Book, Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers

http://www.circlecadventures.com/Books.html

This is the fourth book in the Circle C Adventure series for kids and it is SURE to entertain!

Click here to read the first chapter!

When a flood damages the schoolhouse, Andi is ecstatic—until her family sends her to a stuffy San Francisco school for young ladies. The plight of a small, Chinese slave girl captures her heart, sending Andi and her new friends into the dark alleys of Chinatown, where danger greater than she’s ever known waits to swallow them up.

In addition to the book, the winner will ALSO receive the Journey through Learning Lapbook!

From A Journey Through Learning you will get the lapbook that goes along with this chapter book. It is 3 folders big and includes extra study pages such as the Fresno Flood, Chinatown, the Transcontinental Railroad, Streetcars and Cable Cars, the Chinese Slave Trade, Chinese Writing, Golden Gate Park, Life at Young Ladies’ Academy, and more!

Susan K. Marlow is a twenty-year homeschooling veteran of four and the author of the Circle C Adventures series for “tweens” from Kregel Publications. She combines her love of teaching and her passion for writing by teaching writing workshops for kids on line and at home-school co-ops. She and her family make their home in Washington State.

To learn more, please visit Susan Marlow’s website: Circle C Adventures.

How to Enter:

Leave us a comment below and let us know what you love about the Circle C series! (please make sure to include your email address in the form, it will not be visible to others and will not be shared)

For extra entries:

• Subscribe to our Feed
• Follow us on Twitter
• Tweet This: RT @LessonPathways Enter for a free Circle C Book & Lapbook http://bit.ly/2cbEK5
• Become a fan on Facebook
• Say “Hello” in our user forum
• Sign up for our newsletter

Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. This contest will be open through Friday (January 15th), 11:59 EST.  Good Luck!!