As is our usual custom on Thursday, we’ve got a super round up of Deals and Steals for you!   Our Frugal Fannie team of investigators have done all of the detective work for you to find the best bargains and freebies this week.

Don’t forget to join us on Twitter.  Look for the #dealsandsteals hashtag, because we’ll be sharing more good stuff throughout the day!

This Week’s DEALS

And don’t forget to check out Azulio’s Deal of the Day! (remember, this price is good for today only!)

Inventions that Changed Our Lives: Medicine

The JUST THE FACTS Learning Series investigates the developments in modern technology that have had a significant effect on our lives. This installment explores the astonishing advances made in the world of medicine which have been utilized in fighting everything from the simple infection, to life threatening diseases. Includes archival footage and video clips of actual medical procedures.

Today’s Price: $4.99

This Week’s STEALS

Children of Ancient Rome Free e-Book (pdf reader required): Classic story/history book set in the early years of ancient Rome, providing a fascinating view of that civilization’s early history, through the eyes of children growing up in that historic era. A fascinating mix of Roman history, legends and lore… really makes ancient Roman history come alive.

Online Educational Games: GoGoKabongo develops cognitive skills that are essential to reading such as: attention and focus, memory skills, processing, planning, visualization and comprehension.  Best of all – kids can play in “Laughter Lake” for FREE!

Free Inuit Lapbook: This page is full of resources you can use to make your own Inuit Lapbook.  It includes custom mini-books and numerous links to resources!

Pumpkin Shape Book & Writing Prompts: (pdf reader required) Use this high-quality printable resource for your pumpkin, harvest or Halloween theme unit.  It includes literature connection hints, writing prompts and more!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s featured deals and steals!  Did we miss a goody?  Share the love and tell us in the comments section….

This post was written by Christina S. and Dana A., LessonPathways.com team members and the most Fashionably Frugal Fannies you’ll ever meet.  They met through a homeschool group over 10 years ago and have been fast friends ever since.

Maybe you’ve just decided to homeschool, or maybe you’ve been homeschooling and have decided to switch gears.  Or maybe you’re one of the ones (a-hem: ME!) just getting a late start this year!

We recently hosted a series on Planning Your School Year.  We hope you find these posts helpful!

First things first: Where to Start?

Which style fits your family the best?

Child-Led Learning

The Eclectic Approach

Using a Structured Curriculum

Times are tight!  Keep finances in check: Curriculum on a Budget

And to wrap it all up: Record Keeping

Have missed the one piece of advice you’re looking for?  Leave us a note in the comments section and let us know – we’ll try to help you out!

A Harvest Poem - Author Unknown

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest is all gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain.
So open wide the doorway-
Thanksgiving comes again!

We’d like to take a moment to wish our northern neighbors a very Happy Thanksgiving!

If you’d like to learn more about Thanksgiving in Canada, check out this post, written by Canadian Native and LessonPathways.com Team Member, Jennifer B.

Have you ever wished there was some way for your budding author to become published?  Do you feel like your kids are missing out by not having a school newspaper or a place to showcase their literary talent?

Look no further!  The Homeschool Literary Quarterly has arrived on the scene!  According to their site:

The Homeschool Literary Quarterly is an online, quarterly literary magazine published and sponsored byWriteGuide.com, a Company Devoted to the Teaching of Writing.

Our purpose is to

(1) Promote the literary arts within the homeschool community.

(2) Provide a place where homeschool writers can showcase their work, and receive intelligent commentary from readers.

(3) Assist homeschoolers who are considering a career in publishing or writing.

We think this is a great idea! They are calling for submissions for their upcoming newsletter.  The deadline is November 15th.  Encourage your child to polish up his or her best piece of fiction, poetry, an essay or even his or her best book review and you might see it in the next issue!

Sunday marks the 86th anniversary of the first time King Tut’s treasure was photographed!

Dig into the history of Ancient Egypt with this introductory Pathway, “Exploring Ancient Egypt.”  We’ve included some fantastic hands-on activities and resources. When you’ve completed this Pathway, your child can continue his or her studies by following it up with one of our other Pathways devoted to Ancient Egypt, including Hieroglyphics, Mummies & Pyramids.

While you are visiting LessonPathways, please don’t forget to support our sponsors.  Every time you do, you help keep LessonPathways free for everyone!

In this unit, your child will become familiar with Ancient Egypt through exploring the geography, daily life, foods, and religion of this historic civilization. Your child will have fun creating sand paper art and helping you prepare a yummy meal of Egyptian beef and rice. Skills will be mastered through the use of hands-on activities, interactive lessons, mapping activities, games, coloring pages and videos. This pathway is designed to take approximately one week to complete, depending on how often you teach history.

With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s right around the corner, sugary sweets are sure to be in bountiful supply over the next few months.  Teach your children the importance of making wise food choices with this week’s featured Pathway about Nutrition.

While you are visiting LessonPathways.com, please be sure to support our sponsors by clicking their advertisements to see what they have to offer. Every time you do, you help to keep LessonPathways free.

Explore healthy eating and the food pyramid in this unit. Hands-on activities include creating a healthy meal collage, fishing for healthy foods, singing a food song, asking 20 questions about foods, and making a healthy snack. Worksheets and coloring pages are included to reinforce the concepts. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach science.

The latest edition of the Blog Carnival of Homeschooling is published.  Hosted by Sprittibee, this edition focuses on different homeschool “set ups.”

The ‘School Room’ episode in honor of ‘where we learn’. If you have been a long-time visitor here, you’ll know that I have MOVED a lot over my homeschooling years and I’ve ‘done school’ just about everywhere in the houses we have lived in. Some houses have had dedicated school rooms (sometimes frequently used, other times neglected for the kitchen table) and others haven’t (read: 2 bedroom apartment living in Arkansas). This post is in no way meant to intimidate or compare – we’re all about sharing ideas and bringing you little glimpses in to the homeschool areas of others. Today you get to be a ‘fly on the homeschool wall’.

Head on over to the Sprittibee blog and be inspired!

Oh the joys of National Punctuation Day!  It’s the perfect time to pull out this little gem of a Pathway, Bee! I’m Expecting You! By Emily Dickenson.

While you are visiting LessonPathways.com, please be sure to support our sponsors by clicking their advertisements to see what they have to offer. Every time you do, you help to keep LessonPathways free.

In this unit, you will read the poem, “Bee! I’m Expecting You!” by Emily Dickinson. Your child will have fun creating a diorama of Fly and Bee’s home, and making yummy Queen Bee Quesadillas. Skills will be mastered through hands-on activities, worksheets, games, puzzles, coloring sheets and videos. Your child will also learn how to use commas and exclamation points in a sentence. Writing assignments include writing a letter to Fly, writing a poem about an insect or butterfly, and writing a short story about Bee. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach language arts.

Yo, ho, ho and a stick of gum!  Sunday is Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Have fun with pirate speak and then follow it up next week with this engaging unit on Pirates!

While you are visiting LessonPathways.com, please be sure to support our sponsors by clicking their advertisements to see what they have to offer. Every time you do, you help to keep LessonPathways free.

In this unit, your child will learn about pirates, privateers, buccaneers, and corsairs. Your child will learn about individual pirates as well as their ships, weapons, and the food they ate. Hands-on activities will have your child making a Jolly Roger, sea bisquits (hard tack), a treasure chest, drawing a ship, and writing about a chosen pirate. Games and a word search will also help reinforce what your child has learned in this unit. In addition, your child will watch a video to help him or her understand that pirates were much different than we view them today. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach history.

To compliment our blog series, “Making Math Meaningful”, this week’s featured Pathway is from our Math Year 2 Guided Journey.  Designed to be engaging and interactive, this unit on Place Value could be just the thing to make math meaningful for your child.

While you are visiting LessonPathways.com, please be sure to support our sponsors by clicking their advertisements to see what they have to offer. Every time you do, you help to keep LessonPathways free.

In this unit, your child will review place value up to the hundreds and learn to write numbers in expanded form to 199. Hands-on activities, such as using manipulatives and playing games, will enhance this unit and provide your child with a more thorough understanding of place value. Online activities and worksheets are also provided to reinforce the concepts. This unit is designed to last one week, depending on how often you teach math.