New Face of Homeschooling: Technology

Here are some helpful links. If I don't put them down somewhere, I will never find them again. These technologies would work for many kids who struggle with learning issues.

Assitive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities

Homeschoolers May be Ahead of the Technological Curve

Homeschooling Special Learners with Assistive Technology

New Face of Homeschooling: Technology as a source of income or saving money

II. Technology as a source of income and/or means of saving money.

            Because of the way the internet is designed, some moms are able to stay home and work and contribute to their family’s income. For example one mom in our homeschool group, does medical records from home. Some moms have online businesses.

Used Books: Many moms buy and sell books through Cathswap, a yahoo group.  There are other homeschool buy and sell yahoo groups.

Ebay, www.abebooks.com , etc.

Whether you homeschool or not, moms want to save money.

Coupons: Individual stores, including Catholic homeschool stores, like Emmanuel Books and many others, send e-mails alerts of sales or coupons. Some businesses discount purchases made through the internet, i.e. airlines, driving schools, etc. Another popular coupon group is www.Groupon.com , which sends e-mails to your account of various discounted businesses (restaurants, hair salons, etc). http://www.retailmenot.com/ is a website with coupons for over 90,000 stores nationwide.

Discount Retailers: Some stores offer free shipping with a minimum purchase.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op is just what it says. Bulk purchases allow for discounted prices. Homeschool Buyers Co-op: http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/

They are the cheapest place for Discovery Streaming. They offer many online programs like Colonial Williamsburg field trips, or online math and reading programs. They also sell an online version of Explode the Code.

New Face of Homeschooling: Organizing

Here we go! Some of the resources referred to in my talk The New Face of Homeschooling at IHM in DC, 2011.

I Technology as an Organizer:

A.    For organizing your home and schedule:

1.     Emilie Barnes

2.     Family-centered.com

3.     Homeroutines.com (app. works well with FlyLady):

4.     flylady.net

5.     Google calendar, which multiple people can have access to, PDA, smartphone, etc.

B.     For organizing your lesson plans:

1.     For organizing lesson plans, attendance record, report cards, transcripts and more on your computer, there is the Homeschool Tracker

2.     For printable resources, there is Donna Young.org Printables and Resources: donnayoung.org

3.     Scholaric: http://scholaric.com/marketing

4.    titus2.com

5.    Chart Jungle : Printables for school and homeschool

6.   Excel spread sheet

7.   If you google, homeschool record keeping, or homeschool lesson planner, you will find a number of alternatives: Edu-Track Home School http://www.contechsolutions.net/products/eths_pc/

C.     For organizing Books: There are several choices.

Good Reads  Book recommendations from friends, keep track of what you have read and if you liked it and what you would like to read, form a book club and more. 

Shelfari: Shelfari

Keep track of what you have read; how you liked it and connect with friends.

Library Thing

Free unless you wish to catalog an unlimited number of books and no ads. Library Thing is to keep track of all the books you own. You can add books that are not in the system. You can scan books that have a bar code with your mobile phone or with a cue cat they sell on their site.

Harmony

New Face of Homeschooling

I will be speaking at the Washington DC IHM conference June 10/11, 2011. There is no way I can possibly share all the information about the impact of technology on homeschooling in 45-50 minutes. Therefore, I will be posting many of the books and links here. I will be continually updating.

Here is a Bibliography. I have read portions of these books, but have not necessarily cited them. They are not in alphabetical order or organized by topic.

The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology and Devices: Tools and Gadgets for Living Independently by Susznne Robitaille, 2010
For people with disabilities, this book offers a wealth of assistive technology, written for the layman.





Learning How to Learn, Revised by Joyanne Cobb, 2003.
Incorporating her own experiences of going to college as a disabled person, she lays out a well organized look at getting into and surviving college. She includes many helpful tips.





Christian Homes And Special Kids by Sherry Bushness and Diane Ryckman, 2003
Published through NATHHAN/CHASK
The book is laid out a little different. Each section is a different topic and then different families offer their first hand experience. There is a short chapter on assistive technology.

 High Tech/High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning by John Naisbitt, 2001
How technology effects our lives.







 The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr, 2011
He takes a look at how the internet and how we interface with technology is effecting how we think. Is the internet encouraging us to think with quick bits of distracted information instead of "promoting deep creative thought."





Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten: Raise IQ by up to 30 points and turn on your child's smart genes by David Perimutter MD, and Carol Comman, 2008.
I bet you can guess what they are going to say! Limit screen time. No TV for children under two. No TV in your child's room. No video games for children under 3. The list goes on.




Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (P.S.) by Eric Brende, 2005.
This is Eric and his wife's experiment to live without technology. But, I would add, there are plenty of uses of technology sprinkled throughout. I did not read the whole book. In my opinion, it is not what you are willing to live without, but what are you willing to live for. I don't know that the author fully recognizes that although there is a hint of it when they baptize their baby.



The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain, 2009.
The is written by a computer geek. It presents a technical look at the history of computer technology. The information is not really related to my topic at hand, but may be of interest.






The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) by Mark Bauerlein, 2009. Is the digital age destroying people's ability to think and reason, let alone read.






Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman, 1993. The fear that technology is transforming culture negatively.








 Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It by Jane M. Healy, 1999. Are children struggling in school, because of too much time with TV and video games.






 Different Learners: Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Your Child's Learning Problems by Jane M. Healy, 2010. More and more children are becoming labeled learning disabled. Healy takes a look at many of the diagnoses, identifies them, and discusses how they are addressed. For example, Asperger's Syndrom, What is it? Where does it come from? What do we do? Healy also covers how the brain develops, the effects of the environment, and much more.



 Disconnected Kids: The Groundbreaking Brain Balance Program for Children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Disorders by Dr. Robert Melillo, 2010. This book offers exercises to assess the child and practical solutions to overcome neurological disorders.





Overcoming Dyslexia For Dummies by Tracy Wood, 2005. She includes a list of technological helps for the dyslexic.







Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level by Sally Shaywitz, 2003. Now in Kindle. And there is a later pbk edition. She does have an interesting section on brain development.






Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons by Meg Meeker, 2009. No TV or computer in bedrooms.







Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Meg Meeker, 2007. One of the few if only authors who includes the importance of a moral foundation and God.







Helping Boys Succeed in School by Terry W. Neu and Rich Weinfeld, 2006. Some tech support suggestions offered.







The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do by Peg Tyre.







Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Leonard Sax, 2009.








Girls on the Edge: The Four Factors Driving the New Crisis for Girls-Sexual Identity, the Cyberbubble, Obsessions, Environmental Toxins by Leonard Sax, 2010.







Five-Star Apps: The best iPhone and iPad apps for work and play by Glenn Fleishman, 2010.







 Kids in the Syndrome Mix of ADHD, LD, Asperger's, Tourette's, Bipolar and More!: The One Stop Guide for Parents, Teachers and Other Professionals by Martin L. Kutscher and Robert R. Wolff, 2007.










How the Special Needs Brain Learns by David A. Sousa, 2006. The importance of language development in the young child.







Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head by Carla Hannaford, Ph.D, 2005.







Making the Brain Body Connection: A Playful Guide to Releasing Mental, Physical & Emotional Blocks to Success by Sharon Pomislow and Cathrine Levan, 2005.







Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age by Maggie Jackson, 2009.







Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper and James Schall SJ (forward), 2009.