Home Education Magazine

November-December 1997 - Columns

Homeschooling Online - Helen Hegener

* A recent post in the Home Education Magazine Forum on America Online asked "Do any of you use the internet in your homeschooling? I've finally started using it as a kind-of jumping off area when my kids aren't into starting their work. It really helps - we use it for a little while together (we all enjoy being online!) and then they get excited about something they've stumbled into and I just can't get them to stop! We usually start in an area we found called "This Week In History," on the ParentTime site (http://www.pathfinder.com/ParentTime/familyfocus), and then move on to on other topics from there."

If your family uses the Internet for homeschooling we'd love to share your online adventures with other homeschooling families! Send a brief description of your favorite sites to Editor-in-Chief for inclusion in future columns.

* The Aut-2b-Home list is a group of parents who homeschool autistic spectrum children full-time or part-time. We discuss both education and autism: developing programs for individual needs and learning styles, teaching methods, curriculums, resources (books, webbsites, organizations, etc), autism therapies, homeschool laws, IDEA laws, homeschool support groups, diet, nutrition, etc. The atmosphere of the list is intended to be positive and supportive with exchange of information, brainstorming and sharing of triumphs and tragedies highly encouraged. To subscribe, contact the listowner, Tammy Glaser aut-2b-home-request@maelstrom.stjohns.edu

* The acclaimed KidsArt art education site on the Internet offers free creative art projects at. The KidsArt "Art Map" page opens to a colorful map of the USA. Click on the states and you're taken to an art lesson inspired by that region... a folk art project from the Northeast, a "cowboy rope doll" to make from Texas, a replica of a native American mask from Alaska, and a dozen more. The art lessons can be downloaded free.

Other KidsArt website features include a gallery of child'made art, rules for the classic KidsArt Mail Art penpal exchange, and lots more art education fun and games. A free KidsArt mail order catalog is available, request by email from kidsart@macshasta.com or by regular mail by writing to KidsArt, PO Box 274, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067.

* Virtual Field Trips, by Gail Cooper and Garry Cooper, is a guide to some of the most exciting, educational, and innovative websites on the Internet. Chapters include "Historic Time Travel," "Worldwide Travel," "The Natural World," "Art Museums and Galleries," "On-Line Classes and Schools," "Meet Famous People," and many others. Using the Internet, you can visit Thomas Jefferson's Montecello, Yosemite National Park, view the famous particle accelerator at Chicago's Fermilab, travel through the human body, see the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, meet famous authors and historic figures, and ask questions of leading scientists and mathematicians. This book shows you how. Virtual Field Trips, by Gail Cooper and Garry Cooper, 160 pages, $24.00, published in October, 1997 by Libraries Unlimited, PO Box 6633, Englewood, CO 80155-6633; (800) 237-6124.

* The Kids, Computers, and Homework Contest, sponsored by Children's Software Press, is a monthly contest running from September, 1997 to June, 1998. Creative homework projects done by students on the computer are elegible for awards including savings bonds and software from major publishers. Entries in math, science, social studies, language arts and foreign language are welcome in two age categories: 8-10 years and 11-14 years. For more information and an entry form contact Children's Software Press, The Kids, Computers, and Homework Contest,720 Kuhlman Rd., Houston, TX 77024; (713) 467-8686; email csoft@childsoftpress.com.

* The Computer Museum is an online counterpart of The Computer Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, featuring well illustrated exhibits on the history of computing.

* The Virtual Museum of Computing offers a collection of WWW hyperlinks that include the history of computing and online computer-based exhibits. Fascinating supplementary notes are hyperlinked throughout the site.

* College Connections Web Directory 1997, by Earl Jackson, Jr. (Lycos Press, 1997), is a one-stop cyberguide to higher education. This huge paperback, with an accompanying fully hyperlinked html version of the printed book on CD-ROM, is a virtual tourbook of the best college and university websites in the U.S. and abroad. Using the powerful Lycos search engine, the Win/Mac CD-ROM links you to a vast array of educational resources, college application software, college courses, test preparation sites, financial aid assistance, distance learning resources, work-related seminars and online courses, a short course in creating your own website, and much, much more. The best part of this very readable guide may well be the author's frank, honest, and often funny commentary about education, learning, and life in general. $29.95 from Lycos Press, available at bookstores or see their website at http://www.lycos.com

* In his book/CD, College Connections Web Directory 1997 (Lycos Press, 1997 - see review above) author Earl Jackson, Jr., writes: "One of my favorite pithy definitions of the World Wide Web is: 'a distributed heterogeneous collaborative media information system.'"

He continues: "Computers, cyberspace, and Web technology are often fearful or daunting simply because the information is not made readily available, or the experts who could explain it don't know how to explain it in a useful way, or don't even realize that they haven't communicated. This really needs to be addressed, especially since the Internet is about 'information.' Those of us involved in this kind of 'information' technology need to realize that 'information' presented in a way that makes it unintelligible, ceases to be information."

* News, notes, information, resources, reviews, and much more: the American Homeschool Association's monthly online newsletter is available free! Send an email request to aha@americanhomeschoolassociation.org . Back issues of the online newsletter are available for downloading at the AHA website

* The American Medical Association (AMA) and The Nemours Foundation announce the launch of KidsHealth at the AMA, a website for children's health information. The new site is the first release of a three-year collaborative effort to produce the most comprehensive children's health site on the World Wide Web. KidsHealth at the AMA provides parents with reliable children's health information on a range of topics, including chldhood infections, emergencies and first aid, safety and accident prevention, child development, and much more.

* Cobblestone Publishing Company, publishers of the outstanding children's magazines Cobblestone, Faces, Calliope and Odyssey, offers an American History CD-ROM that collects 15 years of Cobblestone magazine text (works on MS-DOS, Mac & Windows). At $395 it might be a little pricey for families, but present the information to your local public library. It would make an excellent reference addition to their electronic resources. The Cobblestone Guided Reading Disk is only $39.95, and offers comprehension questions for 184 issues of Cobblestone magazine, from January, 1980 to December, 1995. Customizable formats for oral, handwritten, or electronic responses. For more information or a free 36 page full-color catalog, contact Cobblestone Publishing Company, 7 School Street, Peterborough, NH 03458-1454; call toll-free (800) 821-0115; email custsvc@cobblestone.mv.com

* Scientific American Frontiers, now in its eighth year, is a prime-time PBS series of five specials which explore such diverse and fascinating subjects as animal communication, digital technology, UFOs and more. Frontiers also offers interactive online accessibility on the WWW through PBS Online. Viewers can ask questions of scientists featured on the show, correspond with host Alan Alda, participate in contests and opinion polls, access local PBS scheduling information, link to related sites, check out guides and resources from current and past episodes of Scientific American Frontiers, and much more. Free 16 page teaching guides for each episode, designed for use with grades 5-12, include suggested hands-on activities, with specific science and cross-curricular links highlighted. The guides also include background information, teaching tips, online resources, and a reproducible quiz. For more information call 800-315-5010, fax 215-579-8589; email saf@pbs.org or write to Scientific American Frontiers, 105 Terry Drive, Suite 120, Newton, PA 18940.

* FLExOnline, a free weekly homeschooling newsletter, provides networking, support, information and news to the homeschool community. To subscribe to FLExOnline, send an e-mail message to FmlyLrngEx@aol.com and write "Subscribe FLExOnline" in the subject line.

© 1997 Helen Hegener

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