Throughout the next few weeks, I’ll be joining in with the bloggers from iHomeschoolNetwork to offer some of my Top 10′s. The Top Ten Tuesday link up is hosted by my friend, Angie from Many Little Blessings.

This week, we’re sharing our favorite homeschooling sites. I’m going to warn you right now…mine are different in the fact that few of them are actual homeschool sites. However, these are the sites I find myself going to over and over again throughout the course of a homeschool year and that’s why they are on my list. {By the way, these are listed in order of how often I use them.}

—- #1 —-
SCHOLARIC – I was introduced to Scholaric by Amanda from The Pelsers, but it took me months to finally sign up for a free trial of their lesson plan software because I have always shied away from such things due to how complicated they usually are. I do not like software that requires hours of inputting data to make it work, and nearly everything I had seen on the market took more setup than I was willing to take the time for. I really didn’t expect Scholaric to be any different, but it was!
It is web-based so I use it on my iPad. (this is part of what has endeared it to me - I don’t have to be tied to my laptop/desktop!) I type in assignments, but my big kids can also add in their assignments since I don’t always keep track of where they are. I have never been more impressed by a lesson plan software in all 10 years of my homeschooling! And yes, we use it every single day multiple times a day.
—- #2 —-
GOOGLE IMAGES – I use the images from Google searches primarily for history and science. For example, yesterday I was teaching the older kids about the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. I Googled things like “hanging gardens”, “synagogue” and “hamanatshen”. But, then I clicked on IMAGES instead of trying to search through EVERYTHING.

Again, I am using my iPad so the kids can easily pass it around and look at the pictures while I read (please be aware that not all search images are appropriate, but usually the first several rows are perfect!). Having a visual to go along with what we are learning about is priceless!
—- #3 —-
AMAZON – I already told you about my freebie finds for next school year on Amazon, but then one of my readers told me about all the amazing Henty and Ballantyne books for free and I added even more to my Kindle app! And in the process, I found the McGuffy readers there too! A huge thank you to Reformation Acres for feeding my obsession for free books!
I also search Amazon first when looking for must-have books for the school year; however, you will see in a moment, this is NOT where I start my search…
—- #4 —-
PaperBackSwap – I told you in my post on creating my own history curriculum exactly how I use PaperBackSwap. I just listed a long list of books we no longer need and am greatly anticipating sending those off and adding more to my list of needs for next school year!
The reason this site is near the top of my list is because the books come trickling in all year long, so don’t think just because when you initially post your wants and don’t get everything you want that you won’t see it pop up later in the year. The things I can’t wait on, I buy from Amazon, but if I can wait, I’d rather try to get it via PaperBackSwap.
—- #5 —-
ChristianCinema.com – This is something brand new to our family, but it has already created some big excitement around here!
When we dropped our Netflix membership, we talked about getting an Amazon Prime membership so we could watch videos or subscribing to Hulu, but neither one of those options were distinctly Christian and the selection was a little iffy. After our decision to be more purposeful with our movie watching, we decided to search for something more in line with what we were trying to accomplish. I ran across Christian Cinema via an internet search engine and decided this was more what we were looking for. They even have a “homeschooling” category!
—- #6 —-
HOMESCHOOL SHARE – I’ve told you before how this is the first place I look for supplemental material during our homeschool year. This site has an amazing selection of free stuff! And in case you are interested in getting a ChristianCinema membership and then lapbooking what you learn, here’s the link to their Movie Lapbook!
—- #7 —-
THE HOMESCHOOL CHANNEL – I don’t utilize this site as often as I should, but it really is a great resource for the homeschooling family! But beware, you WILL get lost looking for items of interest there! It is endless!
—- #8 —-
CurrClick – I have had a CurrClick membership for years and used it periodically to get freebies, but this past April at 2:1 in Washington, D.C., I actually met Leah from CurrClick and came to the realization of just how extensive and awesome the site is!
For instance, did you know there are online classes your child can take via CurrClick on everything from Biology to Math to Government to Essay Writing and all for very reasonable prices considering the last time I looked at an online class through a homeschool company, it was $250!
Leah also told me about their FREE Clubs. There are Lego Clubs and Chess Clubs (yes, they actually get to play chess in a safe online environment!) and many, many more! There are even parent’s groups where you can talk about specific homeschooling issues and get the help you need from parents who have been there.
The actual products available through CurrClick are all digital, so if you are looking for less clutter in your homeschool, please check out CurrClick!
—- #9 —-
HOMESCHOOL SANITY – This was an off-shoot of Sherry’s original site Large Family Mothering and it used to be called McGuffey’s World (you’ll see it’s still under that in the URL). I started reading it because I have this strange fascination with McGuffey Readers. Probably the same reason one-room schoolhouses fascinate me. Sherry gives very practical educational application, and because she runs a large family household, I know what she offers will be doable for my homeschool.
—- #10 —-
MOM’s MUSTARD SEEDS FREEDOM FRIDAY – This is a series I have had bookmarked since it started! I want to go through the entire thing with my older kids. It is 12 weeks of Government classes from Lynn at Founder’s Academy and it is entirely FREE! The classes are presented via video, there is a reading list and worksheets and quizzes – absolutely AMAZING opportunity!
So, what would your top 10 be? You might even want to write a post about it and link it up to Top Ten Tuesday!
This is not my typical kind of post, but if you could have seen me the other night hooping and hollering every time I snagged a freebie from next year’s book list, you would get why I just had to share with all of you!

Having children has taught me something beautiful. It has taught me a sense of wonderment.







Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling
Next is lunch. By this point, we have been going strong with school and I almost hate to stop for nourishment! Lunch happens here between 12 and 1 pm – or whenever there is a natural lull in our school day. Occasionally, Daddy joins us, but most often, it is me and the 6 children. We typically have a light lunch rather than something heavy for two reasons:
Now, we all know you can’t feed your crew without either buying or growing your own food (or a mix of both), so here are a few of my favorite shopping posts: