Here's another one for you to check out.  There are events on all over the country, which including tasting sessions, (always sound good to me!) and how to make bread or cheese.  Their blurb states that: During Soil Association Organic Fortnight, people across Britain will be celebrating all things organic. From 6-21 September, individuals, businesses and communities will be hosting events to raise awareness of the environmental, health and social benefits of organic production. Not only that, but the campaign gives everyone a chance to enjoy organic products from delicious food and drink to beauty and textiles.

Find out more at : http://www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf/GetInvolved/orgweek.html

I just found out about the 2008 Heritage Open Days event directory.  It is now 'live' and is being constantly updated.  

There are about  3,500 events taking place across England in the next few weeks, many in places that are not often open to the public.  There are many churches open, as well as historical sites, museums and parks.  It seems to be a very popular event and I have struggled to get much more information to tell you here, due to the website experiencing problems due to high demand!  However I am sure it is worth checking out for an interesting day out.

Here's where to start your search:   http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory

This is something that is well worth checking out:

The programme for National Schools Film Week 2008 is now live.  You can find all the information in your local area at  http://www.nsfw.org/.

All the film viewings are free, linked to National curriculum, and open to home educators.  This year's theme is 'Discovering cultures' and among the films being offered are 'Prince Caspian', 'Nim's Island', 'Ratatouille', 'Heidi' and 'Charlotte's Web'.  There is a wide variety of films on offer and it is worth checking more than just your closest town if you don't find what you want.

The screenings take place

20-24 October (England, Northern Ireland & Wales)

3-7 November (Scotland)

This is a very popular event so book early to ensure your places! 

   Hiya everyone! I hope you are having a great summer. Sorry for going a bit AWOL on you all there last month.  Things got a bit crazy around our way. Hubby ended up in hospital with a trip in one of those nice vans with the bright lights on top - SCARY! He is fine now, but it was a crazy couple of weeks in between. Then we had some foster children for respite for a week and all the other madness that is my life!

   To be honest, I've also not come across much that was earthshatteringly wonderful to share either! Must be 'downtime' in the summer. But, never fear, I've found and been sent a couple of wonderful things to share!

   First of all, this week only the National Year of Reading site is giving away some audio book files. A new one each day this week only! So head over quickly and get them! They are great for putting on MP3 players for the kids to listen to in the car or at Dr's waiting rooms. Trust me! LOL!

   The second thing is to mention the Summer reading program happening at the libraries here in England all summer long. This year it is called 'Team Read' and is loosely based on an Olympics theme. You can sign up at your local public library and the kids get a poster and collect stickers and they all get a 'prize' and certificate at the end if they read just 6 books. Most libraries are also putting on several free activities and events for kids to go along with the theme for the summer - so be sure to check out your local library and get onto the 'Team Read'.

   Well, I hope you find that all usefull and I'll try and do better about posting a bit more regularly in the weeks to come. Have a great time this summer and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!

   The Scottish home ed support service called 'Schoolhouse' is having a conference in September. On Friday the 12th of September there is a one day conference with great speakers like John Taylor Gatto, and it appears there is a weekend program as well.

   You can link over to the information on the Schoolhouse website here to get all the booking information. The conference is called 'Learning without limits' and the program looks really good! So if you live 'north of the border' than be sure to check it out!

   Oh. And just to let you all know that it coincides with 'International Freedom in Education Day 2008' which is held on the same day this year.

   This is a really cool list from an email I get regularly from Homeschool.com. If you have never visited their site you are missing out! And their newsletters often come up with real gems like this one!

   This is a list. (exciting huh?) Well, it isnt' just an ordinary list! No! This is a list of all the weeks of the summer holidays (or summer vacation as it is known on the other side of the pond). They have school closed for three whole months as opposed to our measly six weeks!

   So for each week of those three months (June, July and August) they have set a theme for the week and then listed a ton of links to activities and information on that theme! So have fun!

Welcome to Homeschool.com's bi-weekly E-zine, developed specifically to help you with your homeschooling. Please feel free to forward this issue to friends, family and associates!

Homeschool.com's Great Projects for Summer 2008 Selected By: Homeschool.com Sponsored by: Ablaze Academy Online Learning Academy Now’s a good time to start planning for the summer vacation and the inevitable cries of “I’m bored” from children that really just need a few ideas to get them going.  With just a little focus and structure students can be productive and yet still have a lot of fun! Make sure you look through the list and the sites, either before or with your children, to find the projects and resources that will work best for you. The list could also be incorporated into a planned summer school program as well. Summer is a great time for students to try something new or to learn a new skill since they have more free time than during the school year.  And, the list is not just for children -- the whole family can work together on a project as well! By adding these projects to your summer activities everyone can have a boredom-free summer! May 8, 2008   Sign Me Up! for this e-zine Send to a Friend   Ablaze Academy is accredited with the Georgia Accrediting Commission (G.A.C.), which is the oldest accrediting commission in the nation for grades K-12.  Ablaze Academy is also accredited with SACS & CITA which are recognized in over 100 Foreign Countries.  To learn more about Ablaze Academy visit them on the Web at http://www.ablazeacademy.com or contact them via email: info@ablazeacademy.com or toll-free via phone: 1-877-899-9985. June 2 – 8, 2008 - Document Your Summer How to Digital Scrapbook http://www.digitalscrapbooking.com/learn_how BetterPhoto for Kids and Teens http://www.betterphoto.com/photography-for-kids.asp Keeping a Summer Journal http://kids-indoor-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/keep_a_summer_journal Publishing for Kids http://www.asuen.com/faq.publish.kids.html Digital Movie Making for Kids http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/intro_video/making_of_movie.html How to Use a Video Camera http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/tutorial/ Descriptive Writing http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/diary/index.htm June 9 – 15, 2008 - Become a Sports Enthusiast Sports Illustrated for Kids http://www.sikids.com/ Olympic 2008 Sports http://en.beijing2008.cn/cptvenues/sports/ Kids Sports Links http://northvalley.net/kids/sports.shtml How to Play Soccer http://www.ehow.com/PrintArticle.html?id=2044097 Major League Baseball Kids’ Dugout http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/kids/index.jsp U.S. Kids Golf http://www.uskidsgolf.com/index.cfm Propelled by Pedal http://library.thinkquest.org/J002670/ June 16 – 22, 2008 - Embrace Other Cultures Culture Quest http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/cquest/ Cultures for Kids http://www.exploreandmore.org/world/default.htm People and Places http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Places/ Lonely Planet Destination Guides http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/ Tour the World http://earth.google.com/tour.html Costumes Around the World http://www.kids-space.org/CTC/mycostume.html Ethnic and Folk Costumes http://www.costumepage.org/tcpinfo3.html#folk Say Hello to the World http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/hello/ Free Online Language Courses http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html Ethnic Recipes http://www.bhg.com/recipes/food-slide-shows/ethnic-food/ June 23 – 29, 2008 - Discover Animals A Library of the World’s Animals http://www.learnanimals.com/ Animals of the World http://www.kidscom.com/games/animal/animal.html Creature Features http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/ Animals A to Z Zoo http://animal.discovery.com/guides/atoz/atoz.html Endangered Animals http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/species-exp-guide.html 4-H Virtual Farms http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/virtualfarm/main.html Live Animal cams http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/ June 30 – July 6, 2008 - Appreciate Art Kids Art http://www.kidsart.com/topten.html SmARTKids http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/smartkids/index.html Destination Modern Art http://www.moma.org/destination/ Artist’s Tool Kit http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/ Free Art Lessons http://www.interactiveartschool.com/free-art-lessons.html Museums on the Web http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/it/projects/Museums/Teacher_Guide/Hotlist/ Learn About Art http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/art/ July 7 – 13, 2008 - Explore the Universe Star Child http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html The Nine Planets http://www.nineplanets.org/ Auroras – Paintings in the Sky http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/ Starry Skies http://www.starryskies.com/ Eyes on the Sky Feet on the Ground http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/the_book/index.html Earth & Sky: Sky Watching Center http://www.earthsky.org/skywatching/ Virtual Tour of the Sun http://www.michielb.nl/sun/kaft.htm July 14 – 20, 2008 - Support A Cause Network for Good http://www.networkforgood.org/KidsGuideToGiving/ Kids Can Make a Difference http://www.kidscanmakeadifference.org/cando.htm 20 Ways to Help http://www.bygpub.com/books/tg2rw/volunteer.htm Learn and Serve America http://www.servicelearning.org/ Kiwanis Youth Program http://www.kiwanisjunior.org/en/programs/yslp/ Environmental Kids Club http://www.epa.gov/kids/index.htm July 21 – 27, 2008 - Become Tech Savvy 4Kids http://www.4kids.org/ Free Tutorials for Microsoft Office http://www.baycongroup.com/tutorials.htm LearningElectric Tutorials http://www.learningelectric.com/ KidzOnline Tech Tutorials http://www.kidzonline.org/TechTraining/ Online Practice Modules http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line.htm Software Tutorials and Online Courses http://www.actden.com/ Lissa Explains HTML for Kids http://www.lissaexplains.com/ How the Internet Works http://www.learnthenet.com/english/section/intbas.html July 28 – August 3, 2008 - Tune Into Nature Create a Nature Notebook http://www.homeschool.com/articles/NatureNotebook/ Summer Nature Activities http://www.naturepark.com/act.htm#summer Nature Awareness http://www.outdoor-nature-child.com/nature-awareness.html Listening to Nature http://www.museumca.org/naturalsounds/ Nature Games http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activities/nature-games.page-1.html Plants and Our Environment http://library.thinkquest.org/3715/ Undersea and Oversee http://www.fi.edu/oceans/index.html Tips on Getting Started with Bird Watching http://www.birdwatching.com/tips/kids_birding.html August 4 – 10, 2008 - Become an Author Literary Elements Map http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/lit-elements/ Book Cover Creator http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/bookcover/ Comic Creator http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/ Fractured Fairytales http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/fairytales/ Writing with Writers http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/ Story Writing Tips http://www.coreygreen.com/storytips.html Kids on the Net Creative Writing http://www.kidsonthenet.com/create/index.cfm 30 Days of Poetry http://www.msrogers.com/English2/poetry/30_days_of_poetry.htm August 11 – 17, 2008 – Celebrate Music Intro to Reading Music http://datadragon.com/education/reading/ Notes on Songwriting http://www.robinfrederick.com/write.html Learn About Instruments http://datadragon.com/education/instruments/ Instruments of the Orchestra http://www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3 Make Music! Start a Band http://www.mustcreate.org/kid_home/kids3_1.shtml Play Music http://www.playmusic.org/ Creating Music http://www.creatingmusic.com/ Kids Music Site http://www.kidsmusicweb.com/ August 18 – 24, 2008 - Learn to Cook Introductory Cooking Lessons http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/kids-cooking-lessons-cit-intro.html Kid-friendly Cooking Demos http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_kids/article/0,1904,FOOD_16382_3103395,00.html Cooking Video Demonstrations http://www.cooking.com/techniques/vidtech_toc.asp Cooking Lessons Online http://www.deliaonline.com/cookery-school/how-to/ Food Safety Facts http://www.agr.state.nc.us/cyber/kidswrld/foodsafe/index.htm Children’s Recipes http://www.childrensrecipes.com/ Theme Dinner Ideas http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/theme-dinner-ideas.html World Recipes for Kids http://www.lucyeats.com/world-recipe-for-kid.html August 25 – 31, 2008 - Organize for School Time Management Guide http://www.studenttools.info/study-tips-time-management-guide.html Creating a Calendar http://www.psychpage.com/tech/calendar/get-a-calendar.html Notetaker http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=722&title TaDa List Maker http://www.tadalist.com/ Schoolhouse2 Homework Organizer http://lifehacker.com/software/top/download-of-the-day--schoolhouse-2-mac-248705.php Students Lending Tools http://www.saystudent.com/sf/tool-set.html Software for Starving Students http://softwarefor.org/ Kids Internet Search Tools http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm

Wouldn’t it be nice if every day was Mother’s Day? We can’t make every day Mother’s Day, but we can offer savings you can enjoy the whole year through!

In appreciation for all you do CurrClick.com is pleased to announce our

3rd Annual Mother’s Day Freebie Event!

Spend Sunday with your wonderful family and then visit us on Monday, May 12th for an event that will give you a reason to keep celebrating Mother’s Day for the rest of the year:
From May 12th through May 14th, download up to 20 FREE Homeschool titles from our generous publishers, worth over $100.00 in value!

http://www.currclick.com/cclick_mothersday.php

Happy Extra-Long Mother’s Day to you, from CurrClick and it’s publishers: The CurrClick Mother’s Day giveaway event is our way of honoring the tremendous love, creativity and hard work you have dedicated to your children in their homeschools and in their lives.

   If you live within driving distance of Bath than this one if for you! Even better is if you are a Home Service Member - this one is *FREE* for you!!!! Cool huh?

   Here is the booking form complete with the details of the day and Wendy Wilsher's contact details if you have any questions.

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Bath Conference

We're delighted to invite you to join us at St Bartholomew's Church, Bath on Saturday 31st May 2008.

We have a cracking programme of workshops and discussions on a whole range of home schooling topics. You'll be welcomed, encouraged, inspired and stimulated.

- Ask the panel

- Sharing the journey

- What About Exams?

- Discipline isssues

- Some input from Curriculum Suppliers

- And the rest

We hope you will join us. We start at 9:30am with coffee and end at 4:00pm and refreshments are provided. Please bring your own packed lunch.  We have some space for children but on a first come first serve basis.  Please book early.

Please complete and return the form with full payment (free to Home Service Members). Confirmation will be issued in advance of the event. The Home Service reserves the right to alter the arrangements as described due to unforeseen circumstances.

- St Bartholomew's Church, King Edwards Rd, Oldfield Pk, Bath BA2 3PB

- Saturday 31st May 2008

- 9:30 Coffee for 10.00 Start.

- Day ends at 4:00

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Be Inspired, Rejuvenated, Refreshed and Re-Charged. Listen, Share, Learn & Enjoy

name

children (ages)

tel

email

address

I am a member of The Home Service and require

adult places (@ No Charge)

I am not a member of The Home Service and require

adult places @£7.50 each

I am planning to bring

children of ages:

I enclose a cheque for (No. Places x £7.50) £__________

(cheque payable to Wendy Wilsher)

Please return to:

Wendy Coates, Manor Farm, Hardington, Frome, BA11 2RE        t 01373 834426,  or

Wendy Wilsher, Crossed Swords Cottage, Town Barton, Norton St Philip, Bath, BA2 7LN

t 01373 834 838         e wendy@wawilsher.fslife.co.uk

w www.home-service.org.uk

   If you can make it to this one then please pop over to the Math U See stall and say hi, since I will be there all day!!

   It was great fun meeting Mamasmurf and Littlesmurf and Papasmurf last week at the Stockport event!! Franbles made it there too (not that seeing her wasn't fun - I've just known her for ages! ), so we had a regular bloggers reunion!! What fun! So if we have a bunch of bloggers in the area, stop by and we can all meet up.

   Seeing as we always homeschool the year round, we don't actually ever have a 'last home stretch' to try and get through, but we still have our 'dry times' as it were.

   This article has a 101 suggestions to shake off the homeschool blues and make things in your homeschool seem fresh and bright again!

   I know that I've listed details of a couple of events that are going on around the country both conferences and resource fairs lately. I just thought I'd make an appeal out to you all (all my loyal and silent readers! LOL! I know you are there since my stat counter says you are!)

   If you are hosting, organizing, taking part in or simply know about a homeschooling event in your area PLEASE write to me either in the comments or using the email link in the right hand sidebar, and send me the details. I would like to publicise all the events that I can get details about so that everyone will be able to find one in their local area to attend!

   Hopefully this info will help other lonely home edders or wannabe home edders in your area, so give me a shout, OK?

   Tos are doing their annual survey of homeschooling companies and products. Just follow this link and take the survey - which takes about five minutes to complete. You don't need to vote on every catagory, so if you use just one or two products from America or order from some American companies (or if you use Math U See - hint,hint, hint!) you can just vote on those catagories! I'm sure the publishers you use would appriciate your vote!!

   As a thank you for voting they have two *FREE* products available to download at the end of the survey. One is a neat little unit study type book about mice which is really cute! The other is a report on help in teaching children to write (as in composition, not handwriting). So there is something for every age group!

   Below I'm posting the details of yet another Home education event!! Whoo - Hoo!! These are starting to pop up all over the place at them moment.

   I will also be attending this one and bringing the Math U See stall with me, so if you live in the area and are interested in seeing Math U See than pop in and take a look at it, along with all the other brilliant resources that are listed as being there on the day too!

   Even if you aren't interested in MUS but you are one of our bloggers and in that area, it would be great to meet you!! So if you are there, be sure to come and find me on the MUS stall and say hi! Hope to see some of you there!

OPTIONS

A day event for Christians involved in or considering home education

 Have you ever wondered what your options are as you seek to educate your children? Here is an opportunity for you to come and look at and/or purchase resources, hear people with years of experience speak and be on hand to give advice, have a chance to fellowship and network with other like minded people. Feel free to attend all or part of the day.

 WHEN:  Sat 19^th April from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

 WHERE: Reddish Life Centre (near Stockport) Sykes Street SK5 6AL

 COST:   £5/family payable on arrival (drinks and biscuits included)

 SPEAKERS: Steve Richards – seminar – What are your Options?

                        Mary Hardy – discussion group – Working with Others

 RESOURCES AVAILABLE: Ichthus Resources, Conquest Books, Creation

Research, North Star, D.K. slight seconds, Home Service, Second hand resources …

 PLEASE BRING: A packed lunch and a notebook and pen

 PLEASE NOTE: Children are welcome but there will be no specific activities for them and you must remain responsible for them at all times. You are welcome to bring second hand resources to sell or give away but please remember to take home any items left. If selling then please price clearly and provide a container to collect money.

PROGRAMME

10 a.m. Arrival/registration, tea and coffee

 11 a.m. Seminar – What are your Options? – Steve Richards

 1.45 p.m. Discussion Group – Working with others – Mary Hardy

 3 p.m.  Seminar repeat – What are your options?

 For more information please contact Jenny or Mark Bennigsen 0161 428 1837bennigsens@ntlworld.com

   Since this year is leap year and this Friday is a day that only happens once every four years, I thought you might be interested in doing some activities about leap year!

   Here are some links about calendars etc.

http://www.timeandd ate.com/date/ leapyear. html

http://www.polaris.iastate.edu/NorthStar/Unit8/unit8_sub1.htm

   I found the details of a Home education resource fair happening in Crawley in April. I'll post the details below if anyone is in that area and interested in coming along!

   I will be there running a table for Math U See so if you come, be sure to pop by and say hi! It would be nice to meet of with some other bloggers during the day and other home edders too. And of course be sure to come by and get the best maths curriculum available in the UK!

There will be a Home Educators Resource Fair at our church in Crawley, South
East England, on the Saturday, the 5th of April.

There are a number of vendors who have already agreed to come along (all
very, very worthwhile!) and I would like to extend an invitation to anyone on
this list, who may be selling or promoting resources
beneficial to home educators or perhaps you may like to
sell your redundant/ second hand materials. If you are interested in
booking a table, let me know soon… there is no charge.


In order for it to be worthwhile for our Home Ed Resource providers (who
will be travelling far to be there) could you tell your friends about the
event and do a bit of promoting. There will be no entry charge.


If any of you have helpful suggestions, particularly if you have run a
resource day before and may have some advice, please send me an email, I
would really be grateful.

Directions to the church is at http://www.3bfchurch.co.uk/
We will be open for business from 10:30-16:30.

   You may remember me posting this sale in the Black Friday list, but their server crashed and the sale didn't happen for many people. Here is the details of the re-do! And it Includes all the ebook format ones so we can make use of this sale too!!  Yippee!! Not free but today especially it is a significant discount - all weekend really! So pop on over and bag a bargain!

WWW.HANDSOFACHILD.COM SECOND-CHANCE!

It's HOAC's Second-Chance Sale!
HOAC Project Packs and Kit Packs ONLY!
Sale does not apply to any other products!!

All Project Packs in any format!
Printed, CD, or eBook!

Here is the schedule of dates and discounts:
Friday January 18, 2008 6:00 AM till Saturday 6:00 AM 45% off Saturday January 19, 2008 6:01 AM till Sunday 6:00 AM 35% off Sunday January 20, 2008 6:01 AM till Monday 6:00 AM 30% off

All Times are Eastern The Coupon Code for this Sale is 2ndchance
NOTE: Sale does NOT include the Template Pack or any Graphics Packs. Cannot be combined with any other offer, sale, coupon or discount.

Make the Most of the Sale this weekend and use the Wishlists feature! Just set up your account now and fill your wishlists and then you can add them to your cart and checkout in the blink of an eye! IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!! If you have an existing account YOU MUST LOGIN and FILL OUT ALL YELLOW FIELDS in your account information before placing an order. If you do not login and have all yellow fields filled in BEFORE you begin your order any Coupon Codes you have WILL NOT WORK! Remember to LOGIN and FILL OUT ALL YELLOW FIELDS BEFORE SHOPPING! · Login · Click on the Account button at the top right of the page · Click on Manage Address Book · Click on Edit in the first box · You will now see a form that has yellow fields. Make sure those fields are filled in.

   I thought this was an interesting thing to do with the children! This site has shown pictures of people from all sorts of cultures all over the world. They are standing behind a pile of food that will feed them for a week.

   Amazing to see the differences between what different cultures eat and how much some have compared to others!  Good for the children to see some times to appriciate what we have here in the UK.

   I don't know about you, but I've been trying to follow the situation with the homeschoolers in Germany quite closely. It is really close to us and with all the EU 'stuff' it could mean that rulings that are made about Germany could start to affect us eventually!! Scary stuff, but true!!

   Sheila in Germany has posted about even more situations with families having children 'taken' from them and now a family whose business and personal finance have all been frozen, thereby preventing them from even fleeing the country to escape the persecution they are under!!!!  

   In a peaceful attempt to help this family and other homeschoolers in Germany there is a campaign to send Christmas cards with a peaceful message to the officials there in Germany! The message is simply this - "Dear Mrs. Jürgens-Pieper, Merry Christmas, in the hope, that by next Christmas educational freedom will exist in Bremen. With greetings from the (X) family." (Bremen is the area of Germany where this family live)

   Please consider sending a Christmas card to this lady in the hope that we can help secure homeschooling freedom in Germany during the next year. If you link over to this post on Sheila's blog you can find the address to send it too and the message written in German so you can copy it out correctly.

   They say that numbers speak loudly! Let's see if we can inundate this lady with Christmas cards. (Remember the scene in 'Miracle on 34th Street'? When the post office delivers all those sack to Mr Kringle on the stand in court? ) We firmly believe that if they start getting enough pressure from regular people in many nations of the world, they may reconsider the position on homeschooling in Germany.

   So please consider adding just one more address to your Christmas card list? Thank you!!

   I just found these details on another list and thought there might be some home educated teens out there that might be interested in going to one of these!

In 2008 it is planned to hold two weekends for home educated young people of
15 or older. These well be very similar to previous years; and full