Enough Is Enough!

I'm going to go off topic today because I've reached a frustration level that is at its boiling point. I'm going to get very personal with you and share something about myself that feels slightly uncomfortable for me. Prior to the birth of my baby boy I exercised 6-7 days a week. I enjoyed doing cardio and weights. I recently went clothes shopping and came home in tears. I can't believe I've gotten to this point! I feel so torn most days because, while I know I'm putting my all into educating my children it leaves little time for me. I'm walking several times a week but, it's nothing like the intense workouts I did before. Does anyone else struggle with this? I want to be ok with this post baby bod but, I admit, I'm not.
This isn't just about my ego. I FEEL different. My joints ache from being less active and carrying around more weight. I'm frequently tired. My back aches. All resulting from less activity. Our bodies are meant to be challenged. As we age, activity and strength training, particularly for women, is so integral to our well being. It doesn't just feel good, it helps keeps us young. Intellectually, I know all of this. It's what drives me to get up at 5am and walk despite rolling into bed at midnight. However, with a thyroid disorder, I think I require more exercise. Unfortunately, I get overwhelmed at the thought of going to the gym. By the evening I'm too tired. If I go in the morning, it would take away from my children's school time since childcare opens at 9am. I can't go then, right at the beginning of our school time! I look forward to this gym membership ending in January because I'm going to join a different gym, as a family, and go with my sons. Does anyone else have a similar dilemma? How do you cope? How do you make time for yourself?

Parenting with love & logic!

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRCqWcer-Nc&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Sent from my iPhone

The Day That I Wish I Could Skip!

Have you ever had a day that you wish you could skip? Today was one of the days in our house. As a mom, I knew we were in for trouble when my 2nd born announced that he woke up super early(5am!!!!) and finished most of his school work. I knew this meant trouble because my firstborn is extremely competitive! He makes EVERYTHING a competition. Who knew that peeing longer could bring such joy? To my firstborn, life is a competition that must be won! This is part of what makes him so successful academically. I am quoting Ferris Bueller when I say that, "he is wound up so tight that if you put coal in his a@@, in two weeks you'd have a diamond." Maybe that makes me a mean mommy. However, I speak the truth.

The fact is, in homeschooling, we are going to have days like this. It is joyous and intimate and raw and gritty, all rolled up together. I'd say that most days, I go to bed feeling thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to educate my children(and more often than not, they educate me). However, you have to take the salt with the sugar. A good friend of mine recently, who is a seasoned homeschooler, told me some excellent advice. She said that it's ok, if you are having a really bad to stop and put it off til the next day. The world will not end if you finish before you got to everything that you planned every now and then. I should have listened to her today. I kept pushing and trying to "finish" instead of listening to my children. I was unable to accomplish much anyway. Thankfully, I reached a point that I realized that what I needed to focus on wasn't math or science. It was my children's hearts. 

That's the beauty of homeschooling. Being with your loved ones all the time forces you to deal with the nitty-gritty here and now. There is no putting it off until after school, when the intensity has dissipated. After calling my parents to vent they both, individually, said to me "well, maybe you should send them back to school then". I know that they were trying to help. They heard the frustration in my voice, and, like any good parent, wanted to remedy it. My gut told me that instead of pushing away, I needed to pull them closer. I needed to have a conversation about our bodies natural rhythms and how, while Andy is our resident morning bird(I used to put tin foil on the windows in his room as a baby because, if I didn't, he would be up before dawn), Nikolas is our night owl. I explained that it's a gift for both of them to be able to listen to their natural biorhythms. I wanted them to be able to work when their mind is at it's freshest. There is no RIGHT way. After, talking about how lucky we are to exercise those freedoms, Nikolas felt grateful to be able to stay up reading Harry Potter. Andy feels accomplished because he is finished "early". Being the 2nd born, after a highly competitive brother, that's a reprieve from the norm, for him. So maybe we didn't accomplish what we wanted today, but, in contrast, we accomplished what we were meant to. I'm ok with that.

Workbox system

http://www.squidoo.com/workboxes


Sent from my iPhone

If you are interested in our system of doing things, check out this link on work boxes. Most people adapt it to what works for their family. For instance, we only use the actual work boxes. We don't use the tags. I simply use a velcro tag that says "working" on the box the kids are working on. They each just move down chronologically from 1-7. I like that I can visually see where they are each at. I laminated a piece of paper that says "working" and bought Velcro fasteners from Office Depot. They also carry them at staples. I also have egg timers for each of the kids and they set them for each box. On the side of each box there is a laminated card that I fastened on using Velcro saying how many minutes to set the timer for.This system enabled us to be done about two hours earlier than normal. It's so efficient!!! The kids loved it because they had a surprise snack box....

Our 1st "Official" Day of School!!!

No blog today... Just pics of our Home School... You can see where we work together and individually.
Happy homeschooling!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy....

So, we celebrated our freedom to educate our children, as we see fit, by having a "Happy Unschool Day". We enjoyed so many good times playing and just being together. It was so nice not to have to prepare lunches and hustle out the door this morning to get the kids to school on time. My kids would be in the middle of playing and pause to tell me "Mama, I would be in this class right now if I were in school." Then, he/she would grin from ear-to-ear and say "but, instead I'm in my pj's eating popcorn watching a movie!!!"
I've been under the weather with some odd illness that caused the right side of my face to swell. I have kept my mind off of it by organizing our "school books"(I use that term loosely) by subject. I also set up my version of a system called "the work box system". However, in my version, there is no time constraints or set schedule. Only a routine. The kids start at the 1st one and work their way down. They might open up a box that has a snack and a drink in it. They might open up a box that says "watch Libertys Kids" with a small bag of popcorn. They might even open up a box that has them play an educational game with me or a sibling! They also have a box that may have "go for a brief nature walk with your nature journal". The sky's the limit. The kids are so excited about having a little surprise each day and I enjoy having some form of routine for our mornings. The boxes should be done by noon and then we are free to explore subjects as individuals or as a family. You may be wondering what happened to our "Unschool Experiment". Well, after several talks with the kids they ASKED for some routine and assignments. Yes, you read that right. They want to have periods of unschooling and periods of structure. I think it's the best of both worlds. I am not quite ready to start our regular schedule yet. Tomorrow we have coop so I'm going to start on Wednesday of this week. I'm so very excited to see where this year takes us as we navigate the world of homeschooling together! We all feel so lucky to get this opportunity. Life is good!

Our new library area(one of many!) that holds my HS books by subject, as well.

My version of "The Workbox System"

Boo :(

So, I'm sick. I ended up with a sinus infection and an ear infection. Lexi made me this when I was at the dr.... Love that kid!!!

I will be back soon...

I will be back to my blogging either tonight or tomorrow. Right now, I'm up to my neck in school supplies and I'm trying to organize my space so it's user friendly. After speaking with the kids about what they wanted to do this coming week, they said "Mama, we miss school. We liked how we had school together in the mornings then our afternoons free to do what we want". So, I am now putting together a schedule for the mornings using the "work box system". I will take some pictures and let you see how we do things at our house. So, wish me luck as I try to make my free spirit brain go into type A mode(a huge hurdle!!!).

UNSCHOOLING EXPERIMENT: DAY 4

“To understand a child we have to watch him at play, study him in his different moods; we cannot project upon him our own prejudices, hopes and fears, or mould him to fit the pattern of our desires. If we are constantly judging the child according to our personal likes and dislikes, we are bound to create barriers and hindrances in our relationship with him and in his relationships with the world. Unfortunately, most of us desire to shape the child in a way that is gratifying to our own vanities and idiosyncrasies; we find varying degrees of comfort and satisfaction in exclusive ownership and domination.”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti, Education and the Significance of Life

Our 4th day Unschooling was, by far, the most wonderful day we have had in our house in a long time!!! Being that, we have a lot of good days, that says a lot. What made it so special, you ask? Our home was literally, a utopia today. The kids were so pragmatic with each other. There was no bickering. NONE! Throughout the day, there were clandestine little moments that I am sure I missed but, for the most part, I saw a general sense of harmony, without the normal fluctuations in mood that are typical of our household on "school days". My oldest child spent the day being kind and showing empathy towards his brother. This is such a contrast to our normal happenings! Let me explain, my sons are 11 months apart in age, and to add to that, extremely different from each other. My 11 year old grasps most things without trying and isn't always humble about it. My 10 year old is warm, creative and very compassionate, yet he struggles to understand many concepts. I am sure that he often feels like "what's the point" as he trys to comprehend academic concepts. His brother "get's it" right away, and this makes him feel as though he isn't intelligent. As a mom, this breaks my heart. The thing that I can see, that my 10 year old can't, is that, once he grasps something, he really understands it. It doesn't matter that it took him a little longer. I struggle to convey that to him.

What made today so special was that my oldest, on his own recognisance, felt empathy for his brother, and made a decision to act differently towards him. He said "Mama, it must be really tough always watching me do so well, so easily while he struggles. I would hate that! I am not going to boast any more. It makes Andy feel bad. I am going to be more patient and help him". That's exactly what he did. He cooked Andy breakfast and patiently showed him how to do it. He encouraged Andy when he became frustrated at his Greek lessons, urging him to keep trying. He praised him for trying. He even went so far as to tell me that he will let his brother win sometimes, at boardgames, because he wants to build his confidence. He's 11 years old. I wonder what kind of man he will become? I have read that sibling relationships are extremely important for shaping the kind of spouse you will be. If there are no siblings in a family, cousins or very close Friends can stand in for that type of relationship. Normally, the boys relationship is filled with strife and competition. Today showed me that, while my children may or may not be the most erudite, they have learned a ton this week!

Maybe, what we needed most was to look inward, and have the time and space to focus on our relationships with each other. That is the beauty of unschooling, I'm discovering. Time and space and freedom open up the mind to wander. Wandering minds aren't the thing of rebellion and chaos, as many of us were taught to believe. Each day, I am pleasantly surprised at the choices my children are making, ON THEIR OWN. They are reading and writing and playing and exercising and thinking and doing. Not because it's written on a list that I made. They are doing these things because of an innate desire to do them. So, while it may not seem like they are doing "enough" from the outside, upon closer inspection I am finding that the opportunities are boundless with this lifestyle. I am learning so much each day that I think that we need to continue this "experiment" for another week. What do you think?

Morning walk...

This is how my day started....

Unschooling: DAY 3

Today, Andy and Lex were two peas in a pod. They played ALL day....

Today, I woke up at 5:30am and I finally WENT FOR A WALK!!!!!! For those of you that know me, you know how much I love exercise. Since my baby was born, I've had to push my ego aside and put exercise on the back burner.Andy woke up with me and went and it was so special to have that time with him, without anyone else. We saw two bunny rabbits, 4 cats and a snake!!!!!!! It was like going to the Junior Museum for free! This day started off so well that I am going to go to bed by 11:15 tonight and am doing it again tomorrow. Let me gently suggest waking up early and exercising. It really makes you feel alive and invigorated.

Now, onto our unschooling experiment...I have noticed that my 11 year old thrives in this environment.He learns for the sake of learning. He is constantly challenging himself and is thrilled when he grasps a concept that is exceedingly difficult for him! He has the ability to self regulate. He is also a "pleaser" and needs little correction from me. He simply does things out of love and mutual respect for me. Even if his hormones get the better of him, he quickly sees the error of his ways and will self correct. I think this has a lot to do with how much conversation he and I have. While our home is one that has rules like "be kind" with consequences for not doing so, I take an exorbitant amount of time explaining the reasoning behind my actions. I don't do this out of guilt. I believe rules help form expectations for our household. This helps it run smoothly. I explain because I want the kids to have the opportunity to see the logic behind the rules. Most of the time they do. Sometimes, they don't.

In contrast, my 10 year is thriving in this environment but, in a totally different way. He is not really concerned with learning new things right now. He will do a lesson on the computer if he is feeling internal pressure to learn( I am not suggesting that he do this. He just does it because he thinks he should. It's not because of any real need to learn something new). My 10 year old and his 6 year old sister have spent the better part of two days making up fictional worlds and playing make-believe. They have built forts under the kitchen table and dressed up in my husbands suits(as postmen...lol!). They have played "store" and "detective" and "war" and even "The Dog Whisperer". My natural inclination was to dismiss this as child's play but, I am realizing there is something more going on there. He needs this. After a very tumultuous school year last year, he needs some time to decompress and stretch reality. My daughter gets sucked right in because 6 is such a mystical age filled with wonder. She needs this too. They have become inseparable and it really is a special thing to witness. My oldest likes being on his own and independent. He gravitates towards me and his baby brother. Watching that interaction pulls at my heart-strings, as well.

While these all seem like normal everyday happenings, the mood and general feeling in our home makes me sense that there is more to it. I am not ready to give up my old ways of schooling just yet but, I am  having flickers of understanding of the beauty of this lifestyle. I am fighting off my need to make a schedule and a list and think sleep might come easy for the first time this week.  Finally, I am trusting what I feel even though I cannot see results....I know, with every fiber of my being that they are there. 

Great idea for chores for a family with several kids!!!

This great chore chart was a product of the 70’s and still works great today.  We use a four tiered chart: 1-Name of kid, 2-kitchen chore, 3- bathroom chore, 4- room of responsibility or ROR.  Having four kids makes it easy, but I won’t bore you with the merits of having four kids.  If you have one to three kids you can add mom and/or dad to the wheel.   If you have five plus kids doing chores, good for you! More helpers means less work for you and dad.   You may actually have a hard time coming up with enough chores.  In this case, you can assign the job of Sheriff.  This was a coveted job in my home, growing up with five siblings.  The Sheriff inspects the other jobs and makes sure the quality is up to snuff.  

We keep the same chores all week and rotate the wheel on Sunday.  After dinner before anyone is excused, we do the kitchen chores: everyone clears their own plate, rinses and stacks them in the right hand sink.  The kitchen jobs are 1. load, 2. clear & wipe countertops, 3. sweep  4. unload.  Dad takes out the kitchen trash.   This system ensures that the kitchen is always presentable and sanitary.   Then before bed, the kids do a bathroom job 1. Wipe down toilet exterior, swish bowl 2. Wipe down countertop, sink and mirror. 3. Disinfect floor and wipe down 4. Spray and rinse shower and tub.  And they also do an inspection of their ROR, putting  away anything out of place, 1. Living room 2. TV room 3. Downstairs Bathroom 4. Stairs and hallways.  On Saturday, they do a full scrub job on their bathroom job and dust and vacuum their ROR (obviously I vacuum for the 5 year old.)  When they are out of school, I give more detailed jobs in their ROR.  You can also use the detail jobs for penalties for infractions. 

I wanted to start today's blog with some quotes that might inspire you, as they did me:

"I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught." -Winston Churchill

"Schooling, instead of encouraging the asking of questions, too often discourages it." -Madeleine L'Engle

"Before children go to school in the first place, all of their natural learning systems are intact. This is what we can see from families who have homeschooled their kids from the very beginning. However, once children are in school for about three years, they are forced to shift over to a very unnatural system to survive the emphasis on memorization and the daily stress, rigidity, and humiliation of classroom life." -Judy Garvey in GWS #76

"You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help him find it within himself." -Galileo

"The child who attends public school typically spends approximately 1,100 hours a year there, but only twenty percent of these -- 220 -- are spent, as the educators say, 'on task'. Nearly 900 hours, or eighty percent, are squandered on what are essentially organizational matters." -Homeschooling For Excellence

"Most people, most of the time, learn most of what they know about science and technology outside of school." -National Science Foundation

"The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught." -Vauvenargues

n the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself." -Grace Llewellyn

“Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that secret; that secrets can only be known in orderly successions; and that only teachers can properly reveal these secrets. An individual with a schooled mind conceives of the world as a pyramid of classified packages accessible only to those who carry the proper tags.” – Ivan Illich

“Our rapidly moving, information-based society badly needs people who know how to find facts rather than memorize them, and who know how to cope with change in creative ways. You don’t learn those things in school.” – Wendy Priesnitz

“If we taught babies to talk as most skills are taught in school, they would memorize lists of sounds in a predetermined order and practice them alone in a closet.”  Linda Darling-Hammond

 The next thing I would like to share is a video that may just have the most accurate and plausible explanation of what Unschooling is. It is long but, after watching the first 15 minutes, both my mom and I had an "Ah, Ha" moment where it finally clicked.


http://youtu.be/LwIyy1Fi-4Q?t=3m39s


I hope that these quotes and the video will help you, as they did me, to inspire confidence that "unschooling" can make sense and that it can work for your family. I am not trying to convince anyone to go out and begin unschooling. What I am trying to do is open your mind to the possibility that there are other options that both the brick and mortar school based system and the conventional homeschooling methods that we normally hear about might not offer. Since I decided to home school I have been plagued with fears about "not doing enough". I don't think I am alone in this. I think it's pretty common. What if, just what if, I am doing too much?

Day Two- "Unschooling Experiment"
Yesterday went pretty well for the children. Andy and Lexi went swimming most of the day while Nikolas watched "Liberty's Kids"( a video series that covers a vast amount of historical information through cartoon characters) most of the day. In the morning they each explored topics that they were interested in. The most unusual part of the day was when the boys decided they wanted to explore different languages. They picked French and German. They watched Pocahontas in French then they watched Sesame Street in German. I don't think I have ever seen my sons laugh as hard as they did when they heard German!!!! German, in my opinion, is a rather coarse sounding language. In contrast, they both fell in love with French. So much so, that they watched nearly the entire movie, regardless of the fact that they couldn't understand it. On a positive note, the children got along exceptionally well, despite the lack of structure.In deep contrast to the children, I went to bed nervous and uncomfortable that the kids didn't learn "enough"(whatever that is!)
Today, we went to our HS coop and learned about Picasso. While I can't say exactly what was learned today by each of the children, I can say that, I know that what they did pick up, was useful. Looking at this situation from an Unschooling perspective, I saw my son Andy playing so beautifully with children who were much younger than him. He gave them piggy back rides and acted like a unicorn and was the most patient, I think, I have ever witnessed him being! My daughter, Lexi, who is painfully shy, opened up and played and talked. If you have seen my normally boisterous and playful daughter go completely mute when spoken to, you know what an accomplishment this is. My son Nikolas played with his friend Jacob for over an hour, peacefully and without incident. They were so quiet, you might not know that they were there. This, to me, is also a special part of our day because, it's so wonderful to see my son "click" with someone. Anyone with a really good friend who "gets" you, knows what a wonderful feeling that is. So, did we learn our times tables today? No! We did not. However, it would be a hindrance to my family if I failed to take notice of the happenings I mentioned. For today, I am at peace with Unschooling and it's magic.

UNSCHOOL EXPERIMENT- Day One

Just some pics from our day today:

Andy loved spending time with his big bro today!

Learning about static electricity!

Little Peanut's version of static electricity

Big E got his first tooth! Big day, today!

Nikolas made Andy an excellent omelet

The boys watching video's in French and German. They decided that French is pretty and German is just hilarious!

Rain check

Big E is cutting teeth tonight and keeps waking up so no blogging for me :( I promise to fill you in tomorrow on today's happenings.

The Unschooling Experiment.....

This week our family is going to try out "unschooling". If you are not familiar with unschooling, let me explain what my understanding of it is. It is, essentially, child-led learning. There are varying degree's of how to embrace this philosophy. As with any style of parenting, there are extremes to it. You have those parents that simply ask their children what they would like to learn and then they design a curriculum around that. Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have those that allow their children to to choose whether to brush their teeth, decide what time they go to bed and let them do, basically whatever they choose. I am sure there are those that would say that you are not "unschooling" if you influence them in any way but, I liken that to saying that one is not a vegetarian if they eat fish. I don't want to offend anyone. I actually understand and respect those that choose the most radical of unschooling philosophies. I see how it may work. However, for this week, I am going about this approach in a more moderate fashion. I can only justify this by saying that, as a mom, you have to go with what feels right. I need some time to myself at night to stay sane so I enforce bedtimes.

So I had a talk with my children last week and explained to them that they had free reign this week. There would be no lists to check off, no schedules and that the world was their oyster. All that I asked of them was to limit their video gaming to one hour a day. They agreed. They are allowed to use the computer if they want to look things up or watch video's. The tv can also be used to explore a topic of their choosing. I know that there are things to learn through video gaming but, from what I can tell, my kids have no problem exploring that topic. Since we are limiting our unschooling experiment to a week or two(for now), I think it best to limit video games for our little unschooling trial. Just my personal decision. This morning, thus far, the kids slept in a little more than usual. Surprisingly, They all seem super enthusiastic about soaking in information this week. Nikolas jumped on the computer and is judiciously scouring the Internet for information on scorpions. Andreas is doing an experiment on static electricity and Lexi is tagging along with Nik as he watches videos on the Red Indian scorpion. So far, this is adventure is starting off exceptionally well! I will fill you in tonight about all the details. Wish us luck!

static electricity!!!!

"Me Time"...What's That?

I heard someone ask about how HS parents are able to get in their "me time" on a a home school web page and it got me thinking about what my "me time" is. For me, "me time" means going to the bathroom with the door locked. It means taking a shower for long enough to shave BOTH legs. The shower is great because when the kids try to come talk to me, all I hear is "wa,wa,wa,waaa,waah.....MOMMY!!!!!!""wa,wa,wa,waaa,waah.....MOMMY!!!!!!"
It may be the only time I ever get to myself.
Really.
Don't feel bad for me because this is my own doing. I believe there are seasons in life and, with a four month old who nurses several times a day, it's his time right now. I know that as his needs for me become less urgent, I will be able to fit in more time for myself. As a HS parent, I think it's crucial that you give yourself the gift of "me time". I don't mean a day at the spa kind of "me time". I mean that you carve out quiet times in your schedule so that you can find some peace. If that means a nap in the afternoon while your older children read quietly in their room, then so be it. If that means enforcing an earlier bedtime so that you and your hubby have some time alone, than all the better!
I have asked a slew of veteran home school parents what their secret was to finding balance in their life with the children with them all the time and the most frequent response I get is a chuckle, along with the phrase "it's a work in progress". The truth is, most of us strive to find balance so that life will run smoothly. However, from what I can tell, it's something you aim for. I don't even think this is a problem among only HS parents. I think this is a parenting issue. As moms, we have a tendency to want to do it all and if there isn't much left over for ourselves, well, we are willing to accept that. I keep saying to myself that I will wake up at 5:00am and go for a quick walk before the children wake up. It seems like a FANTASTIC idea at midnight, when I finally roll into bed. I even go so far as to set out my workout clothes and shoes to make it easier. This has happened more times than I would like to admit! All well, maybe I will get some "me time" when my kids are in college.

I'm Not Perfect and Either are You AND That's OK.

Progress, not perfection. That's been my motto lately. I think if didn't say that, I'd go bonkers comparing myself to others. Let me start out by telling you things about myself that I wish you didn't know: I yell more than I should, I used to work out daily and now I just go for short walks with the kids so I've kind of let myself go, I can be impatient, I get up too early then stay up too late, I don't like being told what to do so I can't decide on a curriculum, I can be critical(I am actively working on this one), I can be a push over, I hate to cook unless I am in the "Zone", then I like it, I hate doing laundry and am bad at putting it away, I let my dogs kiss my face.

Whew!!! That wasn't so bad but, it's hard to see it all in print. I am sure there is a ton more but, I have to clean tonight because we are having people over tomorrow. I have found that, when I became a mom I was guilty of making judgement's. Experience has taught me that there is no BETTER way. There are lots of ways to do things and I can usually find some way that they would make sense to me if I try. Lets make it a point not to be so hard on each other. As women, we are constantly pitted against each other in the media. Whether we work or not or whether our lifestyles are the same shouldn't matter. The point we need to see is that most of us are doing our best each day for those we love. Period. We could learn so much from each other if we focused on that and let go of our judgement. For me, judgement comes from my insecurities. For this next week I am going to make it a point to read about those whose lifestyles are different from mine for inspiration. Will you join me?

http://wwwthatcrazyhomeschooler.blogspot.com/2012/08/as-promised-here-is-list-of-great.htm

As promised, here is a list of great resources for both HS families and mainstream families alike:

1-Memrise: Learning based on Science, fun and community. http://www.memrise.com/home/

2-Time4learning: A wonderful Full Online curriculum for HS, summer, or after school that will keep your kids up to speed. We have used it and it is our main source of curriculum. http://www.time4learning.com/

3-Ted Ed- Animated adventures and gripping video's to enhance your knowledge. http://ed.ted.com/

4-Mentormob- The youtube of learning materials. http://www.mentormob.com/

5-Open Culture- A giant collection of over 400 Ivy league course. Free learning at it's best! http://www.openculture.com/

6-Khans Academy- http://www.khanacademy.org/

7- learnist- http://learni.st/

8-Coursera- https://www.coursera.org/
free higher education

List of useful stuff for HS or for moms who want their kids to learn cool stuff!

I've got to go to a B day party now but, I'm compiling a list of great websites and books that would benefit homeschoolers, unschoolers or families with kids k-12. Look for it later today!