Resource Roundup: Free Curriculum

Free Resources Roundup 

Here is a roundup of everything I am currently using or plan to use next year that is both completely FREE and also a quality addition to our homeschool. 

*Note: This isn't a roundup of every valuable free thing that I have ever found or used, but rather a collection of the things I currently have an attachment to; I will add to it over time. 

Language: 
Under the Home: Poetic Forms
I have also previously used several other aspects of this curriculum. 

At Home Middle School: 100 Days of Poetry
Both of these poetry resources will be a part of our Poetic Composition Lessons next year. 

Easy Peasy: Spanish 6


Easy Peasy: Biblical Hebrew

Treasure Hunt Reading
My dyslexic youngest finished this recently, and it was pivotal in his reading journey.

Loops and Tails Handwriting
Cursive and Blackletter 

Anton App


Math: 

Building Your Future Curriculum from the Actuarial Foundation 

Anton App 
My youngest uses this weekly, and my oldest uses it for remedial practice and review. 

Two Cents Videos 
We are incorporating this during Personal Finance Lessons. 

Minimalist Math

Elementary Geometry
An out-of-print gem that presents geometry in a fun and accessible way.   

NRICH Mathematics
An absolute treasure trove of Math Games of all types. 

Maths Starter Shed
Another plethora of Math Games to explore. 

Hands On Banking  
We actually used this last year, but I left it on the list because we really enjoyed it. 

TD Bank Financial Education Lessons
A few more personal finance lessons that I plan to work in as well. 

Khan Academy
You will see Khan Academy often on this list, for many subjects. Here is a roundup post of all of the ways that I use it. 

History:
Reading Like a Historian

Crash Course Videos 


Other Humanities: 
Little World Wanderers Cultural Units

Landmark Cases
This will be used heavily in our Citizenship Lessons next year. 

Civic Online Reasoning


Science: 

Khan Academy
My oldest used the Middle School Earth and Space Curriculum this year, and I plan to incorporate some of the High School Curriculum in the future. 

Coral Reef Ecology Curriculum from Living Oceans Foundation 

Computers/Technology: 

Code.Org 
My boys have used this for years. 


CS Unplugged 
Another one that we finished, and I left on the list because we loved it! 

Digital Citizenship Curriculum from Common Sense Media 
My affection for this curriculum is significant! 

Internet Safety from Khan Academy 

Art:

Arttango 
Yet another one that we finished several years ago, but was already in a draft for this list, and I can't remove it because we enjoyed it and it was effective! 

Easy Peasy: Ancient Art Survey

The Art Story
I use this every single term. It is a fantastic resource! 

Music: 

Easy Peasy: Ancient Music Survey

Sing Solfa

Ken Puls Music: Hymns 

Logic:
 
Logic Self Taught 

Mind Over Media Propaganda 
I have already used this with my oldest but plan to repeat as a group, including my youngest.  

CS Lewis Institute

Critical Reasoning Podcasts from University of Oxford 

Psychology:

Growth Mindset from Khan Academy 

Life Skills: 

Easy Peasy: Foundations for my oldest 

Easy Peasy: Social Skills for my youngest 


Career Studies: 
Entrepreneurship from Khan Academy 


Bible: 

The Bible Project 

Shakespeare: 

Seton Hall University Shakespeare Resources
This is where I mine our performance to view for each term's Shakespeare play. 

Settledness

 

I have fought incredibly hard for a settledness that now is the marker of my
 mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual life.⁣

⁣

I used to be: ⁣

⁣

*discontent even though I have everything I have most deeply desired⁣

⁣

*obsessed with what everyone was saying and thinking⁣

⁣

* quick to anger and overwhelm and to taking everything as a personal offense⁣

⁣

* addicted to the process of working through drama and conflict and unable to settle into the peace of any relationship ⁣

⁣

* skilled at distorting my own perception so that everything around me was magnified and everything coming from within me was excused and justified⁣

⁣

* lacking grace and unable to truly love others unless they were what I imagined or desired them to be ⁣

⁣

* unable to dwell within my life, always looking for ways to avoid my own thoughts and the work needed to navigate them in wisdom and maturity⁣

⁣

* unable to truly delight in anything, always finding a way to see everything as *almost* good ⁣

⁣

* a naval gazer, unable to look beyond myself to see, much less savor, the goodness of my very good life ⁣

⁣

* in a consistent pendulum swing between avoiding my trauma to wallowing within my emotions and using them as an excuse to be miserable and make everyone around me miserable ⁣

⁣

Turbulent. 

I used to be turbulent. 

And, by the incredible and sufficient grace of Christ, I’m now none of those things. ⁣

⁣

As I write this, I’m sitting at my table drinking a hot cup of my favorite beverage, planning lessons for the next term of our year, and looking around my home at all of the markers of this glorious life I’ve been given. ⁣

⁣

As I sit here, my marriage has never been better (we made it to the good part ♥️), I’m healthy and strong, I am in the most rewarding season of homeschooling yet, I truly love motherhood, I am an entrepreneur doing work that I love and am good at, I have enduring and edifying friendships, and my faith is marked by a deep and abiding peace.⁣

⁣

I also still have pain and God has given me many “sovereign no’s”. I have bad days and I struggle.⁣

And more difficulty will come. 

⁣

But, I’m truly content. ⁣

⁣

I’m settled. ⁣

⁣

It took so long to get here. But it was worth it all. ⁣

⁣

God is kind. ♥️

If you’re still fighting the good fight for settledness and contentment, 

keep on. 

Do not give up.

Keep reading for: 
Lessons I've Learned About Settledness 
More Settledness Lessons 
Practical Ways to Fight for Settledness 

Fighting For Settledness

I have been sharing about the deep form of contentment that I like to call “Settledness”, and about how  I used to be anything but settled. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Settledness has not been something I’ve just “grown into” but rather something I’ve had to fight for. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

I’ve had to actively wage war to get to this place, but the battle was beyond worth it. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

In a coming post, I’ll be sharing some practical ways I’ve fought this battle, but because settledness is a fight lacing together my mental and spiritual and emotional health, here are some lessons I’ve had to learn along the way. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣

1️⃣ Triggered Isn’t the Same Thing as Angry or Inconvenienced ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

2️⃣ Contentment Isn’t an Emotional High ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

3️⃣ Awareness Can Result in Self-Absorption & a Lack of Grace⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Stay tuned for a few more lessons I’ve learned and then some practical ways I’ve waged this war. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

And, no matter where you’re at in this battle… ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Keep fighting the good fight. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

I can promise you, without hesitation, not only that it’s worth it but also that nothing is wasted. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

God makes something out of your courage and faithfulness and willingness that is far greater than the sum of its imperfect parts. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Let my life, and the settledness I am dwelling within serve as proof that beauty really, truly does come from ashes and that His grace really, truly is sufficient. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Don’t give up. ♥️

The Art of Keeping: Commonplacing

Commonplacing has been a habitual, formative, meaningful part of my intellectual life for many years now. ⁣⁣

❓FAQ ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

❓ What is It? ⁣⁣

It is the practice of taking personal possession of ideas, revived in early modern Europe from the ancient, classical tradition. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Far from being Mason’s idea, much of our modern understanding of the practice is the result of Milton’s famous Commonplace kept in the 1600’s, and John Locke’s formalization of the method in the posthumously published “A New Method of Making Commonplace Books”. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Borrowing from this tradition, Mason encouraged a “Book of Mottoes”, in which a reader would take possession of ideas from his reading. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

❓ Is it a Journal? ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

It is not. ⁣⁣

Journaling is also an important intellectual tool, but it is different than a commonplace. The former is a place for one’s own thoughts and ideas and the latter is a place for the ideas and thoughts of others. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

❓ When Do You Write in It? ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

I schedule “Keeping” as part of my weekly Schole.
This includes my Commonplace, Nature Journal, Book of Centuries, and Journals. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

I aim to complete each once a week, although my commonplace is most likely to be picked up more often. ⁣⁣

❓ What is Your Process? ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

I mark passages from my daily reading that I’d like to revisit, and when it’s time to commonplace, I pull a stack of books and copy some passages. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Sometimes I save a book’s commonplacing until I’m finished with it, so that I can stay immersed in its ideas for longer. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

❓ How Do You Organize It? ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

I keep a topical index in the back, and mark each page accordingly which you can see in my Keeping Highlight over on the Delightfully Feasting Instagram. 

⁣⁣

💡 If you’re new to keeping, be sure to check out the Delightfully Feasting Keeping Journal. ⁣⁣

How We Do: Logic and Critical Thinking

 

🧠 Critical Thinking⁣⁣

⁣⁣
I speak often about the responsibility I feel that I bear to raise good thinkers (and communicators), and the intentionality that I invest into our homeschool to do so. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
We study philosophy & psychology, take a meaty approach to Theology, examine all cultures and religions and worldviews, discuss and debate every issue from every perspective, and read very widely. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Nothing is “off the table” at our table, and the primary thing on display in our lessons and discussions is that I truly believe in my children’s personhood. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
They can not, and should not, be political or theological or philosophical carbon copies of me, and if they are I will have failed. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Thinking is an integral and foundational part of my homeschooling philosophy. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Aside from everything I mentioned above, there are two primary places in our homeschooling week that I address “Thinking” directly: ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
🧠1️⃣ Critical Thinking Loop⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Once a week, as a group, we rotate through various forms of critical thinking exercises and Logic Games. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
This keeps “Thinking” both multifaceted and communal. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
A few things we’re currently rotating through: ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
📖 A Variety of Logic Games⁣⁣
📖 Pencil and Paper Games (Paper Pie/Usborne) 
📖 Memory Games (Paper Pie/ Usborne) ⁣⁣
📖 One Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers Series by Sandy Silverthorne⁣⁣
📖 Baker Street Whodunits by Tom Bullimore⁣⁣
📖 Evan Moor Critical and Creative Thinking (not pictured) ⁣⁣

🧠2️⃣ Logic Lessons ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

Once each week, both boys also have individual Logic Lessons with me, following a grade by grade progression. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

My youngest is currently using: ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

📖 Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids ⁣⁣

📖 Grids for Kids series from themathprofs.com ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

He will then move on to Another Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids, will finish the Grids for Kids Series, and then will start Analogies. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

My oldest is currently using⁣⁣

📖 Traditional Logic 1 from Memoria Press⁣⁣

⁣⁣

He has followed my planned progression (with tweaks) through Games, Puzzles, Analogies, the Fallacy Detective, etc and will continue to. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

💡 You can learn more about that progression in my Logic Workshop and my Logic Highlight over on the Delightfully Feasting Instagram.