Ideas for incorporating fine art education into a large homeschool family curriculum.

Catholic publisher of the best and most affordable music instruction materials for homeschoolers and self-learners. Publisher of the most comprehensive collection of hymn arrangements for piano.

These number recognition games are simple, don't require any fancy materials, and preschoolers love to play them.

Get hundreds of worksheets covering all levels of math from numbers to algebra and geometry. Also covers calculator skills, word problems, exponents and scientific notation, time, money, and probability.

This list is a great start to incorporating fun activities and games into your homeschool math curriculum.

Apologia publishes several science textbooks that are especially suited to the homeschool environment. They are filled with easy to understand lessons and experiments which can easily be performed at home. The curriculum is also backed by a question/answer support system. This set of textbooks is written under the "Exploring Creation" name. There are three elementary level texts:

• Exploring Creation With Astronomy
• Exploring Creation With Botany
• Exploring Creation with Zoology 1, available Fall 2005

Their middle school and high school texts include:

• Exploring Creation With General Science
• Exploring Creation With Physical Science
• Exploring Creation With Biology
• Exploring Creation With Chemistry
• Exploring Creation With Physics
• The Human Body: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
• Exploring Creation With Marine Biology
• Advanced Chemistry in Creation
• Advanced Physics in Creation
• Plus other texts

A Reason For® Handwriting provides a fun, meaningful approach to developing effective handwriting skills. Each lesson is built around a Scripture verse chosen not only for proper letter combinations, but also inspirational content. “Border Sheets” encourage students to share God's Word with others. You'll find product information about A Reason For® Handwriting here.

Happy Phonics uses games to teach early reading skills. Simple yet entertaining and educational, these phonics games are printed on colorful, sturdy cardstock ready to cut out. Included is a mother-friendly guidebook which contains details on how to teach phonics and reading, how to pronounce and teach the phonics sounds, how to make your own simple beginning readers, and step-by-step teaching information for each phonics sound. Happy Phonics covers beginning to advanced phonics.

"Dear Pen Pal, Konnichi wa! We've been to see Mt. Fuji. Name my country! Sayonara, Michiko." Challenge your group with this fast-paced geography game, created in 1992 by Educational Insights, Inc. Everyone begins at the post office. Players twirl a finely printed spinner (built into the game board itself) to select one of 60 countries. If the player can correctly identify the country's location on the board's numbered map, he or she may advance along the path to the finish. Bonus moves are won by landing on "postcard" spaces, listening to the clues on one of the 40 postcards, and correctly identifying the pen pal's country. (The sample postcard above came from Japan.) A more challenging game can be achieved by requiring players to name the country's capital; answers are provided. --Liane Thomas

Phonics Pathways begins with short-vowel sounds, slowly progressing to whole words, phrases, and sentences of gradually increasing complexity. Special teaching tips, extensive examples, and 100% decodable practice readings reinforce each lesson. Contains all spelling rules with a spelling index, spelling charts, spelling short-cuts, diacritical markings, and a wealth of inspirational proverbs. The new 9th edition of Phonics Pathways features many new enhancements including a wealth of reproducible games, a step-by-step spelling guide, teacher/student record sheets, a Dewey-the-Bookworm Bookmark and a new carefully-researched appendix detailing how Phonics Pathways aligns with most State Standards. Supplements to this program include The Train Game (to teach letter sounds), WordWorks (a set of cards used to reinforce phonics reading skills), and Blendit! (a set of eleven board games that reinforces knowledge of specific begining spelling patterns). For product information on Phonics Pathways, click here or visit their website.

Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a fully integrated language arts program that teaches grammar, reading, spelling, vocabulary, writing mechanics, creative writing, thinking skills and more.

Progeny Press study guides include vocabulary exercises, comprehension, analysis, and application questions, introduction of literary terms, background information, discussion of related Biblical themes, suggestions for activities related to the reading, a complete answer key, and more. These are some of the titles available (grade range is in parentheses):

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (9-12)
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (6-8)
• Amos Fortune, Free Man (5-7)
• Anne of Green Gables (5-8)
• Bears on Hemlock Mountain (1-3)
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (4-6)
• The Bridge (4-6)
• Bridge to Terabithia (6-8)
• The Bronze Bow (6-8)
• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (9-12)5-7
• Charlotte's Web (4-6)
• A Christmas Carol (8-12)
• Clipper Ship (1-3)
• The Courage of Sarah Noble (1-3)
• The Cricket in Times Square (4-6)
• Crown and Jewel (4-6)
• A Day No Pigs Would Die (9-12)
• The Door in the Wall (4-6)
• The Drinking Gourd (1-3)
• Farmer Boy (4-6)
• The Fellowship of the Ring (9-12)
• Frankenstein (10-12)
• Frog and Toad Together (K-2)
• The Giver (7-9)
• The Great Gatsby (9-12)
• Hamlet (9-12)
• Heart of Darkness (9-12)
• Henry & Mudge in Puddle Trouble (K-1)
• The Hiding Place (6-8)
• The Hobbit (8-12)
• Holes (5-8)
• The Indian in the Cupboard (5-7)
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (4-6)
• Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements (8-12)
• Island of the Blue Dolphins (5-7)
• Jane Eyre (9-12)
• Johnny Termain (6-8)
• The Josefina Story Quilt (1-3)
• Julius Caesar (9-12)
• Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (1-3)
• The Lion, Witch & Wardrobe (4-7)
• Little House in the Big Woods (4-6)
• Little House on the Prairie (4-6)
• The Long Way to a New Land (1-3)
• The Long Way Westward (1-3)
• The Lord of the Flies (11-12)
• Macbeth (9-12)
• The Magician's Nephew (5-7)
• Maniac Magee (6-8)
• The Merchant of Venice (9-12)
• The Minstrel in the Tower (2-4)
• Miss Rumphius (1-3)
• Mr. Popper's Penguins (3-5)
• New Coat for Anna (1-3)
• Number the Stars (5-7)
• The Old Man and the Sea (9-12)
• Oscar Otter (K-1)
• Out of the Dust (7-9)
• Out of the Silent Planet (9-12)
• Ox-Cart Man (1-3)
• Perelandra (9-12)
• Prince Caspian (5-7)
• The Red Badge of Courage (9-12)
• Redwall (5-9)
• The Return of the King (9-12)
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (6-8)
• Romeo and Juliet (9-12)
• Sam the Minuteman (1-3)
• Sarah, Plain and Tall (4-6)
• The Scarlet Letter (9-12)
• The Screwtape Letters (9-12)
• The Secret Garden (6-8)
• Shiloh (5-7)
• The Sign of the Beaver (5-7)
• Stone Fox (3-5)
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (8-12)
• The Swiss Family Robinson (7-9)
• A Tale of Two Cities (9-12)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (9-12)
• Tuck Everlasting (6-8)
• The Two Collars (4-6)
• The Two Towers (9-12)
• Wagon Wheels (1-3)
• Where the Red Fern Grows (5-7)
• The Whipping Boy (3-5)
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond (5-7)
• A Wrinkle in Time (5-8)
• The Yearling (9-12)

Explode The Code provides a sequential, systematic approach to phonics in which students blend sounds to build vocabulary and read words, phrases, sentences, and stories. Frequent review of previously learned concepts helps increase retention. Each workbook in this series contains exercises that incorporate reading, writing, matching and copying. The consistent format of the books helps facilitate independent work. This series includes primers—Get Ready for The Code, Get Set for The Code, and Go for The Code—which introduce initial consonant sounds. In addition, Beyond The Code provides a comprehension component introducing basic comprehension skills with phonetically controlled stories. You'll find product information here.

What is the capital of NJ? Where is the Football Hall of Fame? These are just a few of the hundreds of questions players are asked as they adventure around the USA discovering state attractions and landmarks, capitals, state abbreviations, state locations and more. In order to answer the questions on the cards, players must look closely at the colorful USA map game board, becoming familiar with the geography of the country. Players must hurry to find the answers as the mechanical timer ticks. Contents: Game board, 100 Figure cards, 100 Fact cards, 100 Find cards, 1 spinner, 1 mechanical timer, and game rules. Duration of Play: 20 minutes. 2-6 players.

Living Learning Books offers activity guides for teaching science. This curriculum was designed to provide the structure needed to feel confident using a living book approach to education. All of the preparation work has been done--book lists, project ideas, coloring pages, even shopping lists for project supplies. The activity guides provide a teacher planning checklist, library lists, internet links, lesson plans, and more. Level 1 covers Life Science, Level 2 deals with Earth Science & Astronomy, Level 3 explores Chemistry, and Level 4 is Physics.

Sing, Spell, Read & Write is a phonics-based program that uses a 36-step program of carefully sequenced steps to teach reading, writing, and spelling. More product information can be found here.

Great Science Adventures is a series of books that offer a creative approach to learning science. Each one showcases the series' method of using creative, hands-on activities to enhance exploratory learning. Each book contains 24 lessons, with 2-3 lessons completed each week. The unique format contains activities and basic content appropriate for grades K through 8. Perfect for multilevel teaching or if you want to challenge your advanced students individually. Titles include:

• Discovering the Human Body and Senses
• The World of Tools and Technology
• Discovering Earth's Landforms and Surface Features
• The World of Space
• The World of Insects and Arachnids
• The World of Plants
• The World of Light and Sound