If you haven’t joined our “Heads Up!” email list yet, know what?

You’ve already missed out on dozens of great resources and links that we sent exclusively to our subscribers in 2008… AND you’ll be missing out on a whole bunch more “subscriber exclusives” in the New Year!

If you’re okay with that, and don’t want our weekly “sneak peek” at what is coming up here at HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay each week, that’s fine… but if what we do here is valuable to you and your homeschooling, you might want to rectify this situation pronto!

Each Monday when we send out our “Heads UP” email listing all the upcoming resources for the week, we also include a link to yet another freebie resource, exclusively for folks on our mailing list. Be sure to join now so you get the current bonus freebie, and all the extra goodies coming your way in 2009.

Click here to join our mailing list now!

This week, we are rerunning some favorite resources from 2008. NEW resources begin again next week!

Grammar Land: Or Grammar In Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-Shire, by M. L. Nesbitt (PDF ebook) - “What is Grammar Land? Where is Grammar Land? Have you ever been to Grammar Land? Wait a minute and you shall hear…” In this classic read aloud book, published way back in 1878, author Nesbitt creates an amazing fantasy land not unlike “Alice In Wonderland”, where the citizens are the nine parts of speech (Mr. Proper Noun, Dr. Verb, Little Article, etc.) and all are governed by the stern but wise old Judge Grammar. It’s a fun, fascinating way to learn some of the basic grammar rules all the while carried along by the very memorable characters and a wild adventure to boot. Highly recommended!

Click here for today’s resource ebook!

This week, we are rerunning some favorite resources from 2008. NEW resources begin again next week!

George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation (PDF ebook) -
These rules of good behavior were copied by young George Washington when he was a 12 year old schoolboy. They are quite fun (some are VERY funny), interesting and rewarding to read even today. Some of these rules seem quite picky and silly in this day and time, but the spirit behind these rules demonstrates a respect for others and humility in one’s own behavior, both of which are often sorely lacking today. Several of these are very good advice to take to heart for boys (and grownups) today. We’ve retained Washington’s original spellings in this edition, which can be used as a copybook or just to show your kids that even the father of our country was a little kid once too. Enjoy!

Click here for this fun freebie resource!

This week, we are rerunning some favorite resources from 2008. NEW resources begin again next week!

Little Strummers: A Guitar Course for Children Ages 6 - 10 (PDF ebook) - Today’s resource is this excellent beginner’s guide for young guitarist, by homeschool mom & part-time guitar teacher, Tara Tarbet. Tara created this starter guide to use with her own young guitar students, and has generously allowed us to share it with you here. (If you like this, please post a comment to let Tara know her work is appreciated!)

I’ve been looking at guitar tutorials for some time, hoping to find something that is geared specifically for young children just starting out, and to tell you the truth, this is the best resource I’ve seen yet. Simple tips and teaching suggestions, followed by a songbook of 20+ simple and familiar children’s songs (with even more tips at the bottom of each song). No drawn out instruction that is over the heads of little ones — just get in there and start playing. Great fun!

Thank you Tara for sharing this with our readers!

Click here to download today’s resource

This week, we are rerunning some favorite resources from 2008. NEW resources begin again next week!

Our All-Time Favorite Homeschool Activities EVER! (PDF ebook) — This little collection is a true treasure chest of ideas and inspiration for your homeschool. We asked experienced homeschooling parents to share their most successful teaching activities that they considered highlights of their homeschooling. They responded with all sorts of wonderful tips, suggestions, and activities you may want to incorporate into your own homeschool too! Just take your time and read through every one of these ideas and suggestions with a pencil and notebook at hand. It’s not a huge compendium… just 15 pages… but it is chock full of “real life” experiences that other homeschooling parents wanted to share, to help YOU have the best homeschool possible. Dig in… you’re sure to strike gold!

Click here

This week, we are rerunning some favorite resources from 2008. NEW resources begin again next week!

When Mother Lets Us Cook: A book of simple receipts for little folk, with important cooking rules in rhyme, together with handy lists of the materials and utensils needed for the preparation of each dish (PDF ebook) - This delightful children’s cookbook from 1908 includes simple old fashioned recipes for meals, snacks, candy and more, memorable cooking tips in the form of rhymes, and lovely old fashioned illustrations. While you might not want to try all these recipes (people ate quite differently 100 years ago than they do now), there are still loads of recipes worth checking out here.

Click here to download today’s freebie!

Rerun by popular demand…

Learn to DESIGN FANTASTIC BRIDGES ON YOUR COMPUTER, & CREATE REAL MODEL BRIDGES TOO!

For kids who want to know more about designing and building, today’s freebie is a real treat. This software program & ebook set is an exciting introduction to engineering and design. The ebook Designing and Building File-Folder Bridges: A Problem-Based Introduction to Engineering provides students with an opportunity to learn how engineers use math, science, and technology to design real structures–in the context of a hands-on model bridge-building project. It is intended primarily for high school students, but those in lower grades should be able to complete the model projects. Accompanying this book is The West Point Bridge Designer, a computer program which will introduce you to engineering through an authentic, hands-on design experience. This software provides you with the tools to model, test, and optimize a steel highway bridge, based on realistic specifications, constraints, and performance criteria. Our kids have played with this thing for hours and hours, and love to make all sorts of fantastically intricate bridges. Your kids will love it too!

Note: The computer design program is Windows compatible only (no Mac version available)

Click here to go to the West Point Bridge Building Manual download page
Alternate link to the Manual download page! (Thanks, Liz!)

Click here to go to the West Point computer bridge design software download page. (Note: the current version is 2007. If you have an older computer, try version 2005, which is also on this page. It has simpler graphics but is more stable on older systems.)

Note #2: Be warned: Last time we featured this, we crashed their site with all our traffic. If you can’t get through on this, please try again later… they do eventually reboot their site.

Click here to get your Christmas goodies!

“The First Christmas in New England: A Story of Life in the Colonies” by Stone & Frickett (PDF ebook) - Today’s resource is this excellent short story of the first Christmas in New England, in the year 1620. If you’ve been curious as to how the early Pilgrims celebrated Christmas, read this - you may be surprised at what you discover!

Click here for today’s resource