Sunday, June 19

Resources for my 12-year old school friend

One of the my favorite things to be asked is: "Do you know of any good learning resources for my kid?" So, I was thrilled when one of my dearest friends wanted some ideas for her son (my "god"son). Here's the fast list I put together today; she was looking for math, language and book ideas for her son who is a budding future politician.

As a homeschooler, I spend a lot of my time seeking out resources and am lucky enough to be connected with an awesome, brainy, committed group of 240 other families who also spend time looking for great direct-to-consumer learning opportunities.

Here's today's list:

Math

Awesome, free, progressive math etc. I think you will be amazed and thrilled.

Aleks Math
Pretty good but not sure there's any value add for the money. ($99.95 for 6 months, free trial)

Humanities

If the kids ever need any supplementation or want to do learning during the summer, and they're good with computer learning check out this option, created by my friend Jaime and very popular with homeschoolers and our community:

In the fall Kaizen is doing Linguistics and American Government which I believe are both not good times for Alexander. (2pm on Mondays EST and noon on Fridays EST).

There is a summer course which A might be interested in (politics) on Animal Farm, if it doesn't conflict with his camps. Class meets Tues and Thurs for 4 weeks starting next week at 4pm Toronto time ($79):

Another friend, has a similar business, which is also very well-regarde. I have not yet tried the AA classes though I am considering the National Mythology Exam Prep class.

French

G3 offers the discounted Rosetta Stone online for G3 kids and others. I think this link will take you to the online enrollment page.

Some book recommendations from my prolific-reader, science-fiction-loving, humorous-book-appreciating 12 year old

Huge favorite with lots of our kids; thought-provoking; some mature themes so might want to read together if child is sensitive or you are protective. I believe this is more true of the second book. K says "if they liked "Hunger Games" they'll probably like this too".

Orson Scott Card has many other books and series which are also loved but Ender's Game is the big fave.

K says, "funny and super good!"

Pretty classic adult-ish sci-fi
K liked this quite a bit which I could NOT understand having never been able to get into it. I tried it when I was about 17 and a high school friend highly recommended it.

K says "very good"

K and most of his friends love this series!

K says that he "likes most Nancy Farmer, especially HotS and the first of the Sea of Trolls trilogy" He did not much like the 2nd, "Land the Silver Apples" so hasn't read the third.

K said: The first two are awesome; the third is not as great

Gary Paulsen; Hatchet and The River
K liked these and thought of Hatchet first

Neil Shusterman "is good". Start with Unwind

K also loves Daniel Pinkwater with recent particular favorites being 4 Fantastic Novels and the Neddiad.

I've heard good things about these books and have just ordered for Kaizen:

Terry Pratchett
Especially Going Postal and Making Money

K's younger sister, who is 6 and I recently really enjoyed this book (we listened to it on tape and that version was well-done!) Lois Lowry is usually quite amazing!

General

For some great ideas, book lists, inspiration and more online class ideas, check out my friend Suji's awesome

Somewhere, Suji mentions this link to Potted Learning. I'm repeating it here because it's a great resource:

I hope this list helps someone else who is like minded and has a bright 12 year-old who could use some new ideas outside of school. There are so many, so this is a tiny tip of the ice-burg!

No comments:

Post a Comment