Homeschool Freebie of the Day

The Sinking of the Titanic & Great Sea Disasters (PDF ebook) - Today is the 98th anniversary of the sinking of what was then the largest and finest steamship in the world - the Titanic. On her maiden voyage, loaded with a human freight of over 2,300 souls, the Titanic collided with a huge iceberg 600 miles southeast of Halifax, at 11.40 P.M. Sunday April 14, 1912. She sank two and a half hours later,  carrying over 1,600 of her passengers and crew with her. This is a GREAT collection of first-hand accounts and stories of what happened that fateful night. Just skip around the lists, and take a look at the amazing stories told by the survivors. Very readable and remarkably stirring history.  Highly recommended!

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Physics Experiments That You Can Do At Home (PDF ebook) -  Physics is primarily the study of motion and energy, but that energy can take many forms: Motion, Heat, Sound, Electricity, Magnetism and Light. Each of these forms of energy is neatly demonstrated and explained with the easy to do, fun experiments in this cool little 22 page collection published by Professor Clint Sprott and his associates at the Physics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as part of their Wonders of Physics outreach program, . Highly recommended! 

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PETER WHEAT ADVENTURES plus THE PETER WHEAT COLORING BOOK! (PDF ebook) - Peter Wheat and the inhabitants of the wheat field are back with more fun comic book adventures for you!  Written & illustrated by the great Walt Kelly (creator of "Pogo"), these little known 16 page comic books were originally published in 1950 as giveaways for local “Peter Wheat” bakeries. Though long “lost” and out of print, these contain some wonderfully exciting and fun adventures, and Kelly's marvelous artwork make them especially attractive to young readers.

Today's adventure is "The Mysterious Thief" - somebody or someTHING has broken into the bakery and made a huge mess of everything, and it is up to Peter and Sammy Sweet to find out who it is... before it's too late!


Along with that, we have the delightful Peter Wheat Coloring Book, featuring full page illustrations of Peter and his friends for young hands to color and enjoy! If your kids are Peter Wheat fans, they will love this!

Click here for today's resources!

Note: We had quite a few "anti" Peter Wheat comments in our survey this week, so please post a comment today let us know if you'd like us to continue to post some of these from time to time in future weeks, or if they've worn out their welcome. Your response will determine the future of this series.

Today, in honor of International Bird Day (April 8th), we feature  two great bird resources for you!

The First Book of Birds by Margaret Williamson (PDF ebook) -

A delightful introduction to birds of all types; how and why they can fly; where they live; what they eat; why they build nests; and much, much more. Heavily illustrated with Williamson's fine black and white line illustrations, this is a great chapter book for use with younger learners. Recommended!

Birdwatching for Beginners: A Guide for Homeschoolers (PDF ebook) — Today's freebie is this excellent starter guide on birdwatching… How to get started, what resources and equipment you need, where to find birds and how to identify them, how to keep records of your sightings, "etiquette" for watchers, how to attract birds to your own back yard, and much more! An educational and fun hobby that is perfect for these glorious spring and summer days!

Click here for today's resources!

Dear Friends,

We need your input to help make HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay a better site for you and other homeschooling families. If you can spare a few minutes of your time, please take this 10 question survey and let us know what you think.

Click here to go to the survey

As is our usual practice, we have a nice little "thank you" waiting for you at the end of it. (Actually, two THREE of them this time.) Please take your time and think a bit about your answers… the goodies aren't going anywhere, so there's no need to rush through it… and we would truly appreciate your thoughtful responses.

Thanks so much for your help!

Your Friends,

The Erskine Family

PLANNED SPONTANEITY (PDF ebook) – So, you have read everything you can about planning a homeschool schedule. You have tried some planners – but they take too long and don't seem to work for you. What now? It is time to try a planner with a difference, courtesy of Julie Gilbert at homeschooling-ideas.com.

Julie's new ebook, "Planned Spontaneity", helps you do just that – plan for spontaneity in your homeschool. With a simple, yet very effective approach, this planner is a great way to make your homeschooling time a lot more fun and creative. Loaded with great tips and ideas that you can put to use right away. Check it out!

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Two Indian Children of Long Ago by Frances Lilian Taylor (PDF ebook) – Today's resource is this great chapter book that describes the child life in the Wild-Rice region west of the Great Lakes and retells several of the most interesting stories enjoyed by Indian children. Well written and beautifully illustrated, the aim of the book is, as the author puts it in her Afterword:"to gratify the American child's natural interest in primitive life by stories of our own land and to increase his respect for all that is original and worthy in the lives of the First Americans."

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You Are There: The Deadly Tomato (mp3 audio) - Believe it or not, in early colonial America, one of the most dreaded, most feared of all poisonous plants was -- the TOMATO! People grew it as an ornamental bush, but to think about actually EATING it was a horror! Certain that he would die a quick and painful death, a crowd assembled on the courthouse square in Salem, NJ on September 26th, 1820 to watch the rich and eccentric Colonel Johnson actually attempt to EAT one of these poisonous fruits! Hear what happened next in this delightful old time radio dramatization from the classic program "You Are There" of this fascinating true episode from American history.

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The Man Who Planted Trees (streaming video) - Today's resource is this great animated fable about a shepherd who spends a lifetime planting trees in a desolate wasteland - and what results from his efforts. Based on the classic book of the same name, and narrated by Christopher Plummer, this is a beautifully animated, atmospheric story of dedication and stewardship of the land that your family will long remember. 30 minutes, in three parts. 

Note that there are a couple of brief images of violence (some people fighting in part one, a WWI battle in part two) in the course of this half hour program. If you have little bitty ones, you might want to preview it first.

Bonus: Here is the full text of the original story, written in 1953.

TIP: These are streaming YouTube videos... they are played streaming over the internet. (There are some programs that allow you to download them, but we don't know where to tell you to look for those.) You'll need to have Flash enabled. If you cannot view the videos, please visit YouTube.com for technical help.

Part ONE:

Part TWO:

Part THREE: