BellaOnline.com
Homeschooling Newsletter
Meg Grooms, Editor
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August 8, 2006

Contents:
-Dear Reader
-Featured Articles
-BONUS CONTENT
-Site of the week
-Visit our Forums
-Links of interest
-Closing

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Dear Reader,

Hello! Welcome to another homeschooling newsletter. I hope the “not going back to school” season finds you well and full of ideas and inspiration!

Special congrats go out to N.S. Of Missouri, she was the winner of the DK Eyewitness Bird book! Good job N.S.! Keep your eyes to the forum for more contests, no strings attached, promise! The link to the forum is at the bottom of every page at http://homeschooling.bellaonline.com. You may have to try more than once to get into the forums, just like our kids it acts up sometimes.

As it is that time to not go back to school I have decided to feature some curriculum reviews this week. I have added a brand spanking new review and am featuring prior reviews. As always, if you click “Curriculum and book reviews” from the left menu at http://homeschooling.bellaonline.com you can access all of my reviews. I hope you find them useful!

Warmly,
Meg

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Featured Articles

Curriculum Review : HomeschoolLearning.com
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45031.asp
HomeschoolLearning.com is an online curriculum designed to provide an education comparable to pricier curriculums at an affordable price.


Curriculum Review: Brighter Vision
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art44728.asp
Brighter Vision is a curriculum company that operates on a monthly subscription basis. BV offers the first month free with no strings, so I ordered the toddler and preschool packages. Normally I don't order curriculum for this young age but since I already have everything for my older child's upcoming school year I decided to try the younger set.


Curriculum Review : Story of the World
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art18130.asp
This is an excellent history series for elementary-aged children. Rather than dry facts this program teaches history in story format, which is a delight to young children.



Curriculum Review : Singapore Math
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art18050.asp
Singapore Math is a very strong, logical program with few drawbacks.



Main Homeschooling Page and archives
http://homeschooling.bellaonline.com

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BONUS!!!

Make Crystals Grow!

There are many ways in which you can grow crystals, and many different types of crystals.
Today I will instruct you on how to make two of the simplest sorts, sugar and salt. Don't stop here, of course! Visit google.com and find out how to make crystals from all sort of other ingredients!

Sugar Crystals (aka Rock Candy)
You need:
1 large Mason jar
1 length cotton yarn, approximately 3 inches taller than jar
hot water
a lot of sugar
pencil

Fill your jar halfway with boiling water
Pour 1 cup of sugar in and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved
Continue to mix sugar in ¼ of a cup at a time until you reach the point where the sugar absolutely will not dissolve further (bonus points – find out why this happens!)
Tie the end of the yarn to the middle of a pencil. Lie the pencil across the mouth of the jar with the yarn in the sugar water.
Place the jar in a sunny spot and observe every day!

Salt Crystals
You need:
1 sponge
1 plastic container (an empty food container works well)
hot water
salt
vinegar

Cut the sponge to fit the bottom of your container.
Pour 1 Tbsp vinegar over the sponge
In a seperate bowl pour 1 C of boiling water.
Add salt ½ C at a time and stir until fully dissolved. Stop when the salt no longer dissolves easily.
Pour your salt water mixture over the sponge.
Place the sponge container in a sunny place and observe what happens every few hours and days as the water evaporates.

HAVE FUN!


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Link of the newsletter!

KIWI WEB
http://www.chemistry.co.nz/crystals_defined.htm

Everything you want to know about crystals and how to make them!

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Visit our Forums!

Want to meet other homeschooling parents?
Check out our homeschooling forum!

http://tinyurl.com/agm3p

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Links of Interest

Early Childhood – http://earlychildhood.bellaonline.com
Preschool – http://preschool.bellaonline.com
School Reform – http://schoolreform.bellaonline.com
Art Appreciation – http://artappreciation.bellaonline.com
Attachment Parenting – http://attachmentparenting.bellaonlline.com
Education channel – http://www.bellaonline.com/Channel/c4.asp

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Closing

Thank you for reading this far ;)
Questions, comments, feedback?
Contact me here: http://www.bellaonline.com/about/Homeschooling

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