Take Control of Your Education

Free Homeschool Courses

2011-09-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

K-12 Free Homeschool offers free core homeschool courses for families that are homeschooling independently or privately. This is not the K12 Virtual schools that are so popular today. See their site for more information.

This is an amazing opportunity for families who cannot afford books and materials. They do not charge for their core classes but they do charge for electives. If you are considering online homeschooling, you will want to check out this site.

Free Help with Essays

2011-08-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Easy Essay will help you organize and plan your papers online fast. If you are having trouble writing an essay-check it out! I love that this is a site that homeschoolers or anyone else can use for free. The Easy Essay will help you get down on paper just what you want to say.

Homeschool Laws

2011-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Make sure you follow the state laws required for all home schoolers. Ignoring this could get you in legal trouble. Check with The Home School Legal Defense Association for your states' requirements. If you are homeschooling online, check with the school. Most likely you will not have to worry about these forms.

Some States Require that you report the following if you homeschool:
-your attendance
-your intent to homeschool
-standardized testing
-letter of withdrawal from your current school
-private school affidavit
-and some require nothing at all

Free K-12 Online Schools

2008-08-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a free online homeschool program, you might want to try K12. They offer a couple options, online school and textbook school. This is a good alternative to private homeschooling because many parents don't have the time or desire to put together a course of study for their kids.

Parents know that they want their children to be home schooled and K12 does the hard work for them. I would suggest contacting them and exploring their website to see if it will be a good fit for your student and for your family.

K-12 offers free online homeschooling for the following states:

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Chicago (IL), Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania , South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Check their website for more information

Connections Academy- Grades K-12 Absolutely Free Homeschool Program

2008-08-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Connections Academy's Free Online Program is not in as many states as K-12 but they offer a similar program. It is free aside from special activities and field trips. They offer online classes and textbook study.

Connections Academy

operates in the following States:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Texas, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

Each Connections Academy school offers different grade levels and each have different eligibility requirements. In Addition, each state has different policies for providing a computer and internet reimbursement.

Fee-Based Programs
Connections Academy does have a private school program available in all 50 states for all grades. Tuition is about $5,000 a school year depending on what courses the student would need.

Kaplan Academy

2008-08-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kaplan Academy offers free homeschool programs in the following states

Arizona-AGAVE Distance Learning
California (grades 9-12)
Colorado (grades 9-12)
Kansas (grades 9-12)
Missouri (Core, Credit Recovery and AP) Missouri Virtual Instruction Program
Oregon (grades 9-12)
St Louis Missouri (in conjunction with the school district)
Washington (grades 7-12)

Students can take individual classes or a full load. "Each program has a number of state- or district-funded seats available" for students in the states/districts served.

Kaplan also runs three online private high schools (where fees are charged) for homeschool high school.
-Kaplan College Preparatory School
-Kaplan High School
-Kaplan University High school

* According to their literature, "Kaplan Academy can provide a laptop computer, printer and internet stipend for full time students." Wow, this is a great opportunity!

Kaplan is accredited and offers many options for students.

MIT Offers over 1800 Free Courses Online

2008-07-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

MIT Massachesettes Institute of Technology offers over 1800 free classes online including lecture notes, video feed and exams.

Free Community College

2008-07-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Many states offer free Community College tuition to high school students. Check with your local Community College. Some things to consider

-You will need to pay for any required textbooks
-You may have to pay a nominal health fee-it's $16 near us
-Classes are harder because they are usually on the semester system-1 semester+1 year of material condensed into the semester
-Take online classes at the Community College
-You may need a principal's signature-this would be your parent if you home school privately

Insight Online School

2008-07-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

Insight online High School is another free homeschool option for students living in California. According to their website

What are the location and age restrictions?
Students must be residents of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, or Kern County, and must be 19 years of age or younger when they enroll. Students under 14 must provide evidence of completion of eighth grade. Some exceptions apply for students 20 and 21 years of age who have been continuously enrolled in high school and making progress toward a diploma.

Free Wi-Fi

2008-06-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

Get Free Wi-Fi at restaurants/retail locations in your neighborhood. If you are homeschooling online then you can do school anywhere.

Panera Bread
Brueggers Bagels
Courtyard by Marriott (for guests)
Caribou Coffee
Office Depot
McDonalds
CompUSA
Vons Grocery Stores
Staples
Fazolis
Starbucks
The Apple Store
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Fed Ex Offices
Whole Foods

Contact individual stores to confirm access. Many public libraries are also offering free wi-fi. While we were traveling to Boston last spring, we were able to get library cards and wi-fi access at the Boston downtown public library. We were able to enjoy a beautiful historic building, complete homeschooling online and check our email too!

Khan Academy offers Free SAT Prep

2007-04-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Khan Academy online is a completely free resource for students and parents. Schools, homeschools and other educators use Khan academy to help students with math, science, history, physics and finance. They have a library of over 2400 videos. One of the newest programs they have is the SAT Prep Videos.

The Khan Academy has over 100 videos that go over every question in the 2004 SAT prep book. All you need to do is take the SAT practice test in the prep book and start going the videos for the problems you missed. You can pick up the book really cheap on Amazon or borrow it from the public library.

All of the Khan Academies videos are available to anyone, free of charge.

Khan Academy hits it again.