Free Martin Luther King Jr. Resources And FreeBEE Friday Link Up

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.

Welcome to FreeBEE Friday. Every Friday I will share a great list of educational FreeBEE resources. PLUS...there's the added bonus of this being a monthly link up...where you can showcase your freebie posts or discover more amazing freebies from my blogging friends. The blogger link up will start on the first Friday of every month and end on the first day of the following month. Each month there will be a new link up. Link up anything that is educational and FREE including GIVEAWAYS!

Martin Luther King FreeBEEs:
Monday is Martin Luther King Day...it is also Gwyn's 8th birthday! We live in Atlanta so learning about Martin Luther King's life and accomplishments and the impact he had on the civil rights movement is important to us. Every January we take a day or two to learn more about him!

I would like to encourage you and your children to get out and participate in a service project this month. If you live in Georgia be sure to check the Pebble Tossers website for some community service projects. Also be sure to check out the post I wrote last year with some volunteering ideas.

Worksheets, Crafts, Unit Studies, Lapbooks and More:
-Daria Music has a MLK song and video, MLK learning pack and coloring pages
-Martin Luther King word search puzzle
-Martin Luther King printable literacy pack from Meet Penny
-MLK worksheets and other great resources from Mama's Learning Corner
-This MLK Express Lapbook from A Journey Through Learning is also not free but it's only $1.00 and actually a resource we are using for MLK day

-Snag some great resources including posters, audios, videos, bookmarks, fact sheets and more at the Corporation for National and Community Service website
-Cute craft ideas and a "I Can Dream Like Dr. King" printable at Welcome to Room 36
-The American Dream notebooking page
-Thriving Third Graders has a free printable to use with older kids to help with details and sequencing

National Park Service MLK Historic Site

-Take a virtual fieldtrip of MLKs birthplace (which is in Atlanta by the way). Be sure to look around the website while you are there because there are lots of other helpful MLK resources
-National Geographic Kids has a nice collection of photographs of Dr. King
-My Mailbox has a Martin Luther King Jr printable booklet
-Martin Luther King Jr poster activity
-Dr. King Color By Number
-MLK Timeline
-9 page packet from Mamas Learning Corner

-There are several great MLK crafts posted on The Classroom Creative

Videos:
-PBS has about 30 FREE shows you can watch about black history
-History.com has several great MLK videos
-Check out my Black History YouTube Channel comprised of several videos in one easy place (I am always adding to it so be sure to subscribe


eBooks/Audio Books:
-MLK A,B,Cs Kindle eBook (double check price before placing order)

-His Dream, Our Stories (Enhanced Edition): The Legacy of the March on Washington [Kindle Edition with Audio/Video]
-Read Dreams A Story About Martin Luther King Jr for FREEthis week at memetales

I hope you find these resources useful. If you ever have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me. Also be sure to follow my Facebook Page where I post FreeBEEs daily.

If you have homeschool FreeBEEs to share

please link up at the bottom of this post!

You can copy the button from my right sidebar to share

somewhere on your blog.

Link up: FreeBEE Fridays with Kathy's Cluttered Mind.

Remember when it comes to FREE resources the internet and a good search engine are your best friend. Oh and a library card!

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Linking up with 3 Boys and a Dog

Top 10 Black History Books For Kids

Black history month is in February and it's a wonderful time to teach your children about the famous African Americans in U.S. history. Today I wanted to share with you our Top 10 Favorite Black History Books For Kids.

Image from www.goucher.edu 

About Black History month from History.com....
Black History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.

Top 10 Black History Books...

1) Ruth and the Green Book
2) Belle, The Last Mule at Gee's Bend
3) Pink and Say
4) Back of the Bus
5) Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the sky
6) The little plant doctor : a story about George Washington Carver
7) A Sweet Smell of Roses
8) Nobody gonna turn me 'round : stories and songs of the civil rights movement
9) Mr. Lincoln's Way
10) Riding to Washington

okay I lied...
11) January's Sparrow

Here are a few FREE resources you may find helpful too.
-PBS has about 30 FREE shows you can watch about black history
-Great resources to go with the book Mr. Lincoln's Way
-FREE Kindle eBook - Harriet Tubman The Moses of Her People
-Lots of FREE Black History printables

Be sure to also check around your area for Black History events. Here in GA there are many awesome events going on and a lot of them are FREE like these events in Roswell.

Be sure to browse through all of our other Top 10 Posts!

What is your favorite Black History book please share in the comments?

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with: Top Ten Tuesday

A Week Filled With S's - Seven, Skateboarding, Snakes, Sperm Whales, Service, Steam Chase, Schedule

In our life and homeschool this week...
What a great week we had. It was filled with lots of fun, a birthday party, lots of learning and field trips. I must say I am so happy with the start to 2013. Our new schedule has been working wonderfully. The kids have been getting math and reading done everyday without complaining. Now to just keep it going! We learned about Martin Luther King this week and worked on our Marine Mammals unit study.

My favorite thing this week was...
My favorite thing was watching the kids do their Baleen science experiment to learn all about how Sperm Whales, Great Blue Whales, Humpback Whales etc eat. It was very simple to do this experiment and only required a tub of water, parsley flakes and a comb.


My kiddos favorite thing this week was...
Gwyn's would have to be her Seventh birthday party. She had a horse themed party and she had three of her friends as well as well as family with her to celebrate.

Rowyn's favorite thing this week was visiting the Southeastern Civil War Museum. We went here last year for the first time and had a wonderful experience so we decided to visit again and learn all about The General and the Great Locomotive Steam Chase.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Last weekend we got to see an awesome snake show at the local nature center by Jason Clark. You may have heard of him? He is the host of Animals Planets SnakesKin show and owner of Southeastern Reptile Rescue.

We had some great family fun this week at the skatepark...daddy bought a board and has taken up skateboarding again!

We got to spend more time providing service as the Save The Horses Rescue. This week it was very, very cold (low 30's) but we still decided to venture out because the horses must be fed. I was glad we did because besides the lead volunteer we were the only other ones that showed up. Gwyn was thrilled she got to feed Trudy the blind horse (top right photo). We are all really enjoying our time at the rescue. This week even Rowyn got involved and helped out with the feeding.

We also particapated in the National Day of Service for Martin Luther King Day at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. We helped clean some recycling bins, tested markers, cleaned bird feeders and pulled up some pesky ivy.

Next week we have some more great field trips lined up...we have grossology a fun science class with our homeschool group and the Rock The Presidents theatrical show. As well as more skateboarding and volunteering.

Things I’m working on…
I am working on setting up my very first Facebook party for A+ TutorSoft. Did you see my post last week?

I’m praying for…
I am praying for all my friends who are going through some very rough times right now.

What was your favorite activity this week in your homeschool?

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with:  I Can Teach My Child, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers,  Homegrown Learners,  Ben and Me, Look What We Did, JDaniels4Mom, Educating Laytons, iHomeschool Network,

Our last two weeks and some changes

We started getting back into our homeschool groove last Monday, after taking off a couple of weeks for the holidays. Despite the dreary weather here in GA and having to be cooped up most of the days (causing more sibling bickering than normal) we have had two very GREAT weeks!!!

We are currently learning about Marine Mammals for our unit study and also taking time to learn about Martin Luther King and Chinese New Year as well. You can find out what resources we have been using on our latest FreeBEE Friday post.

The only change we made for the new year to our homeschool was an adjustment to our schedule...we actually kind of, sort of have one now, lol. This was per Gwyn (my almost 7 year old's request). Oh by the way my precious little girl will be turning 7 tomorrow (the 20th)!!!!!

Here is a picture of my little girl on her 1st birthday!!  I cannot believe how much she has grown.

So here are the schedule changes we made. We are now using these nifty charts that I purchased at Dollar Tree (the kids each picked the one they wanted). Then I had them laminated at Office Depot so we could use dry erase markers on them.

Each weekend I decide what subjects we are doing on the various days by placing a circle in the square (it varies depending upon field trips, appointments, etc). I also put any field trips or special items on the chart as well. When they finish an item they put an X over the circle. Four days a week we do our math and reading curriculum. We now only do our unit study material one day a week (even though we will read our unit study books or watch documentaries that go with our unit study here and there throughout the week). We do Art twice a week, PE once a week, Spanish once-twice a week and Music once a week. On Friday we do "Friday Fun School." Instead of doing scheduled stuff the kids pick what they want to do. We play games, cook, work on our unit study, go on a field trip, etc. It's a fun day but there is of course still learning taking place. A few other things we also do throughout the week are get together with our homeschool group for an activity or field trip, go on a nature walk, volunteer at a local horse rescue and Rowyn's speech. So far this schedule is working beautifully. I even had a SUPER proud mommy moment the other morning when Gwyn got onto her A+ TutorSoft math lesson, completed her lesson and quiz and printed her worksheets all by herself...before I was even out of bed. She was so anxious to get it Xed off her schedule.

Here are some photos from our last two weeks. Besides the above mentioned items we have been learning about we also took a fabulous live online MLK class from Founders Academy, attended a fabulous science class about sound from Kevin Howard at the library and made sun-catchers with our homeschool group. We also made posters about our pets to take the nature center for pet month. And the kids learned a very important life skill. They learned how to fill out a deposit slip at the bank and counted back the cash we received. There was one day that got very thrown off because we had to go pick up our new used car and get the tags, emissions, etc done. So the kids did some carschooling and watched their Rock N Learn Phonics, MLK and Dino Dan DVDs. I am so very grateful that our friend gave us a portable DVD player.

Have you made any changes in your homeschool for 2013?

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

Linking up with:  I Can Teach My Child, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers,  Homegrown Learners

FreeBEE Friday - Marine Mammals, Martin Luther King, Chinese New Year

Jen, from Gricefully Homeschooling, and I team up, the first two Fridays each month, to bring you great  FreeBEEs...on both of our blogs. 

PLUS...with the added bonus of this being a monthly link up...where you can showcase your freebies, things you've found online, and also, things you've received in the mail, totally FREE this month. 

FreeBEEs:

Hopefully you grabbed the great Valentine lapbooks from both Jen and I last week! If not head over there NOW because the limited time FreeBEEs are only available until January 18th. Remember that we are changing things up this year so we are only posting our FreeBEE posts the first two Fridays each month.  The first Friday of every month, we will be providing a link and a savings code for you to get a FREE product from some of our favorite homeschool companies. These great sponsors are offering these *Limited Time FreeBEEs* of lapbooks, unit studies, online classes, and more to bless homeschool families (you the reader)! The second Friday of every month we will have our Homeschool FreeBEE Friday Link Up. So our favorite bloggers can link up their FreeBEE posts! This link up will be open through the rest of the month...so instead of a weekly meme this will be monthly, now.

*Don't miss a single FreeBEE... Subscribe to Kathys Cluttered Mind*

If you have homeschool FreeBEEs to share
please link up at the bottom of this post!
You can copy the button from my right side bar.

FreeBEEs:

Okay now for my FreeBEE post for this month (sorry I know its not Friday anymore, I got very behind this week). I am sure I will have a few other posts throughout the month with FreeBEEs and if I do I will be sure to link them up (or be sure to subscribe to my blog or follow on Facebook so you don't miss them). I am sharing three groups of FreeBEEs this week. One group is on our Marine Mammal unit study resources, one on Martin Luther King resources and one on Chinese New Year resources...all FREE of course.

My photo from GA Aquarium.

MARINE MAMMAL RESOURCES:

Follow me on Twitter @kbalman and then follow hashtag #marinemammalunitstudy to see what we are up too this month. I have so many fun things planned for this unit study. Many of the things we will be doing are listed below but I have some surprises too. And keep an eye out on my blog each week for fun posts about  what we are learning in our marine mammal unit study.

-Save the Manatee - lots of great resources.
-Whale word search and Manatee fact sheet.
-Homeschool Share Whale lapbook.
-National Geographic Kids always has the greatest resources for anything related to animals.
-Whale word hunt from Educating Laytons.
-Winters Tail (Dolphin) lots of great resources.
-Whale coloring pages.
-I found Enchanted Homeschooling Mom last year and just love the stuff she shares. Here are some ideas she did for her whale unit study.

Not FREE but a VERY good resource for a marine mammal unit study:

We are using Apologia's Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day book along with the Jr Notebook. We will actually have a review in February (for TOS Crew) about this amazing resource. I already can say though that I highly recommend any of the Apologia books we actually have all of the Zoology books now.

Movies and Documentaries:
My kids love watching videos that go along with our unit studies. Here are a few we will be using. If you want to see more you can check out our YouTube channel. Please use discretion on movies and documentaries listed.

-Orca Whale giving birth (YouTube)
-Humpback Whale Song (YouTube)
-Namu: My Best Friend (Netflix)
-Free Willy 3 - pirates Cove (Netflix)
-A Life Among Whales (Netflix) - has a lot of whaling footage in it
-Whale Rider (Netflix)
-Big Miracle (Rented) - has a few swear words rated PG
-Dolphin Tale (Netflix)
-Moby Dick (YouTube)
-Blue Planet (Netflix)

CRAFTS/ART:
-There are lots of cute whale and fish crafts on Danielle's Place

FIELD TRIPS:

-Virtual - visit Clearwater Marine Aquarium online and visit Winter

KINDLE E-BOOKS:

-Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises 
-How to draw a dolphin

And LOTS of books from the library:
Upon request from a Facebook reader I am including a photo of the books we checked out from the library for our unit. If you click on the photo below to enlarge it you should be able to see the titles. If you need help with a title let me know.

The links above as well as many others are pinned to my Marine Mammal Unit Study Pinterest Board. If you're interested doing a Marine Mammal Unit Study you may want to follow the board because there are more great ideas on the board that I didn't share here and I will be adding more FREE resources as I find them throughout January.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

CHINESE NEW YEAR RESOURCES:
Chinese New Year starts Monday, January 28, 2013 and continues for 15 days through Sunday, February 10, 2013. This year it is the "Year of the Snake!"

-Be sure to sign up for the Panda Express Chinese New Year program - they will have loads of great resources to share in a couple weeks.
-There are some fun resources over at Daria Music for Chinese New Year as well as MLK Day. And don't forget to enter my Daria Music "I Have A Dream" Giveaway.
-Chinese New Year Basic Multiplication Math BINGO.
-Chinese New Year activity pack.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR RESOURCES:
First I would like encourage you and your children to get out and participate in a service project this month. We are planning to go to the local nature center to help clean up trails, plants flowers, etc.

-Snag some great resources including posters, audios, videos, bookmarks, fact sheets and more at the Corporation for National and Community Service website. There are also some great resources on the website for 9/11 Remembrance Day.
-Free book on Meme Tales Dreams A Story About Martin Luther King.
-Want to get your child published on MeMeTales? Now is the chance! Download this printable, have your child draw and write 2 sentences about his/her dreams and we will put it into a book that will be published on MeMeTales - online and on the app ! Be sure to email it to maya at memetales dot com with the subject: MLK Dreams Book The deadline is 26 Jan, so hurry. And we need at lots of entries - so tell your friends!
-MLK worksheets and other great resources from Mama's Learning Corner.

Not FREE:
-Not Free but an amazing deal for a live 1 hr online MLK class with Founders Academy - ONLY $2.00 for the entire family using this link.
-This MLK Express Lapbook from A Journey Through Learning is also not free but it's only $1.00 and actually a resource we are using for MLK day.

I hope you find these resources useful. If you ever have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me. Also be sure to follow my FB page where I post FreeBEEs daily.

Link up: FreeBEE Fridays with Kathy's Cluttered Mind and Gricefully Homeschooling

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.