You can receive a FREE dvd through this site. She received Helen Keller but not sure if it changes. You have to respond to the email they send you and then enter the free code they give you in the email on the right of the page for the discount and free shipping to be applied. You do not need to enter any payment info as the balance will be $0
Here’s the website: http://www.nestlearning.com/t-email_signup.aspx

My favorite of those I have attended in previous years — Office Depot. Here’s the scoop from their site:

Office Depot’s Annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast events are held at Office Depot retail stores across North America and are designed to provide a venue for teachers to network and prepare for the upcoming school year. More than 100,000 teachers are expected to attend. Office Depot is celebrating our Star Teachers with a spectacular day of savings and special treatment! As our guest, you will enjoy breakfast, 10% off purchases (exceptions  provided if asked), and a tote bag filled with gifts. Take advantage of this exciting event to stock up on all the classroom materials you’ll need in the fall. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff will be on hand to make sure you find the best supplies you need to succeed. The Office Depot Star Teacher Program is open to Pre-K through 12th Grade classroom teachers.

Staples

Staples says thank you to teachers with :

• FREE thank you gift bag*
• Great coupon savings
• Get a sneak peek at must-have new items for your classroom

*FREE gift bag available for first 100 teachers. While supplies last. Information on location — Click here

Office Max

Office Max will be thanking teachers starting this coming weekend on July 31 and August 1. MaxPerks members receive free reuseable bag with a 20% discount for everything you can fit in it. More giveaways and gifts as well while they last. More information on their site, just click here.

Big Lots

Saturday, August 13, 2011is Big Lots’ Teacher Appreciation Day. They want to thank America’s teachers and educators for their  hard work and devotion.That’s why they have designated August 13, 2011 as Big Lots Teacher Appreciation Day. Check out special discounts just for educators on that day.

Don’t forget to call ahead to confirm dates and offers at your local store. And, don’t forget your homeschool ID card to verify your status as a homeschooler.

Thanks to Frugal Penny for the heads up.

Spelling – You either got it or you don’t.

As a fairly good speller, I still cringe over mistakes that I find in my own writing, and I’m sure others find ones that I have missed. Spelling is an area in which we never finish learning, and one that you can never start learning too young. My young readers have their basic phonics rules down, so this was the natural next step.

Wordy Querty will help your child learn and apply these 20 spelling rules:

Product: Wordy Querty

Details: We used the online version, but it is available on CD as well. This is a program to help build on basic phonics and begin to help children build their typing skills and their spelling skills. It works through a series of 20 spelling rules and kids follow six steps to learn the rules and when to apply them. They work on the patterns of the spelling rule, sing along with their hosts as they learn the rule put to music, toss out incorrectly spelled words, click on correctly spelled words to complete sentences, and write and read stories. Each of these steps helps to teach and solidify correct spelling habits. Designed for kids 7-9 years old.

Price: $35 for the CD

What we loved . . .

• Teaches spelling without boredom. The games are fun, the songs are cute, the graphics are great, the teaching is clear. Kids naturally want to keep playing this program. The learning happens almost without them realizing. My son begged and begged to play this game. He would race through other school work, chores, and other responsibilities so he could get back on the computer and play more Wordy Querty. He cheered as it loaded. This is an incredibly fun way to learn.
• Independent. Kids can fairly easily work this program on their own. It walks them through everything they need to do and teaches them the rules.
• Great for beginning readers. Although the age is 7-9 my 5 year old could easily start this program as well. As long as your child has a solid start to reading they will likely benefit from this program. They might need to move a little more slowly if their reading is still developing, but the program worked well for my young readers as well.
• Lots of repetition in different formats. The words will come at the student time and again in different angles, games, lists, and stories so the kids can really cement the new rule and words that they are learning.
• Can go back and redo tough lessons. They automatically have to go back one time, but after that they can continue to return voluntarily (or under parent’s orders . . .) to better the score. The program simply saves the new test score in place of the old one.
• Parent login gives information on student progress. The chart shows how well the kids are doing at the various levels. This helps you see at a glance which lesson the student is struggling with and succeeding in.

Some considerations . . .

• Kids can learn to play the system. My son realized that if he got words wrong the program didn’t care it just kept passing him along (after one do-over). So, after the games were over and he was on the test for each level he just pressed enter or space and flew through the list without really typing any of the words. I didn’t realize that this was possible, I was just thrilled that he got through all 20 levels in 2 days. What a bright little guy I have! Uh, yeah. Well, when I was reviewing his scores I saw that he was getting 0% on each of the levels after the first 4. So, now he is back redoing it the right way with me keeping a closer tab on his progress.
• Learning through trial and error. It seems to work, but it pulls a lot of words and as the kids are learning it they are really just guessing what is right and what is wrong. They click on random words or columns and sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong. They do begin to see the patterns and begin to get more right, but I think most of the rules will need more than a once through the lesson to really grasp and most kids want to just fly through it and have fun.
• Difficulty of spelling words doesn’t necessarily progress throughout levels. Because they are going according to a list of spelling rules some of the words in later lists are very easy while some in earlier lists were rather challenging.

Wordy Querty builds beautifully on what Talking Fingers started. My 5 and 7 year olds absolutely love both programs and beg to play them. They have learned so much in the process in the midst of the play. These are great programs to help kids get a secure footing in typing, reading, and now spelling as well.

For more TOS Crew reviews on this product, check out the TOS Crew blog.

Disclaimer: This product was provided to me free of charge through Wordy Querty as part of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I received no additional compensation and the opinions expressed here come from my personal experiences and sincere thoughts.

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Every day, parents like you are contacted by school and government officials, simply because they homeschool their children. Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization that defends and advances your constitutional right to direct the education of your children. We give you the freedom to homeschool without the worry of facing legal threats alone.

She recently sent out this email with some links to a site with lots of homeschooling resources including a number of books specifically for handwriting and copywork.

Here is a snippet about the site and the family behind it:

Bogart Family Resources loves providing busy homeschooling moms with convenient, practical, multi-sensory, skill-building resources that save time while building Christian character.

Our popular Christian copywork titles are an excellent example of our approach of combining practical skills with character training and Bible memory work.

Read more about them and Debra’s article about their handwriting tools.

Everyone needs to learn how to write, so why not make is a little easier on yourself and take advantage of all the legwork that this family has done. Also, if you sign up for their mailing list they will send you a certificate for $5, basically a free book to get you started.

Did you need a reason to rationalize buying more curriculum? How about because it is free? Go on, check ‘em out.

As classes prepare to follow the Iditarod Sled Dog Race this year, why not consider joining the eIditarod (electronic Iditarod) project? We would love to have you join us!

Participating classes will

• study the trail and musher biographies
• create a wall-sized map of the trail
• select a musher to follow in this year’s race
• track the selected musher’s progress as the race occurs
• follow the musher reaching each stop on the trail using Twitter and Blogger
• complete the problem solving tasks you find at each checkpoint’s
• arrive in Nome vicariously with your selected musher
• receive an official 2010 eIditarod class certificate for completion of the trail!

If you are interested you can check out his website:

http://surfaquarium.com (click on the electronic iditarod button)

Or email him: walter@surfaquarium.com

The Iditarod is a fascinating race and we have enjoyed following along the past few years.

JUST 9 HOURS LEFT to take advantage of Cyber Monday!

You’ll find 20 TOTALLY FREE homeschool resources. PLUS, Visit us on Facebook and find 2, 100% OFF coupon codes for a Christmas-themed, 21st freebie, and a Holiday Crafts, 22nd freebie.

Click here to get started

AND…

DON’T MISS OUR BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR: YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STOCK UP BEFORE THE SPRING SEMESTER!

With our Season of Giving Benefit Sale, you’ll get up to 70% off AND 5% of your purchases will be donated to World Vision.

Click here to get started!

It is here! Our new Digital Holiday Supplement is finished and ready to enjoy–just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We hope you will find it to be a heartwarming, fun, and festive addition to your seasonal celebrations.

This  FREE 176-page digital magazine is packed with all new content for 2010 and takes you around the world to explore Christmas in other lands. Inside you’ll discover festive ideas, fun crafts, special recipes, and activity pages for your children.

Plus, as a special bonus, we’ve included articles full of homeschooling advice and encouragement from our 2010 Fall Schoolhouse Expo speakers.

Feel free to forward this email to your friends,  use the Facebook and Twitter links at the top of this email, or the Facebook link on the download page to bless your family and friends with this FREE gift.

If you have an email list, a support group, or want to place the link on your blog, just have fun passing this FREE gift to everyone you know. There is a graphic and html on the download page to help you quickly place the banner on your site or blog.
Download your gift here: The Old Schoolhouse® Digital Holiday Supplement. Then spread the cheer, and tell your friends about this exciting holiday guide.

HSLDA: JOGO—Join for One Year, Get One Free!

Wondering if you can afford HSLDA membership? Here’s an offer you can’t afford to miss!

For two weeks only, new members can join for one year and receive a second year free. That’s two years of expert legal protection for your homeschool—along with all the other excellent benefits HSLDA offers—for less than you would pay for a just one hour of an attorney’s time anywhere else!

Click here to take advantage of this exceptional offer. But hurry—offer expires November 22!