Resources
Index to Page
General
Home Schooling
Resources for Younger Children
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Language Arts
Other Topics
General
Content Standards for California
Public Schools
New Common Core Standards for Mathematics
New common Core Standards for Language Arts
Released Test Questions for the STAR Test
California Standards Keyed to the STAR Test
2008-2009 ERCLC Student Handbook
ERS Library: Kid's Portal
(See your educational coordinator for user name and password)
Study Island
(Get your user name and password from your educational coordinator)
Ed Tech Links
Links to a wide variety of educational resources
Tulare County Office of Education, Main
Office
2637 West Burrel, P.O. Box 5091, Visalia, CA 93278-5091
Phone: (559) 733-6300, Fax: (559) 737-4378
P.O.V. Lending Library
The PBS program P.O.V. (Point of View) has a free lending library for teachers. In addition
to the videos or DVD's, many of the programs have additional discussion material included.
Take advantage of your status as a teacher of your children at ERCLC.
CHSPE Official Site & CHSPE Prep/Review
The California High School Proficiency Exam is a way to finish high school early with the equivalent of a high school deploma granted by the state based on an exam in language arts and math. If your goal is to finish high school early, these sites are good starting points.
[The CHSPE should not be confused with the CAHSEE, which
everyone must take as a prerequisite for graduation.]
Request for Work Permit and Statement of Intent to Employ Minor
Home Schooling
Home School Association of California
"Empowering Families: Starting the Homeschool Journey"
(download as a pdf file or request a free copy)
a good introductory publication of the HSC
Homeschooling Legal Issues
Private School Affidavit Form (R-4,
Online Registration)
(Not needed if you enroll with a charter school. You should
read the Legal Issues link before filling out this form.)
California High School Proficiency Exam
An alternate route to a high school diploma--one issued
directly by the California Department of Education
Resources for Younger Children
Starfall.com
This is a site with phonemic awareness (pre-reading) materials.
(Mostly, but not entirely, free materials)
Songs for Teaching
(Mostly a commercial site; some free downloads available)
Crayola.com
This site has resources matching all our core areas.
Enchanted Learning Site
A collection of thousands of online learning resources. Most of the resources focus on the needs of K-8 students.
Lesson Pathways
Lesson ideas and resources for K-5 students tailored for homeschooling
LearningPage.com
A collection of worksheets on all topics. We don't advocate basing
your homeschooling experience on worksheets, but they
may be a useful supplement at times.
Flat Travelers -- Create an
"alter-ego" and send him or her on adventures with other families around the world, while
you escort visiting flat travelers on tours of your own unique corner of the world. Keep a
journal and take photos, of your visiting traveler's adventures.
Example Flat Traveler sites: 1, 2.
Mathematics
Arithmetic Review Check List for Middle School
and High School Studentst
Use this check list to make sure you have mastered the
basics to
avoid problems in Algebra and beyond. Get the items checked off
one-by-one, and use the list as a guide to what you still need to learn.
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics Standards
(Much more useful than the CA State Standards)
Illuminations Website: Online Math Activities
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Math Textbook Comparison Study
California High School Exit Exam (CHSEE) Release Questions
STAR Mathematics Released Test Questions
Grades
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
Algebra I,
Geometry,
Algebra II
A web site with good addition and subtraction practice for younger children
The Multiplication Table
Page
(Printer-friendly Version)
Arithmetic Combinations Drill Sheets
Addition Drill Sheet: Excel Open Office
Subtraction Drill Sheets: Excel Open Office
Multiplication Drill Sheets: Excel Open Office
Division Drill Sheets: Excel Open Office
----------
These are spreadsheets for Excel and Open Office.
They produce arithmetic drill sheets with answer sheets and progress
charts for the
basic combinations (0-12 for mult/div,
0-10 for add/sub).
(OpenOffice is an excellent free alternative to Microsoft Office.)
Times Attack
Video game approach to learning the multiplication tables
(Available for download in a free and a commercial version.
Both versions have the same underlying "engine" but the
commercial
version has additional "environments")
Online Multiplication-Facts Drills
Online Addition-Facts Drills
Triangular Addition/Subtraction Flash Cards
Triangular Multiplication/Division Flash Cards
The Fractions Page
(pdf file)
Maths Is Fun
A site with review overviews of many math topics. By the way,
in England (and British-influenced parts of the world) they abbreviate
"mathematics" as "maths." Here in the US we abbreviate it as "math."
Math Explorations Class - Topic List
Math Explorations on YouTube
Learning to use an
Abacus
(Downloadable Virtual Abacus)
Uses of Decimal
Blocks--including an online applet
(More)
Illuminations Website: Online Math Activities
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
"Cut the Knot" web site: Interactive Mathematical Puzzles
"Count On", a British "maths" site with
lots of resources and links.
(The British abbreviate mathematics as "maths" instead of "math.")
Practical Uses of Math and Science
(PUMAS)
(An on-line journal of math and science examples for pre-college education.)
Constructing a Regular Pentagon using Origami
Solving Mazes
(Something I learned during a lower-grades
Math Explorations Class! -- David Chandler)
Learning Python
A pdf file containing a collection of notes on resources to get started
learning the Python programming language. I also
have a CD with the resources
mentioned in this file. See me. -- David Chandler
Open Courseware from MIT
True, this is university-level coursework, but if you want to dig into some topic or get a taste of what classes in a world-class university are like, check this out.
Science
STAR Science Released Test Questions
Grade 5,
Earth Science,
Biology,
Chemistry,
Physics
American Association for the Advancement of Science: Project 2061
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
National Science Education Standards
Astronomical Picture of the
Day
(+ Archive) / A
huge space science resource. Each "picture of the day" is accompanied by a short descriptive paragraph which contains
a dozen or more links to related information on different levels. This site could be used as the
primary "text" for an entire astronomy course!
Science News is an excellent magazine for adults (and teenagers) who want to keep up with the latest developments in science. The online version has some free articles, but many reserved for subscribers. Science Week is similar to Science News (teenager/adult level) except it is a free online publication. For younger kids be sure to check out Science News for Kids, a great (and free) science site for kids.
Home Page for The Exploratorium
Blue Beauty: a Power Point presentation with musical
accompaniment presenting the earth in space from various
perspectives. A good way to introduce earth science.
(1.6 Mbyte download)
Windows to the Universe Website
A good resource for earth and space science topics.
Sixty Symbols
(Videos about the symbols of physics and astronomy)
Sixty very short, lively mini-discussions of various topics in
science
by
professors
from the University of Nottingham.
Map Links (science, history, geography...some animated)
Google Earth
Zoom in on any place on earth, + a lot more
Timeline Templates for Geological Time
Million, 10 Million, 100 Million, and Billion Year Time Scales
The Satellite Site
Study and "Build" satellites for communication, remote sensing, weather, etc.
Heavens Above
Observe and identify the space shuttle, the International Space Station, "Iridium Flares," and other satellites passing over your location on earth
Virtual
Earthquake (use real data to measure epicenter
and magnitude of a real earthquake)
Frames of Reference Video
This is a classic physics lesson from the 1950s.
The Text of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Someone has put the entire text of the book, Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman onto a web site. (The book is also available in our library.) Richard Feynman was one of the most brilliant physicists of the 20th
century. This autobiography is a collection of little stories about his life
that gives you a taste for his remarkable personality and what it is like to be someone most people would call a genius. It is both humerous, and fascinating. (See also a Nova program about Richard Feynman.)
Online Version of the Periodic Table of the Elements
The site also has links to a printable version and other resources.
"Periodic Video"
An excellent collection of videos introducing each of the elements.
Open Courseware from MIT
True, this is university-level coursework, but if you want to dig into some topic or get a taste of what classes in a world-class university are like, check this out.
Social Studies
STAR History-Social Science Released Test Questions
Grade 8,
10,
11
Timeline Templates for Historical Time
(see also the Science section for Geological Time)
Year CE, Year BCE
Decades CE , Decades BCE,
Centuries CE, Centuries BCE,
Millennia CE, Millenia BCE
[Timelines help establish a visual fremework history. If you're studying ancient history, print out 3 CE and 3 BCE millenium charts. For US history from 1492 to the present, print out of the 7 CE century charts. If you're studying World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, etc. print out the appropriate number of decade charts. Trim the charts so they fit together end-to-end and put them on your wall. Label key events, life spans of key individuals, etc. as you come to them in your reading.]
Earth: A Graphic Look at the State of the World
A project of the Global Education Project. This site presents a wide variety of material
on, among other things, global ecology, water, energy, oceans, pollution, human conditions, warfare, and wealth.
This site is a great resource for both physical and human geography.
Blue Beauty: a Power Point presentation with musical
accompaniment presenting the earth in space from various
perspectives. An inspiring introduction to geography for kids and
a good refresher course for adults. (1.6 Mbyte download)
Social Studies Study Guides by John Kelly:
10th grade Geography and World History
11th grade US History and Geography
12th grade Principles of American Democracy study guide
The US Constitution
, the Bill of Rights
, and Amendments 11-27
from the National Archives web site
List of College-Level Lecture CDs in our Library
from the Teaching Company
Map Links (science, history, geography...some animated)
SheppardSoftware.com -- a giant repository of games, quizzes, and other resources for learning geography (and other topics). CDs are available for purchase on the site, but many of the resources are available for use free online.
"Real Lives" -- This program is a
very well done
simulation game where you are born (randomly) somewhere in the world with randomly assigned
personal and family characteristics and go through life facing issues and making decisions
based on real-world statistical probabilities. There is a lot of information provided along
the way about history, culture, religion, family life, health, economic, and political
issues facing people in that region through the eyes of a particular individual. You can
also "set the stage" for birth in a particular country if your goal is to study a specific
place. You can download a 14-day trial version of the program from the web site. To use the
program beyond 14 days, the program registration fee is $25. We are also ordering a few
copies for the school library, but these copies require the CD to be present when using the
program.)
E-Pals / International Pen Friends -- Correspond with international e-mail pen-pals online for world awareness, writing skills, and (optionally) foreign language (if you choose to correspond in a language other than English.) The Real Lives simulation is a good complementary activity. You can set up life simulations that match your pen pal to provide additional insights and material for discussion.
Language Arts
STAR English-Language Arts Released Test Questions
Grade 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11
Recommended Literature
Age-appropriate reading recommendations from the
California Department of Education
9th-10th and 11th-12th Grade Reading Lists
Recommended by ERCLC Staff
7th Grade Writing Test
Test Prep Intro,
Rubric,
Sample Pages,
Persuasive Writing 1,
Persuasive Writing 2,
Fictional Narrative Writing 1,
Fictional Narrative Writing 2,
Response to Literature 1,
Response to Literature 2,
Summary Writing Prompt
Writing Guidelines
Multiple Dimensions of Good Writing: Use this as a simple
checklist for
evaluating and helping to improve your child's writing.
Older Struggling Readers: What Works?
Article based on "Feldman's Biased Bibliography"
The Write Site
A Multimedia Language Arts Curriculum
Interesting Collection of Writing Prompts
If you want to get motivated to write, it helps to have topics that are
meaningful to you. These topics tie in with thinking about life issues.
Judy Blume's Home Page
(Popular and frequently censored author dealing with real-life issues meaningful to teens
and pre-teens. See, in particular, her article about being one of the most censored authors
in America.)
Planet Esme
Children's author Esme Raji Codell's Home Page
Comparison Shop for Books Online
also fetchbook.info
Links to selected books from Project Gutenberg
"Turn off your computer and pick up a book!--Peggy Entz"
Other Topics
A Free Online Spanish course.
(A set of audio CDs to go with this course is also available for purchase.)
A Free Online Spanish Practice Site.
A List of Freeware and Shareware Typing Tutors
We have Mavis Beacon available for checkout at the school library, but these are some alternatives you can download at home.