Monthly newsletter packed with info on free and paid resources for homeschool parents wanting to prepare their children well for college and careers.
Gift Ideas, Christmas Contest, Spring Classes, and More in the December Newsletter
As the year comes to an end and Christmas quickly approaches, we are here to help with some last minute gift ideas. We also have a Christmas coding contest, a new feature called "Tech Tip Tuesday", new podcast episodes, and a reminder about spring semester classes. So, take a break from the holiday hustle and bustle and sneak a peek at the last newsletter of the year. Download our Homeschool Holiday Bingo Card and play along! Tag @fundafundaeducation on Instagram or Facebook when you post pictures of any of the activities on the bingo board OR a photo of your completed board. One person on each platform will be randomly selected to win a unit study of their choice! Next year you'll notice a new look for our newsletter and some new features: An AI tool/tip section as well as a scholarship/contest section. If you want to hear from us between regular newsletters, please sign up for our Special Offers newsletter here. Disclosure: This newsletter may feature affiliate links, which means we will earn a small commission if you purchase through the links provided. Gift Ideas STEM gifts are a great way to combine fun and learning. Our blog post STEM Gifts Under $50 will provide some ideas. You might be interested in this Coding Robot Kit for the budding programmer in your family. Need a couple of gift ideas for the tween and teen children? Check out our blog post about 25 FUN Educational gifts under $25 for Teens and Tweens. If you are interesting in making gifts, try this web-based, self-paced unit study and learn how to create digital gifts. Students (parents, too) will be provided with ideas and we'll walk you through how to use the different websites to create gifts you can send via the internet. These ideas include choose-your-own-adventure stories, video games, and an online board game! All of these can be personalized for the recipient to create a truly unique gift. You can currently purchase How To Create Digital Christmas Gifts for just $10. Your children will learn techie skills AND make gifts recipients will love. Don't forget to take a look at our ideas for stocking stuffers for homeschool families. The Sensible Homeschool also has stocking stuffer ideas from A to Z for you! Check them out here. Christmas Contest InfoWhile you are busy Christmas shopping or wrapping presents, your children can learn how to program during our Scratch Christmas Coding Contest. They will create an interactive Christmas scene using Scratch, a free online drag-and-drop programming language that makes it very easy to code. Instructions will be provided in the online classroom, and students will access to the classroom after registering. Those new to coding will be able to watch video tutorials to help them get started. Scratch really is VERY easy. The contest is for students in 4th - 12th grades and only costs $5. Prizes will be awarded in two divisions: new programmer and experienced programmer and all participants will receive a $10 coupon to use on any of our programming classes. The final project submission due date for this year's contest is December 23, 2024. You can find more details and register for the contest here. Tech Tip Tuesday What is Tech Tip Tuesday? It's an opportunity to catch a tech tip from us on Instagram or on our Facebook page. We won't always be posting in the Facebook groups, but we will be posting in the places listed above, so be sure you are following us there and catch the tech tips we'll be sharing! Spring Semester Classes Spring classes begin Monday, January 6, 2025. The following asynchronous, graded classes with weekly deadlines are available for the spring semester. These classes are full-year classes BUT can be started in the spring and completed in the fall OR students can just take the spring semester for 1/2 credit.
The following one-semester classes are worth 1/2 credit: HIGH SCHOOL
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Self-Paced Classes and Unit StudiesOur self-paced classes are also available throughout the year. We are currently offering the following classes: Computer Applications, Health, Intro to Adobe Photoshop, Intro to Photography, Intro to Theatre, and Middle School Anatomy. These classes are the same as our asynchronous classes BUT parents grade the assignments and there are no deadlines. Answer keys / rubrics are provided. Our unit studies are available throughout the year. Each study consists of four modules designed to be completed over a period of four weeks; however, you can take as long as needed. The unit studies are self-paced and can be used by all the children in your family. ACT/College Updates
Latest Podcast EpisodesOur Homeschooling with Technology podcast explores new and different ways of using technology in your homeschool. We release an episode every week! If you are not already a regular listener, don't worry, you can start at any time. Just click on a link to listen in a browser, or find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Email me if you need help! We have a tab on our website to browse through all our past podcast episodes easily. Check it out! Below are our most recent episodes: Episode 304 - AI Assisted Holiday Planning and Prep Episode 303 - 2024 Hour of Code Highlights Episode 302 - Gaming Gift Ideas That Won't Break the Bank Episode 301 - Tech Tool for Dyslexia: How Lexercise Can Help Homeschoolers Episode 300 - 15 Tools In 15 Minutes with Exclusive Bonuses Join our Homeschooling with Technology Facebook group to receive more information and share ideas about what you hear in the podcasts. Meryl van der Merwe meryl@fundafunda.com Demo Classroom Facebook Groups If you have teens, be sure to join our Facebook Group: Homeschooling College-bound Teens If you have middle school-aged children, be sure to join our Facebook Group: Homeschooling Middle School Free Resource Library for Subscribers Access the Free Resources Library HERE. Password: edufun |
FundaFunda Academy
Monthly newsletter packed with info on free and paid resources for homeschool parents wanting to prepare their children well for college and careers.
This month we're taking a look at computer courses and online grammar/poetry resources. We also have a special offer for you on a Scratch coding class and a poll about a new AI class. To round things out, we have new content in our regularly featured areas. Enjoy! Teacher Spotlight One of Kristin's all-time favorite things to do is snorkel. Kristin Moon Kristin earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Florida; she intended to pursue a career in scientific...
This month we have a self-paced class sale and an announcement about new self-paced classes. We also have a new teacher spotlight, some cool science resources, new podcast episodes, information about a crossword-creating contest, and more! Enjoy! Teacher Spotlight Bryce Canyon National Park: Navajo Loop Trail Lea Bosse Lea contributed to the development of our health course and has produced several of the unit studies we offer; however, around here she is best known as our ACT tutor. Lea...
This month we introduce a new feature: Teacher Spotlight. We want to give you the opportunity to get to know our teachers! In addition, if your family loves escape rooms, you will like our deal this month so scroll on down! And don't miss our other regular features! The AI tip will be really helpful if you don't know where to start with AI in your homeschool. Teacher Spotlight El Zócalo in Mexico City on Día de los Muertos Suzette Laporte-Ayo Suzette was born and raised in Cananea, Sonora,...