Use 1 x 1 Lego bricks and a 12-sided math die to encourage counting and learning.

Many parents have objections to using fiction in their homeschooling: it isn't a good use of time, it offers opposing worldviews, it isn't useful. But it can stimulate the imagination and allows a child to put himself in another's place. Douglas Jones discusses why fiction is good for children.

A look at an unschooling family's approach to managing chores around the house. Although this approach may not work for everyone, the emphasis on flexibility and respect for each others needs and inclinations is enlightening.

Guidelines for planning a great outing with your homeschooling kids. This post is written by an experienced homeschooler who loves to get out and about to learn in a variety of ways.

The Montessori Materials Group offers many Montessori materials to download including classified cards, templates, word lists, puzzle cards, art cards, leaf nomenclature, maps, music and more. You may alter the contents of these files to suit your educational needs. The website also offers a discussion group at Yahoo Groups.

Learners Online helps teachers and home educators make the Net an accessible, useful educational tool. Each monthly issue gives you the knowledge and tools you need to integrate online content with traditional home and classroom learning, over 40 pages of great educational resources, activities, and lesson plans each month.

A compilation of content standards for K-12 curriculum in both searchable and browsable formats.

This practical guide to starting and leading a support group covers such topics as how to start a support group, how to structure your leadership team, practical tips on managing a support group, ideas for support group meetings, what to do when your group gets too large, how to prevent leader burnout, and much more. You'll also find over 25 reproducible, ready-to-use forms for use in many organized activities, check-off lists for seminars and field trips, time-tables for planning support group activities, certificates, testing enrollment form, and much more.

A more complex understanding of homeschooling is emerging in the mainstream media these days. No longer is homeschooling either all good or all bad. Simultaneously, there is a growing appreciation that most homeschoolers do a fine job raising and teaching their children, but that there are a few parents homeschooling children in order to hide abuse.