Inclusive Homeschool

Here is an excellent source created by the University of California Museum of Paleontology, “Understanding Evolution for Teachers“. The site for teachers is part of a larger site for evolution.

The section for teachers is divided into learning about evolution and teaching it.

Topics include the history, understanding of evolution, including misconceptions and relevance to our daily lives. The site is geared toward teachers with lesson plans, but there’s also a section that’s geared toward all readers, not just those who are teaching.

This is a very thorough website, neatly laid out with information and hands on lesson plans for teaching specific concepts. A very helpful feature is their search options. You can search according to grade levels, K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12, by topic or keywords.

To see everything laid out, their site index is neatly laid out and very easy to follow. They, also, have a very nice glossary with short concise definitions and pronunciation guide for most of the terms.

Web pages, also, have graphics to illustrate the points made in text. And while there’s a lot of information on the website, there isn’t a preponderance of text on individual pages, making it easy to read. Links lead the reader to other sections of the website for further study or clarification and/or to outside resources.

This is a great resource for both understanding and teaching evolution. It can be used exclusively or nicely supplemented with living books. While it’s not specifically for homeschoolers, the lesson plans I looked over can be easily adapted for use in the home.

Tags: evolution, lesson plans, Resources, Science

Buddhanet.net is an extensive site filled with well laid out variety of resources for the study and practice of Buddhism.

From their site:

BuddhaNet is a non-sectarian organisation, offering its services to all Buddhist traditions. It aims to facilitate a significant Buddhist presence in the ever-expanding realm of computer communications technology, applying this technology to helping make the Buddha’s teachings freely available to all.

Their e-learning section has curriculum for all ages.

This section contains links to pdf files for adult self study, and an extensive curriculum for primary and secondary grades. Primary grades include links for mazes, coloring pages, stories, puzzles, and songs with corresponding mp3 files. The link to the primary grade syllabus is here.

I clicked on the first unit for primary grade and found an adorable graphic of a little Buddhist, that seems to follow all the lessons.

The page has text, pictures and a link to a story about the topic being taught. At the bottom of the page is an activity box with links to various activities, including guided meditations with instructions for teachers, and mp3′s of the songs with lyrics, and a karaoke version for budding singers, no less! There’s, also, a quiz box.

I briefly look at the secondary syllabus, and clicked on their first unit, and was equally impressed. It, too, has an activity box and quiz with corresponding links.

I have not used these resources yet, but intend to. There are tons of resources to download. This site contains a wealth of material, is thorough and definitly worth taking a look at if you’re interested in teaching Buddhism and/or practicing Buddhism!

Tags: Buddhism, ebooks, free downloads, Multi-Media, religious studies