|
Homeschooling for
FREE! March 2006
|
Only
$12.95 today
Over 60 Pages of
Information
for an Incredibly Low
Price!
CLICK
HERE TO
PURCHASE
|
Haven't subscribed
to one of our
e-Newsletters yet?
Insert
your email below and choose one or more FREE subscriptions
to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's e-Newsletters.
Please note:
We respect your privacy.
TOS will only use your email for
its e-Newsletters. We do not sell, loan or share them
in any way. |
|
 of
Homeschooling for FREE! |
 |
A Word From Your Editor - I'll introduce you
to some ways of getting information about your favorite travel destinations -
the ultimate field trips. |
|
Turning Your Travel Dreams into Reality - Dale Bartlett shows
us how he and his family have been able to visit places that some of us only dream
about. |
|
Keys to a Successful Homeschool Convention - Barb Frank gives
us her advice in a FREE e-course on having a successful convention experience. |
|
Coordinate a Successful Field Trip - Shay Seaborne has some
great tips for those very educational field trips. |
|
This Month's Contest - Win a copy of Dale Bartlett's book
Have Kids - Will Travel |
 Wouldn't
it be cool to actually see the places you and your kids have studied in geography?
Talk about the ultimate field trip, huh? Well that's just what Dale Bartlett has
done with his family.
I ran across an article online a few months back and was intrigued by the title
"Got kids? Take them anywhere - Affordable adventures: 'Have Kids - Will
Travel' is a how-to manual on exotic trips for the whole family." As I read
about this homeschooling family from Utah, I knew I had to share this find with
all my frugal friends. I contacted Dale and asked to review a copy of his self-published
book. He graciously sent me a copy and also agreed to write an article for our
e-Newsletter.
I read through the book and was pleased to find lots of information that was
new to me. The first chapter of his book talks about cheap or even free airfare.
Now, you know I'm right onto that! Dale lists the major airlines and their websites
so that you can easily sign up for their frequent flyer programs. He even gives
solid tips and proven strategies for how and when to use your points for free
travel.
How about free cruises and free lodging? Read about it in the chapters of his
book. Dale's philosophy is "only pay when you need to." He tells of
their home exchange with a family from Florence, Italy. How would you like
to wake up in a house "surrounded by vineyards and groves of olive trees
dating back over 2000 years?" Sounds a lot better than a cramped hotel room,
huh?
Can you get free food, free transportation, free entrance
to attractions, and free souvenirs? According to Dale,
yes! Included in the back of the book are forms for keeping
track of your miles, points, budget, accommodation needs,
and so on. There are also lots of websites that I had
never heard of. I had more places online to check out!
Are you inspired yet? I sure am. I think our family will start by sending off
for some travel info from various places. Hey - we can dream! Check out this website
where I found a listing of each Chamber of Commerce in the United States. There
are also international listings on this website.
I also found a great site that lists some helpful and
interesting places devoted specifically to Air
Travel, Auto
Travel, Bicycle
Travel, Boat
Travel, Bus
Travel, Foot
Travel, Horse
Travel, Rail
Travel, Space
Travel, Time
Travel, and Virtual
Travel. Check ’em out!
I'm gonna sign off now. I've got cabin fever BIG TIME. I'm gonna start planning
my dream trip for the family ... hmmm ... now where would we want to go first?
Julie Nott, Editor
Homeschooling for FREE e-Newsletter
|
"The world is a book and those who do not
travel read only one page."
- St. Augustine
|
By Dale Bartlett
Homeschooling families often turn the impossible into
reality. For many families, however, the dream of turning
the learning into a tangible reality often  seems
too far out of reach. Imagine, after studying the life
of Leonardo da Vinci, traveling to his birthplace in
the small Tuscan town of Vinci or visiting Clos Luce
Manor in France, his home in the Loire Valley. In 1516
King Francois I gave this home to Leonardo along with
700 golden crowns per year and asked only for the pleasure
of listening to Leonardo converse. See firsthand the
underground passage connecting the manor to the Royal
Castle Amboise, which gave the king direct access to
the home of da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci is buried
in the small chapel at Amboise, and much of his work
can be viewed in the museum, which is on the grounds
of his former manor.
The problem is, who has the thousands of dollars to
take their family to such destinations? Not us. However,
we have spent summer after summer doing just this.
How do we do it? How do you turn what should be an
$18,000 vacation into a $3,800 experience of a lifetime?
For many families, their yearly vacation is one of
fun, but for our family it is an adventure of learning
and fun, exploring this entire world, both new and
old, and all it has to offer. We began five years ago
researching how we could travel cheap. The interesting
thing was, the more we researched the more we discovered
that much of our travel could be free. After spending
several summers in Europe, many asked us to share our
tricks with them so they too might be able to have
similar adventures. We eventually wrote a book entitled Have
Kids - Will Travel, which has changed
the way many families travel, opening the doors of
the world and creating adventures families could only
dream of before.
Our family - consisting of my wife, our four children (ages 8, 14, 16, and 18),
and me - have visited such places as England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
and Italy. We have also traveled extensively throughout the United States, including
a two and a half week Revolutionary War self-guided tour of the East Coast, which
cost us just over $700 for the entire family, including air, car, places to stay,
food, and so on.
Traveling cheap and free isn't something you can do next week. It takes both
time and planning. We usually plan our trips one to two years in advance. After
deciding where we want to go, we start the planning process of gathering our frequent
flyer points, free accommodations, car, etc. The free flights take the longest
to accumulate. The great thing about frequent flyer points these days is that
you don't have fly to get them. There are so many companies that will give them
to you for doing business with them. The great thing is, you are probably already
doing business with many of them already. They include credit cards, Internet
providers, cell phone and long distance phone companies, along with many more.
The first trick is to learn how to create an accumulative effect with your points
so you are not collecting a few points in different programs, but that they all
go into one big pot. The second trick is to collect enough points without buying
things you don't need and/or going into debt. This is simply a matter of changing
the way you purchase the everyday items we are already buying.
Getting free accommodations for your trip can be accomplished
by using the same methods the kings of old did. They
contacted a duke, earl, or someone else who had a castle
and asked if they wanted to exchange castles for a
time. Hundreds of thousands of families just
like yours, living all over the world, would love to
exchange homes with your family. This is very popular
among the upper middle and upper classes in Europe.
We usually get around ten offers from families all
over the world, and many of them include the use of
their cars, which takes care of an additional cost.
 In
our book we talk about other ways to get free airfare,
free hotel, and very cheap car rentals; how to save
on food; and much more. We go through the safety aspects
of traveling abroad with children and how to see sites
both free and cheap. Using these methods, we have spent
over three weeks in Europe for less than it would cost
a family of four to visit Disneyland. Yes, the kids
have had to trade Mickey Mouse for the Eiffel Tower,
or swimming in a hotel pool for swimming in a crystal
clear lake of the Swiss Alps. Or maybe you will have
to trade a long, hot car ride for an airplane ride
with TVs and movies in front of every seat. Maybe you
will have to substitute a tour of the studio where
they filmed Jaws for the beautiful city of
Salzburg, where they filmed Sound of Music, creating
memories and adventures that will change the way our
children look at history and the world.
St. Augustine said, "The world is a book and those who do not travel
read only one page." This is so true. The world and history for us and
our children has expanded beyond our imagination. To understand others and the
world at large, you need to become explorers. Have Kids - Will Travel
provides the tools needed to turn your travel dreams into reality.
For more information on Dale Bartlett's book, you may contact him at havekidswilltravel@sisna.com.
He also provides a free monthly newsletter sharing tips and travel deals. Visit
his website at www.havekids-willtravel.com.
Let him know how he can help you in your adventures to come. |
|
By Barb Frank
Speaking of traveling, are you getting ready for your state's homeschool convention?
Are you overwhelmed just thinking about it? Have you packed your checkbook? Don't
know where to start?
Barb Frank of Cardamom Publishers has written a four-day e-course called "Keys
to a Successful Homeschool Convention Experience," and it's just in time
for the start of convention season. You'll find the signup form for the course
by visiting her website at
www.cardamompublishers.com/subscribe-successful-convention-keys.htm.
Once you provide your email address, a lesson arrives in your email box four days
in a row. That's all there is to it! Each lesson can also be forwarded to homeschooling
friends. |
"A
lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
- Mark Twain
|
By Shay Seaborne
Sometimes, the hardest part about planning a field trip is deciding where to
go. In which businesses, parks, historical sites, and museums have your children
expressed an interest in learning more? Your own children's interests are very
good reason to initiate a field trip. Having a group to visit will often gain
you access to places that would not normally welcome individual families. As homeschooling
has gained in popularity, it is not uncommon for a field trip host to be happy
to hear from homeschoolers; they've had very positive interactions with homeschooled
children before. Most public places and larger businesses are used to group programs
and tours, and many smaller businesses are open to them - but may need some ideas
about what to present.
Regular Tours
Some places are used to school tours and are surprised by the idea of making
a presentation to an audience consisting of people from a wide variety of ages.
It can be helpful to reassure them that they can speak to a fairly high level;
the older kids will understand, the middle children might ask for more information
to help them understand, and the littlest ones will absorb ... whatever - and
that's okay. It is a good idea to tactfully remind the host he can change his
presentation at any point.
Special Tours
Other places have never been asked to give group tours before but are very
interested in the idea. They may need suggestions on what might interest the children
and how to present their company. For such situations, it helps to know about
the company's operation beforehand.
Perhaps a short, individual visit would be a good starting
point. From there,
- Find out what restrictions apply. Is there a group
size limit; age range; student-to-parent ratio; days
and times? Is there a fee? Is photography allowed?
Ask for directions to provide to attendees.
- Set a date, and ask for suggestions to prepare the
children for the visit. A book list or website list
is nice!
- Start publicizing. Your local list is the place to post a message if you want
only your members to join your event. For a wider audience and larger response,
post to a regional or statewide homeschool discussion list - which you can find
through www.Yahoogroups.com or through NHEN's online support groups search page:
www.nhen.org/support/groups/online.asp.
- Keep track of respondents. You'll want their names, the number and ages of
children attending, and contact information (phone and/or email). It might be
easiest to create a temporary file in your email program and place all responses
there.
- If the site requires a deposit, fee in advance, or paid reservations, collect
the money for each family as they register. This can save you a big headache later
on! If a family cannot attend for whatever reason, tell them they are responsible
for "selling" their slot if they want to recoup their money. Of course,
it is appropriate to help out with this if you can.
- If possible, recommend books or websites for the
families to use to prepare for their field trip.
- It can't hurt to send out a reminder the day before and to include a short
memo about appropriate conduct. Remember to include directions and any rules,
such as a prohibition against photographs.
- Confirm with the host site as needed.
- Bring a blank Thank You note or card with you to
the field trip. This may be the only time you have
these particular people together in one place! Encourage
group members to sign the note before leaving the premises.
Note who has taken photos, and ask for their phone
numbers so you can obtain a photo to send with the
note.
- Be sure to verbally thank the field trip host before
leaving the site. He or she will appreciate it if you
can say some specific things about what you enjoyed.
Shared freely from the NHEN Article Clearinghouse - www.NHEN.org
|
What's the best FREE thing you've ever found for your homeschooling? A favorite
book, curriculum, educational toy or game? Share it with me at FreeHomeschool@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
and you'll have the chance to win a copy of Dale Bartlett's book, Have Kids
- Will Travel. Come on ... send me a note! I'm all ears. Deadline:
March 31, 2006. |
"Though we travel
the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with
us or we find it not."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
Paul and Gena Suarez, publishers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine,
just released a brand-new e-book, Secrets of Successful Homeschooling,
to show you that "Yes! You CAN homeschool!" Whether you are a new parent
thinking ahead to your family's educational years, a homeschooler in the trenches,
or a veteran who has "been there, done that," this e-book holds something
for everyone.
"You will cry, laugh, and feel inspired at the different stories ... I
think that this book will springboard a new homeschooler to venture out into the
unknown and inspire veteran moms to hang in there and keep going."
- Karen Flores, homeschool mom of two boys
Affordable and instantly downloadable, this e-book would
be perfect to help you start out the new year inspired,
motivated, and encouraged in your homeschooling journey.
To purchase your copy of Secrets to Successful
Homeschooling, visit
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/subscribe/secrets.php
Looking for a way to earn extra money?
Sign up for our affiliate program and you can earn
66% of each sale by telling
your friends about our e-book. Sign up here:
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/subscribe/affiliate.php |
"Travel, in the younger sort,
is a part of education;
in the elder, a part of experience."
- Francis Bacon |
|
|
|
Thank you for reading the TOS Homeschooling for FREE! e-Newsletter
this month. We'll have more exciting FREE stuff for you next month as we discuss
MATH! This will make some of you cringe, but never fear, it'll all be free stuff
to help you out!
You may forward this e-Newsletter to your friends in its entirety. If you have
any comments, email me at FreeHomeschool@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
with your feedback. Don't forget to look for the Winter issue of The Old Schoolhouse
Magazine, now in stores and mailboxes! Right now, 19 free gifts to the first
3,000 new subscribers!
Copyright © 2006 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine,
LLC
PO Box 1701, Dandridge, TN 37725
All rights reserved.
Publisher@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
|
|
