What are you favorite online resources for collecting information for research? (not games, apps, etc.)

Anyone else?

Can we start a thread on these? What are your favorite websites for virtual field trips? Obviously there are the Discovery Education virtual field trips... I recently stumbled across Field Trip Zoom which looks an amazing resource for a nominal fee. What other websites do you like to frequent? A friend recommended doing a tour of the Smithsonian.

there's an idea... maybe just take the covers off and use them for dividers... they are a pain to get in and out of the boxes which is one of the reasons I want to ditch them.

I have a bunch of guided reader sets that I want to sort and label by reading level. Am I going to regret throwing the boxes away? Not sure why I'm so stressed about the idea... I recycle DVD cases and book dust jackets all the time...and I rarely resell anything... usually just past stuff along when I'm done. They look so nice and neat in the boxes but they aren't as accessible to the kids this way. On the other hand I'm a bit nervous if I let them out of the boxes that they'll get scattered everywhere and I need then for lessons too.

DK leveled readers have great non-fiction books... Level 1 would be good for a reader ... although I do think they would be challenging for a brand new reader. My middle guy is a late bloomer and at age 7 is enjoying the Scholastic's Guided Science Readers because he is able to read them to himself with just a little bit of help.

Colonial House is great... there's a good list here too: http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/netflix-academy-the-best-streaming-videos-on-colonial

We are doing a geography club every month for this year. Each month is a different continent. Club lasts two hours (I assume a co-op class would be shorter) Anyhow, we have basic lesson about each continent and then a pertinent storybook that represents the continent. Then each child chooses a topic they want to be an "expert" on, whether it be food, architecture, games, art, etc. and teaches it to the group. They choose before the actual class takes place so they are prepared when its time. We have rotating stations set up that include: crafts, games, nomenclature cards, extra books, etc. Its working out really great for us because the kids are constantly moving and in a different environment every few minutes.

We are just *now* teaching note taking... and only as a way to write down key points for themes. I can't imagine taking notes for a lecture... I don't think I did that until 6th or 7th grade?

We have the Edcon literature guides... they are dry, but do the job. I like how they break down classic literature and make it more readable at a younger age. Usually there's an intro, the actual passage and the next two pages are vocabulary and comprehension.

we do a half hour of instruction and then when at home I require everything played 3x during a practice session... (we've only been taking lessons for a few years) I used to require a certain amount of minutes for practice but then he dawdled.

As far as teaching parts of speech and all that to a 6yo, we loved this series of books: http://www.amazon.com/If-You-Were-Noun-Word-ebook/dp/B00ESEEE74/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412813595&sr=8-2&keywords=nouns For those who don't click links, the title is "If You Were A Noun" they also have verb, adverb, adjective, prefixes, suffixes, etc. There are a whole bunch of them in this series (variety of authors)

Thanks for the tips everyone. After mulling it over I'm just going to do interest-led with those two. Let them pick a topic and just go with it. I was going to use Seton as a spine with them, but the Seton 1st grade science book is very basic and all topics we've covered already. We do a lot of outdoors and nature activities already... plus we're relocating for a year and will be doing a lot of outdoor stuff in the area up there, so new environment.

Makes sense. By fitting it in I do mean 2-3x a week, but I get what you are saying. English/Grammar are one in the same so its really only 4 subjects I'm asking him to do every day (not including religion which we do as a family). I agree maybe "starting" the day with the fun stuff might help with the rest of it...

I get sinus migraines. My eyes get throbby and I see spots and then along with the sinus pressure I get all over head pain and just want to curl up in bed and die. Can't be around sound or light. I usually throw up if I don't lie down immediately.