WOW Factor Homeschool picks #atozchallenge

Homeschooling with WOW is really an everyday thing, being able to school my children at home and experience learning with them is a WOW. But, when you have helps that add to the Wow factor that makes it that much more special. Here are 3 of my WOW factor picks for today. Hope you find them as helpful and WOWful as I have. 

--My first WOW is probably the best book ever if you are starting out homeschooling, written by Mary Pride, this book deserves a spot on your bookshelf. 
Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling

Per Amazon website book description:

One of America’s leading homeschool experts provides families with everything they could possibly need to know to start schooling at home in this 600–page volume. As entertaining as it is enlightening, this incredible storehouse of information...

• explains the advantages of homeschooling and corrects common misconceptions
• encourages and equips parents who may be reticent to start teaching at home
• gives tons of detailed, practical information on methods and materials

This encyclopedic reference includes chapters on the ways kids learn, planning and record keeping, testing and standards, and special–needs and gifted children. Families who are just getting started in homeschooling as well as experienced homeschool families who need more information will find answers to all their questions in this one–of–a–kind resource.

I used this book when I was first starting out and it was a great resource to me, I still refer back to it from time to time even now. 

--My 2nd WOW factor is another book resource: 

101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum 

Per the Amazon website: book description

101 Top Picks makes it easy for home educators to select the right curriculum for each family situation and each child's learning style. Widely-recognized curriculum expert Cathy Duffy walks you through the curriculum selection process: goal setting, figuring out which educational approach to use, developing your own philosophy of education, determining your teaching style, and identifying your children's learning styles. "At-a-glance" charts highlight key features of each Top Pick selection. Scanning through the charts allows you to quickly identify products likely to be of interest. The charts are followed by extensive reviews of each of Cathy's Top Picks. This is an updated and heavily revised edition of 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum (2005).

I have the first edition of the book and it helped me so much to pick and choose curriculum my first years of homeschooling. Cathy does such a great job with the descriptions of your choices that you are not left totally lost when you finish. I actually thought I knew something about homeschooling in my first year. I highly recommend buying a copy of this edition for yourself and keeping it. Do not loan it out, it might not come back to you...lol.

--My 3rd WOW factor is not a book, but a huge list of links that I recently ran across while searching for something else on my favorite spot "Pinterest". Heather from "Sprittibee.com blog has compiled this awesome  "Big Fat Homeschool Link List" that is the most WOW list I have seen in a long time. I wanted to blog about it and save the site link, so I will have it myself. 

A little excerpt of the list from Sprittibee.com : http://sprittibee.com/2013/01/my-big-fat-homeschool-links-list.html , you need to visit her site to glean the awesomeness of the Fat list!! It is amazing.

 Lessons and Resources

Teach-nology (Lesson Plans and Printables Galore)
Learning Page (free lessons, instructional materials, etc.)
Furious Shepherd (Insane Amount of Homeschool Links)
Lesson Planet
Simple Homeschool
Enchanted Learning
Lesson Plan Library (Discovery)
eThemes Topical Teacher Resources
BBC Schools (GREAT Science interactives)!
Free Federal Resources for Education
Lynda.com A library of training classes for all things technical.
Mini Offices For Students in Grades K-3
Home School Articles
Pratt’s Educational Resources (Themes)
Teacher’s Favorite Links
Schoolastic Lesson Plans
Professor Noggin’s Card Games
Dr. Labush’s Links to Learning
Crosswalk Homeschool Resource Directory
A-Z Home’s Cool Homeschool Links
A to Z Teacher Stuff
A to Z Kid Stuff
Pete’s Power Point Station
Homeschooling Adventures (Subject Links)
DLTK-Kids Printables, Etc.
Free Homeschooling Resources

Reading, Books and Book Lists
My Amazon Bookstore
Wowio: Ebooks
How to Find Books for KONOS
Usborne Quicklinks (for use online with Usborne books)
Studydog (Free Reading Program: K-2nd)
Summer Reading Lists By Grade
Book Report PDF Files from Edhelper
Better Book Reports
Locate a Library Book on WorldCAT
Alibris: Buy Old, New & Out of Print Books
International Children’s Library
Classical Book List
Book Adventure Program
Librivox: Free E-books
Project Gutenberg
Dolch Kit (Reading Problems)
Bartleby (literature research)
Shakespeare Plays and Sonnets; Learning Guides

Just a short excerpt from http://sprittibee.com/2013/01/my-big-fat-homeschool-links-list.html

I think I like this WOW factor list thing, maybe I will make it a regular blogging staple here. Let me know via the comments how you like the WOW factors this week.