Homeschool Campfire

Just wanted to share that I was able to get this FREE download of a study guide to accompany The Diary of Anne Frank book. I’ve already downloaded it, and it is detailed with lots of info to supplement the reading of the book.
http://www.currclick.com/index.php?affiliate_id=436

You do have to create an account with your name, e-mail address, and create a password. But it is FREE to download.

As a parent, I sometimes worry about all of the junk on the Internet. My children don’t use the Internet without supervision and I spent a few dollars on software that blocks adult oriented material. I remember wishing there was a simpler (and cheaper) way to block sites that I didn’t want my kids to see. I knew that the Internet uses a big phone book (called DNS) to translate human-readable names (like homeschoolcampfire.com) to one of 4,294,967,296 machine-readable numerical addresses. If only I could find a way to white-out all of the places I didn’t want the kids (or myself for that matter) to stumble upon.

Enter OpenDNS. OpenDNS is a free service that I discovered a while back. OpenDNS has recently added several new features of interest to me as a protective parent. You can tell OpenDNS to block known phishing sites. (Phishing sites are sites that look legitimate but are set up to harvest sensitive information–read account numbers and passwords!–from unsuspecting visitors.) You can also tell OpenDNS to block known adult web sites. In fact, you can tell OpenDNS to block any site you wish.

OpenDNS has other advantages (ever wish you could just type ‘hc’ into your browser instead of homeschoolcampfire.com?) which you can read about on the OpenDNS features page, but as a parent I am most concerned with the site blocking options (and the fact that it is FREE).

Did I mention that OpenDNS is easy to set up? OpenDNS provides illustrated instructions for any type of computer setup you might have. Setup takes less than five minutes. Instructions are presented in detailed steps and screen shots are provided for almost every step.

One thing to note is that OpenDNS does not block search results, nor thumbnail images from adult sites that result from image searches, but then most software doesn’t block this type of thing.

I have been using OpenDNS for about 6 months at both my home and my office and I have never had a problem with it. It is simple and easy to use–just set it and forget it. I highly recommend OpenDNS as a weapon in your arsenal to protect your kids from Internet trash.

If you are teaching astronomy to your kids this year, here are two free tools that might help:

Google Earth makes use of satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to create a virtual Earth that you can explore. The latest version adds imagery from the Hubble telescope, allowing you to sightsee through the galaxy.

Stellarium is a free planetarium for your computer. This is the software used to create projections in many planetariums. Just set your coordinates and go. This software is truly beautiful, utilizing “as if you were there” graphics. Many advanced features are available through an easy-to-use on-screen menu.