LINKS

Links Disclaimer
Disclaimer:
We have listed a sampling of web sites below that may help you in your home school. Please be aware that we not responsible for their content. Parents may want to preview the sites.

If you have other suggestions to include, send them to us!

Microsoft FREE Word Viewer
With Word Viewer 2003, you can view, print, and copy document contents to another program. However, you cannot edit an open document, save a document, or create a new document. This download is a replacement for Word 97 Viewer and all previous Word Viewer versions.

ADOBE Reader
Click on "Get ADOBE Reader" so you can read our TACHE Newsletters. It is free.

Local Field Trip Ideas

Arts in East Texas
Calendar listing from various member museums, orchestras, etc.

Ballet Tyler
The purpose of Ballet Tyler is to provide opportunities for both dancers and East Texas audiences to experience the fine art of dance at the highest possible quality. This is accomplished through classroom instruction, special workshops, and reasonably-priced performances. Ballet Tyler helps provide scholarship assistance to deserving dancers for advanced studies.

Brookshire's Wildlife Museum and Country Store

Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site
Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site, a 93.8-acre park in Cherokee County west of Nacogdoches, was the home of Mound Builders of Caddoan origin who lived in the region for 500 years beginning about A.D. 800.

Caldwell Zoo
A natural for family fun. Be sure and look for the home school education classes.

Camp Ford
Camp Ford was the largest Confederate Prisoner of War Camp west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. Located just north of Loop 323 in Tyler.

Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari
A wildlife park that is home to an amazing variety of wildlife. See over a dozen exotic and endangered species that thrive in an open habitat similar to their native territory. At your own pace, enjoy a self-guided drive through the hills and open savannahs of this 300-acre preserve.

Depot Museum - Henderson
The old 1901 Missouri Pacific railway depot was an important link for old-timers. World and local news, gossip and local business concerns traveled by the train to the citizens of Henderson, Texas.

Today The Depot Museum is your link for East Texas history, folkart and folkartist information. This Living History Museum also offers educational instruction for Folk Arts that have been perserved specific to East Texas.

Discovery Science Place
The Discovery Science Place offers three exhibit halls where kids of all ages are free to move about and explore.

East Texas Arboretum - Athens

East Texas Oil Museum - Kilgore
This fascinating museum houses the authentic re-creation of oil discovery and production in the early 1930s from the largest oil field inside U.S. boundaries.

Edgewood Heritage Historical Park
Edgewood Heritage Park was founded in 1976 as a bi-centennial ongoing project, this outdoor museum encompasses authentically restored and furnished structures representing rural life in East Texas circa 1900.

Goodman Museum

Gregg County Museum - Longview

Historic Aviation Memorial Museum
The purpose of the HAMM organization is to develop an aviation museum where people can view, interact with, and research any aviation information they desire. We welcome your participation and support of the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum in preserving the legacy of aviation for future generations.

Hudnall Planetarium

Shreveport-Bossier City Discovery Center
Sci-Port Discovery Center provides an educational and entertaining environment for people of all ages to explore and actively participate in the world of science and technology. The Center develops a comprehensive view of the world through the interaction of science and the humanities and serves as a catalyst to encourage lifelong learning.

Smith County Historical Museum

Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center - Athens
Its mission is to provide an educational, entertaining visitor experience that promotes freshwater sport fishing and the enhancement, conservation and stewardship of aquatic resources in Texas.

Texas State Railroad
The TSRR is known as one of the nation's largest and most unique steam train operations. The TSRR is one of the only steam railroads in the United States that runs two steam trains simultaneously on days of operation. The East Bound and West Bound trains meet twice daily at the mid point of the run. This gives rail enthusiasts a rare chance to see two historic steam engines switch and pass.

Tyler City Library

Tyler Civic Theatre
Rogers Children's Theatre has many classes and acting opportunities for home schoolers.

Tyler Kids Club
Tyler Kids Club connects families and children with the community. They have an extensive directory of over 300 links to area organizations and businesses!

Tyler Landmarks - Architecture

Tyler Museum of Art

Tyler Rose Museum
Located at the beautiful Tyler Rose Garden.

UT Tyler Millennium Carillon

TexasEducationVacation.com
Explore thousands of attractions and events listed on this site and discover how you can learn at every turn when you travel in Texas. Whether you are an educator, a student or a parent, there are fun and exciting learning experiences here for you. Be sure to come back often because new listings, updates and site enhancements are being made every day.

Other Home School Organizations

Texas Home School Coalition - Statewide
State wide Christian home school organization.

Home School Legal Defense Association - Nationwide
The Home School Legal Defense Association is a non-profit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.

U.S. Homeschool Association
Their primary purpose is to provide a centralized place for homeschoolers to network and find information, benefits, and services.

They want to provide unity among the homeschooling community to give homeschoolers a voice that can be heard
and to educate the public in what homeschooling is really all about. They
want to dispel the misconceptions held about homeschoolers and foster the
respect and honor due those who make the choice to educate their children at
home.

Home School Athletic Association - Dallas / N.TX
HSAA is a homeschool sports organization that serves the Dallas / North Texas areas. Take a look at their web site to see all the sports and when they play.

Homeschool Dads
"We're continuing to grow! We now have almost 200 registered members in the forum and almost 1000 posts! So if you haven't registered yet, please do so and join in on the fellowship of fathers who homeschool."

North Texas Home Educators Network
NTHEN is the largest regional homeschool organization in Texas, serving local support group leaders in more than 80 counties and from more than 160 support groups throughout north and northeast Texas. They assist in organizing new support groups and help existing support groups establish programs such as sports, teen groups, spelling bees, music, science fairs, co-op and enrichment classes, and public speaking and debate competitions. They also conduct special meetings, lead regional activities, co-host leadership seminars and retreats, provide consultations, and offer helpful online information.

Other Homeschool Org. - LOCAL

Athens / Chandler (Texas) Teacher Support
ACTS is a home schooling support group founded by Christian home educators located in Henderson County and encompassing the surrounding East Texas area. ACTS is committed to providing fun and interesting, social and informational opportunities for home-schooling parents and their children.

Hearts At Home - Lindale
It is our goal to provide enrichment activities and classes for our children, to expose them to the concept of authority outside the home so that they may learn to function in group dynamics, and to provide an opportunity for social fun and close fellowship for both children and parents.

Holy Hearts Homeschoolers of East Texas
"Through the guidance of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Holy Hearts Catholic Homeschoolers of East Texas is an association of lay faithful, Roman Catholic homeschooling parents established to promote and support those families who are engaged in providing their children?s religious, academic, moral, cultural, and social formation."

Christian Home Educator's Co-op (CHEC) - Longview, TX
CHEC is a group of over 100 families that meet together for monthly meetings on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 at Fellowship Bible Church in Longview.

PATH (Parents are Teaching Hearts) - Van Zandt County, TX
Van Zandt County area

Venture Homeschool Enrichment
Venture Home School Association is designed to minister to home school families by providing a Christian, academic enrichment program for students. They meet on the beautiful campus of Pine Cove Christian Camps.

Other Discussion List E-mail Groups

HSTylerTX
This is an email support list for homeschooling families in the Tyler and surrounding areas. A great place to offer support, curriculum advice, buy or sale used curriculum, notice of sales and events in the Tyler area, etc. Virtually anything that would be of interest to homeschooling (or considering homeschooling) families in the East Texas area. This list is not affiliated with any homeschool organization, but is maintained and moderated from a christian perspective and is suitable for all ages. A brief introduction is required for all new members. Business related ads by non-homeschoolers may be posted ONLY on the first Monday of the month.

Minority Homeschoolers of Texas
This is now a discussion list for Minority Homeschoolers of Texas which seeks to promote homeschooling among minorities: Asians African-Americans Hispanics Jews Native Americans Anglos with adopted minority children MHOT is a discussion list where minority home educators will be enlightened, encourageed, promoted and motivated as they nuture and train their children in the way of the Lord and in the spirit of excellence.

East Texas HS Happenings
Welcome to East Texas Home School Happenings! This group is here to provide homeschoolers in the East Texas area with information about local events such as plays, concerts, seminars, classes, conferences, festivals, and anything else that may be of interest to homeschoolers.
This is NOT a chat group, but an opportunity for those who homeschool to share what's going on in our area.

This list will serve the following counties: Van Zandt, Delta, Wood, Upshur, Marion, Henderson, Smith, Gregg, Rusk, Bowie, Harrison, Panola, Anderson, Nacagdoches, Shelby, and Cherokee.

Athens Home School
A support group for all active homeschoolers and those interested in homeschooling, in or nearby the Athens, Texas (Henderson County) area.

Homeschool Special Needs East Texas
A place for home school parents of special needs kids in East Texas to
encourage one another.

Jacksonville area Home Schoolers
This group is to serve homeschool families in the Jacksonville, Texas area. Membership must be approved - all members must live in Cherokee County and be actively homeschooling. To be accepted into the group, each applicant must agree to the Terms of Service.

The group is meant to lift up the Lord, encourage one another, and to pass on information.

Texas Home Educators
The Texas Home Educators is a list to serve the Home Educators of Texas in discussions of homeschool styles, philosophy, books, curriculum, events, and laws in a Christian atmosphere. As we homeschool our children, or unschool our children, this is the place to discuss and share our triumphs, our questions, and our bumps. Although discussions will sometimes stray from the direct purpose of home schooling, it usually does not stray from our children's interests. TexHmEd has been serving the community since August 21, 1998 and is now the largest statewide homeschool list.

Longview Area Relaxed Home Educators
LARHE(Longview Area Relaxed Home Educators) is an email support list for all homeschoolers in the Longview area. We have a weekly Park Day, monthly Mom's Nights Out(MNOs), information about local events, sharing of interesting websites, friendship(for ourselves as well as for our kids) and general chitchat about life as homeschoolers.

East Texas Teens
The purpose of the East Texas Teens Christian Homeschool Association is to provide a support group for both teens (ages 12 to 18) and parents of teens involved in teaching their children in a Christian environment.This group will serve the Cherokee county and surrounding areas of East Texas.

Bible Resources / Activities / Crafts

Answers in Genesis
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics (i.e., Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. We focus particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the book of Genesis, as it is the most-attacked book of the Bible. We also desire to train others to develop a biblical worldview, and seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a ?millions of years old? earth (and even older universe).

Bible Gateway
A free service for reading and researching Scripture online--all in the language or translation of your choice! We provide advanced tools you can use to search the Bible by keywords or verse, as well as other tools to enhance your study of the Bible.

Bible Maps - Manna
Geographical maps of Bible times, and work books with lessons for teens and adults. The software not only has maps, but current-day pictures of the Bible lands. There are also chronologies, genealogies & timelines. Some maps are available online for no charge.

Bible Study Games
Three different Bible games.

Bible Word Games for Kids

Calvary Chapel Lessons
A great many lessons, coloring pages, word puzzles and mazes on Bible stories -- Old and New Testaments.

DLTK Bible Activities

Doorposts
Bible-based, parent-designed, family tested products to help you apply scripture in your home.

Bible Study Worksheets
Great worksheets to organize your study of the Bible.

Biblical Holidays
This site contains hundreds of pages about the biblical holidays, and innovative ideas for celebrating them. Here you will find history, ideas for crafts and activities, articles, links to related Web sites, a list group, and tons of information about our Hebraic heritage.

These Feasts and Sabbaths present a beautiful picture of the Messiah's first and second coming!

High School / College

Christian Colleges - Free Information
"The Christian Connector is a "one-stop-shop" for receiving free information from Christian colleges. We have over 100 Christian colleges and Bible colleges ready to send you information! Completing the free information request form is like attending a huge Christian college fair without ever leaving home. We also offer a $2,500.00 Christian college scholarship drawing. The site has dozens of links to Christian colleges, as well as admissions and financial aid tips and more. All of our information services are offered absolutely free!"

Driver Ed in a Box
Driver Ed in a BoxÂ® is an outstanding parent taught driver education course-

DreamMakers 4 U
Dream Makers 4U offers high school students, their parents, school counselors, and other advisors a variety of innovative tools and services to help with the entire college planning process.

Texas Scientific Supply
* Maintains its own Living Specimens Lab
* Is Locally Owned and Operated...not part of a big corporate system.
* Is staffed by Lab Scientists and former Teachers.
* WANTS YOUR BUSINESS!!

Worldview Academy
Worldview Academy is a non-denominational organization dedicated to helping Christians to think and live in accord with a biblical worldview so that they will serve Christ and lead the culture.

Since 1996 they have been fulfilling this mission through nation-wide Leadership Camps, Christianity & Culture Conferences, and through the creation of many books and resources.

Alert Academy
The Air Land Emergency Resource Team (ALERT) is a unique training and service organization for young men who desire to achieve maturity and fruitfulness in service as Christian men. The training young men receive at ALERT equips them with the discipline, character, and skills necessary to meet the needs of people in crisis. These ALERT Responders will then be deployed to disaster-stricken areas such as those effected by hurricanes, tornados, floods, and mud slides.

National Home School Honor Society
"The purpose of Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society shall be to recognize and encourage scholarship among home school students. To achieve this purpose, Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society shall provide opportunities for the development of leadership and service. Eta Sigma Alpha shall encourage the development of an intellectual climate that will stimulate the exchange of ideas and ideals, foster scholarship, and promote academic excellence. Eta Sigma Alpha shall also advocate homeschooling as a viable and successful educational methodology and act as a liaison for homeschooling to the general public, colleges/universities, and the media."

"College Without Compromise"
"College Without Compromise" describes in detail a wonderful new approach to the homeschool high school years that then flows seamlessly to a condensed and affordable college degree, fitting beautifully into the home education lifestyle you desire to protect. With this ?independent study? method, there is no need to worry about the tough high school courses, transcripts, placement tests, college dorms, liberal professors, and the tremendous financial burden of a traditional path. Our loving God continues to open doors for His children!

Homeschooling Through High School
"It's our goal to aid and encourage parents who are teaching high school aged children. So if you're thinking about it, already immersed, or nearing the finish line, there are resources and information available here to help you! We'll be regularly adding more resources, so visit often."

School Success
Risk-free, inexpensive online history courses for home school students at the high school level.

Free information and activities to help your student become more motivated and successful.

Resources

Texas Home Educators

AAA Math
* Hundreds of pages of Basic Math Skills.
* Interactive Practice on every page.
* An Explanation of the math topic on each page.
* Several Challenge Games on every page.
* Math Problems are randomly created.

Amazing Space
Get to know our vast universe by exploring its planets, galaxies, comets, black holes, and more. Be sure and check out the "Tonight's Sky" section. There is also an Educators' section to help you teach about space.

Anatomy of the Human Body
Information about 10 different systems in the human body.

Answers in Genesis
"Upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse."

Great resource for creationists.

BrainPop
Explanations, experiments, activities related to English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Arts & Music, Health and Technology. Many are free, but many more pages are available if you subscribe.

BrainPopJr.
Elementary explanations and activities for Science, Math, Reading, Writing, Health and Social Studies. All seem to be free.

Classic Reader
They offer a large collection of free classic books by authors such as Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare and many others. You can read, search and even add your own annotations to any of the classic books. A selection of author biographies and portraits are also made available. All functions of this site are free to use although some functions require free registration.

The collection of classic stories currently contains 3218 works of literature (including 1825 short stories) by 326 authors. New works are added to the collection on a regular basis

Do 2 Learn
..see, do and learn online.
A web site providing activities to promote independence in children and adults with special learning needs

Enchanted Learning
Free worksheets and activities, with ads; or pay a small fee and get them without the ads.

Essentials of Music
Whether you're a casual listener or a serious music student, here's the site for basic information about classical music.

Fun Brain
Games, puzzles, comic books, etc.

HGTV Gardening with Kids
If you want your child to love gardening as much as you do, take a look at these great ideas.

Homeschool.About.Com
Lots of information and links to blogs.

HomeSchoolZone.com
Newsletters, articles, activities, reviews, crafts, pets . . .

King's Academy Christian School
KACS is a University Model SchoolÂ® (UMS) and functions under the umbrella of the National Association of University Model Schools. Their students are from the greater Tyler area.

"Our students are divided into an upper and lower campus, with lower campus students (K-6th) attending classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. Upper campus students (7th-12th) attend classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On the off days, students are at home with you, the parent co-teacher. This provides you the opportunity to work with your child(ren) to emphasis content covered, review at-home curriculum subjects, and prepare your child(ren) for the next class meeting."

Krampf's Science Experiments
Great "Experiment of the Week" and science links.

Language Translation Dictionaries
Sixteen languages!

Learn Spanish
Many free materials.

Learning Page
Many worksheets.

Lewis & Clark
Information about every aspect of the history- making exploration of the West.

Love to Learn
An experienced home school family provides advice, newsletters, curriculum and other related items you might need.

Mr. Eclipse
Everything you every wanted to know or see about eclipses - lunar and solar.

Neuroscience for Kids
Neuroscience for Kids has been created for all students and teachers who would like to learn about the nervous system.

P.E. Central
"Our goal is to provide the latest information about developmentally appropriate physical education programs for children and youth."

Preparing Daughters
"Our vision is to encourage young ladies in their walk with the Lord."

Preparing Sons
PreparingSons.com's purpose is to encourage fathers and sons in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spelling City
SpellingCity is an online spelling program to help improve spelling skills:
- contains over 28,000 spelling words, including plurals, contractions, future and past tenses
- uses a REAL human voice that says both the word and the word in a sentence

Super Kids
Educational software review and free material.

Teach-At-Home
Teach-At-Home has one goal, and one goal only -- to become the Internet resource web site of choice for the homeschool community.

The Futures Channel
This is a great place to find real world math and science problems, and videos about how people use math and science in their jobs. Let the videos load, then replay them. You'll be amazed and your kids will think it is soooo cool!

U.S. Government
Click on the banner at the top for age-appropriate studies, links and learning games.

White House
From the history of the White House, to current activities of interest to children this is a great site.

Retailers

ChristianBook.com

HomeSchool.com
Homeschool.com's founding principle is to consistently provide resources, information, and support to all homeschooling families.

Retail items and great free resources.

TeachingSupplyStore.com - Longview, TX

Lifeway - Homeschool
Retail items and great free resources.

R.O.C.K. Solid
Discount Homeschool Resources of the Christian Kind

Shekinah Curriculum Cellar - Kilgore, TX
We carry over 3000 high quality books and teaching aids chosen specifically for home educators.

Our goal is to provide you with the fastest service possible and the teaching materials that will enable you to teach your children in the "way that they should go."

TeachChildren.com
TeachChildren.com is an Educational Superstore for teachers, parents and all educators.

The Scroll Christian Bookstore - Tyler
For over 20 years The Scroll has served area believers with incredible prices, and area charities with donations totalling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Vision Forum

Curriculum

HomeSchoolReviews.com
The purpose of this site is to provide a community where homeschoolers can read reviews and discuss curriculum and other issues that relate to homeschooling.

A Beka Book
Three different home school options.

Alpha Omega Publications
Alpha Omega Publications provides Christian curriculum for grades K through 12. AOP offers several exciting product options, including Switched-On Schoolhouse, LIFEPAC, Horizons, The Weaver Curriculum, and Power-Glide.

Amanda Bennett's Unit Studies
Inexpensive unit studies.

Beautiful Feet Books
Publishers of Rea and Rebecca Berg's History Through Literature Study Guides and Fine Children's Literature including the work of award winning authors Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Genevieve Foster, Albert Marrin, James Daugherty, and Brinton Turkle. They publish yesterday's Newbery and Caldecott award-winners for today's children.

Bob Jones University Press
For seasoned homeschoolers, new homeschoolers, or those thinking about homeschooling

Book Samaritan
FREE curriculum available to homeschool families in need. See this site also if you'd like to donate curriculum. Book Samaritan is a real ministry to homeschool families that are in need of a little help. FREE ** FREE

CarmoLearning
CarmoLearning.com offers nine world history units, ranging from Mesopotamia to World War I, for grades 6 through 10. Students will be reading, writing, mapping, and will become involved in art activities with fact-filled and enjoyable tasks. Each unit takes about ten class periods to complete. VERY AFFORDABLE!

Fun With Science
Fun with science started out as a homeschool co-op and developed into a complete standards based K-6th grade science curriculum.

Home Study International
Griggs University & International Academy is an accredited, Christian distance education provider. Griggs offers both individual courses and complete programs to students for preschool through college.

Providing academic stability in a changing world since 1909.

How Great Thou Art
Since 1991, How Great Thou Art's purpose has been to provide homeschooling families with a quality art education. They have 14 different curriculums for teaching students of all ages in the fundamentals of drawing, painting, color theory, and art appreciation.

KONOS Unit Studies
Goal: to create a true love of learning in each child? by teaching hands-on and using discovery learning to foster critical thinking

The Lukeion Project
Unleash a pack of ancient Greeks and Romans into your home! Our live, online classes provide full coverage of the ancient Greeks & Romans for your late elementary, junior high, senior high curriculum needs.

Never dull, never dry: its dust free antiquity?

Steward Ship - Unit Studies
Learning how to simplify teaching by using the UNIT STUDY method can help you keep going. Remembering to focus on the bigger picture of God's ultimate purpose for each child will help keep our academic endeavors in perspective, and help us to NOT GIVE UP!

Publications, Web Magazines & Blogs

Crosswalk Newsletters
Various newsletters of interest to home schooling families. Crosswalk's slogan: "The Intersection of Faith and Life."

"HomeschoolBuzz.com"

Eclectic Homeschool Online
"Quality curriculum, books, videos, science kits and educational toys for the eclectic, creative homeschooler."

"HomeSchool Today"
A focus on not only the mechanics of homeschooling, but also the mission and metrics of homeschooling.

"Homeschooling Today" is one of the most comprehensive home education magazines available, providing everything from unit studies and literature reviews to encouragement for mothers and leadership helps for fathers!

Homeschooling Today is a magazine for the novice and the veteran home educator alike, and a great resource for the whole family!

"Home School Digest"
In the Home School Digest, you'll find practical tips, simple homeschooling suggestions and bold Biblical challenges that make up an open forum for wrestling through the complex issues that affect homeschooling families.

"An Encouraging Word"
An Encouraging Word is a quarterly publication designed for Christian women of all ages. Now in its 11th year of publication, An Encouraging Word continues to reach thousands of women with encouragement, support, direction, and blessing for wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, daughters...and anyone in need of an encouraging word!

"HomeSchool World"
The official web site of "Practical Homeschool" magazine.

"The Teaching Home"
For 25 years, The Teaching Home has provided support to home educators from a distinctly Christian perspective.

TACHE - Tyler Area Christian Home Educators

LINKS