Free Resources for Elementary Teachers by Colleen Kessler

Note: I occasionally accept review copies from the publisher. Posts written from review copies are labeled. All opinions are my own. Posts may contain affiliate links. I may receive compensation for any purchased items.

As a mother just beginning the journey of elementary level home education, I have been busy searching the web and my library for free resources to aid me as I teach my young son. When I saw Free Resources for Elementary Teachers by Colleen Kessler (2012, Prufrock Press) on the Library Thing Early Reviewer list, I thought I’d put my name down for it. I was delighted to receive it!

Ms Kessler’s book is an annotated list of websites that provide free lesson plans, worksheets, online games,  posters or materials, and so forth for teachers of elementary-aged children. In a sense, it’s something any web-savvy educator would be able to compile. And yet, the bottom line is that now I do not need to! I have enjoyed browsing through the book, marking the sites I need to return to. There are lots of free resources on the web to explore!

A few gripes I have are probably ones to be expected because we all have different preferences. For example, a few sites Ms Kessler really enjoys are ones I’ve already found and not been impressed with. Some others require accounts in order to download the worksheets or lesson plans. Others provide subscription services for a fee, with only a small fraction of resources available for free. And then some of her links are insanely long gobbleygook: I’m not about to type in 100 characters to get to a website.

Further, I do think Free Resources could be a bit better formatted. Because it’s annotated paragraphs, it’s a lot of text on the page. I don’t want to have to read every paragraph when I’m looking for “what was that one site that did this or that?” But owning the book means I can make plenty of notes in the margins for my own reference.

These are somewhat minor complaints for me. I can’t expect one book to have everything that I love. In general, I think Free Resources will be a great help for me as I get started in my homeschooling journey.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.

Reviewed on May 21, 2012

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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