Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what exactly you were seeing?  Besides “The Big Dipper” and Orion most homeschoolers probably can’t identify two other constellations much less determine if what they’re looking at is a star or a planet.

The Classical Astronomy Celestial Almanack: a Visual Representation of the Sky can change that.  Each month, Jay Ryan will publish a beautifully illustrated and highly detailed PDF containing instructions for finding planets and identifying constellations.  This is a great tool for increasing your knowledge of the night sky and learning about our amazing universe.

In addition to monthly updates on the position of the planets and movement of the moon you’ll find a useful calendar with significant astronomical and non-astronomical events noted next to each day of the month.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. -Psalm 19:1 NASB

Jay’s unique style and clear explanations will make it easy for you and your family to go outside and see the wonders of our universe.  Each edition is sure to be filled with detailed descriptions of what you and your family can see in the night sky.

Buy Celestial Almanack today from CurrClick for $3.00 (affiliate link) and go outside and look up!

Subscribe to The Classical Astronomy Update, Jay’s FREE newsletter.

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this newsletter that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item after my review. DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/1

This review is a long time coming (Sorry about that, Molly) but I think you’ll see that it was well worth the wait.

The Internet contains a plethora of audio records, some are great and others are not-so-great. My Audio Schoolsaves you the trouble of coming across the not-so-great records by providing you with a vast library of free, public-domain recordings that you can use in your homeschooling.

The crew over there has curated a great library of audio books. Classics like Treasure Island, U.S. historical documents, presidential biographies, and books about fine arts are just some of the topics you’ll find covered at My Audio School.

The website was originally created to help dyslexic and learning disabled students keep up with a classical or Charlotte Mason education. Here’s what Molly Evert  had to say about the services offered at My Audio School:

• We search out multiple classical and Charlotte Mason inspired book-lists and cross reference those title lists with Librivox and other sources, as we seek to find and post the best content for home educators
• We build all the books on the website in a way that is both parent- and child-friendly. My own children have trouble navigating sites like Librivox so we have set up My Audio School to be beautiful to the eye and easy for a child to use. Books can be downloaded to Mp3, subscribed to in iTunes, or streamed chapter by chapter for kids needing to complete single-chapter assignments. Also, everything is organized by time period and/or subject, making it easy for parents to find books that relate to a give subject.
• There are no ads or inappropriate content for parents to worry about on My Audio School, either. We have several You Tube videos on the site (such as historic news broadcasts), so parents can have their children watch directly from our website and not be exposed to comments and additional sidebar videos that can be seen when viewing videos on You Tube directly.

Homeschooling families are in the car (or van) a lot and having something to listen to that’s education and entertaining is always a challenge.  Parents and teens can only take so much of the kids’ songs and the library at My Audio School will save you a lot of hassle when looking for media to consume on those long trips.

Download the files to your digital audio player of choice or burn them to a CD and you have hours of entertainment for the whole family.  Along the way you’ll be exposing your children to fantastic fiction educational material.

If you have a child who listens faster than he reads then this site is for you.  Children can listen to a book and draw pictures that come to mind or take notes.

The best past is all the hard work has already been done for you.  No scouring the Internet for audio recordings or seeing objectionable ads when you finally do find the files you’re looking for.  Although there are freeposts on the site, not everything is visible unless you subscribe.  At $15 a year, a subscription is well worth it.  Don’t waste any more time on the Internet searching for audio books.  Get a subscription to My Audio School today!

I recently received a great email from Amanda Whaley telling me about Lamplighter and all of their great products.  She asked if I could review their products.  I was so impressed with Amanda’s email I asked if I could post it here as a review.  She agreed so what follows is an edited version of her email about Lamplighter.

Lamplighter seeks to present “the Word of God in unique and compelling ways – through stories (Lamplighter Publishing), radio dramas (Lamplighter Theatre), biblical theology (Life-Transforming Seminar), and apprenticeship-style mentoring (Lamplighter Guild). Our goal is to build Christ-like character, inspire a life-long pursuit of excellence, and bring redemptive hope to the lost.”

My name is Amanda Whaley, I am a homeschool mom, and my husband works in IT at a college in So. Cal.

Lamplighter Ministries International has had a profound impact on my family and our journey towards developing Christ-like character.  We were first introduced to their published literature.  Currently, I am so passionate about the difference Lamplighter has made in our family’s homeschool interaction and life together in general, that I am spear-heading a grass roots marketing movement to get these resources out to families and churches. What I think may be of great interest to you and your listeners is a few digital aspects of what Lamplighter is doing, which is developing character…one story at a time.

Lamplighter Moments Podcast provides thoughts on character, biblical insight, parenting and leadership from Mark Hamby, president of Lamplighter Ministries International.  Grounded in God-honoring principles for an integrated life, Mark has a way of stating complexities while at the same time offering manageable applications that change lives. I have seen the impact that Mark’s speaking has on families at homeschool conventions and would like to see a wider audience experience the truth he shares through this ministry!

Our family is hooked on audio dramas.  The Chronicles of Narnia, Adventures in Odyssey, Jonathan Parks, etc., you name it, we’ve listened to it.  Well, Lamplighter Theater is taking incredible stories and creating a new joy for our family to engage in together.  These full theatrical productions are done with total excellence- the writing, acting, sound design- every factor adds up to quietly scintillated listeners and amazing discussions about the biblical principles and lessons each story contains. We are entertained and learning simultaneously…every one of us, including mom and dad.

The last resource, that is of tremendous value to homeschooling families, is the books that Lamplighter Publishing prints.  And they now offer comprehensive character quizzes for these stories online!  Check them out at: http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/CharacterComprehensionQuizzes.asp

I want to thank Amanda for taking the time to write this email.  If was very helpful and informative.

If you’d like to write a review for a homeschooling product (preferably the digital kind) feel free to send in your review to feedback [at] thewiredhomeschool [dot] com

I’ll c read it and contact you if I think I can use it.  Feel free to mention your website or other ways people can get in touch with you online in your review.

My Homeschool Transcripts is now available for free.

As mentioned in this podcast, Steve Sensenig has decided to offer a free version of his online transcript service for free.  If you want all the bells and whistles it’s just $29 for a lifetime membership.  That’s a 60% drop in price.  Wow!

You can find more details about the changes at the MyHST blog.

So what do you get for no charge?  Here’s a run-down:

MyHST is the best transcript service I’ve seen online and I think $29 is a reasonable price to pay for this great service.    Don’t wait until your child needs a transcript for  a college application.  Pay the fee and start using the tool now!

Do you have news you’d like to share with the homeschooling community on the Internet?  Send it to wiredhs [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to share it!

Steven Horwich, author of the Connect the Thoughts curriculum, is offering free, interactive webinars about homeschooling.

To date, there are two recorded webinars available on the website and a third is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 on the topic “Homeschooling Successfully in the 21st Century“.

Steven describes Connect the Thoughts as a “secular, religion-friendly core curricula for ages 5-adult.”

Steven Horwich has almost 40 years of education experience including teaching at a public high school,
private schools, and at the university level.

I encourage you to check out what is offered over at http://www.connectthethoughts.net. Steven has a number of free resources available that will give you an idea of what he has to offer. Additionally, you should download the recorded webinars to get a feel for Steven’s homeschooling philosophy and vision.

Remember, these webinars are FREE so you have nothing to lose but your time. Even if you can’t attend, I commend you to register so that you can be notified when the recording is available.

I love it when people give away things for free. Within the homeschooling community so many people are looking to make a buck. I don’t have a problem with that as long as you’re giving back to the homeschooling community.

Thanks for giving back, Steven.

You can follow Steven on Twitter at http://twitter.com/homeschoolcurr