Simple as....ABC Teach.com!

ABC Teach is a web site with all sorts of printables and resources for teachers, with materials available for a wide variety of subjects. I was already familiar with some of the 5,000+ free materials and used this site regularly as I prepared our science and social studies units. However, in the last month, through the TOS Crew, I've had access to the 35,000 pages available to members. Wow! Have I had fun! ABC Teach has resources that include:

• games


• flashcards


• units


• worksheets


• songs


• puzzles


• lesson plans


• graphic organizers


• posters


• maps


• clip art


• experiments


• writing paper


• bulletin board items


• word wall items


• coloring sheets


• shape books

And that is not all! By typing in keywords, you can pull up pages and pages of resources for many topics, from Newbery book studies, to ASL printables, to reading comprehension worksheets, to test taking skills, to.... basically almost any learning-related topic you can think of.

Who can benefit from ABC Teach? Well, this is just as useful for public and private school teachers as it is for homeschoolers. Even if you have an all-inclusive curriculum, there are so many extras on this site, like games and crafts, that you can supplement with. There are even tools for creating your own customized materials that fit what your students are doing. And it's not just for the classroom--a lot of the resources fit into family activities and traveling and cooking and play time, too. As for me, personally, I've used it to build our muscular and circulatory system units, as well as to get maps for our study of all the peoples that make up America. I've downloaded a number of reading comprehension exercises and science experiments and games as well. I've used the clip art for labeling exercises. I've begun collecting craft ideas for the Christmas season.

So, yes, it's really, really neat and kinda addictive, too, but how about efficiency and ease of use?One thing that I like about ABC Teach compared to similar sites is how quickly the resources download. I don't have to wait long at all for most. However, the search engine within this site is not as easy to use as some others I have found. For example, I needed human heart printables, but when I typed "human heart worksheet" in the search line, I got other types of human heart-related resources as well. Sometimes, I have time to browse, but sometimes I just want to find what I need and move on.

Another thing I need to point out is that my experience is that my computer would kick me off the site after so long. Maybe it just needed to rest from its hard labor as I found one great resource after another, but it was a little annoying. But, you know, I have found that other educational sites have similar issues, so I really don't consider this a huge deal.

What's the cost? Well, to subscribe through their site for an individual is $40 a year. However, you can go through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op to get rates as low as $20 a year. Should you? Well, take some time to play around on their site with the free materials to see how you like their setup and the resources they offer. I even suggest you compare it with other sites that are similar in nature. Y'all, only you know what you can afford and what resources you and your students will benefit from. Take this one for a test drive and see if it fits the bill. You can read what other TOS Crew members had to say here and check out the benefits of joining and a video telling more on the ABC Teach site here.