Do you know what would happen if the Earth's atmosphere suddenly disappeared? Deprived of oxygen and bombarded by ultraviolet radiation, our bodies would swell, our blood would boil, and our eardrums would explode. Is there a kid on the planet who wouldn't think that information was just too cool for words?

As a homeschooling mom (with a Ph.D. in microbiology), author Rebecca Rupp learned first-hand that kids respond best to scientific information when it is presented in a way that is fun, lively, and off-beat. To keep the attention of her three young sons, she combined impeccable science with strange-but-true examples and exciting experiments and projects designed to reinforce important concepts. A product of Rupp's many years as a student and a teacher, WEATHER is a breakthrough book for exciting kids about science.

Rupp's approach is as much fun for grownups as it is for kids. Who doesn't want to know whether the flapping of a butterfly's wings can eventually set off a tornado? Or why snow that fell white turned pink on the ground? Or that the Hindenberg exploded after lightning ignited the flammable paint on the zeppelin's outer cover?

Bursting with the kinds of ideas, facts, statistics, and explanations that kids find irresistible (and that are guaranteed to make them smarter than their parents!), WEATHER is the ultimate book for every budding meteorologist.

Sample Experiments and Projects from Weather: Start a Tornado in a Bottle, Make Your Own Compass, Set Off Lightning on a Plate, Make Your Own Hygrometer (to measure humidity in the atmosphere), Become a Real Rainmaker, Whip Up a Batch of Atmosphere in a Pan and more....

"Rebecca Rupp's magical tale . . . radiates a glow as golden as the dragon's scales." — BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE

Hannah, Zachary, and Sarah Emily are spending the summer at their great-aunt Mehitabel's house on faraway Lonely Island. There, in a cave hidden high above the ocean, they discover a fabulous creature: a glittering three-headed golden dragon with a kind heart, an unpredictable temper, and a memory that spans 20,000 years. Transported by the magic of the dragon's stories, the children meet Mei-lan, a young girl in ancient China; nineteenth-century cabin boy Jamie Pritchett; and, in more recent times, Hitty and her brother, Will, who survive a frightening plane crash on a desert island. In this fluidly written novel, Rebecca Rupp exploreswhat three children from the present learn from the past - and from anunlikely but wise and generous friend....

Time gets out of hand in a witty, suspenseful new fantasy from the author of THE DRAGON OF LONELY ISLAND.

Choose time or lose time. The inscription on his grandfather's pocket watch has always confused Alex. But now that Alex has lost the heirloom,
time is all he can think about — time slipping through his fingers. That's when an encounter with a strange lady clues him in to the Blue Moon, a place where earthlings search for what they've lost. Soon Alex is in a rickety spaceship hurtling toward a topsy-turvy world of eccentric characters — from Miss Mumsley, who lost her heart to a prospector, to a medieval scholar who lost his way while calculating pi. It's a perilous journey, plagued by Time Eaters, who suck up their prey's time. How will Alex ever find the watch — and the sense of direction — he's lost? From Rebecca Rupp comes a fast-paced fantasy honoring friendship and courage....

Finally, homeschoolers have a comprehensive guide to designing a homeschool curriculum, from one of the country's foremost homeschooling experts. , Rebecca Rupp presents a structured plan to ensure that your children will learn what they need to know when they need to know it, from preschool through high school. Based on the traditional pre-K through 12th-grade structure, Home Learning Year by Year features:

The integral subjects to be covered within each grade
Standards for knowledge that should be acquired by your child at each level
Recommended books to use as texts for every subject
Guidelines for the importance of each topic: which knowledge is essential and which is best for more expansive study based on your child's personal interests
Suggestions for how to sensitively approach less academic subjects, such as sex education and physical fitness
...

This exhaustive and comprehensive sourcebook provides parents and teachers with information on all the resources needed to plan a well-balanced curriculum for the home or the classroom, from preschool through high school. The Complete Home Learning Sourcebook not only covers basic academic subjects--the three R's--but also addresses interests that are off the beaten path of public school curricula, such as paleontology and meteorology. Thorough and up-to-date, this invaluable resource reviews all possible learning tools:

Arranged by subject, including "Philosophy," "Life Skills," and "Electronic Media," the sourcebook's organization and succinct and insightful entries make it a breeze to use. Icons next to the entries denote the format and intended age group of each resource. Whether readers are looking for the best way to explain relativity or Egyptian mummification, The Complete Home Learning Sourcebook opens the door to a whole new universe for teaching and learning.

• Books
  
• Videos
  
• Magazines
  
• Catalogs
  
• Timelines
  
• Kits
  
• Hands-on activities
  
• Board games
  
• CD-ROMs
  
• Educational Web sites

...

In the long-awaited follow-up to THE DRAGON OF LONELY ISLAND, three adventurous children find further intrigue on a tiny Maine island where a talkative three-headed dragon lives out its days.

With their parents off to London on a special trip, Hannah, Zachary, and Sarah Emily are thrilled to be going back to Aunt Mehitabel's house on Lonely Island. Though their favorite aunt can't join them, they know their tummies will soon be filled with Mrs. Jones's mouthwatering cookies and their minds full of Fafnyr, the fabulous creature they befriended last summer. The glittering three-headed dragon remains safely hidden in a cave high above the ocean, waiting for the children's return.

But is Fafnyr's hiding place safe? As the children nervously discover, a white yacht is now anchored off the private island, and a crew led by billionaire J. P. King has been scouring onshore, supposedly watching birds. The children have promised to keep Fafnyr's existence a secret, but it's hard to know if the smooth-talking Mr. King is friend or foe. Only Fafnyr's own stories can lead the Dragon Friends to the heart of the mystery, as they teach the children to think more clearly, to make the right decisions - and to discover what's worth fighting for....

Family changes bring plenty to dislike — and a chance to grow into acceptance — as a spirited girl speaks her mind with honesty and wit.

Sarah Simpson’s Rules for Living:
1. Don’t lie.
2. Don’t trust anybody but cats.
3. Don’t expect happy endings.
4. Drink skim milk.
5. Avoid blondes.

Sarah Simpson loves to make lists. She has lists of the things she doesn’t like about her father’s new wife and her mother’s new boyfriend, and reasons why life is just plain unfair. But through new friendships, a school play, and adjusted relationships, Sarah begins to realize that change might not be such a horrible thing — and that families come in all shapes and sizes. Is it time for Sarah Simpson’s REVISED Rules for Living?...

Sarah Simpson’s Rules for Living:
1. Don’t lie.
2. Don’t trust anybody but cats.
3. Don’t expect happy endings.
4. Drink skim milk.
5. Avoid blondes.

Sarah Simpson loves to make lists. She has lists of the things she doesn’t like about her father’s new (blond tennis instructor) wife, things she doesn’t like about her mother’s new (nerdy, zebra-shirt-wearing) boyfriend, and reasons why life is just plain unfair.

Through the school play, new friendships, and adjusted relationships, Sarah begins to realize that change might not be such a horrible thing after all – and that families come in all shapes and sizes.

Is it time for a REVISED Rules for Living?...