Homeschooling help and encouragement from experienced homeschoolers - find out how homeschooling works and how to start, get tips & ideas for when things need adjusting, read curriculum reviews before buying, learn how online schools work, gain confidence about homeschooling high school, and more.
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Your dog, cat, bird, fish, ferret, hamster, or lizard may be a unit study waiting to happen. Many children are fascinated by domestic animals, and their strong interest will motivate them to read, write, solve problems, and create projects. Here are some ideas for developing a unit study around our pets. Continue reading »
Nutrition is an ideal homeschooling topic for the 10 – 14 year olds in your family or homeschool co-op. These middle years are an excellent time to go into more depth about what we eat and how it affects our health and growth. Tweens and early teens are especially interested in the changes brought by adolescence, and nutrition is a “safe” topic where kids can think about how their current choices affect their future. Continue reading »
Just over a year ago, our home and many of our rural neighbors’ homes were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, which severely (and somewhat anonymously) affected a narrow swath of property in the mountains of Virginia before making its way as Superstorm Sandy to a much better publicized hit on northern coastal towns. While my son was unlikely to have been Continue reading »
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” So begins the Constitution of the United States of America. This notebooking unit introduces the document, the Republic, and the day chosen to honor our Constitution. Continue reading »
Every November political candidates take to the airwaves, plan town hall meetings, and go door to door looking for votes. The Elections A to Z Unit Study looks at the history of elections and how they work in the United States. Using online resources to complete the unit, students will research the election process and learn what a privilege it is to vote for our political leaders. Continue reading »
The period during which civil rights were at the forefront of American news was tumultuous, often violent, and at once divisive and uniting. One name is associated with this time more than any other: Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence as applied in the Civil Rights Movement led to permanent change in American laws and, more slowly, people’s attitudes. Using online resources to complete the unit, students will research the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his impact on society. Continue reading »
Learn all about Pi and why it is important (and fun!). Continue reading »
Ahoy, mateys! Get to know the pirates of old in this unit for ages 8-13. You will gather information on the history of pirates, where they sailed, what their lifestyles were like, what jobs they did, how they dressed, how they divided their spoils, and more. Continue reading »
We Salute You, Mr. President is a notebooking unit that can be used to research and report on the president(s) of your choice. The blank template includes a variety of historical, professional, and fun facts to learn about a president. Continue reading »
All About Presidents is a notebooking unit that can be used to research and report on the office of the President of the United States. TheHomeSchoolMom’s US Presidents and Office of the President of the United States pages contain links to the resources needed to complete this unit. Continue reading »
Our KONOS page has links to resource pages on THSM divided by character trait and unit. Continue reading »
Unit studies, sometimes called thematic units or integrated studies, are very popular with homeschoolers. Unit studies usually use a hands-on approach for effective learning. The child learns by actually experiencing or discovering through different methods and activities, rather than just reading a chapter from a textbook. Studies show that children using unit-study methods retain 45% more than those using a traditional approach. Continue reading »
Well, it’s already into the first week of November, and I’m realizing that I am supposed to be doing something Thanksgiving-y with my kids. I mean, I even write for TheHomeSchoolMom on creative ways to celebrate the holiday with the family, fun Thanksgiving activities, and ways to express gratitude. You’d kind of think that I would have this whole Thanksgiving-focus-during-the-month-of-November thing down. But, here I am, already into November, and realizing I’m not prepared. Have no fear, Thanksgiving homeschooling procrastinators, all is not lost. Continue reading »
In the midst of the Civil War, Clara Barton became known for tending to wounded soldiers. After the war, she took on the enormous project of identifying and marking almost 13,000 graves of soldiers who died in the horrific conditions at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. Clara Barton spent her life dedicated to relieving the suffering Continue reading »
Where can you find over 100 free high quality unit studies? Boy Scouts! The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) program offers great merit badge materials to its Scouts, which my older sons used on their way to achieving their Eagle Scout ranks. Completing merit badge requirements was often a great addition to their study of science, history, culture, government, business, and technology, and they also learned some great life skills for staying fit and healthy, managing money, and dealing with emergencies. Continue reading »
What do you get when your child combines a unit study and notebooking with a blog?
You get the homeschool version of a Virtual Learning Environment (a fancy way of saying learning that is enhanced by the Internet).
Homeschooling parents can use what they already know about unit studies and notebooking to have their children create their own unit study blogs on specific topics — their own VLE’s. Continue reading »
Many homeschoolers take community college classes while in high school. Since these courses count towards a college degree, it is important to keep track of the courses taken and how they apply to the different degree programs. Our Community College Course Planner is a spreadsheet download that tracks the courses taken and allows input of course/credit requirements for the chosen degree program to help the student stay on track with course choices. Continue reading »
Helpful resources for unit studies, free unit downloads, resources for books in Five in a Row, and more Continue reading »
Unit studies are a popular homeschooling method because they can be hands-on, literature-based, or even geared towards the Charlotte Mason method. Unit Studies typically encompass all of the scholastic subjects through the study of one topic (Weaver units or KONOS character units, for example), although they can be specific to a specific subject (like Evan-Moor science units or Teacher Created Materials units). Since it is easier to teach different ages the same topics with multi-level unit studies, they are popular among homeschoolers wanting to keep all of their children on similar topics at the same time. Continue reading »
Download TheHomeSchoolMom’s free Pi Day Unit Study for some fun activities. You can learn more about pi at the official Pi Day website, then since Pi Day wouldn’t be complete without pie, head over to Neatorama for some cool ideas for a pi pie. Continue reading »