Search Results for: unit studies

St. Patrick’s Day Printables & Unit Study

February 24, 2016 Katie 8 Comments

I love building homeschool unit study lessons around holidays, and these St. Patrick’s Day printables are perfect for a great beginning to a unit study that will have you giggling and having fun while sharing with your children about this fun green-themed holiday.

Unit studies are an excellent way to get your kids excited about learning. We typically choose a topic and spend a week studying it using different things like printables, books, movies, games and even on occasion we’ll make a craft. It is easy to incorporate all of the basic education subjects into a unit study when you think outside the box.

St Patrick’s Day Printables & Unit Study

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Language Arts: These St. Patrick’s Day printables are ideal for handwriting practice, spelling, and vocabulary. They help our son to recognize the words, learn to spell them and then we work with him on the definitions of each word on the word search and spelling sheet. Check your local library or grab the books below to read about the holiday.

Our favorite early readers for St. Patrick’s Day:

History: March 17th is celebrated each year as St. Patrick’s Day. It is indeed, a religious holiday that celebrates the patron saint of Ireland. It has become a fun holiday that is well known for green foods, Lepaurachans and of course, the always fun pinch if you aren’t wearing green. There are great books about the history of St. Patrick’s Day you can read with your kids, as well as checking out websites and even videos to learn more about the origin of the holiday.

Some great websites for more educational resources about the history of St. Patrick’s Day:

Great books to use in your history lessons around St. Patrick’s Day:

Science: St. Patrick’s Day always brings to mind both rainbows and shamrocks. Studying these is a great way to include science in your unit study. Since both words are already on the St. Patrick’s Day printables, you can easily include them in your vocabulary lessons, but also in science. Take the time to talk about what plant species the shamrock comes from, best places clover grows and of course what creates a rainbow. You may even take the time to share about prisms.

Great websites with more information about these subjects:

Fun books for various ages about rainbows, prisms, and shamrocks:

Great crafts for Shamrock studies:

Math: There are tons of fun games, St. Patrick’s Day printables, and projects you can do to work math into this holiday themed unit study. Counting the number of leaves on a clover. Making pots of cold and counting the number of coins in each. There are tons of fun and unique ideas for adding math to your unit study.

Great websites with fun math printables or resources for St. Patrick’s Day:

I love taking easy things like our St. Patrick’s Day printables and creating a week of school work around them. Take a subject per day, and of course, add in some great St. Patrick’s Day treats along the way for a “home economics” class if you wish! You can even check out some cute printable saying and craft ideas too from our friend at Crafty Mother of 2!

St. Patrick’s Day Oreos

St. Patrick’s Day Punch

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

15 St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

Print our St. Patrick’s Day word search and St. Patrick’s Day spelling sheet below!

Farmer Boy Unit Study

October 31, 2014 Katie 5 Comments

Looking for ideas to incorporate Farmer Boy into your homeshool? We grew up reading the Little House On The Prairie series of books, and Farmer Boy was always a favorite. Check out this Farmer Boy Unit Study that is perfect for introducing this book to your children.

FARMER BOY UNIT STUDY

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I couldn’t wait until I had little girl and was she big enough to read my favorite childhood books with me- The Little House on the Prairie series. I had pinned all my hopes on sharing Laura, Mary, Ma, Pa, and baby Carries adventures with her, but she is only 3, and while I have read some of the chapters aloud we are not there yet. But then I realized- “Wait! I have a boy of 6 now, he is big enough, why am I saving it for a girl?” However my boy runs from anything with any girly theme whatsoever so it was a no go until I pulled out Farmer Boy and promised him it was full of boy adventures, even a fight, and well farming. ( I am telling ya’ll I barely snuck this gingham cover past him!) Once we made it through the first chapter he was hooked on learning about life on the farm and Almanzo a boy of not quite nine years old. It certainly made him appreciate his little chore list more!

First we read through the book over the course of a couple weeks ( we read two chapters a day on average) which led to many discussions about the differences in the way things were then as opposed to now. We talked about how modern conveniences had changed the world so much- grocery stores meant that most people no longer HAVE to grow their own food. Electricity and large appliances like freezers keep food preserved until you are ready too cook it. Nowadays Families are often busy watching TV, playing video games, and checking their Facebook status -no longer are our only amuse ments -sledding, sitting around a fire with our family enjoying popcorn and milk, making homemade candy, and the simpleness of county fairs. Sad right?

At the end of our reading we decided to spend a day living like Almanzo and his family. Sometimes the best way to learn about a subject is to immerse yourself in it, and live it out! We picked a day to commit to no technology such as tv, tablets, or cell phones ( we did use our electricity for cooking and lighting but you could grill and use flashlights and lanterns if you really want to get even more in character. Here are a few of the activities we included in our Farmer Boy mini unit study.

Write on “slates”– We used our chalkboard slates to write new words we encountered during our reading as well as for writing out simple math problems. Then I let the kids just free draw and write on their chalkboards for awhile, they became a favorite activity throughout the day since we had no T.V. We made our slates by taping off the edges of a Dollar Tree cookie sheet with painters tape and spraying on several coats of chalkboard paint-these will serve us throughout many studies!

Apple Cider and Popcorn Snack/Activity-Early in the book the family is enjoying popcorn , apples and apple cider around the fire (sounds dreamy right?) So for a snack we had the same- Apple Cider, apples, and salty, buttered popcorn. They were delicious but we also had to try Almanzo’s trick of putting a full cup of popcorn into a full cup of milk to see if it worked- It did! That was a fun experiment and also tasty!

Farm Life- We actually have chickens next door on my mother in laws property, this is a great simple taste of farm life for the kids. We gathered eggs and threw cracked corn to the chickens and talked about how this was a daily chore for the family along with milking cows, and feeding the rest of the livestock. Ask your child if they think they would enjoy that kind of life. Why or why not? If you don’t have or don’t want to have any kind of farm animals consider a visit to a petting zoo or working farm for a field trip.

Here are some other activities that would be great to go along with Farmer Boy:

Make Butter- This is one of our favorite activities and we have done it several times for various studies, and it couldn’t be easier! Just place some heavy cream in a jar-a mason, or baby food jar work great. Add in a marble and a pinch of salt, then shake…for a long time.. Like 20 minutes , this is a great activity to take turns with. Your butter is ready when it is pretty solid, and separated from the liquid- pour this liquid off ( this is buttermilk). Store in fridge to firm up and voila!

Plant Potatoes- Here is a great tutorial on growing potatoes in a container to conserve space from simply frugal . This will take awhile to see results

Plant a milk pumpkin- Try planting pumpkins and trying Almanzo’s prize winning trick of cutting a slit in the vine and placing a wick from the slit into a bowl of milk. This obviously is a much longer project again, but how rewarding at the end!

Make Ice Cream- How fun for the kids and how tasty to make homemade ice cream like the Wilder children did when tending house. Making it in a baggie is the simplest way and is really a ton of fun for the kids. If found a simple tutorial here at Tasty Kitchen.

Sledding- If you live somewhere with snow you can spend the day sledding and throwing snowballs like Almanzo enjoyed during the winter months.

Bake Potatoes- If you are going to cook outside on the grill or have a fire pit going, make potatoes like in the book. Wrap them in foil (not in the book but I just cant toss potatoes directly into the fire and eat them) and let them roast away for a while. Try it directly from the fire plain and then fill them up with butter, sour cream and whatever toppings you and your child will enjoy. This makes a great lunch or dinner!

Whatever items you choose to do with your Farmer Boy Unit Study, you are sure to have fun reading these books with your kids again. Sometimes it is great to simply step back in time and enjoy things like they were “back in the day”.

Looking for other great Homeschool studies and tips? Check out some of our favorites below!

Using Legos In Your Homeschool

Using Television In Your Homeschool Curriculum

7 Tips For Cheap Homeschool Curriculum

Free Transportation Worksheets For Early Readers

How to Homeschool Multiple Grade Levels on a Budget

May 19, 2018 Katie Leave a Comment

Homeschooling is one of those adventures that can be expensive! You think it’s going to be inexpensive, but then everything starts adding up. That’s why I am happy to share How to Homeschool Multiple Grade Levels on a Budget. If you have multiple grade levels to homeschool, it can be hard to do it on a budget. You aren’t the first person to homeschool multiple grade levels though, it’s all about learning from those who have gone before you!

How to Homeschool Multiple Grade Levels on a Budget

I am a BookShark Homeschool Curriculum partner this year. While I was not paid for this post, I did receive free curriculum in exchange for sharing my opinion.

Homeschooling on a budget is a must for most of us. When you have children of all ages, it can get expensive fast. That’s why learning how to homeschool multiple grade levels on a budget is a must and is truly easier than you think!

Choose a curriculum that covers multiple ages

This is one of the biggest reasons that BookShark is a highly recommended curriculum. Being able to use one level over a few ages and grades really has a ton of benefits. Katie started with Level 6 for her son who was in 5th grade early this year. While they didn’t finish the full curriculum by the end of their school year, they can go back and use this level for him to continue into what would traditionally be 6th grade.

How is this possible? Because this curriculum is all about teaching naturally on the level your child is currently learning. With the History and Language Arts working together so well, all you have to do is chose additional things like a spelling program, creative writing program, or your own additional homemade worksheets. So, for my 5th grader and my 3rd grader, I could easily use Level 4 or even Level 5. I would work through the same books and timeline with them together, but then add in closer to grade level spelling drills, handwriting practice or even creative writing prompts.

BookShark gives you a chance to cover multiple ages of children all for one price. You can do read aloud books together, and let children take turns with the books, or even pick up extra copies if desired.

Reuse curriculum from an older child

If you’re going to continue homeschooling, don’t get rid of your previously used curriculum. You can easily rescue that curriculum for your next child. Reusing curriculum is a very budget friendly way to homeschool multiple grade levels on a budget. Here are some tips for reusing curriculum.

Make copies of worksheets instead of having the student write in the workbook.
Use a separate sheet of papers for the answers.
Remind your child to take extra good care of the curriculum.
Take precautions to protect the outside of the workbooks and books!

This is a perfect way to use curriculum that you can purchase and use multiple years without spending so much up front. With BookShark, you naturally have an option to reuse for younger children or use together if close in educational level.

Visit local science museums

One of our favorite things is to visit local science museums. There are tons of great learning experiences that appeal to all ages in one location. We’ve often spent hours learning about waterworks, plant life, or even engineering. The best thing about science museums is that they usually have the same concepts repeated in multiple areas on multiple levels to ensure everyone can understand and learn no matter their age.

We have used our BookShark Science curriculum to learn about many things, and even done the experiments that come with the curriculum, but sometimes we want to see things on a larger scale. Heading to the local museum helps us to do more hands on learning while still having fun with science.

Spend time teaching your children the same concepts

Not every concept has to be taught differently. For example, you could spend time teaching all your children about fractions. They don’t have to be a certain grade level to necessarily learn a new concept. You can do unit studies to help save money, but also your sanity. This is one of the best methods of education, as it also allows you to dive into deeper concepts with older students while reviewing basics.

It is also another great reason that using BookShark works so well. You are teaching a lot of the main concepts together but can also break things down to grade level if needed.

Head to the library – for real

If you have not used the library as a resource for homeschooling multiple grade levels on a budget, then you’re missing out. You can even look online to see what is available before you head to the library. There are apps in which you can use your library card to read books. You can put books on hold and you can go exploring to find books you never thought you’d use. Utilize the library as much as you can, especially if you’re using a homemade curriculum with your kids.

BookShark really fosters a love of reading in your children. The library is a great resource that can help you find even more books that fit the topic of study, or those extra copies needed for you to read together.

Go on field trips to regional locations

Weekly field trips are a huge part of our homeschool routine. We can easily teach while exploring a museum, a local arboretum, the capital building, or even city hall. In fact, one friend took her children recently to a local grocery store and had the kids learn a little about each department and how they work. It is simple to adapt to individual needs of your children but still be family-friendly in the process.

BookShark gives you a 4-day school week that makes field trips fit easily into your routine. You aren’t tied down to a Monday-Friday school schedule, and that makes it a ton easier to manage fun field trips and downtime.

So, the next time you’re wondering if you can homeschool multiple grade levels on a budget, know that you can. Do you have any tips to pass on to other homeschool parents?

More Homeschool Tips:

How to Create Lesson Plans for Toddlers

November 29, 2017 Stephanie Shields Leave a Comment

Lesson plans aren’t just for school-aged kids. Believe it or not, if you go into a childcare center, every room down to the infant room will have some form of a lesson plan. Yes, you read that right. Which means, Lesson Plans for Toddlers are pretty easy to come by. The problem I find with just grabbing a lesson plan online is, they just don’t seem personal or, they don’t meet my child where they are. This is why I like to create my own toddler lesson plans.

How to Create Lesson Plans for Toddlers

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Lesson plans take on many different things for different ages, as well as different teachers. Many homeschooling families use unit studies and lap books as part of their lesson plans. Others will create a formal lesson plan with set things at different times each day. Our preferred method is more of a Montessori lesson plan which incorporates concepts while teaching through daily life.

Why Create your Own Plans

Only you know your child. No one else can tell you what is best for your child to be learning at this exact moment. It is for that reason that I firmly believe that creating your own plans is the best thing you could do for your child. I use a simple notebook or journal for lesson plans, but you may prefer a formal teacher lesson plan option to create your own.

What are Toddler Lesson Plans?

Toddler lesson plans are just that: lesson plans geared towards toddlers. They are just a written out plan as to what you want your child to learn and the activities you plan to do to enhance those skills.

The lesson plans don’t need to be complicated. They can be something as simple as a couple words to trigger your memory for which activity you want to do.

How Detailed do they Have to be?

The answer to this really depends on how you plan to use your lesson plans. If they are just for your child, you can easily get away with a couple words on a calendar to jog your memory. If they are meant for more of a preschool setting, you need a bit more detail.

At Home Lesson Plans

I find it easiest to concentrate on one skill. This means that all of your activities over the week such as art projects, coloring pages, stories, even meals, and stories have something to do with that week’s item you chose. This can fit into the Unit Study concept easily.

Once your child is comfortable with that subject and can identify what you would like them to, you move on to the next. Some things only take a couple of days and others can take a few weeks. Keep your time frames flexible and you will be on your way.

As a former Preschool teacher, I found that with letters and numbers, it is best to not go in numerical or alphabetical order. Kids are great at memorizing things. It is likely that your child has memorized part or all of their numbers or letters. They have memorized in what order the letters and numbers come but, the point of these plans is to have them recognize things. So, mixing up the typical order will help them recognize things a bit better.

Preschool Setting Lesson Plans

If you plan to make the learning more like a preschool type setting, more detailed lesson plans will help you stay organized. Instead of just concentrating on one thing though, you would concentrate on a few different things each day.

You would purposefully plan age-appropriate math activities, an art time, reading time, science time and recess. Those are the bare bones of a preschool curriculum. You can absolutely add more things in as you see fit but, the very basic of plans hold the above items.

Here are some items we like for more formal preschool lesson plan ideas:

Tips for Making the Most of Your Lesson Plans

Planning

Planning is so helpful when it comes to keeping ourselves organized. However, toddlers are way more spontaneous than us adults (and to be truly honest, don’t really care about our plans). So, your plans need to be flexible. I recommend planning one week at a time. By Thursday you should have a good idea as to whether your toddler is grasping the concepts or not. If not, then I would continue with new activities for the following week. If they have caught on, move on to the next thing the following week.

Balance

When it comes to planning your activities try to have a healthy balance of easy activities and activities that will challenge your toddler. That sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast. I can guarantee you at some point, you will be blown away by with how much your toddler is capable of. Some of the things that you think will challenge them, will be a breeze. Keep tabs on it and adjust your following lessons as needed.

Always Keep it Fun

Keep it fun. The best way toddlers learn is through play so anything they can actively do is the best way to keep them interested. Games, toys, puzzles, and even videos can all be great educational play.

Toddlers are by far my most favorite age to plan for. There are so many activity options and everything is an adventure for them. They are eager to learn new things and to be totally honest with you, it’s pretty amazing that they still think you are the smartest person ever. Creating your own lesson plans are easier than you think.

More Homeschool Tips:

Printable Kindergarten Homeschool Pages

October 5, 2017 Katie Leave a Comment

If you are looking for some great Kindergarten Homeschool Pages to print out and use in your classroom, we have a simple and fun set to give you! This set includes handwriting practice, counting, simple addition, matching, and learning about greater or less than. All in simple printable pages your young child will love!

Printable Kindergarten Homeschool Pages

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If you are working with your Kindergartener on learning from home, you likely have spent a bit of money on worksheets, booklets, and curriculum. A great way to save money while also giving them quality work to do is by printing your own homeschool pages. I created some simple worksheets that can easily be added to any daily lesson plan.

Homeschool Printable Worksheets are ideal for supplementing your existing curriculum. Pages like the one shown below or in the image above can easily be added to any unit study. A little addition with basic numbers is great for early learners. Things like the matching pages are excellent for recognition and basic cognitive skills.

Download this Kindergarten Workbook Here!

We like to mix workbooks like this in with other unit studies. Below you’ll find some of my favorite Unit Study options that work well for all ages and are easy to adapt to your needs.

You may want to print out our free transportation spelling worksheets and our free fall themed spelling worksheets that are both also ideal for younger learners. They make great additions to these printables to round out a day of school.

Homeschool Unit Study Ideas:

Here is a good mix of our own unit study ideas as well as some of our favorite bloggers. While most unit studies vary on age ranges, you can easily adapt the suggestions to meet the needs of your young scholar.

Farmers Boy Unit Study
United States Unit Study
Boxcar Children Unit Study
Fire Prevention Unit Study
Little House on the Prarie Unit Study
Apple Unit Study
Zoo Unit Study

If you are looking for more worksheets or workbooks to use in your kindergarten homeschool classroom, check out our recommendations below! These are some great tools that are inexpensive and work great for basic educational needs.

BIG Kindergarten Workbook for ages 5-6

Phonics for Kindergarten Workbook

Handwriting Printing Workbook for Grades K-2

Brain Quest Workbook for Kindergarten

Work with your kindergartener at home in your homeschool, or in addition to their regular classwork using these great printables. Free and easy to use, means they are a great idea for those who are budget-minded!

Search Results for: unit studies

St Patrick’s Day Printables & Unit Study

FARMER BOY UNIT STUDY

Here are some other activities that would be great to go along with Farmer Boy:

How to Homeschool Multiple Grade Levels on a Budget

Choose a curriculum that covers multiple ages

Reuse curriculum from an older child

Visit local science museums

Spend time teaching your children the same concepts

Head to the library – for real

Go on field trips to regional locations

More Homeschool Tips:

How to Create Lesson Plans for Toddlers

Why Create your Own Plans

What are Toddler Lesson Plans?

How Detailed do they Have to be?

At Home Lesson Plans

Preschool Setting Lesson Plans

Tips for Making the Most of Your Lesson Plans

Planning

Balance

Always Keep it Fun

More Homeschool Tips:

Printable Kindergarten Homeschool Pages

Homeschool Unit Study Ideas:

More Homeschooling Tips: