Posted by Cindy on December 9, 2011
{Although a silly story (needing some tweaking), the science mystery experiment pictured above is both fun and worthwhile as you step away from the textbooks this Christmas season. Enjoy the Christmas Cookie Mystery with Teacher Directions.}
Below is an article I wrote for CHEK’s December Newsletter. I thought I’d post it here just in case some of you are overwhelmed this Christmas season.
Are you tired yet? By the time December rolls around each year, I’m ready for a break – only to find all the busy moments surrounding the Christmas season staring me in the face! Instead of throwing in the towel on homeschooling in order to manage all the other to-do’s of December, we have “Christmas school”. That’s a fancy term meaning we relax the regular schedule and make the to-do’s part of our school routine.
During these two or three weeks just before Christmas, the textbooks are often replaced with practical things such as menu planning, couponing, baking, party planning and decorating, shopping for presents on a budget, crafting homemade gifts, addressing Christmas cards, practicing for plays and musicals at church, and more. We’ll spend extra time fitting in service opportunities, too.
We also replace our daily Bible routine with one that prepares our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ. There are so many different Bible schedules and Christmas devotions readily available, even some with learning activities! I’ll mention just a few to get you started. We love completing a Jesse Tree and have done this several different years. We have completed several themed studies relating to Advent, the Symbols of Christmas, and the Names of Jesus. We’re also suckers for good literature. Our very favorite Christmas series is written by Arnold Ytreeide and includes three books (read one book per year) with readings every day of December leading up to Christmas day. If you are new to this series, I would read them in the following order: Jotham’s Journey
, Bartholomew’s Passage
and Tabitha’s Travels
.
Don’t let the craziness of December leave you feeling overwhelmed and spent. Enjoy your family. Enjoy your homeschool. Enjoy the to-do’s. Enjoy the extra-gushy time with our Lord and Savior.
Posted by Cindy on April 12, 2011
If you’re interested in planning unit studies, you might like to check out my four-part series over at the Heart of the Matter.
I’ve posted several reviews recently at The Curriculum Choice that you might like to read, too!
Posted by Cindy on March 7, 2011
As much as we’ve been enjoying Ancient Civilizations and the Bible this year, we (especially Caleb – 5th grade) needed a little break from the typical plan of study – and lapbooking was the answer!
I found a FREE and truly WONDERFUL lapbook on Homeschool Share written by Jodi Small on the topic of Ancient Greece. Because I was in a hurry on planning day, I didn’t take the time to copy everything on pretty colored paper. 
Posted by Cindy on January 10, 2011
The topic of unit studies here on my blog always generates a lot of interest and questions. I’ve started a mini-series of sorts about unit study how-to’s over at The Heart of the Matter. This month I’ve given you an overview of how I plan and develop unit studies. Over the next few months, I’ll talk about incorporating project-based learning into a unit and walk you step-by-step through the planning of small and large units. I’ll link each article for you here.
Until then, hop on over to read this month’s article! As usual, I’m happy to elaborate if you have any questions.
Speaking of Heart of the Matter…I’m speaking on the topic of living math during their online conference in February! (Everyone who attends my session will receive a discount on the soon-to-be-released Loving Living Math – a book that will give you the know-how and confidence you need to add living math to your curriculum!)
Posted by Cindy on November 8, 2010
Science and history have always been “together” studies. In the past, we’ve almost always used unit studies for these subjects since they can so easily be manipulated to fit the needs of each particular child. In other words, we can learn the exact same things together, but each child can complete projects, writings and/or tests that are on their own level.
Most of you know that I decided to go with Apologia’s Physical Science
this year. Why? I got scared. I wasn’t sure my unit study approach could be doing a good enough job at the upper middle/high school level. So, I jumped into physical science with the 8th grader, wondering what I was going to do at the same time with the 5th grader. I’ve learned two things.
- I was wrong. I was doing perfectly fine creating my own unit studies! Besides a tad bit of technical info, my unit studies were very in depth and could rival just about any textbook any day. However, I have REALLY enjoyed the ready-made lessons this year.
- The textbook – even though meant for middle/high school students – can still be used with multiple levels. It’s taken just a tad bit of manipulation, but my 5th grader is moving right along with us most days. On days when the subject matter is too tough, he does other things on similar topics – like reading library books, researching a topic on the internet, or completing a NaturExplorers activity. (I have a post coming up soon over at Shining Dawn Books about how perfectly the NaturExplorers units have jived with textbook life!)
A little pre-planning was all I needed to turn the textbook into something both my children could use. It took one short afternoon this summer to skim through the textbook and divide it into lessons. For each lesson, I determined whether or not it was suitable for Caleb (the 5th grader). If not, I wrote down a simple alternative lesson idea. At the end of the day, I had the entire science schedule planned for both the 8th grader and 5th grader!
I’ve posted a sample of how I scheduled the lessons below, but first I’d like to share a few guidelines I used when planning.
- If the textbook lesson had an experiment, I almost always included Caleb. Since I have him write definitions or draw diagrams in his science book as I read, I figure he’s picking up on much of what we’re discussing – and the experiment helps to cement that.
- If the textbook lesson presented something he was already familiar with, I almost always included him. Having a beginning understanding of the topic goes a long way in being able to go deeper.
- If the textbook lesson was way too deep/technical/long, I stuck with the same subject and tried to pencil in an activity that he could complete independently.
Here’s a sample of my schedule from the first three modules of the textbook.
Module 1 – The Basics
1.1 – p.1-7 – with us
1.2 – p.8-18 – read library book about molecules and atoms
1.3 – p.18-24 – with us
1.4 – study/test – hands-on measurement worksheet in mm/cm/m, in/ft/yd
Module 2 – Air
2.1 – p.27-30 – with us
2.2 – p.30-33 – with us
2.3 – p.33-38 – with us
2.4 – p.38-40 – read library book about air
2.5 – p.41-45 – create mini-poster about air (You can see that poster in one of the photos above.)
2.6 – p.45-51 – simple experiment book about air, complete at least 3 experiments
2.7 – study/test – perform air experiments for family
Module 3 – The Atmosphere
3.1 – p.57-61 – with us
3.2 – p.61-66 – layers of the atmosphere internet research and draw poster (NaturExplorers activity! The second photo above is his poster.)
3.3 – p.67-70 – with us
3.4 – p.70-75 – read library book about clouds
3.5 – p.75-76 – use NaturExplorers notebooking page to observe and label clouds
3.6 – study/test – NaturExplorers cloud making experiment with Mom
I am incredibly happy with our science plan this year and plan to (most likely) stick with Apologia sciences as Mahayla continues on into high school. I will also (most likely) pull Caleb right along with her. I’ll keep you posted as the years go on!
