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Welcome

5 BEST Books To Create An Around The World Unit Study | Easy Hands-on Ideas

March 15, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It’s possible to create a world unit study with a few great books. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more free unit studies.

The best way to learn about other parts of the world is through a book.

A book tells stories full of suspense, adventure and discovery.

Events that happened in a geographical area, at a certain time, or as they unfolded through the life of characters in history engage kids.

5 BEST Books To Create An Around The World Unit Study | Easy Hands-on Ideas

{Warning: Picture overload. This post has tons of pictures so you’ll be scrolling. These books are so beautiful and worth every penny so I want you to see lots of pictures!}

I was given these books for free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews, it usually means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

  • The books are
  • Cleopatra Queen of Egypt,
  • Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer,
  • Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War,
  • Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air and
  • John Muir America’s First Environmentalist.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study

Look at the list below and then look at the unit study ideas below as I break down each book.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study

I can’t wait to show you 5 best books to create an around the world unit study easily through stories by Candlewick Press.

Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks)

The story of Cleopatra’s life has captured the imagination of countless writers and artists for centuries. As one of history’s most enduring figures, much lore has obscured the real woman behind the myth. Was she a beautiful and heartless schemer who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted? Or was Cleopatra a tragic victim of her own heart? This next volume in the acclaimed Notebook series offers a fascinating look into the world of one of Egypt’s most notorious leaders. Featuring a fictional journal that invites us into Cleopatra’s inner world, this is an exquisite guide bursting with gorgeous illustrations and packed with fun interactive extras such as flaps featuring historical facts and pop-culture references. This is a riveting volume rife with battles, passion, and even murderous intrigue — an exclusive look into the legendary queen’s dramatic life.

Marco Polo: History's Great Adventurer (Historical Notebooks)

Immerse yourself in this interactive introduction to one of the greatest explorers ever known.Travel along the Silk Road to medieval China with Marco Polo as your guide. Meet the warlord Kublai Khan and sail through pirate-infested seas in search of riches beyond measure. Including booklets, foldouts, and maps, as well as excerpts from The Travels of Marco Polo, this beautifully illustrated volume illuminates the adventures of history’s greatest storyteller.

Archie's War

Marcia Williams captures the Great War through a child’s eyes with a fascinating fictional scrapbook including real mementos of the day.Meet ten-year-old Archie, his family, and best friend in a scrapbook Archie has made himself, full of comic strips and plenty of other memorabilia. The year is 1914, and as the Great War begins, Archie’s scrapbook reflects the war’s impact on his life and on those who write back from the front. Marcia Williams retains her humor and energy as she employs a new collage style to present an intimate and compelling view of the
First World War and its era.

Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air

Ready to relive some of the most daring voyages of all time? Unfold these spectacular cross sections and explore fourteen historic journeys, with the help of dramatic storytelling and sidebars that highlight key concepts, places, and technology. Presented in a larger format to make these exciting journeys even more accessible and engaging.Back matter includes an index, a glossary, and sources.

John Muir: Candlewick Biographies: America's First Environmentalist

John Muir loved the land. Born in 1838, he was a writer, a scholar, an inventor, a shepherd, a farmer, and an explorer. But above all, he was a naturalist. John Muir was particularly devoted to the high cliffs, waterfalls, and ancient giant sequoia trees that, through his careful influence, were set aside as Yosemite, one of the first national parks in America. Here is the life story of the man who, moved by a commitment to wilderness everywhere, founded the Sierra Club in 1892, a conservation group that carries on his crucial work to this day. Back matter includes an epilogue, a bibliography, and information about the Sierra Club.

The first book Cleopatra Queen of Egypt is for ages 8-12 .

It is for grades 3 -7 which makes it a useful book for teaching multiple ages.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

That is one huge advantage that attracted me to these books.

Strive for a middle age when choosing books.

Why? Because you can create a unit study for multiple ages without being so time intensive when planning.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Moving up or down from a middle point to plan age appropriate activities.

That is less stressful at a middle grade level.

Starting off your adventure, your kids can read about Ancient Egypt.

Then learn about Ancient Rome through the life of Cleopatra.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

I also pulled out a game I had created when we studied Ancient Egypt before.

Look here for the Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History).

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

What I appreciated most about the book was that it had both positive and negative things to say about the life of Cleopatra.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Whether true or not, many things we’ll never know about her.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

But your kids can learn about life during that time through the pull out maps in the book and lift flaps.

Other topics in the book that you want to cover are Roman numbers for math, Cleopatra’s relatives which were Greek-speaking aristocrats, Egyptian religion, Julius Caesar, Egyptian hairstyles, Egyptian jewelry, festivals and temples.

How to Teach About World Cultures Through Children’s Books

Also, learning about how the Egyptians were accustomed to female pharaohs wielding power, but the Greeks and Romans were not gives your kids a glimpse into the government.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Look at some of these hands-on ideas while learning about Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome. They round out a world unit study.

Grab this free Ancient Lapbook and unit study here.

We studied Greece numerous times and here is a second lapbook for Ancient Greece.

To understand the background of Ancient Egypt also download this free Pharaohs and Queens Ancient Egypt lapbook.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Grab this free Ancient Rome lapbook and make this fun easy Roman helmet and shield.

Just to be sure you have more than enough hands-on history activities to bring the reading of this book alive.

Here are several more Hands-on History Activities for Learning about Ancient Civilizations you don’t want to miss. This post gives you more ideas for other civilizations in this world unit study.

Then on to the next adventure with the book Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

The reason I chose this book is that when you look at the table of contents, it has a mix of 14 different adventurers from Pytheas the Greek to Tenzing Norgay.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

And Edmund Hillary who scaled Mount Everest in 1953 to Umberto Nobile who flies across the Arctic in 1928.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Some kids get bored covering history and geography in a chronological order and need some breathing room to skip to other areas of the world about topics that intrigue them.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

How to Use Children’s Books to Teach History Units

The beauty of this book is that through the courageous and thrilling trips of the explorers, your child can learn about many different places.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Just some ideas to take away from this book are to learn about how Apollo II rockets in space, Leif Ericksson reaches the coast of America and how John Cook maps the Pacific Ocean.

This book too is for ages 8-12.

And through the colorful maps, detailed drawings and double spread pull out page, it was hard for Tiny to put this one down.

Not only can you can bring this book alive by studying the different parts of a ship, your child can learn how explorers found their way using different navigational tools.

From ancient to modern places, your kids have their choice of where to start. Here are some hands-on activities to pique their interest.

  • Make a simple and easy compass.
  • Make a quadrant using this free template.
  • Do a Viking Lapbook.
5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)
  • Free unit study and lapbook about the Arctic.
  • Appreciate the exploration of Christopher Columbus by 5 Days of Learning Printables:The World of Columbus and Sons Day 5 For Middle and High School.
  • Add in studying some science and learn about the Ocean with this free unit study.

Awesome Literature to Teach World History

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Moving on to understand about China and the Silk Road through the eyes of Marco Polo, we loved reading Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer.

Like the Cleopatra Queen of Egypt book, this one too has beautiful bright fold outs with background information about medieval China.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Additionally, look at my Free Marco Polo Unit Study, Lapbook, and Hands-on Ideas.

One reason I chose this book is because it can be hard to find resources that don’t just focus on Medieval Europe  without including what’s happening in the rest of the world during that time.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Topics like the Maya city of Chichen Itza (by the way, we went there on our honey moon, okay, okay) the Soninke Empire of West Africa and the Silk Road are equally engaging and important.

Yes it was fascinating to read about the discoveries along the way but other topics like understanding the geography also helps your child to appreciate the rugged terrain.

Including deserts, mountains and the silk making process make for fascinating topics while studying about Marco Polo.

Learning about deserts, your child can create desert sand art, make a hygrometer and make a sand clock.

Picture Books Brings Learning to Life

Also, I have a huge Marco Polo unit study where your child can make a mythological map, an interactive extend a timeline book, terracotta warriors, an artful mosaic and salt dough map.

My next choice is Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

This book is full of comic strips with a collage or scrapbook style.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Although war is not a comical matter, I’ve always struggled with teaching my boys about wars and this book gives a picture of what life would have been like in World War I in an entertaining way.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Through letters, drawings and through collages articles from that time period, your kids can appreciate the emotion of the time period.

Also, because it is about World War I, your kids can read about snippets going on in other parts of the world along with an easy timeline.

How rationing begins and how life is never the same again is a message that is gently weaved through the newspaper headlines, letters and diary like quotes throughout the book.

One of the best things I didn’t realize about this book is that some of the things are actual mementos of the time period. This is one period that Tiny and I are wanting to focus more on.

Be sure to grab my free World War II lapbook and learn to make ration cakes as a follow up to this book.

The last book John Muir America’s First Environmentalist is the perfect book for an outdoors adventure.

From Muir’s birthplace in Scotland to Florida and California, John Muir was the ultimate nature adventurer.

Sketching natural journals while learning about the local flora and fauna your child can love nature and appreciate it through his fascinating life.

How to Use Picture Books to Merge Academic Subjects

Learning about Yosemite National Park and Muir’s love to preserve the wilderness, this book has us researching for hours about songbirds, Sequoia, Canada and the Aurora Borealis.

Look at this free spring unit study about John Muir where we did several hands-on activities.

One we did was to learn how ice affects mountains.

If you’re looking to use one book with all of your children to learn about far away places from the comfort of your chair, you’ll swoon over the choices.

We easily have several more unit studies planned.

What do you think? Ready to put together your own world unit study?

How to purchase them.

►Product Names: Cleopatra Queen of Egypt, Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer, Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War, Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air and John Muir America’s First Environmentalist.
►Website: Candlewick Press.
►Suitable for Ages:  8 to 12 or grades 3 – 7.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities). When you use picture books for multiple ages of children they have a way of bringing homeschool unit studies to life. If you are looking to cover geography and history, grab these books and the easy and fun hands-on homeschool ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Do Unit Studies, Geography, History Resources, Homeschool Curriculum Review, Lapbooks, Middle School Homeschool, Product Review, Science Tagged With: geography, hands on history, hands-on activities, handson, highschoolgeography, history, history resources, historyspine, middleschool, unit studies

Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History)

March 11, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I created a free Ancient Egypt Mehen printable board game to go with our Ancient Civilizations – Egypt Unit Study.

We have been reading through the book Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks) and I whipped back out the Ancient Egypt Mehen printable board game I made when we studied Ancient Egypt the third time. 

Look on my page history games for more fun ideas.

Grab this free and fun printable board game when studying Ancient Egypt. It's Mehen or the snake game for hands on history. Get it over @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then, I realized something just awful which is I hadn’t shared the free printable Mehen board game here with you.

First, look at some of these books about Ancient Egypt.

17 Ancient Egypt Books & Resources for Kids Who Love Reading and Being Read To

Add some of these books to your home library and use them for a day of learning or for unit studies.

The Egypt Game

The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she’s not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it’s the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians, and they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it’s just a game until strange things start happening. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin Classics)

These stories include the great myths - of Amen-Ra, who created all the creatures in the world; of Isis, seaching the waters for her dead husband Osiris; of the Bennu Bird and the Book of Thoth. But there are also tales told for pleasure about magic, treasure and adventure - even the first ever Cinderella story.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (Landmark Books)

For more than 3,000 years, Egypt was a great civilization that thrived along the banks of the Nile River. But when its cities crumbled to dust, Egypt’s culture and the secrets of its hieroglyphic writings were also lost. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt explains how archaeologists have pieced together their discoveries to slowly reveal the history of Egypt’s people, its pharaohs, and its golden days.

The Buildings of Ancient Egypt

Uses archeological evidence to describe the construction, decoration, and furnishings of ancient Egyptian tombs, pyramids, and homes

Science in Ancient Egypt (Science of the Past)

Discusses the achievements of the ancient Egyptians in science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, and technology.

Great Ancient Egypt Projects: You Can Build Yourself

From reed boats, papyrus, and amulets, to pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies, Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself explores the fascinating lives of ancient Egyptians through more than25 hands-on building projects and activities. Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers today a chance to experience how the ancient Egyptians lived, cooked, worked, worshipped, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors through building projects that use common household supplies.Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project are combined with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies, and trivia for the real-life models of each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look at daily life in ancient Egypt.

The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt (Dover Children's Classics)

Chebron, the young son of an Egyptian high priest, and Amuba, a young slave in the boy's household, are close friends; but their lives are greatly altered when Chebron accidentally kills a cat, an animal held sacred by the ancient Egyptians. Forced to flee for their safety, the boys and their companions begin a long and dangerous journey. A thrilling adventure story, this is also a tale packed with historical facts. Among other fascinating details, young readers learn about the Egyptian religion and geography, how the Nile was used for irrigation, and how the Egyptians made war and were prepared for burial. A captivating book that accurately describes life in a once magnificent civilization, this volume will especially appeal to youngsters fascinated by the life and customs of ancient Egypt.

A History of Ancient Egypt: From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid (A History of Ancient Egypt, 1)

The ancient world comes to life in the first volume in a two book series on the history of Egypt, spanning the first farmers to the construction of the pyramids. Famed archaeologist John Romer draws on a lifetime of research to tell one history's greatest stories; how, over more than a thousand years, a society of farmers created a rich, vivid world where one of the most astounding of all human-made landmarks, the Great Pyramid, was built. Immersing the reader in the Egypt of the past, Romer examines and challenges the long-held theories about what archaeological finds mean and what stories they tell about how the Egyptians lived. More than just an account of one of the most fascinating periods of history, this engrossing book asks readers to take a step back and question what they've learned about Egypt in the past. Fans of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra and history buffs will be captivated by this re-telling of Egyptian history, written by one of the top Egyptologists in the world.

Boy of the Pyramids

The pictured wall of an Egyptian tomb supplied the inspiration for this unusual story, which takes place during the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu more than 4,000 years ago. Kaffe and Sari, an Egyptian noble's son and a slave girl from the nomadic Sand People of the Sinai region, help solve a troublesome mystery and trap its culprit. All told against a colorfully detailed backdrop of ancient Egypt.

The Golden Goblet

Ranofer wants only one thing in the world: to be a master goldsmith like his beloved father was. But how can he when he is all but imprisoned by his evil half brother, Gebu? Ranofer knows the only way he can escape Gebu's abuse is by changing his destiny. But can a poor boy with no skills survive on the cutthroat streets of ancient Thebes? Then Ranofer finds a priceless golden goblet in Gebu's room and he knows his luck−and his destiny−are about to change.

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs

In 1802, Jean-Francois Champollion was eleven years old. That year, he vowed to be the first person to read Egypt’s ancient hieroglyphs. Champollion’s dream was to sail up the Nile in Egypt and uncover the secrets of the past, and he dedicated the next twenty years to the challenge.James Rumford introduces the remarkable man who deciphered the ancient Egyptian script and fulfilled a lifelong dream in the process. Stunning watercolors bring Champollion’s adventure to life in a story that challenges the mind and touches the heart.

The Egyptian Cinderella

This Egyptian spin on the classic Cinderella tale was initially recorded in the first century by a Roman historian and is retold here by folklorist Shirley Climo.

Poor Rhodopis! She has nothing—no mother or father, and no friends. She is a slave, from the far-off country of Greece. Only the beautiful rose-red slippers her master gives her can make Rhodopis smile.

So when a falcon swoops down and snatches one of the slippers away, Rhodopis is heartbroken. For how is she to know that the slipper will land in the lap of the great Pharaoh himself? And who would ever guess that the Pharaoh has promised to find the slipper’s owner and make her queen of all Egypt?

Augustus Caesar's World

In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do, she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. Her keen intuition for stories will especially delight and amuse youthful readers. In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations of Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on. Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text.

The Lost Queen of Egypt: The Tomb of Nefertiti

For professor of Egyptology Henry Markham, this would be the crowning glory of his career: an intact tomb of Nefertiti, the great royal wife of Akhenaten and the heretic pharaoh of eighteenth dynasty Egypt, whose bust of exquisite beauty resides in the Berlin Museum, which he had searched for the last ten years. He had an unspoken passion for her only excelled by his young assistant, Steven Sinclair, whose visions and dreams of her haunted him, much to the annoyance of Helen Carter, the freelance journalist on-site who, with her business partner Mike Mitcham, the digs photographer, saw Nefertiti as a rival for his affections. Thanks to a gambling debt, Mike finds himself the proud owner of a large luxury mobile home that four Mossad agents are interested in, along with Emil Brogini, who did a drug deal with two Mossad rogue agents since deceased. The arrival of Henry's estranged sister, Millicent, with her friend Jane Evesham, a gifted clairvoyant, does nothing to improve his temper, especially when Jane tells him they are in great danger. Can the danger come from four renegade Mossad agents or Emil Bratislav Brogini, Mr. Big in Cairo, into every racket going? Jane discovers that Helen has a latent gift of clairvoyance which, with their combined powers in a séance, sends them back to the eighteenth dynasty with Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and danger around every corner as they try to discover who is trying to kill them all using a large band of Libyan bandits. They survive ambushes, assassin's knives, and chariot chases, finally getting back to their own time with Nefertiti.

Pyramid

Pyramid is a strong resource for readers looking to expand their knowledge of ancient Egyptian civilization, history, and architecture.

Award-winning author-illustrator David Macaulay explores the philosophy of life and death in ancient Egypt through richly detailed black-and-white illustrations and clear, concise text.

Though created with middle grade readers in mind, all with interest in the topic will enjoy this impressive look at what many consider to be one of the most awesome of humankind's creations.

Pharaoh's Boat

With poetic language and striking illustrations, Weitzman tells the story of how one of the greatest boats of ancient Egypt came to be built and built again.In the shadow of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the most skilled shipwrights in all of Egypt are building an enormous vessel that will transport Cheops, the mighty pharaoh, across the winding waterway and into a new world. Pharaoh's boat will be a wonder to behold, and well prepared for the voyage ahead. But no one, not even the Egyptian king himself, could have imagined just where the journey of Pharaoh's boat would ultimately lead.

The Winged Cat

Merit is a servant girl in the temple of cat goddesses. In a rage, Waha, the High Priest, kills a sacred car, and Merit sees him do it.But when Merit reports the evil deed to Pharaoh, Waha denies that he is guilty.

Hands-on Ancient Egypt

Though the ancient Egyptians had many games, Mehen, the snake game was popular.

(Pic. attribution)

The game was called snake because the stone board represented a coiled serpent with its head in the middle.

This could easily be made with clay too and it would probably look a little more ancient, but it would be easy enough to make if you wanted to go all out for a unit study about Ancient Egypt.

So we read up on a few rules we found and I created a game board.

We had some crafting jewels in the house and we grabbed them to use as tokens.

I wasn’t sure how this game would go over with the kids so I let the pros check it out.

Too, we all agreed it was a nice break to our day and it was  pretty inexpensive to make because I printed it off on cardstock.

I wanted it on letter size paper in case we wanted to store it in our lapbook or notebook. I put a few final touches on it and overall we had a great last few days as we took off time and played games.

Also, I love using ALL of the fun interactive lapbooks and history craft ideas by Home School in the Woods. I know you will too.

Plus, your kids will love the book Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks) with all of it’s lift flaps and pull out maps.

Also, remember to look at our first time we studied Ancient Egypt here with this big homeschool unit study.

You’ll love these other links:

  • Ancient Egypt Narmer Crown Dough Activity
  • How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard
  • Ancient Egyptian Mathematics: Build a LEGO Math Calculator

GRAB THE FREE ANCIENT EGYPT PRINTABLE BOARD GAME BELOW

Now, how to grab the free game. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

2 CommentsFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Ancient Civilizations, Free Homeschool Resources, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources Tagged With: ancient civilizations, ancientegypt, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources

DOUBLE Pinterest Repins in Just One Month (no fancy app needed)

March 3, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

DOUBLE Pinterest Repins in Just One Month (no fancy app needed - REALLY!) There is one secret tip that works without having to pay for high dollar courses or trying to figure out a fancy algorithm. Click here because you can EASILY do this! @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

When I joined Pinterest I had no idea it would be my number one referrer and still is for many years now. There wasn’t any information or solid tips on how to increase your reach like we have today. In the beginning, finding solutions to how to grow Pinterest to my current 52K followers felt like groping through the unknown. What I’ve learned through it though is to trust my instincts like I’ve done to this point. And I’m giddy because I figured out another secret tip that I can’t wait to share with you. Today, I’m going to tell you how to double pinterest repins in just one month and no you don’t have to buy one more app or take one more high dollar course to learn this secret.

I won’t keep you hanging long, but first you have to see my December stats below to appreciate how stale my repins had become. I’m sure you can relate to my struggle of not only trying to stay ahead of Pinterest but keep up with the other changes on social media.

Too, Pinterest changed to adding Picked for You pins which competes for the pins you want your followers to see. I mean that is why somebody is following you because they want to see your pins right? But that is another thread. The point is there is more competition than ever.

Like most professional bloggers, I started using tailwind and had been using ahalogy when it first came out to schedule my pins. I tried scheduling with both tailwind and ahalogy at the same time and even increased my pins per day but look at the picture below from December.

I just felt like I was spinning my wheels because just scheduling pins alone did not boost my repins.

In December, 2016 I just couldn’t get over the 6K or 7K repins and it was that way for MONTHS. If I took a snippet of each month before December, they would all look similar.

Getting Back to My Roots

So (drum roll please, sorry) instead of following one more fancy algorithm, I simply went back to my roots. I went back to doing what grew my Pinterest fast in the first place which is to pin naturally.

I know it may sound stressful to do one more thing with your limited time when you think you can schedule it. But if you want your repin rate to increase, the key is that you have to still pin organically too.

Especially if Pinterest is your number one referrer, like it is for me, it commands my respect and that means time.

Want to see the results of pinning each week with not really a set schedule? What I mean is that though my pins were scheduled for that week with tailwind and ahalogy like they’ve been for several months before, I didn’t follow a set schedule of pinning naturally. I just pinned.

While I was on my laptop preparing my blog posts or having my morning brew, I pinned one or two pins. In the evening when I’m on, I pinned a few more pins here and there.

Look at the results below. My repin rate went from 76% in December to 177% in January!

And to keep this simple because I always love things explained to me in a not technical Tina fashion, look at how the repin rate went up each week as you can see from my email.

It’s easier to see the growth this way because sometimes the graph is not so user friendly. I started pinning naturally again in January and every week thereafter.

Jan 2  –  6723 repins
Jan 9  –  8330 repins
Jan 16  –  10050 repins
Jan 23  –  11077 repins
Jan 30  –  12760 repins

And February has well over 13k repins as I have continued to pin naturally when I’m on my device.

I just pinned naturally each day. That is the other important key. Be consistent and do it each day. That is really how I grew fast in the beginning by doing something I love and being consistent in sharing high quality content.

If you’re like me, you have tons to do each day as a blogger or social media manager, sot I didn’t repin every pin. My tailwind scheduler did most of the work, but it did not give me the same results as when I pinned along naturally with it.

I hope that tidbit can be a saving grace for you. You don’t have to pin every pin naturally, you just need to pin some of them.

I’ve learned another lesson in managing my own content which is keep doing what I’ve done no matter what fancy scheduler or supposedly scientific research comes along.

Pinterest is about natural engagement. Try it! And see if it doesn’t work. Just remember my pointers, you need to be consistent, still use your favorite scheduler and have fun. Track your repin rate.

Also, check out my other tips about Pinterest on Pinterest Secret – The 3Cs of a Smart Pin. From a Homeschool Mom Who Grew Her Followers to 35K Without Complicated Algorithms and 11 Amazing Tips To Grow Pinterest That You Need to Know NOW.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

If you love printable planners as much as I do, you’ll love my Forever Blog Planner.

Forever Blog Planner. Detailed pages and organized.

And I’m proud to co-author iBlog Pro.

You’re writing and writing and…writing. You’re not even sure you like writing any more (if you ever did!) You’re putting your life out there, and it feels great. But maybe, just maybe, you’re feeling the pull toward something MORE.

Maybe you’d like your blog to generate enough income to cover its costs. Maybe you have a great idea for a product to offer, but aren’t sure how to bring it to market. Ready to take your blog to the next level with the 2nd book in the iBlog series?

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Blog, Pinterest Tagged With: blog, blogging, pinterest

Polish Paper-Cutting (Wycinanki): Day 10 Hands-on Learning

March 2, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Polish Paper-Cutting. Try Polish Folk Art When Studying About Europe or doing a homeschool unit study. Day 10 of Hands-on Learning Activities @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusContinuing in our hands-on learning and focusing more on European countries this year, Tiny did a fun Polish paper-cutting activity. I have an upcoming unit study from STEAMworld Learning about Poland that I’m tickled to show you, but first I just have to give you a peek at this fun art project.

Appreciating Culture through Art

Have you ever head of Wycinanki? Yep, me neither which is why we were so excited to try it out.

At first glance you may think it’s easy. I confess we thought the same thing. What could be so hard about cutting paper right?

Wycinanki or polish paper-cutting became popular in the 1800s and peasants used it to decorate their home. They would brighten up their white walls with beautiful colored designs or hang the paper art from the ceiling or beams.

There were a lot of scenes of natures, but they especially liked roosters. But that is not the only pattern, it seems as time goes on, more and more designs are crafted like flowers, stars, medallions and peacocks.

Tiny pieces of paper are cut out and glued together to form an intricate pattern. And the idea is to layer the tiny intricate pieces to form designs and color.

After reading about it, like a lot of places each region has it’s own way of  doing it. One region typically stayed in one color while another area explored with multiple colors.

Of course, I always like easy so that is why we are using the crate from STEAMworld Learning because it comes with everything we need in one crate to do the project.

I rounded up some other Polish paper-cutting pictures from an art site to inspire me you.


Credit: Chicken Wycinanki by XxsLeEpINGsAiLoRxX on DeviantArt
You can see why the Polish people decorate with these beautiful crafts. Not only is the art soothing to do, but it gives the whole place a new look.

Wycinanki 1 by NeddieDavid on DeviantArt

We even saw some pictures with the designs done on eggs. What detailed work!

star – gwiazda by suzikraw on DeviantArt
I know you’ll love this upcoming unit study about Poland which is geared toward middle school kids and the best way to kick off a unit study is always with a hands-on activity and fun.

Tiny enjoyed doing this rooster and we especially love having the patterns that came with the crate. I think you’re kids will love this project. More to come soon!

If you’re wanting to do a unit study about a European country, grab Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook) here. And there is no shortage of fun hands-on ideas in our series.

Day 1: Make a Hair Hygrometer, Day 2: Desert Sand Art, Day 3: Make Zopf (Swiss Style Bread), Day 4: Exploring Edible Cactus (Learning about the Desert), How to Build the Alamo: Day 5 Hands-on Learning (Free Texas Unit Study) and Geoscavenge – A Rock and Mineral Hunt: Day 6 Hands-on Learning, How Does the Power of Ice Shape Mountains? Day 7: Hands-on Learning,How Accurate is a Sand Clock? Day 8: Hands-on Learning, How a Pendulum Clock Measures Time: Day 9 Hands-on Learning Activities and 365 Days Hands-On Homeschool Activities – One for EVERY Day of the Year

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

2 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, Hands-On Activities, History Resources Tagged With: crafts, geography, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, poland

Foolproof Tips To Homeschool Friends Co-oping (And Staying Friends)

March 1, 2017 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Foolproof Tips to Homeschool Friends Co-oping (And Staying Friends). You want to stay friends when you decide to teach your kids together. Check out these tried and true tips @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I love getting your questions and this next question is a very common one because if we have a close friend, we have all thought about it at one time or another. Look at this question I recently got. I have been taking inspiration from your blog for years in my own homeschool journey and wondered if you could help me now with some advice. We would like to combine schooling our kids to see if it will benefit them. Do you have any suggestions of how the mother and I could teach subjects together? Look at these foolproof tips for getting along when you homeschool co-op with a friend and how to stay friends afterwards.

One/Communication.

I cannot stress communication enough beforehand.

Try to resist the knee jerk reaction to decide one week to co-op together and jump into starting the next week.

It’s easier to address potential pitfalls when you’re not in the heat of the moment when it comes to a disagreement. Try to avoid them by communicating well ahead of time. There are so many topics to discuss and it’s best done when everybody is still excited about the meet up.

For example, how will you handle interruptions?

Do you expect the kids to raise their hands? I know this because it happened to me.

When teaching with another mom, I had a more relaxed way of wanting my kids to address their questions while discussing a topic and didn’t want hand raising when I was teaching. I didn’t have 32 kids so I wanted a natural conversation.

However, my friend thought they should raise their hands. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a control freak and certainly wouldn’t let the interruptions get out of hand, but my friend didn’t know that. In other words, I wanted to bring my style of teaching to the co-op.

Another big issue to address is how to handle acting up by a child. I’m not just talking about young kids, but middle and high school kids have mood swings and believe me they can be way more stressing than a 5 year old.

So if you’re teaching with a friend who has kids similar to your children’s age this could be a good thing because she is experienced.

However, too that can make for some preconceived ideas.

Homeschool Comes and Goes, but Lifelong Friends Don’t

For example, with my kids I’ve always expected obedience regardless of their age. I always allowed room for hormones and mood swings because I want allowances for me when I feel bad. Balance is what I strive for and I won’t embarrass my kids or take away their dignity in public even if they deserve it. It just has not been a good parenting skill that ever worked.

So how is a perceived snippy remark going to be handled? For us, we decided that the parent of the child should address their child instead of the one teaching the group calling down the child. This is why it’s so important to decide carefully ahead of time whether you want to co-op with your friend.

As you can see I use the word perceived because a mom who is inexperienced with an older child may have a hard time finding the balance between hormones and flat out disrespect.

I know that two of my best friends Kelly and Cynthia had teens similar to my boys’ ages and would not be offended by some snippy remark. They have big shoulders and can graciously overlook it as I take my son aside and speak to whoever happens to be the offender at the time. I treat their kids with the same respect.

This doesn’t mean anything ugly will happen, it just means you want to be prepared for the ugly side of your child if it comes out.

In a way when you decide to co-op together it’s like co-parenting. You have to set some ground rules and then trust each other when something happens you haven’t discussed.

Two/ Grade level expectations.

Another thing that could negatively affect your fun is when you have two or more kids who are in the same grade level, but it seems like one child is ahead or behind in a subject. Ouch. That can be a sensitive situation to be in.

First, try to remember something very important so that you are not overly critical or judge harshly another homeschool family.

Remember that just because your child has mastered one concept you believe is grade level doesn’t mean he has mastered all of them. Each family approaches subjects differently and focuses on content that is important to their family.

For example, when my boys were young they were less informed about public school grade level geography and history, which most of the time is American geography and history.  I didn’t focus first on American geography and history; I focused first on ancient civilization.

When we met with another family, my kids were more informed about ancient civilization than the other homeschool family. But the other kids, which had been in public school had a more comprehensive foundation in American geography and history than my kids.

This was something I knew ahead and we had to discuss which subjects and topics we would cover and at what grade level. It took some time but we came up with a plan that would fit both families.

Three/Length of class, topics and curriculum.

Again, don’t assume you and your friend on are on the same page when you begin your co-op. Remember, you are bringing your style of how you teach your children and we have many different teaching styles in homeschool.

And just like when you manage a large homeschool co-op where you need an agenda or format for the day, a small co-op is no different. Communicating expectations avoids hard feelings and the best part is that all the kids make memories and benefit from another teaching style.

I highly suggest you format your day with a schedule so that everybody has the same expectations. I don’t mean plan every minute and hour, but do plan a flow to the day. What to expect each day should be part of your plan.

Our plan or flow was to start by 9:00 a.m. and study together for about an hour. We had a quick break while we set up for a hands-on activity. We did a hands-on project every time we met and we tried to get it done by lunch.

The afternoon was for play time because our co-op was just as much about our kids making friends as it was learning together. Later on, we would have a snack appropriate to our theme made ahead of time. For example, we studied history and our snack was some themed history food.

Believe me when I say time flies. You don’t need as much planned time as you think and we never covered as much as I thought we would. Working with a group, just like public school can slow you down. But you also gain many advantages when one child’s strengths can help another child’s weakness.

I need to talk about that for a minute because you may realize that though children are on the same grade level they vary widely in ability. I didn’t want my friend’s children to think I was cross-examining them so I chose to not teach the skill subjects.

If you are not sure what the skill subjects are versus content subjects look at my post Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects: What’s the Difference?

Also, we decided that any type of writing where we wanted our kids to read aloud what they wrote was to be done privately and on our own time. Then the next school day when we met together we opened our lesson by having each child share their writing.

I preferred to work with my sons on skill subjects like the 3 Rs on our own time. I wanted our time to meet together to be about enrichment.

You have to decide if this will be a homeschool co-op or are you meeting to tutor your friend’s kids?

Unintentionally, a homeschool co-op can turn out where you’re tutoring another homeschool mom’s child.

That is okay, if you agree to exchange your skill set for her kids and she does the same for your kids.

But again, this goes back to the whole foundation for you getting together. Just be sure your purpose is clear.

How to Combine Collective Co-op Strengths and Not Highlight Slip-ups

4/ My tried and true teaching tips.

I have done a co-op with a friend and managed a really large co-op.  My tip is be clear what your expectations are. I didn’t need another mom tutoring my children. If I needed help as a teacher, I could ask another homeschool mom.

My purpose was absolutely clear that I was meeting for enrichment, socialization and for my kids to be sharpened by another homeschool mom’s style of teaching.

I knew I wanted a clearly defined scheduled in case the kids get bored and I knew I wanted to cover fun subjects like art, geography, history, cooking, photography, literature unit study or any other kind of unit study, crafts or any enriching subject.

I wanted a beginning and end to each class and to the time the co-op lasted. This was just in case it wasn’t a good fit for my family. If I agreed to 6 weeks, I did 6 weeks and then evaluated if it worked for us and I didn’t have to give any explanation if we decided to not do it again. We stayed friends.

Also, I wasn’t going to a co-op for another mom to teach my kids Latin, sight words or algebra. By the way, been there done that and it wasn’t that fun.

The skill subjects were ones I wanted to teach at home so I could be sure my kids were grasping important concepts.

This doesn’t mean though that you can’t incorporate skill subjects into your study. We studied the Vikings and added in a hands-on math project by learning how to measure a boat. This is something all the grades could do while not focused on one child’s weakness in a skill subject.

It’s just the way I roll.

Again, you may have another idea for how to run your co-op but I’ve learned that skill subjects can pit friends against friends when one family is ahead in one area and the other family is not.

Subjects that multiple ages can do together work best to keep homeschooling friends true friends long past the formal homeschooling years.

I hope these few tips help you as I could write a book on this subject but will stop with just this post.

Have you encountered any similar problems and what worked for you?

Also, grab some more tips from Homeschool Co-op: The 5 BIG Questions You Need to Ask (before you join), 10 Homeschool Co-op Subjects That Are Better Learned With a Group and Homeschool Co-ops Turned Private Schools.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

4 CommentsFiled Under: Homeschool Multiple Ages of Children, Homeschool Simply, Teach Unit Studies Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool lifestyle, homeschoolco-op, multiple children

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