Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

Tina Robertson

Free Rolling To-Do List (for your Homeschool or Blog Planner)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Free Rolling To-Do List (for your Homeschool or Blog Planner) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusBlogging goals are somewhat like homeschooling goals, but not exactly when it comes to meeting deadlines. As I homeschool, I only have the goals for my children that I want to meet.

As a homeschool blogger I collaborate with others. That means there are some deadlines, goals and tasks that need to be done, which are out of my control.

Also, some of the tasks that I need to do can wait for weeks and months and others need to be addressed quickly. Still other goals or projects require multiple steps that don’t necessarily go on the blog pages I use now for each month.

I know you don’t necessarily follow me because you blog, but I do know that certain times in your homeschool journey you have much to do as well and need a place to dump it.

Flexible Rolling To-Do List

So because I needed this form for my blog and I know you probably could use it too for your homeschool or blog, I am sharing this Rolling To-Do List with you freely instead of adding it to my Forever Blog Planner.

Forever Blog Planner 361 pages. The Ultimate Blog Planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus store

The reason I named it a rolling to-do list is because there is no date on it for each month. You just keep adding your to-dos and rolling them over onto the next page while you mark off what you have completed.

I will be placing my rolling to-do list pages at the front of my blog planner for now.

As I complete the tasks, I will check them off or put an arrow if I need to move that task forward to another page.

Like I mentioned, I can check off the list and keep using another page or rewrite a task if I want to onto another page.

It’s a place to dump all that is on your mind.

This rolling list just lets me keep on adding and scrolling through it and it is flexible. I don’t have to decide which month to put a task at the moment. I just simply note it to get it off my mind.

 

I love forms that are flexibility and I’m excited to use it. I hope you can use it as well.

Download the Free Rolling Printable To-Do List Here.

Also look at these other snazzy forms you may like: How to Choose the BEST Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages THIS Year, Homeschool Quarter Planning Form – Free UNIQUE 7 Step Planner and How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment).

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Ten Best Tech Gifts for Teen Boys

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Ten Best Tech Gifts for Teen Boys @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Today I rounded up ten best tech gifts for teen boys.

I love to buy gifts for my boys. But when it comes to techie things, I sometimes have them meet me halfway money wise.

I’ve learned when they put a few bucks in of their own money, tech things get taken care of better. But then other times I prefer to jump out there and gift them with something really special.

So here is the list of things my boys love, some they have and others are still on their wish list.

ONE/ ASTRO Gaming A50 Wireless Dolby Gaming Headset

My boys have these earbuds and like this brand. They seem to hold up better than others.

TWO/ Skullcandy Method In-Ear Sweat Resistant Sports Earbud


Unique Teen Boy Gifts

This is the microphone that Mr. Awesome uses for gaming. For the money, it’s a great value and he has really liked it.

THREE/ Blue Microphones Snowball


FOUR/ Holy Stone HS170 Predator Mini Helicopter Drone


These bluetooth speakers we took with us to South America and really like the quality and the small size.

FIVE/ Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker


SIX/ Apple Watch Series 1 38mm Smartwatch


This is one of the laptop backpacks the boys used when we traveling because it can fit a larger laptop.

SEVEN/ Swiss Gear Swissgear 17″ inch Laptop Notebook Outdoor Backpack


EIGHT/ 7 Button LED Gaming Mouse


This photo printer is something I wish they wanted more so it would give me a chance to use it too.

NINE/ Wireless Color Photo Printer


This is the tablet that Mr. Senior 2013 has and has used for a few years. He really likes the simplicity of it.

TEN/ Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8-Inch Tablet


Let’s just face it, tech gifts can be expensive especially when you have several teens. And tech items sometimes can’t keep up with fast moving technology, but a lot of these gifts last several years.

I hope they give you some ideas for your list.

Also, look at these ideas. Gifts For Kids Who Are Wild About History.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

14 Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

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Choosing homeschool high school electives are a fun part of your teen’s journey or at least it should be. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more tips!

Beyond the core homeschool subjects, electives allow a teen to pursue his passion.

When this time came for my oldest two, I tried to stay out of the process, but I didn’t realize that my boys actually welcomed my input.

Maybe some of this comes from my homeschooling them from the beginning.

They don’t really mind discussing things with me, but I want them to have the final say in what they chose to study.

14 Fun (and maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Keep in mind this part of high school is about discovery, exploring and maybe creating.

Each teen will view this time in high school differently depending on their goals.

14 Homeschool Electives

Some teens are more sports-minded, some academic-minded and yet others may be music and art-minded.

I’ve learned a lot about what I consider to be an elective and I’ve learned that you don’t have to spend a whole lot if you don’t want to.

Keep in mind though, this is high school and that means books do cost more.

So when I think about the cost of something, I think in terms of what value we get in return.

For example, if we pay and only get high school credit that is not necessarily a good deal to me.

However, if we pay for something and get some sort of certificate in addition to high school credit, then I’m all in.

The whole realm of what could be studied and discovered can be anything from art and automobile repair to woodworking and pre-med study.

Look at some of these options.

1 and 2. Home Repair and Maintenance & Woodworking.

My first son started off with Home Repair and Maintenance but switched to Beginning Woodworking.

High School Electives

Though I felt Home Repair and Maintenance was of much more value, this is again about my son choosing things that he thought interested him at the time.

3. Fine arts includes Ballroom Dancing. At the time it came to choose, my older two sons wanted to do some kind of sports, but we didn’t really have any homeschool sports group that were close.

I couldn’t do another hour of driving at the time.

What we did have close was an Arthur Murray studios for ballroom dancing. This is one of those things that I viewed as a two-pher.

The boys wanted to be with other teens and I wanted them to explore more fine arts.

At first, my boys said absolutely NO to ballroom dancing, but the Mr. got involved and told them to try it out.

After two lessons with hip young instructors and with other cool homeschool teens their ages, all of my boys took ballroom dancing for a few years.

I think they toned their bodies and learned a beautiful art more than they would have if they played sports and they also now agree.

4. Local programs assigning a certificate.

When my niece lived with us and was thinking about going into the medical field, I learned a lot about certificate programs.

For example, there are different levels of CPR training and it normally is offered to anybody as long as they can perform the duties.

This is one of those things I feel is not only practical to learn, but it gave her a glimpse of what it’s like if she decided to pursue something in the medical field.

Electives for Homeshooled Teens

Do you know how many certificate programs there are in every field?

Dozens as I began my search. It just takes some digging because it may or may not have a minimum age requirement. 

Also, it gives a teen has a completed certificate of completion in maybe a vocational field and a teen gets a taste of what a particular field is like. At this age, it is about exploring career options too.

5. Apprenticeship for photography.

My other niece was interested in photography and was offered to work with a local professional while learning photography.

Again, because she was going to get paid while learning a craft, this is an excellent choice for a teen. They are always looking for ways to make put some money in their pocket. This is a super two-fer and frugal.

6. Check out the local pool.

Though I wasn’t interested in my boys working at the local city pool, they are good swimmers and love the water.

Today some schools gives PE credit for working as a lifeguard, but this is certainly a doable option for a teen if he or she loved the water.

7. Weightlifting.

Yes, I know, but I have all boys and I really do love the fact that studying health, about the muscles and the body can be included in this and I did.

I didn’t really follow a course for my first son, but we did convert the garage to a weight room.

8. Create and collaborate with others for a group yearbook.

When I was with one group, they determined to do a yearbook to showcase our group’s activities for the year.

The high school teens would be the ones heading it up. If a student was interested in journalism, creative writing or art it gave them a way to use their talents.

Not only did the teens get credit for the year, but we got a unique yearbook.

I liked the fact that the teens had to follow up with homeschool moms to get information and work together to incorporate their ideas.

Electives for Teens

9. Choir.

One group that lived near us had a homeschool choir group. I had one son interested in taking choir, but it had a few too many girls for his taste. I wished it had a few other boys his age, but it was a great option.

10, 11. Foreign Language & Sign Language too.

Though foreign language courses can be costly, my boys got to use some of their Spanish when we went South America.

This is another example of how I don’t mind paying a bit more for this elective because it’s a great return in not only learning the syntax of a language, but it’s so practical as they travel.

12. Geography and history Unit study.

One of my sons also did a half of a semester learning about the country of Turkey.

Like his mom, he loves history and geography and not only did he read about it, but he learned about the culture, background, people, art and food. It was fun for him to share with our homeschool group what he learned.

13. Travel.

Yes, we intentionally moved to South America for a year and half so that my second son could receive credit for traveling and exploring other cultures.

Exploring the Amazon and trekking through mountains is the way my second son rolls.

Build Your Own Unique Homeschool High School Electives

So maybe this idea isn’t so frugal, but it sure was fantastic and he won’t easily forget what he and his brothers learned through their guided science tours in the Amazon.

Don’t forget that . .
(14.) Driver’s Education can be counted as an elective and it’s another two-pher when your kid takes this.

Most teens are ready to drive and I am here to testify that having a couple of chauffeurs in the family rocks.

My grocery shopping time has never been the  same because I rarely have to do it.

More Homeschool High School Teen Elective Resources

These are a few of the homeschool high school electives we have chosen so far. There really is no limit on the topics that your teen can choose.

Instead of focusing on the fear of how to count the hours and credit, focus on what your teen wants to learn because any topic or theme is readily available for your teen to explore.

Grab some other tips here:

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m showing you how to grade a homeschool unit study for an older child. Also, look at my free Homeschool Planner page for more forms.

I didn’t choose to do homeschool unit studies because I felt I was creative or liked flying by the seat of pants.

What I do like about homeschool unit studies is the unbridled time for learning topics that interests my kids. Later on I would learn that is called mastery learning.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

Choosing to move away from laid out curriculum to mastery learning can bring a unique set of challenges for an older child.

And doing homeschool unit studies, with an older child looks very different than the themed learning I did with my boys in prek and Kindergarten. That is another topic to tell you about.

Today, I am sharing with you what I have been working on for several months; it is a unit study assessment for an older child and it works for high school too.

Grade a Homeschool Unit Study

I wished I have done it sooner, but you know I’m always slow about my homeschool forms because I need them to work.

It took me a while to wrap my mind around how to do an assessment as I was writing my notes for my older two sons.

The bottom line is that I won’t give up our passion for mastery learning so that I can put grades on a transcript.

However, knowing in high school, that you do need more conformity, I created my own unique assessment.

Now with son number three, I have been able to put on one page what I’m looking for when doing a unit study with an older child, even a high school teen.

Let’s just face it, too. There is a lot out there for younger kids, but not a lot of specifics for older kids.

And because I deal in specifics and know generalities won’t help you or me either one, I prepared a detailed unit study assessment.

3 Smart Tips for Assessing Work for an Older Student

I will share the specifics about the assessment in a minute, but look at these other ways to record keep, grade and assess.

  • Keep in mind this is mastery learning or project-oriented type of learning. Think about assessing each part of the unit study using general marks like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair. Don’t get hung up on grades during the year because you can still assess one at the end of the year or unit study.
  • When it comes to language arts use a simple column method. I listed books and other sources my kids read, topics they wrote about and things they learned in grammar. Those things fall easily under the category of English in high school. I gave an assessment on those areas like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair when I graded them, but on the transcript I made them an A or B. We followed different writing programs through the years and I used the concepts they were teaching, but took the topics from the current unit study. Having a few teacher’s notes from the writing program gave me guidance on grading their writing, but I didn’t let it consume me.
  • Also,I wrote down the subtopics we studied. Even though we don’t have to record keep in Texas, I wanted to keep them for high school. However, if you’re in a an area that requires record keeping, then writing down what you have done is a perfectly acceptable way to show progress.

Another reason to record keep is that normally an older child needs feedback. I wanted my sons to know what I thought of their work.

It’s not only important to self-evaluate for an older child, but they need to learn how to handle feedback from me. This is part of adult life when others evaluate you.

unit-study-general-assessment-high-school-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

About this DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Look at how I created this unit study assessment, which can be used for an older child or high school.

  • It is a general evaluation of mastery.
  • Because there is no way I could cover every objective I have on my unit study unless I prepared an assessment for each one, I wanted one assessment that was unique. It is not about all grades and no benchmarks and vice versa. It has both a grade and assessments like I mentioned earlier.
  • I took each subject and highlighted two general benchmarks that I’m looking for at the high school level.
  • Also, unlike high school assessments, I created part of this assessment like a vocation adult mastery class because unit studies are about mastery. It’s important to treat my older children like they will be in the adult world of college and career. Each part of the assessment does not fit perfectly into a canned grading system. I’m not looking to fit each benchmark in my unit studies, but to have a general rule of thumb when grading.
  • The first section is the most important part to me because it deals with motivation and attitude, which are of more value to me.
  • The rest of the sections are about aptitude because there has to be some way to grade or assess older kids in each subject.
  • The last section is also of value to me because it is the very heart of mastery learning, which are projects. Projects are really self-evaluations for students because they demonstrate what they know and students will pick projects that fit their learning style.
  • Lastly, I can assign a grade at the very bottom if I need to. By not putting a grading scale, you can use your own.
How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Creating something unique that is both a mastery learning assessment and a grading system, I am excited to put this to good use.

Also, I love it because it makes a great add to my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

Ultimate Unit Study Planner Store @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 600x

I think it’s true when they say three times is a charm because with my third highschooler, I now have a super unique way to assess his efforts.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus Blog

How to Get the Free Printable

Now, how to grab the free printable. It is a subscriber freebie.

When you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.
2) Grab the printable.
3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox as a follower. Glad to have you.

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

You’ve Pitched the Homeschool Curriculum – Now What?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You've Pitched the Homeschool Curriculum - Now What? What if you make the same costly mistakes? Check out these super helpful tips and reminders.

Falling in and out of love with homeschool curriculum is a rite of passage for us. But after pitching my curriculum, many years  I wished I would have done something differently besides just purchase more homeschool curriculum.

And of course, any solution has to be easy because by the time you hit a road block, another time zapping and energy draining fix just adds unwanted stress.

Look at these 3 things to do and to not do when you’ve pitched the homeschool curriculum.

One// – Do not use that low time of feeling frustrated to make another mistake, like quitting homeschool or worse yet, joining a confining homeschool co-op.

A co-op may be the solution, but until you identify the problem, something else added to what you’re doing can be taxing.

Two// – Do embrace your teaching personality and style.

We can’t deny who we are. And when we try to fit our style of school into another homeschool teacher’s school, our children could be disappointed.

Before I started homeschooling, I read a lot about not just learning styles for my kids, but about my personality, which is my teaching style. Two of the best books that helped me the most to understand my personality, which helped me to pinpoint my aggravation with curriculum are Discover Your Child’s Learning Style and 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

Though Discover Your Child’s Learning Style was written with understanding your child’s learning style, you can also take the personality test alongside your child. The results are eye-opening because some of the things you may have been doing unintentionally because you learn best in a certain way can actually be irritating your children.

And the curriculum you chose may or may not be based on the way you need to teach.

For example, I know that one of my strengths is organization, but it can easily go from organizing to onerous if I don’t rein in my personality.

On the one hand, many homeschoolers told me that I would never use a homeschool room, I did. And I used it for a long time.

On the other hand, because I know I have a tendency to be more severe than I like to be, I started doing lapbooks and unit studies with my boys because I didn’t want to make learning comfortable for me.

This may sound opposite of what I’m telling you, but in the beginning I found unit studies that were laid out so that it would fit my personality style of being organized and routine-oriented.

Gradually, as I gained more experience, I created my own unit studies. This was the balance to my personality that wanted to be demanding. I gave my planning, organized itchy self an important task to do like planning my children’s education.

The point is you can’t abandon your personality. And your dynamic personality should come through with any curriculum you choose to bring into your homeschool.

List three things you like and don’t like about the curriculum you pitched and then do the same for your children. As you take the learning style test in the book, a picture will emerge.

I would love to know what you found out if you do the personality test in Discover Your Child’s Learning Style .

Relax Without Regret

Three// – Do rest, step back and relax.

Relaxing is not something a lot of homeschoolers do well. Dare I say we probably downright stink at it? I admit, I do too. Stepping back helps you to look at the bigger picture.

Being a can’t see the forest for the trees person, I have to always pull up and back away from my school when everything seems like a hurdle.

Another reason we don’t have the art of relaxing down is because like me, you also probably have many ideas or projects that you want to accomplish. That comes from a love of learning and teaching.

Some homeschoolers feel they need a certain type of curriculum for guidance, but a curriculum could be sucking the breath of creativity out of your day.

I know, I have heard people say they are not creative, but that’s just not true.

There are many ways to be creative, whether it’s art, history, science, crafts, cooking or the art of conversation.

Instead of purchasing another homeschool curriculum so quickly, take time to rest, discover your strengths and not jump into another stressful situation. You don’t know, you might not need to buy anymore homeschool curriculum.

What has been your experience?

Also, I have a whole lot to say about how to choose homeschool curriculum. Look at these other tips:

45 Ways to Define Homeschool Curriculum – Is Your Definition Holding You Back, Mixing It Up: How to Combine Homeschool Approaches (Without Losing Your Mind) and 10 Signs. Know When to Walk Away from “Perfect” Curriculum.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places: