Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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Tina Robertson

World War II Hands-On History – Make a Secret Message Deck

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

Today, we kicked off our homeschool unit study about World War II with a fun hands-on activity, which is making a secret card message deck.

World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck. What a FUN way to kick off your homeschool unit study. Check it out

Let me back up first because I want to share with you my original post where I gathered World War II Free Resources For a Middle School Unit Study.

Using some of those resources and sharing more as we now kick off our World War II unit study, I like to introduce new unit studies with a hands-on activity when possible.

Spies, Lies and Secrets in World War II

I grabbed some of the books we had and one we love is Great World War II Projects You Can Build Yourself, which I used on this activity to pique Tiny’s interest.

And what better way to learn about World War II than to learn about secrets, spies and a secret message card deck. Not only did we learn a  bit about spies but it was a chance to sneak in some geography in a cool way.

We read about how a deck of cards could conceal maps to safety. Decks could be soaked in water to take away the top layer and messages would be inside.

So we decided to try this.

1 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Looked at what we grabbed.

  • 2 decks of matching cards
  • pen or marker
  • scissors
  • rubber cement (you know the kind with a brush in it)
  • map. I used a map from our WonderMaps which is worth every penny because this cool program can be used over and over. All the maps are listed by theme. So I grabbed the World War II theme.
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
2 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

So I printed the World War II map and then you fold the page in half lengthwise and into half again. Try to crease it well as you go along.

Secret Card Message Deck

Unfold it and smooth it out a bit and then fold it in half width wise, then again and one more time.

3 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

When you open it up, you will have 32 sections. Take a pen and number each section in the top left of each section until you get to 32.

4 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Hands-on History

Then cut the 32 sections out and now you have 32 tiny pieces ready to stick inside the center of the cards.

5 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Next match all the cards from each deck until you have all matching pairs.

Then Tiny placed a small piece or section on the card and carefully glued the second matching card on top.

More World War II Unit Study Hands-on Activities

Be sure to not glue the small piece of paper, just glue around the edges.

Important tip: Be sure the cards are facing the same direction so when you turn it over, it looks like one card. In other words it has one back side and one face card side. Cool uh!

6 WWII Secret Cards Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Tiny presented the cards to Dad to see if he could guess what was different about them. He never guessed there was a small message inside each card.

Too, since a deck has 52 cards in it, there is room to make more spy messages.

Can you tell which cards have been “doctored” above and have a message in them?

And what is better yet is that the pieces of the secret message can be put back together to form the map.

Secret Message Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I think I have Tiny’s rapt attention on our unit study and he is ready to move on to the next part in our homeschool World War II unit study.
Because we do our unit study and lapbooks too as we plod along, I never have lapbooks in one giant download.

I also do it this way so that you can grab just the parts you need instead of downloading minibooks you may not need.

World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II Hands-On History - Make a Secret Message Deck
World War II lapbook and homeschool history unit study.

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.

10 Days Why A Homeschool Mom Is Not Better Than a Public School Mom (but could be). Day 2

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

10 Days Why A Homeschool Mom Is Not Better Than a Public School Mom (but could be). Day 2 Confidence @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Today, I’m continuing on in my 10 Days Why A Homeschool Mom Is Not Better Than a Public School Mom (but could be). Day 1  and sharing about a comment that most homeschool moms feel uncomfortable replying to, which is “you must be so confident.”

Most homeschool moms  I know are rockin’ it as they homeschool, but are modest which is why it can feel uncomfortable talking about how confident they are.

Why Homeschoolers Should Be Confident?

Confidence, I feel, for us as homeschool educators is akin to courage.

It reminds me of the quote by Nelson Mandela, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

The difference between a homeschool mom and a mom who may choose public school because of fear is that despite fear, a homeschool educator trusts, believes and feels assured of her abilities to move forward to homeschool.

Why A Homeschool Mom Is Not Better Than a Public School Mom

Let me break this down.

A homeschool mom is not trusting blindly or based on emotion or passion alone, which are both important, but they are not the complete basis for confidence.

A homeschool just doesn’t believe homeschool will be successful, but she can look at the many facts and successful families that have gone ahead of her.

It’s facts like this from NHERI, which discuss how our homeschool graduates are performing.

The SAT 2014 test scores of college-bound homeschool students were higher than the national average of all college-bound seniors that same year. Some 13,549 homeschool seniors had the following mean scores: 567 in critical reading, 521 in mathematics, and 535 in writing (College Board, 2014a). The mean SAT scores for all college-bound seniors in 2014 were 497 in critical reading, 513 in mathematics, and 487 in writing (College Board, 2014b). The homeschool students’ SAT scores were 0.61 standard deviation higher in reading, 0.26 standard deviation higher in mathematics, and 0.42 standard deviation higher in writing than those of all college-bound seniors taking the SAT, and these are notably large differences.

And look at my article, Homeschooling for the Love of Learning – Does It Really Work.

Then, a homeschool educator knows that she did not use a state approved curriculum to teach her child how to potty train or how to teach her native tongue to her child. She knows her home is the center of education and the first place of education.

Her previous successes as a parent spill over and overflow when she starts on the next natural step of parenting, which is educating her child.

Knowing that there will be bumps along the way and plenty of things she does not know, a home school is moved to become the professional her child needs. She doesn’t need to know about ALL the methods of teaching a child or ALL the curriculum, but only what her children need to know.

Confidence is like a weak muscle. The more you use it, the stronger and more defined it becomes.

In the beginning, it’s hard to have confidence because your children may be real young or because you are new.

However, year after year, confidence soars and becomes mighty as you see your children master reading (with happy tears in your eyes) and you see your three-year-old now a successful high school teen or young adult.

That is the difference between a homeschool mom who presses on despite her fears. She doesn’t succumb to public school because of fear.

What have you accomplished with confidence?

Also, look at my articles From Struggling Homeschooler to Empowered Educator, When does homeschooling become “normal”, and Cultivating the Desire to Homeschool.

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.

The BEST Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages to Choose THIS Year

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

How to choose the best homeschool lesson planning pages is not always easy. Also, look at my page Homeschool Planner and 7 Step Curriculum Planner for more homeschool planning pages.

Through the years the needs of my children and myself have changed; I’ve created homeschool pages to meet those needs.

Your needs change each year too and so should your planner.

That was was/is my absolute driving inspiration as I build my 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner. And it’s also why I share it with you.

Today, I want to share some tips of how to choose the best homeschool lesson planning pages each year so that you make a great fit.

After all, the right tool can make the difference between a useful or completely useless tool.

Your needs change each year too and so should your homeschool planner, which was/is my absolute and driving inspiration as I build my 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner. And it's also why I share it with you. Click here!

And of course, the best way I learned the difference between lesson pages is to compare them.

I rounded up my forms and put them here for you to compare.

Look at these homeschool pages I have created and used at one point one or another and my explanation a my homeschool journey has unfolded.

I am hoping it will help you to decide which lesson planning page you need this.

One// Timeless, classic and working hard!

You can find my timeless original lesson planning here.

Traditional Lesson Planning @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

This is the best working horse of my homeschool lesson planning pages and the one I used for many years while the kids were young.

It is what I call my original lesson planning page because it was a breakthrough from the traditional ones I thought I was forced to buy.

Look at how I created it:

  • to be a daily (NOT A WEEKLY) workhorse because I needed room to write.
  • to use with 3 or more kids. Remember that unless you have 4 high school kids, not all of your kids do the same amount of workload. So add a line at the bottom and divide the bottom area for space for your younger kids who do not have as much of an academic load to jot down.
  • because it is not a weekly glance, the planner is thinner when you utilize front/back printing.
  • to write down content subjects at the bottom because content subjects don’t have to be done every day and you want to teach your kids together.
  • also it is NOT dated. You fill in as you school. No erasing or no feeling that you get behind with a dated planner.

Two// Flexible, beautiful AND colorful.

You can find this Glammed Up Option here.

180 Lesson Plan Page @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then when I realized I would be using this for many years, I decided to do a Glammed Up option because I love pretty planners.

Besides when I look at something year after year, it has to be bright, cheery AND a workhorse.

Homeschool Unit Study Lesson Planning @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

You can find this lesson planning page as part of my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

Three// Whoa girlfriend! Relax.You got this!

Then as I ventured out and started creating my own lesson plans and relaxed, I realized I had other needs then. So I created this next lesson planning page.

Look at how I created it.

  • Weekly spread with room for fewer notes since I wanted to relax a bit.
  • But, I added the subject boxes to the right so that I could keep myself accountable and to see that I was doing more school than I realized and which activities fell into which school subjects. I also maintained a way to check boxes at the top to see where we were at during the year as far as weeks, days and quarters,etc.
  • Also, I made this so it could be used with multiple ages and where I could divide the lesson plans by ages NOT the kids. This allowed me to pick from lower grade lesson plans and higher grade lesson plans.
  • I think this works great with a more relaxed approach and even with unschooling because it gives you a place to jot notes and then check subject boxes that match those notes.

You can find this lesson planning page as part of my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

High School Planning @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Click here to download the free High School Planning page.

Four// Oh heck, high school. Yikes!

Then as life would have it, can you believed we finally reached high school planning? Then I had to start high school planning.

The beauty of this form is that you can print it alongside any of the other forms for the other grades your children are in.

So you can pick and choose one of the above AND this one.

Too, I used my free Student Planners at this point too.

This helps you to balance some of the planning when your teen is involved.

Extremely flexible homeschool lesson planning @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

You can find this page as part of my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

Having experienced many seasons of homeschooling, I am now down to homeschooling one child.

My needs again have changed and this is the next page that I have been using.

Look at how I created it.

  • This is a monthly glance for a more relaxed view on lesson planning.
  • I love it because you can write notes for one child or multiple.
  • It has one line per day for emphasis more on journaling than detailed lesson plans for each homeschool day.
  • It includes a space for the weekend especially when you need this for a state where you are tracking hours or it’s good for a high school child where you want to track credits.
  • It would also work well for unschooling or relaxed school where you don’t need as much room for detailed lessons plans
  • It still has a place for objectives and it has a place to write in the week instead of Lesson 1, Lesson, 2 and etc.

I hope the fine and subtle differences between these pages will help you to choose one or more which will work for you instead of you conforming to a system that isn’t working for you.

Which stage are you at?

Remember too, that you can mix and match pages too. SO worth creating your own UNIQUE planner with my pages here.

Ready to . . .

Begin building your UNIQUE 7 Step Homeschool Planner!

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color”

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

 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.

Start the Homeschool Year Off Right: 5 History Ideas for the First Week

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

Don’t follow me. Okay, wait follow me, just don’t do what I would do when I started the new homeschool year, which was BORING!

Look at starting the homeschool year off right by using some of these 5 history ideas for the first week or second, or . . .

Start the Homeschool Year Off Right. 5 History Ideas for the First Week @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Hands-on Homeschool History

One// Play a card game.

A few years ago, I reviewed a card game by Birdcage Press and we fell in love with it and added it to our history.

Also, this Ancient Egypt Top Trumps Card Game is another great option.

The best part about these card games is that it is for ages 6 to adult, so everybody can play together and start the year with a fun kick.

Two// Cook a meal or dish from a certain time period or event.

This is always a hit with the kids. Who doesn’t like to eat something delicious?

Then to add some science to our history we have been eyeballing this book, which is for middle grades but could easily be adapted for other grades.

Then, look at some of these dishes we have made:

Three// Grab my history coloring pages.

If you have kids that are younger, love to color, need a break or just want to do something different to start off history with, grab one or more of my fun 20 Ancient Civilization history coloring pages.

Four// Begin with a living book, which brings history alive.

Don’t start off your year with snoring boring textbooks (zzzzzzzzz). Grab one of these 20 Ancient Civilization History Living Books.

Five// Pop some popcorn and get your history on by watching a movie from Netflix.

Your kids will love you for this one because they’re not sure if you’re having school or learning. You’re doing both.

Look here at Homeschool History Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Netflix.

If you want some more tips for teaching history, look here at

Avoid teaching history in a boring way, it’s not about dead people, but it’s about the events and details that bring history to life.

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.

Free Art Notebooking Pack – Grade 2 (Other Grades too)

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

This art series I began a few years ago to fill a need in my homeschool year and today I’m so TICKLED because I have the last grade, which is the 2nd grade finished.

Free 2nd Grade Art Curriculum and notebooking pages. Pssst, there are grades 1 -8 too. Grab them over @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Homeschool Art Curriculum Notebooking

You will need two things to get started.

 Homeschool Art Curriculum & Notebooking Pages

Then choose a grade level or several depending on how many kids you have.

Yep, I have free printables for all the grades offered, which are Grades 1 – 8.

Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Notebooking Pages. Grades 1 to 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

And don’t forget that you can use just one packet with ALL of your kids (print one copy for each child) and save your sanity by teaching them all together. Or, print one copy for your older child and do another level with your younger children. You decide, you’re the teacher.

Also, I wanted you to know that even though the free art curriculum that I am following to create printables divides the art into grade levels,  I did not create the art notebooking pages baby-ish.

This way whatever the ages of your children are, they can use any grade level guide of their choosing along with the printables I created to have a complete art program for each year.

If you cover one artist per month, then each grade level will take you one year. So free art for a year!

One last thing I need to remind you is that I also create TWO SETS of the SAME art notebooking page, but each set is slightly different.

I like things perfect workable and to have options and I love for you to have them too.

Look below at the graphic I created to show how each set is slightly different.

One set has all text boxes in case you have a kid or two like I do that doesn’t want to sketch the art.

Especially at the high school level, my oldest son just wanted to make it more about art history.

So he wasn’t interest in sketching every piece. He just wanted to read the background information about each artist, read about the artwork and move one. Oh yes, I used some of these packets for high school art credit.

The second set has one small sketch box instead of the text box because then I have another kid who wants to sketch the art that we were learning about. Too, I keep the sketch box not too big so it doesn’t become a project to sigh about.

How to Use - Art Notebooking Pages 1

So the art is the SAME for both pages.

Too, this allows you to choose from either set depending on the time you have for that month. For example, one piece my sons may want to write, so I would print off that page. The next art piece they would want to sketch so I would print off that page from the other set.

Give your child options and don’t think you have to use ALL the same pages from one set. I mixed and match depending on the mood for the day or month.

I have a more pictures from each set to show you. This is how the pages look from the set that has sketch boxes and

3rd grade Artist Study Packet 1 with 3 text and 1 sketch box 23rd grade Artist Study Packet 1 with 3 text and 1 sketch box 3

this is how the pages look from the set that has ALL text boxes.

3rd grade Artist Study Packet 1 with 4 text boxes 13rd grade Artist Study Packet 1 with 4 text boxes 2

Again, BOTH sets have the same art and are the same except for that one box.

HOW TO GET THE FREE HOMESCHOOL ART CURRICULUM FOR GRADES 1 TO 8 AND NOTEBOOKING PAGES

Now, how to grab the free art curriculum. This is a subscriber freebie..

 1) Sign up on my list.
 2) Grab the freebie instantly.
 3) Glad to have you following me by email!

Also, you may love to read these posts.

Hugs and you know I 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.