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Day 8 Creating a Unit Study Lesson Plan 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together

August 28, 2025 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It’s day 8 and we’re creating a unit study lesson plan. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies. I’m doing 10 days of diving into unit studies by creating a unit study together.

Now, is the culmination of gathering all the resources of your hard work. Unless you are using a premade unit study, you will want to develop the art of lesson planning.

Day 8 Creating a Unit Study Lesson Plan 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together

I have mentioned before in How to Write a Simple But Effective Homeschool Lesson Plan that lesson planning is nothing more than a visual map.

It shows what you want to accomplish for the day, week, or month. You can do this! The educationalese do not have to be so overwhelming.

UNIT STUDY LESSON PLANNING IS A VISUAL MAP

Today, I will create that visual map for you. Look at it below.

I have created lesson plans for week 1 for my Ocean Unit Study coming up based on the information I created from Day 4. Finalize Sub-topics. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together and Day 5. Creating Unit Study Objectives. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

Key to successfully planning your unit study is not just organizing your information into a workable plan, but creating engaging lesson plans too.

Teaching is a learned art and lesson planning is no different.

Beginning your unit study is just as important as deciding how to end it. So take time to think about a lure that will hook your children on the topic being introduced.

4 MISTAKES TO NOT MAKE WHEN UNIT STUDY LESSON PLANNING

Notice that in my opening of the unit study I start with an edible tidal zone model.

1. BEGIN THE UNIT STUDY WITH ENGAGING HANDS-ON IDEAS OR ACTIVITY

Though the idea is mine, the model is not. The picture comes from a book that we already have at the house and we are going to make it an edible model.

So take your ideas for hands-on ideas from books that you have. We are excited about making this and hopefully this will hook my kids on the topic of oceans

The teacher in you may think that reading the opening chapter of a book is engaging. Though this may be true for some books, it is not the case with all of them.

I find that beginning my unit study with an activity creates the mood I want as we tackle another topic.

There is just no substitute for an engaging, interactive hands-on activity to begin your unit study.

2. CHOOSING A SUPERIOR UNIT STUDY SPINE GIVES YOU A BOOST IN LESSON PLANNING. CHOOSE CAREFULLY.

Using my main book that I decided on early as my spine and that I talked about in Day 3. Selecting Superior Sub-Topics. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies By Creating A Unit Study Together helps me to piece together my beginning week.

There is no need to try to find vocabulary words that are a natural fit for my unit study because I did my work way early by choosing a superior book for my unit study.

Choosing a spine or main guide carefully gives you a huge boost and makes lesson planning a cinch.

Also, I looked back at the sub-topics that I wanted to stay focused on to decide my objective for the week.

3. BEGIN WITH A GENERAL FRAME OF KNOWLEDGE FOR THE TOPIC BEFORE DIVING INTO SUBTOPICS.

Since this is the beginning week, then I do want to focus on the basics of my topic.

Think of the way a topic would naturally be introduced when lesson planning for the entire unit study. Begin with the basics of a topic.

Focusing on the basics in the beginning instead of jumping right into complicated sub-topics will help your children remember key points from other unit studies that you considered that are linked to this one.

Give your children time to simmer on the subject a bit. Don’t rush the meditation process.

For example, for week 2 I will fold in some facts, as a reminder, that we learned from our study of a Coral Reef.

Having time to adjust to the topic for a week, they can now brainstorm and connect it with information they previously know.

Then, reviewing your lesson plans and using my form above, look at how easy I covered a variety of school subjects for the week.

4. DO NOT FORCE A LESSON PLAN WHICH IS AWKWARD FOR THE SAKE OF COVERING A SUBJECT.

Remember not to force a fit for the sake of covering that subject.

Though we do a unit study exclusively when we are focused on one, I can have the boys supplement with math and grammar if needed.

Relax and design your lesson plans as an extension of your personality and with the unique strengths and weaknesses of your children in mind.

My very favorite way to organize is my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

TOS

Important: READ THIS FIRST.
Before you email me asking where your download link is or tell me that it is not working, read this to ensure that you get your pretties timely and that you don’t pay for something and not get it.

• All my products are digital. You will not receive a physical product for anything in my store. A digital physical year calendar does not mean a physical product or calendar

It is so much more enjoyable this way and meaningful. As you can see from my form above that covering school subjects comes much easier than you think.

• Downloads are INSTANT. When you pay, you will receive an email with a download link INSTANTLY. Depending on your internet connection, the email could be just 30 seconds or so, or a bit longer. The point is it will be soon, not a week later, etc.

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MY GUARANTEE: To treat you like I want to be treated which means I know at times technical problems may cause glitches, so I will do everything possible to make your experience here pleasant. If you have problems getting your download OR have a question email me my web based email: tinahomeschools at gmail dot c

2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner
$5.99 Add to cart

10 DAYS OF CREATING A UNIT STUDY TOGETHER

All of this looks good on paper right? Now, how do we execute all of this? How does a day look in the life of a unit study family? Next post, I will show you how we balance the day.

Hugs and love ya,

10 Days of Creating A Unit Study Together

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Day 8 Creating a Unit Study Lesson Plan 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together. It's day 8 and we're creating a unit study lesson plan. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies. I’m doing 10 days of diving into unit studies by creating a unit study together. Now, is the culmination of gathering all the resources of your hard work. Unless you are using a premade unit study, you will want to develop the art of lesson planning.

Day 6 Unit Study Resources that Stir the Imagination 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together

August 21, 2025 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today is day 6 unit study resources that stir the imagination because supplementing is important. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies. I’m doing 10 days of diving into unit studies by creating a unit study together.

You don’t have to be creative to create a unit study that sparks your children’s interest. You just have to be committed. Like all things that are practiced, the more you design a unit study, the better you become at it.

Day 6 Unit Study Resources that Stir the Imagination 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together

Gathering resources plays a large part in whether your unit study is successful or just so so.

And gathering resources, for me anyway, is a constant factor in my journey.

All teachers plan differently, but I prefer to plan as I go along. For me, it keeps planning time to a minimal because I already have some basic resources to choose from.

I guess you can call the resources I gather my unit study starters.

You notice how I will change directions on you when we are studying one topic and post my resources that I gather up for another one.

I just did it this week with the few resources I shared about a human body unit study.

My secret to planning is to gather as I go and to plan one or many unit studies while I am doing another one. It really keeps the planning part from being overwhelming when you can spread it out over a period of time.

Unit Study Resources that Stir the Imagination

Gathering resources is just one aspect. Also, knowing which resources will help to create the love of hands-on learning and knowing which ones to ditch will keep your unit study moving along and not stagnant.

Look at my list of things that I got to on a regular basis for my unit study starters.

board games
living books
atlases
bar charts
student magazines
teacher’s guides
movies
documentaries
my pinterest boards
My Amazon Shop for boards separated by topics

Day 6. Resources that Stir the Imagination. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

Choosing resources wisely that will capture your children’s interest is not the only caveat to be aware of.

Hands-on or Drooping Hands

While I do whole heartedly agree with the fact that hands-on learning is an inherent part of any well educated child, I do believe that an overload of them or complicated ones can exhaust both teacher and child.

As new unit study converts, sometimes they tend to go overboard with hands-on learning.

Hands-on projects are like seasonings that we add to our food. Just a pinch of it enhances our food. Hands-on projects should not be overwhelming or exhausting.

Planning too many or did other things that made them hard to fit into your day can make unit studies turn to blah quickly.

4 UNIT STUDY MISTAKES

Look at some of these tips for adding hands-on resources that will not exhaust you or your kids.

Avoid insanity by doing one project per child or grade level. Do one project for ALL of your children. Aim for a project that satisfies the middle age range of your children.
Don’t do complicated projects. Choose projects that require normal household items you already have on hand. It is okay to gather supplies you don’t have on hand too, but try to plan ones where you have a majority of supplies on hand.
Weigh doing long term projects carefully. If you have very little kids {mostly under 8 or 9 years old} choose projects that have an immediate wow factor, i.e. blow up something. You won’t hook them on hands-on learning if they have to always grow something that takes weeks or months to build. As they grow older, they develop the love of waiting, watching and observing and then you can choose longer projects.
Avoid doing all the work. If you have older kids, let them gather the supplies, decide some of the projects and lead the projects. Even when kids are young, they can learn by gathering up items on your list.

Unit Study Resources Organized

Key to using your resources is being able to find them after you have gathered them up.

An easy system and one that you can retrieve quickly always works best.

And though I love Pinterest, the Pinterest boards are not really able to be highly organized at this time. Pinterest really needs sub-boards. I’ve used Evernote in the past. Evernote is free and I find it way more practical than bookmarks because I am able to copy/paste just about anything onto it. I organize it and type whatever I need to remember.

My very favorite way to organize is my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

TOS

• All my products are digital. You will not receive a physical product for anything in my store. A digital physical year calendar does not mean a physical product or calendar

2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner
$5.99 Add to cart

Then look at more tips.

10 DAYS OF CREATING A UNIT STUDY TOGETHER

Ocean Unit Study Resources Gathered

Here are a few of the resources that I have for the Ocean Unit Study.

Update: I have since completed this unit study and have all these resources & more on free my Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook page.

Ocean Lapbook Cover Option 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Yum. Edible Ocean Layers @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Ocean Vocabulary Words and Wave Pocket @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Message in a Bottle Language Arts Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Ocean Lapbook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

How Low Can You Go Ocean Lapbook Starter @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Ocean Currents Minibook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

What is the Ocean Minibook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Winter Homeschooling - Look to the Sea. 17 Hands-On Activities for Two to Teens @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 1 Look to the Sea. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured

Though there are volumes of links, I find that by grabbing just a few of the ones that better suit us or the ages of my children keeps me from storing links that we will not use.

Gathering resources is a practiced art no less important than teaching the unit study. Be selective and choose ones that you think will inspire your unit study.

Do you find it hard to organize your resources or find them for your unit study?

Hugs and love ya,

10 Days of Creating A Unit Study Together

Day 4 Finalize Sub-topics On a Unit Study 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies

August 17, 2025 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today is day 4 finalize sub-topics on a unit study. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies. I’m doing 10 days of diving into unit studies by creating a unit study together.

Curb a potential time waster like determining sub-topics. Use the chapters found in a topical book on the theme you have selected. It’s quite the nifty tip because a lot of the ground work on a topic has been laid for you.

It keeps the part that can be overwhelming, which is planning a unit study, to manageable.

UNIT STUDY PLANNING

Of course you determine if you want to cover those chapters as sub-topics or not.

Mix and match those chapters turned sub-topics with other book. Too, look at articles or magazines you have on hand on the subject too.

Too, the process of lesson planning can be simplified. Below I show you how I created my draft planning page from just one book, Discover the Ocean.

I talked about on Day 3. Selecting Superior Sub-Topics. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies By Creating A Unit Study Together.

I wanted to use one book to give you the basics of planning.

After you plan a couple of unit studies, you will come up with your own sub-topics and like I mentioned add others from other resources you have too.

Unit Study Planning. Ocean Unit Study Planning Page

{part of the form from my unit study planner}

Also, when it came to the literature column, I just dotted down what we have in the house already which fits nicely with this topic.

Then, I researched the scriptures to find ones that applied to my topic of Ocean as well.

And, you can take the Bible study one step further by adding facts about the parting of the Red Sea.

FINALIZE SUB-TOPICS ON A UNIT STUDY

Another reason I picked out this book to use as an example with you is because it has a glossary section in the back too.

Right there I have my spelling and vocabulary section built in and to choose from for my unit study.

I just wanted to show you that if you pick out a resource that is extremely helpful, it can make preparing unit studies a cinch.

As you gain more experience and become a pro planner, it becomes easier to piecemeal a unit study from several different resources.

After choosing the sub-topics, then assign those sub-topics as subjects. Now, you can glance at your unit study as a whole to see if your unit study will be lop-sided or if it looks like you have a nice balance of subjects being learned throughout the topic.

Remember, it doesn’t matter if it’s lop-sided because that may be your focus. This unit study on the ocean is a bit more lop-sided intentionally because I needed it to be more science focused.

As you can see from the above example, I can still create another column for art if I choose to at anytime. My primary focus for that column right now is to use the misc. ideas to focus on some vocabulary that I know Tiny needs.

That is the flexibility of creating your own unique unit study because it can be slanted whichever direction your family needs or wants to go.

Unit Study. Day 4. Finalize Sub-Topics. 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

Remember this is my big overview and certainly I do not have to stop here with planning and wouldn’t want to.

I can still add some art and keep on with sub-topics. Having more sub-topics is another key to keeping your unit study moving along.

10 DAYS OF CREATING A UNIT STUDY TOGETHER

Sometimes we will take a sub-topic a day and for other unit studies, we may take weeks.

Ease of Unit Study Planning

Flesh out your unit study with sub-topics generously because you may either move ahead faster or find some you don’t like as well. You will have plenty to choose from if that becomes the case.

At this point too, I also look at other resources I may need. I listed some here for you below that make studying about the ocean fun.

The way I decide if I want to buy something versus borrowing from the library is if I know I will use that resource for many years like with multiple children or if it’s a resource with facts that can be studied over and over again throughout the years even with one child.

You have just created a course of study with relatively little ease as well.

I got so excited to show you all of this information floating around in my head that I got ahead of myself. We are not quite ready for the stage of pulling resources together.

I have one more post to show you about planning before we start pulling more resources.

Unit Study Planning

Pulling resources is still kind of like planning too, but I wanted to show you how you can satisfy the educationalese of a state or country if you live in one that requires stricter record keeping.

If you don’t live in a place like that, then who knows you may astound folks with your teaching prowess after I show you the next post on this series which contains a few educationalese.

Did I lose you?

Are you with me? Have you grouped your sub-topics together for the theme you chose? If you are using my unit study planner, then just pencil them in.

If not, create your sub-topics some way that you remember them.

Are you having any problems creating any of the subject sub-topics from the resource you chose?

Hugs and love ya,

10 Days of Creating A Unit Study Together

Day 3 Selecting Superior Sub-Topics 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies By Creating A Unit Study Together

August 15, 2025 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have day 3 selecting sub-topics unit studies. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies. I’m doing 10 days of diving into unit studies by creating a unit study together.

Slice and dice of your unit study begins with being picky about sub-topics. One significant reason that could dampen a unit study is not selectively choosing sub-topics.

Chiseling that main topic down into manageable planning sub-topics is the key to not covering “everything” and not being overwhelmed.

Day 3 Selecting Superior Sub-Topics 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies By Creating A Unit Study Together

Not only did I choose the topic of Oceans to do with you because it has a kazillion topics so I can illustrate a slice and dice method, but I also wanted to pull you in closer on the specific how tos of choosing a sub-topic.

From the beginning, it is important to brainstorm sub-topics that would fit naturally into your main theme.

In other words never force a fit to make something fit into a subject for the sake of saying you covered something in that subject.

TRIM AND FIT UNIT STUDIES

It really makes for some awkward learning moments. I have done it and afterwards I felt like I was having an insane homeschooling day.

For example, I mentioned in Day 2. I chose Oceans not just because it will be part of our big move coming up, but because it is a science topic.

I want our sub-topics to stay focused more on science.

So if I was to try to tie in history by asking the boys how do they think the Oregon Trail pioneers felt when they arrived in Oregon and viewed the Pacific Ocean would feel awkward to me.

On the other hand if I tied in the history of seafaring to our unit study, that would feel more natural.

Make sense?

Next, the very basic essential to planning an excellent unit study is having a hardworking spine which can be a study guide, teacher’s manual, textbook, pamphlet, living book or article on line.

Start by looking over what you already have in your home library to choose as a guide.

If you don’t have one, then make a visit to the library to find one or buy one if you think you will do this topic again and can use it with multiple children.

BOOKS AND GUIDES MATTER

Though I love living books, I normally use them to include as our literature to read.

Sometimes I choose a living book. Why? Because books that give me ideas for hands-on too from the very beginning sets me up for success by making the unit study easier.

I want to work less in teacher prep so I chose books filled with facts AND that have hands-on ideas for projects. It really depends on what type of unit study also.

For example, if we were doing one a famous person then a living book would be my number one go to book.

Day 3. Selecting Superior Sub-Topics. Unit Study

Also if you have younger children, then choosing a living book like the ones by Holling C. Holling like I have listed below are great story readers and make a useful teacher spine.

It is easy too at times to find hands on ideas for younger learners, but not quite as easy for older students.

So as the teacher you decide what type of books keeps it easy for you and for the ages of the children you have.

No need to dread hands-on because that is the life of a great unit study.

Just be more picky about choosing the unit study guide.

CHOOSE A SPINE CAREFULLY

Instead of going with a living book for my Ocean Unit Study, then I am going with more of a fact book which already has ideas for hands-on projects.

I have mentioned these books before and now I gathered some of them up for you to see. Because hands on ideas are already included, they make WONDERFUL unit study starters.

Discover the Oceans is the one I will be using for this unit study from my favorite books above. This doesn’t mean I can’t add another spine.

I had this one at home and it is a good jumping off point. Look below at the chapters inside the book.

I don’t have to fuss much because I already have a guide or direction to go with on this topic.

Quickly glancing at the chapters I can tell which ones are the direction we need to go and which ones I may need to look over.

The “maybe” chapters are ones I need to look at because I want to keep this a more science topic and I want to be sure they don’t pull us too far off that track.

Choose sub-topics that pique your children’s interests and then assign them to subjects.

I will be doing this in the next post where I will have chosen all my sub-topics for the Ocean, but I have an example above from my FBI unit study to show you now. I have 3 sub-topics shown.

Two that interested my boys which are J. Edgar Hoover and the effects of WWI and one I added, which is the U.S. Government.

Unit Study Course of Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(page from my Unit Study Planner)

So I added something I felt like they needed to study about and grouped with the sub-topics that they naturally picked.

On the right side I used a check to show which subject areas I felt those sub-topics met.

10 DAYS OF CREATING A UNIT STUDY TOGETHER

So up to this point, you need to

Pick a guide or two;
Look over the chapters;
Determine which chapters will help you in your topic and which ones will not or would the book serve better as a reader or literature.
Choose your sub-topics

Next post I will share my sub-topics on the Ocean Unit Study and then show you how to start pulling resources together.

Are you with me still?

Hugs and love ya,

10 Days of Creating A Unit Study Together

Colorful 2026 To 2030 Holiday List Printable On One Page

July 16, 2025 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have the updated free 2026 to 2030 holiday list printable on one page for your reference. Grab other gorgeous planning pages on my Homeschool Planner and 7 Step Curriculum Planner page.

The holiday list printable is on a one page form in two color choices.

Typically, I place the forms near the front and back of my planner for a quick reference.

Colorful 2026 To 2030 Holiday List Printable On One Page

The form I have today is for homeschool planning long term.

It has major U.S. holidays on one page for easy reference. Actually, I use the forms for multiple reasons.

Foremost, I use it as I mentioned for long term planning.

However, you can also it for quick reference. These forms are used to help you plan not just your homeschool year, but vacations and days off in your school year.

And I use it with my homeschool planning calendar.

Next, look at these other forms you may like.