The secret to starting a homeschool unit study in a few hours is to narrow your focus by using resources that jump start your ideas. Living in an information age, we are inundated with more and more resources. However, we need resources to help us round out our ideas. Today, I thought I would pull back the curtains to share my go to resources when I need to start a homeschool unit study in a few hours.
Let me back up first and explain why I say that you need more resources to draw your ideas up from than actual unit studies.
When I started doing unit studies, I didn’t know I was making unit studies harder than they needed to be by doing them backwards. In other words, I took ready made unit studies and tried to make them fit my children’s needs.
Sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, if I can use free homeschool unit studies, I’m all for it. I don’t think unit studies should always cost.
Today, it’s not finding resources that can be difficult because there is an overwhelming amount of free things and paid for curriculum that our kids have access to.
Again, it’s narrowing our focus and finding the spark that will motivate our children’s mind that makes our unit study successful.
Useful and practical resources in our expertise field of homeschool has been my solution.
5 of My Go to Homeschool Unit Study Resources
Look at these 5 go to resources that help me to move away from countless hours of research to a reward.
I’m a co-author of The Big Book of School Ideas. One reason I supported this collaboration when writing this first book is that energy emerges from mutual cooperation. Let’s face it. Homeschooling is hard and because we teach in a very unique environment, we need to tap into collective strengths.
There has never been two books like the ones below. What better way to get an idea for a homeschool unit study than to tap 55 brilliant minds? Fifty five homeschool moms joined together to create both volumes of this book.
The book goes beyond the basics of academics and delve into delightful methods like active learning, learning with video games, using LEGO bricks for learning, teaching on the road, learning with movies, and gardening.
However, we just didn’t stop with one book. There is a Book Two, where 38 homeschool moms share more of their expertise on varying homeschool topics.
Not only can I quickly grab an idea or two about a topic I may want to study about, but these two AWESOME books are quick guides on some of the best curriculum, how to teach difficult children and how to teach older kids.
The books are a one stop shop and must-have resources that I go to when I need a unit study idea or tip on how to teach a difficult subject.
The next resource that has stuck with me is my much loved geography curriculum. You know my love for unit studies which include geography and history.
And North Star Geography is my go to resource for geography ideas because it didn’t do away with hands-on ideas at the middle and high school level. Keeping the digital download on my desk, I can quickly open it at any time if I need inspiration.
Too, one tip to help you teach geography is to remember that it’s easier to use a resource for older kids when teaching younger kids. Tweaking a resource that is designed for younger children, on the other hand, is not easy to adjust for an older child. That is why I’ve always used a middle or high school grade level curriculum.
And that is why I use North Star Geography because it is for a middle and high school kid.
Did I mention the fact that Wonder Maps is absolutely the best way to study different time periods?
I have used a lot of history programs through the years and am passionate about many of them.
But, this is about using a resource that allows me to quickly start a homeschool.
The one that I turn to when I need a framework of history is What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization because it teaches history in just 14 lessons.
From that framework I can decide which area of history my topic falls into and then I can find ideas quickly.
Read Why I Love and Use BrimWood Press History Here
Then my last go to resource is one that keeps me current with homeschooling and gives another well to draw up ideas from. It’s one of my very favorite homeschooling magazines.
Home School Enrichment is just that. Not only does it give me helpful tips while homeschooling but I pore over the pages as I get ideas about unit study topics that are current for today.
I love the fact that they give my followers a 38% discount. That just TICKLES me and I’m SO proud to partner with them. I get to use something I love and share it with you too.
Through the years, I’ve spent more money sometimes then I care to admit to when I try to find inspiration through curriculum. But when I spend it on right things I can actually get several years worth of use out of them.
I hope you’ll love these resources as much as I have because each one I can turn to and in minutes be on my way to starting my unit study. Each one gives me a starting point for the different subjects.
What do you like to use?
Also, look at these other posts for helpful and detailed how-tos.
3 Things To Remember When Homeschool Unit Studies Get Complicated, Beginner to Advanced: 9 Steps to a Unique Unit Study – Step by Step Example of How to Begin an Easy Unit Study on the American Civil War and From Textbook to Homeschool Unit Study Starter.
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