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3 Reasons to NOT Avoid the Homeschool Middle Ground

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3 Reasons to NOT Avoid the Homeschool Middle Ground @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Fighting mini battles while we homeschool becomes part of our homeschool lifestyle. And it’s true that for many issues involving education, homeschoolers don’t wade in lukewarm waters nor take the middle of the ground approach. Being firmly decisive is key to surviving the harsh amount of negativity that is thrown our way.

Standing Firm on Homeschool Middle Ground

However, many things in homeschooling are more successful when you can step back and straddle the middle road. Sometimes taking an all or nothing approach can be counter productive, even extreme at times.

Look at these 3 reasons to NOT avoid the homeschool middle ground.

ONE/  When you do a unit study with multiple ages of children.

You can set your homeschool day up for failure when you use a learning resource that is too high above your oldest child’s head or one that is too young below it.

It’s a common mistake; choosing a unit study resource that is the grade level of your oldest child.

The secret to individualizing a delightful unit study topic is to  choose the middle grade between the ages of your children.

Seasoned homeschool veterans know that it’s easier to scale down activities for younger grades. Use the example of a plant unit study.

Younger students can color, label and dissect a plant. Older students or high school students can use the same unit study, but expand the activities on it to a high school level.

For example, older students can include plant history, learn about the local plants in your area and even spend some time in an apprenticeship learning from local professionals about herbs or plants. Ideas to use for an older student spring from the middle of the grade resource that you are currently using.

Not all ideas are so easy to round up for an older learner, but they are more useful than a resource used for your youngest learner.

TWO/ When you mix and match homeschool curriculum.

It’s easy to use the same curriculum provider with all of your children. Why would you do that though?

Each child is as unique as each homeschool family or should be.

Take the middle ground, avoid the extreme by choosing just one homeschool curriculum and use pieces and parts of a boxed curriculum, unit study and another curriculum to create a study that is unique for each child.

If you’re using just one type of curriculum, then one or more of your children may not be benefiting from it as much as another child. Mixing and matching homeschool curriculum will ensure a better fit for all of your children.

THREE/ When you begin homeschooling high school.

I did it too when I started homeschooling high school and that is to right away in 9th grade take a sock it to him attitude when planning.

High school is not about controlling your teen through his high school years, but it’s about working alongside each other. It is a give and take.

You give because your teen is a different person than you and your husband and he has goals and inspirations now that he too wants to meet. But it’s a take also because you don’t want to give up all your goals or plans for your teen’s future and some things will be must-haves in high school.

What I’m saying is that you choose the middle ground in high school when you help a teen keep balanced in all subjects until he decides his goals.

Some adults don’t even know what they won’t do, so don’t put a lot of pressure on a teen. Take the middle road by keeping subjects balanced until a mommy track, college track or job track is decided.

Also, grab some other tips from my other articles Homeschool Confession – My Homeschool Mistakes, Go Ahead and Make a Mistake: Homeschool Without Fear and Homeschooling – Beginnings are Usually Scary, Endings are Usually Sad, but It’s What’s In the Middle that Counts!.

Don’t give up the fight in touting the decisive ways we need to take a stand when it comes to homeschooling, but just know that the middle ground can not only be productive, but necessary many times in your journey.

What else do you take the middle ground on while homeschooling?

Hugs and love ya,

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Unfolding of a Homeschool Unit Study – An Easy Mnemonic { I-SIP}

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It’s a paradox. The free rein to study what delights your kids is the same thing that can make some homeschoolers feel restless and unnerved when there is an overflowing amount of material to study on a topic.

Sanity-Saving Secrets for Jumping into Homeschool Unit Studies

As I began creating unit studies, I learned a lot about the learning process and in how to help you to keep the material from being overwhelming. One quick tip to help you remember the unfolding of a homeschool unit study is an easy mnemonic { I-SIP}, which helps you to understand the steps.Unfolding of a Homeschool Unit Study – An Easy Mnemonic { I-SIP}Immersion, separation, investigation and personalization are the layers of learning that you build on as you do unit studies. And the mnemonic is one I created so that you know you don’t have to jump first into tailoring a unit study just for you kids.

Besides, if you went straight to day-to-day lesson plans, you would miss out on the ‘plumpness’ of a unit study.

Breaking down these steps to help you understand each one, I am starting first with explaining what immersion is and why it is the first step.

Don’t try to tame the overabundant information you have on hand.

Immersion is the first step and it is time for unrestrained exploration.

Being immersed or the first step in the I – SIP process is probably my favorite step. It means to “dive head-first” into a subject.

Until you and your kids explore the numerous sub-topics under a major topic, you won’t know what interests your kids.

This is so very important because unit studies are suppose to be about what you think is right to teach your child about a set of subjects.

Sample of how to plan for subtopics in a homeschool unit study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(Sample from my Ultimate Unit Study Planner of how many subtopics we were exploring when we studied my FBI unit study.I wrote the main topic in the middle and the subtopics are all connected to my main topic.)

Another important reason to wade through all the material you have on hand is that you don’t want to kill your child’s joy for learning before you get started.

Think of a funnel as you start unit studies. Keep learning ‘open wide’ in the beginning to drink in all the goodness.

Unless you are teaching a unit study for the second or third time, time is needed to see which subtopics you will want to investigate.

For example, I think about my War Between ‘Tates unit study. When we jumped into learning about the topic, there were many subtopics that interested my boys.

From money used back during the American Civil War to the H.L. Hunley submarine that was used by the Confederate States of America, we read about many subtopics while studying about the American Civil War.

As you can see immersion is important because as you read over whichever resources or books you have chosen, a picture emerges of the subtopics that pique your children’s interests.

Though we read about the food prepared during the American Civil War, my sons were more interested in other topics than music, food or fashion. Okay, you know I have all boys. When we first studied the American Civil War, my boys were more interested in the geography and names of the battles and weaponry of the time.

However, had we not read everything we wanted to without restraint, they would have not know about some of the broad strokes of life during that time period.

One huge advantage to taking your time in this first layer of learning is that not only do your children find subtopics that would pique their curiosity, but they also have an introduction to a wide variety of subtopics from the topic you chose.

Don’t rush the immersion step. Sometimes we stay just a few days on this step and for other unit studies, immersion took us a few weeks.

Unfolding of a Homeschool Unit Study. Look at this mnemonic I-SIP which helps you to understand how to easily teach a unit study. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Now, can you see why it’s probably my favorite step?

Learning without limits or the boundaries of a textbook is energizing, exhilarating and engaging.

Next, moving onto to the second layer of learning, which is separation is important. I’ll talk about  that next.

Look at these other tips for how to build a unit study

You think you can remember this easy mnemonic?

Hugs and love ya,

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Ultimate Homeschool Unit Study Planner – Which Lesson Planning Pages to Use?

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Ultimate Homeschool Unit Study Planner - Comparing Two Different Lesson Planning Pages @ Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I am excited today about sharing an update to the Ultimate Unit Study Planner and about explaining how best to use the different types of lesson planning pages that are included in it.

There is a reason it is the Ultimate Unit Study Planner because your homeschool journey changes each year and so should your planner.

New Beautiful Unit Study Planning 2 Page Spread

First, look at the new lesson planning page below, which has been added to the other two that were already included in the unit study planner.

Tracking Monthly Lesson Plans 1

Like I mentioned, your planner needs to change and be flexible. That is why this new lesson planning page was created.

For example, when I first started doing unit studies I was using the multiple level planning pages below (more on that in a minute) because I had multiple ages.

Now, I am down to homeschooling one and I see a very different need.

Look at some of the reasons why you would use this newest lesson planning.

  • You have an only now and don’t need as much room to write.
  • Each day has two lines so that you can jot down for one child.
  • Also, I see this lesson planning page mixed with the other detailed one I already have if you want to use it for an older child. Tip: Print off some of the original lesson plannings pages and mix with this one.
  • Also, I have the need again to track activities on the weekend because Tiny is doing high school level work now.
  • The weekend notes would also work for those states that have stricter record keeping and where every bit of learning, including weekend activities,needs to be tracked.
  • Because it only has two lines per day, there is a useful Note section on the far left to jot down whatever you need to track for the week. For me, I will be adding my objectives, lists of supplies for our unit study and books among other things in the note section.
  • In addition, this lesson planning page can be substituted in the free student planner for an older child.
  • If you are using unit studies and adding them to your present curriculum, you may not need as much room to write activities. This is the perfect lesson planning page to add your curriculum planner if you’re gradually adding unit studies.
  • A huge change in this lesson planning page too is that it is a month at a glance. Print off 1 (2 page spread) for each month. Can you say thin planner?
  • Also, this lesson planning page would works for a seasoned veteran, who doesn’t need as many detailed lesson planning notes and just needs a guide now.
  • This works too for those Type B personalities who want to see a few notes or who just need a framework.

As you can see, it is a very versatile lesson planning page that took me months and months to create based on homeschooling my only now and an upper grade child.

Now, look at the other lesson planning page.

4a Lesson Planning Pages subjects filled in @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

The original detailed lesson planning page has some very useful advantages that can’t be overlooked either:

  • It is divided into three sections, lower, middle and upper grades.
  • It is for tracking work for multiple ages of children.
  • On the far right, I listed subjects for you to check off as you cover them in a unit study. Most subjects are covered naturally and there is a place for you to do that each day.
  • This is the one I used most when I had multiple children.
  • Too, this lesson planning page is EDITABLE. I actually have two versions. One lesson planning page, I don’t have you guessing which subjects to cover, I add them. The other page, allows you to add in your own subjects because as your children get older, you will have a few kids doing upper grade work and some doing lower level work so it gives you more flexibility.
  • This lesson planning page is better for detailed lesson planning and it is a week at a glance, i.e. more room to write.

You know me and my need to see all this jibberish laid out visually, so I did this quick comparison to show you the obvious differences in the lesson planning pages.

Just remember you get all of them in this planner.

3 Types of Lesson Planning Pages for Unit Study Planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I also added a new cover so that brings the color options to 4 for covers. And of course I had to make some matching note and journal pages.

The Ultimate Unit Study Planner is just what you would expect from an ultimate planner, which is to have everything you need in it as your homeschool changes.

Don’t forget:

  • it is also undated, which means you can use it year after year
  • has plenty of room to write on for the detailed lesson planing page
  • has one template that has editable subjects
  • has forms to track objects and assessments
  • has 14 sets of pages to plan a unit study. Not only do you have lesson planning pages, but you get detailed pages to help you plan each unit study.
  • unit study tracking page
  • 80+ pages with printing instructions and sample how to use pages

I hope you like the new lesson planning page added, the new curriculum cover and the new note pages!

You can grab it here and don’t forget as you’re building it to add the many free pages here on my site to it. Look at this post 10 Things to Include in Your Homeschool Planner – Because Paper Planners Rock!! to see some of the pages in my planner.

I hope you like this new lesson planning page! I am so stoked to use 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.


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3 Things To Remember When Homeschool Unit Studies Get Complicated

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3 Things To Remember When Homeschool Unit Studies Get Complicated @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Homeschool unit studies are a natural and relaxed way to learn. However, it is easy to get off track and create obstacles instead of keeping them simple. I know, why do we that?

Look at these 3 things to remember when homeschool unit studies get complicated.

1. Slow Down Momma!

I have the tendency to over plan, not just because I love to plan, but because we find so many fascinating topics to cover.

Pushing quickly through each unit study, we find ourselves at times exhausted. Reminding myself that our unit study topics fit my kids and so should the time we spend on them gets me refocused.

Determine what is a good pace for you and your kids because each unit study is different. Take a cue from your kids and slow down if they are immersed in a topic.

2. Steal Ideas From Other Homeschool Approaches.

When I first started unit studies, I had my boys writing about everything we learned.

Soon I realized that our time spent together was not about talking or interacting with each other about what we’re learning, but about writing everything down on paper.

Should Exploration and Discovery Cost?

Who was I impressing with all the mounting writing reports we had?

Adopting the narration technique from the Charlotte Mason approach was the wonderful gem we needed to add to our learning day.

See my tips at 3 Unexpected Benefits of Homeschool Narration and Narration – Telling Back or Testing.

And though conversations are exhausting with little kids because of their desire to soak up new things, teens are equally challenging because they want to let you know what they know. Let them while they want to talk.

It makes for some great debate at home. Of course, pick your times carefully to “discuss” because teens are almost always ready to question anything and there will be times you are mentally exhausted.

With all that being said, I would never trade our time together talking and recalling all that we learned.

Narration is a way for your kids to each share what they remember and when they do, all of your kids get the benefit of what each child is sharing. It’s mastery learning at its best.

3. Crafty, I am not.

No, I don’t long for or pine to stay tucked away in a room someplace and do crafts. I have friends like that and they make beautiful crafts and did I mention they are very creative? I am moved by different reasons to create or craft.

Crafty and hands-on are not necessarily synonymous as I have learned. Letting go of the thought that we have to do crafts with each unit study helped me to make unit studies adaptable for our family.

The difference between a craft and hands-on project is that hands-on learning is about making a learning connection between doing and reading.

Here is the clincher though and that is that kids that are motivated by the act or live for crafts and kids that want a practical purpose for a project both benefit.

Because I had always associated hands-on learning with a craft, I had put obstacles in the way of learning.

Oh sure, we love to have fun too and I realize now that having fun is a great way to learn. Letting go of public school mentality that learning has to be austere, severe and dry helped too.

Hands-on is a win-win because it doesn’t mean you have to do a craft, just find a hands-on project that your kids like.

I am so passionate about hands-on learning that I created an article, 365 Days of Hands-on Activities – One For EVERY Day of the Year. Grab an idea or two from there for your next homeschool unit study.

Embracing unit studies and making them fit the way my kids learn has allowed us to learn more thoroughly instead of constantly reviewing.

The key has always been getting back to simplicity when I find myself over complicating them.

Has that happened to you?

Have you seen my Ultimate Unit Study Planner? It is my way of tracking what we have learned.

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

Also, you may like to read these tips.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


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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

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Beginner to Advanced 9 Steps to a Unique Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Bored with your present homeschool approach? Beginning or switching to another homeschool approach like a unit study doesn’t have to be daunting. I have plenty of ideas to help you out on that.

So today, in my beginner to advanced: 9 steps to a unique unit study, I have tips on things to do in a unit study, arranged in order from least difficult (for when you just want to tip toe over) to most difficult (when you want to plunge head first).

Even if never thought about switching your homeschool approach, one or two of these ideas may have you rethinking your course.

To illustrate this better and help you understand how a unit study is built layer upon layer, I am using the American Civil War as an example of a topic.

1.Read aloud a living book like The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad

Yep, that’s it.

Reading aloud a living book is a fun and easy way to kick off a unit study and it feeds your child about the unit study topic you will be considering.

Don’t make this process harder than it has to be. Jump out there and simply enjoy the process of reading aloud.

2. Read aloud The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad then do oral narration.

If you want to engage your kids a little bit more, try one technique that can be used in homeschool unit studies, which is oral narration.

Ask your child questions like: What was the underground railroad? What would life be like on a cotton plantation? What were slave catchers? Why is slavery such a sensitive issue today?

It is a great tool to substitute for test taking. Check out my article, Narration – Telling Back or Testing.

3. Read aloud a living book, do some oral narration, then add in ONE easy hands-on activity.

This step is where a lot of homeschoolers may cave, like me. I was the last person to view myself as a hands-on teacher and delayed trying a unit study.

Oh not that I didn’t like it, I just didn’t like the mess it created.

Understanding now that a mess is such a small price to pay for a giant leap of learning, I no longer feel that way.

However, I have also learned that learning doesn’t always have to be messy.

Even a simple puzzle can be a fun and interactive way to bring learning alive.

Check out my article, Easy Hands-0n Homeschool Ideas When You’re Not the Bomb Mom, if you want to be a hands-off mom.

For this time period, a recipe or craft works great. We made some easy hard tack.

4. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity AND add in some writing.

Reading is always my number one activity to include if I don’t have time to include another detail. Writing is my second activity closely behind reading. Also, up until this step, activities can be done in a day. With this Step 4, this normally blends into a second day.

After a child has been engaged through a living book and done a fun hands-on project first, they are primed for some writing.

Though our method of doing unit studies always include lapbooks, writing can be anything from a creative story to a history report on one of the slaves, about slavery, heroes of anti-slavery, about the lifestyle during that time, about art during that period and even about plant and animal life of the time.

You can even use notebooking pages. We did a Civil War lapbook.

5. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity, add in writing AND add in some geography.

Not that we don’t love geography first, but if I am limited on time, I always make sure I do skill subjects first instead of content subjects.

Check out the tips in my article, Skill versus Content Subjects: What’s the Difference.

Because the book is about a Canadian family, this a perfect time to contrast and compare Canada with the United States in your atlas.

The American Civil War is a great unit study to illustrate not just state lines, but to expand on the economy of each area.

How to Do A Unit Study In Record Time

Also, you could use a push pin to locate battles of the Civil War and don’t forget to talk about the famous submarines of the American Civil War like Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine (American Civil War).

Geography is so much more than maps.

6. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity, add in writing, add in geography AND add in some history.

It doesn’t really matter which content subject like history, geography, art or science that you do first.

I follow my sons’ lead on what interests them at the time. Not all unit studies have history as a subject. If it doesn’t fit, then don’t force a fit.

However, because our topic is the American Civil War, history is a huge part of this unit study.

Not only talk about the causes and effects of the American Civil war, but read primary documents like letters will make history come alive for that time period.

Read about famous people of the war like Clara Barton, read about the music of the time period and read about strategic battles in war.

7. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity, add in writing, add in geography, add in some history AND add in some science.

Again, it doesn’t matter the order of the content subjects, if all of them, that you decide to do with your unit study. It’s justt that with each step your unit study becomes meatier.

Studying the science of the American Civil War is a great subject. Have you seen the surgeons tools used back then?

Also, read A Civil War Surgeon’s Diary Transcribed.

Then you can add in some ideas for learning about the constellations and how the stars were used to guide the slaves North.

8. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity, add in writing, add in geography, add in some history, add in science and ATTEND a field trip.

If there is anything that cements learning, it is being able to visualize what you are learning.

Short Cuts for Unit Studies

It is not necessary to attend a field trip with every unit study, but then again, it is a fun and memorable way to remember what you are learning about.

When studying the American Civil War, we were able to attend a memorable history reenactment.

9. Read a living book, do narration, do a hands-on activity, add in writing, add in geography, add in some history, add in science, attend a field trip and MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS.

Unit studies may get a bad rap because it is not as easy to tell what a child has learned or gauge progress. However, tests are no great measure either.

Look at some creative way at my article, Gauging Homeschool Progress – Masters of their Material for ways to test your child’s knowledge in this unit study.

I hope you enjoyed this quick glimpse of the basics steps to starting a homeschool unit study.

There are more hands-on activities involved in each step, but they are not necessary to do at first until you get a bit more comfortable trying one or two.

What do you think? Tempted to try a unit study topic or two?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Also, check out my 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies