Big ol' List of Christmas Schooling Resources

I've been told there are three types of homeschoolers in December: those who stick to a regular school routine until a few days before Christmas, those who take the entire month off and completely embrace the delights of the holidays, and those who incorporate seasonally-themed learning activities to create Christmas School.

I kind of land somewhere in the middle, taking a full three weeks off during the month to sprinkle in lots of Christmas traditions and learning activities into our days. Truth be told, I've never done an open-and-go Christmas curriculum but have always preferred to piecemeal my own resources.

Mega List of Thanksgiving Unit Study Ideas

Every year on Thanksgiving, I place five kernels of corn on each plate. They are to represent the meager beginnings of our nation's history--a time when seven times as many graves were dug as houses were built. The kernels remind us of one particularly harsh season when each impoverished Pilgrim of Plimoth (or Plymouth as we spell it today) was said to have lived off of a ration of five bits of corn a day.

Interior Design Course for Homeschoolers

My husband runs his own graphic design/advertising agency by day. But by later-in-the-day, he's a picker. You've heard of a "picker," haven't you?

A picker is a person who scrounges around old barns, yard sales, and junk piles to find unclaimed treasures to turn for a profit. To be honest, most of the stuff he brings home looks like it should be sitting under layers of trash at the town dump.

A taxidermied weasel in a shadow box? Who's gonna buy that?

Ebru: Turkish Paper Marbling

In the eastern edges of Europe during the 13th century in what is now known as Turkey, an art form emerged and eventually spread in popularity all across the Asian landscape to the far-reaching border of China. Artisans combined water, plant oils, and mineral pigments to create intricate marbling patterns that they transferred onto paper.

Disneyschooling at Epcot

Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

Written by Chelsea Gonzales.

Family vacations are some of the very best times to seek out new information and make learning fun. Fortunately for my family, Disney World is no exception to this rule, meaning we use the enormous amounts of time we spend in the Disney parks to expand on our son’s education in an exciting way. We call this “Disneyschooling."

Fostering Weather Curiosity {with FREE Printables}

Written by Krista Smith.

My kids weren’t really interested in the weather. In fact, I don’t think they even noticed the weather for years. It could be -15 degrees outside and they would be playing (bundled to the nines, of course) as though it were springtime in the meadow. And heat? Totally impervious.

As a child, I was always fascinated by the weather. I perpetually (and ill-advisedly) sat on the porch watching thunderstorms roll through. I incessantly asked my mom to re-tell the harrowing stories of her family hunkering down for yet another hurricane. For a few years, I wanted to be a meteorologist when I grew up and I knew the movie “Twister” forward and back.

Presidential Election Resources with FREE Printable Ballot

I have voted in every single election...whether big or small...for the past 19 years. I've served in various capacities for the party that I most identify with. I've written letters to the editor and letters to my local and state officials regarding my stance on impending legislation. I've done all the duties afforded to me in a democracy. But, I'm not a political zealot. I actually think that the political system, however conservative or not, can never really change a nation. It is GOD who moves change. Period. Because here's the thing about politics, folks, Scripture reminds us in Daniel 2:21 that it is GOD who sets up or tears down kings. Not us.

Medieval Unit: Historic Feast

A glimpse at the daily-life-and-times of the middle ages is a study of societal extremes. For the most part, people were either wealthy or impoverished. There wasn't a middle class. 

After reading about the lifestyle differences of the lavished and the lowly, we decided to live it out...for at least one meal. We invited one of our favorite homeschooling families, who just also happened to be learning about the medieval period, to join us for a historic feast.

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Unit Study

I have no doubt that when the final page of their homeschool is turned and they launch out into adulthood, my children will have wonderful memories of our time together. Most likely, they'll not remember the math drills or language exercises, the spelling lists or vocab words. Even though those things will be cemented in their brains and used often in their "everyday," those will probably not be the memories they will cherish.

Nope.

They will remember the unit studies.
The enchantment.
All the DOING that we did.

(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

While I recognize there are many wonderful ready-made unit study curriculums like Five In A Row, KONOS, or Galloping the Globe, I have learned over the years that I'm more of a DIY kinda homeschool mom. I much prefer to cull resources myself in order to create a tailor-made education for my kids.

That being said, I'm just one momma with a finite amount of time and energy in my day. I can't be inventing the wheel for every subject and for every topic. So, I've developed a quick, just-add-water-and-stir system for developing units and here it is in five easy steps. Feel free to copy my pattern to create unique units for your homeschool.

Medieval Unit: The Vikings

My kids have Viking blood in them...or so the story goes. The Hubs is a mix of Norwegian and Danish with some Irish and German thrown in for good measure. He's got the freckled skin and ruddy beard that mark Scandinavian ancestry, and he's passed them down to all five of our children. 

So, I've got six modern-day Vikings roaming my house. In fact, one of them actually has a Viking name. (We don't call him Blonde Warrior for nothin'. That's actually the English translation of his real-life Norse name.) Fortunately for me, he doesn't ever go around wielding a bloody ax and such (at least not that I know of!)

Not surprisingly, when we came to the Viking era in our Medieval History study, we camped there for several weeks.

Here's a list of books, activities, and field trips that gave us a peek into the lives of the ancient Norsemen.

Medieval Unit: Illuminations

Every stage of creating the lavishly designed books of the middle ages required hours of labor and meticulous craftsmanship. Many manuscripts took years to complete and were cherished works of art. Some were made even more precious with the addition of illuminated illustrations highlighted by thin strips of gold or silver leaf. 

A study of the middle ages would not be complete without a look at the time-consuming and costly process of creating the beautiful pages of medieval books. 

Kandinsky Abstract Art Unit {with living literature}

"An empty canvas is a living wonder... far lovelier than certain pictures." ~Wassily Kandinsky 

This little abstract art lesson came about by a little abstract homeschooling...the organic, unplanned kind...the kind that takes you down a rabbit trail and leads you to an unplanned adventure.

The other day, I had big orange-and-yellow themed plans for art. It's fall, after all. But while at the library, we just happened to come upon an eye-catching book that made my art plans take an abrupt detour.

We read the book together and wanted more.

50+ Living Books for an Ancient Rome Unit

Photo Credit

When we started our Ancient Roman unit using Tapestry of Grace, Year 1 Unit 4, I had high hopes of a wonderful year filled with historical adventures centered upon great living books. And although Tapestry of Grace quickly became lackluster, the Roman unit did not. A few weeks into our studies, I tossed PLAN A out the window and carved a new path. I decided to create my own living-literature based unit by piecing together books we currently owned, titles I came across at the library, and older-and-harder-to-find gems that I found inventoried on other Ancient Rome reading lists.

I divided the unit into six main time periods and then listed the books, to the best of my ability, in chronological order within each period.

Ancient Rome Unit: DIY Roman Road

As the old saying goes, at one time, all roads really did lead to Rome. One of the largest was the Via Egnatia where the apostle Paul and his friends Timothy and Silas traveled on to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. It was in large part due to this and other "modern" roads that we have Paul's letters.

Roman roads were impressive 4-layer highways complete with water-drainage plans. They were built by Roman soldiers during the empire's expansion and used for military travel and eventually trade. Covering over 85,000 kilometers, the road system first began around 500 BC with the Via Appia and can still be seen meandering across Europe today.

The Hatmaker's Sign: A Colonial Mini-Unit

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Our homeschool co-op book club stepped back in time through the pages of The Hatmaker's Sign by Candace Fleming. This living-literature book is a parable as told by "Benjamin Franklin" who attempts to encourage a downhearted Thomas Jefferson during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.


Since our book club consists of the six and under crowd, this story made for a gentle introduction to colonial life and history.

Creation Science Dinosaur Unit Study

Per my children's request during my 2014 end-of-the-year delight-directed curriculum planning, we started the 2014-2015 school year with a dinosaur unit. We learned so much and gained a new-found awe for God's creation and handiwork.

Below is a sampling of many of the books and resources we used and others we have explored in the past. Please note that we are YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISTS. All of these materials, unless otherwise stated, begin with a young earth worldview.

Homeschool Co-op Public Speaking Class {Lesson Plans}

I am teaching an Introduction to Public Speaking class at our bi-weekly homeschool co-op this semester. Although the practical goal for this class is to provide opportunity and practice for the children to be able to speak in a large group setting, the spiritual implications can be found in the class verse, 

"But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," 1 Peter 3:15

As Christ-followers, we ought always to be ready to give an answer to the hope that we have. That "readiness" requires a MESSAGE and the ABILITY to proclaim it. While I believe that God can and does use even the most timidly-delivered testimonies for His glory, I also think this verse implies a boldness. Often boldness only comes with practice and a little bit of know-how. This class offers both.

Weather Unit: Books, Videos, and Projects

This past summer, like all the summers before in our homeschooling journey, the kids and I spent our days exploring one part of God's creation.  Since we live in the tundra for nearly nine months of the year, our ability to investigate nature is limited to summer time.  

End-of-the-Year Program for Homeschool 2014

After nine months of watching our children blossom through diligence and hard work, we, co-op moms, always enjoy celebrating their successes by hosting an end-of-the-year spring program for family and friends.  For the past six years, it has been a fantastic way to share what they have learned and to put an official "the end" on a wonderful year of co-operative learning.  (This post contains affiliate links.)

While the basic format for our program has remained the same over the years, each one has been slightly different.  This year, the mothers decided not to have an overall theme to each presentation. Each family could decide WHAT and HOW they wanted to share.

An Introduction to Independent Project-Based Learning

After using our Task Cards for only a few months, it became glaringly obvious that our little Sweetie Pea needed something extra to fill her day. She, as a first-born and as the only sister (mother hen) to a tribe of boys, has always been quite self-motivated and hard working. The Task Cards gave her the organizational tools to get all her school work done in a timely fashion leaving most of the day for reading...and reading...and well, READING!