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Other Unit Studies

How to Teach Science Through A Story – Middle & High School

August 7, 2017 | 118 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Using storytelling as a powerful teacher is not a new concept to homeschoolers. Not only do we love reading stories but we understand their power to captivate and convince readers. However, until I wasn’t so confident that teaching science through stories works for all ages of my kids. Click here to read 7 creative ways to teach older kids!I stalked the mailman waiting for these books from Beautiful Feet Books. I was given this product free and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off or that a company will receive a glowing review. I don’t roll that way. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!


Using storytelling as a powerful teacher is not a new concept to homeschoolers. Not only do we love reading stories but we understand their power to captivate and convince readers. However, until I started using Beautiful Feet Books I wasn’t so confident that teaching science through a story or through biographies would benefit my kids all the way through to high school.

First, I need to back up and explain what curriculum we’ve been poring over. For the past couple of months, it has been a delight to use the History of Science. I knew it was geared toward the 3rd to 7th grade level but we were over the top excited to ditch the science textbook and learn the history of science through living literature. Too, I know science biographies can also be used for older kids.

History of Science Living Literature

I already figured out that my worksheet approach, as academic and bookish as it sounds, didn’t work because my boys retained lessons better using a learn-by-doing approach.

Next, early on in my homeschooling journey, I had stumbled upon Early American History with my then first kindergartner. After using it with him, I learned that other equally important elements which stir a child’s thinking are living literature and absorbing history through a story. There has not been a more enriching way to teach him or my other sons to high school than a literature-based approach.

What I’m saying is that storytelling, learning-by-doing, and living literature are inextricably linked. Using those same elements while teaching science are the same ones used in teaching the History of Science and used for teaching an older child.

7 Creative Ways to Adapt Curriculum for Older Homeschooled Kids

Learning how to adapt a multiple age curriculum for upper grades can be challenging, but look at some ways I did this with the features of History of Science. They are the same tips I used with my sons all the way through middle school and into high school.

  • With a yearlong program geared toward 3rd to 7th grade, there is a lot of room to allow exploring topics in more depth. Using a yearlong program is key. Your time is valuable and by using a curriculum that is laid out for a year, you have more than enough ideas in place to use as a springboard for all the ages of kids you’re teaching.
  • Even though the biographies are geared toward a lower reading level, they are likable by an older child. Many essay points can be gleaned from each biography. For example, previous to studying this curriculum, we hadn’t researched much about George Washington Carver. Reading about this American Pioneer and his many uses of peanuts made for a fun rabbit trail or research project. Even though your younger kids can join in the project to list the many uses of peanuts, I had Tiny delve deeper into this since it piqued his interest. I required that he explain the history of the peanut. I had questions like what is the history of the peanut, why was Carver encouraging farmers during the American Civil War to break away from cultivating just cotton, and explain the growing process of the peanut. For example, he had to know that it wasn’t a peanut at all but a seed and understand that the boll weevil could devastate cotton crops.
  • Another fascinating point to glean from the History of Science is understanding and seeing science through the eyes of great scientists. We use this concept for history all the time. We want to learn history through the eyes of a character who lived in a particular time period. Learning science through biographies of Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, George Washington Carver, Wright Brothers and Albert Einstein keeps kids equally inspired to learn about the wonders of science instead of dry, boring facts.

  • In addition, with many notebook pages, vocabulary words, and hands-on ideas the study guide is just that. It’s a springboard for you to use and add your own ideas. I really love how the guide is laid out because if it was totally scripted it’s hard to use that for older kids or younger kids. A guide on the other hand gives me a nudge or jump to another teaching concept that my son is interested in.
  • After I abandoned my wrong and stereotypical view that hands-on learning means no learning at all, I’ve been touting for years how hands-on learning needs to be used through to high school. The best books have been culled through and selected for easy hands-on activity that can be used for a variety of ages. Not only did we start our science portfolio notebook, but we did many hands-on learning activities like this one Day 4. Ancient Greece (Hands-on Science) 3 EASY Activities, ice cutting, and writing the Greek alphabet.

  • One more fun way to engage older kids through a story is to let them learn through a timeline. A timeline is a visual and natural way to learn. Kids can race ahead and place figures on a timeline while they read about scientific discoveries, events, and biographies. This is another key benefit to this curriculum. The timeline can stand on its own. It can be used completely separate. Instead of quickly placing the key events or scientists in order, challenge your older kids to learn about them before seeing the dates. Which significant event happened first, next and so on? Your middle school kids can memorize the events in order. It’ll give your kids foundational pegs as they fill in with more information with each time period.
  • Another tip that makes this curriculum especially useful to me is that it has scientists from different time periods. It’s organized into 3 parts that coincide with history, which are Ancient Scientists, Medieval & Renaissance Scientists, and Modern Scientists. I can easily add one section in depth this year and come back to this resource another year to focus on a different time period.
  • One last tip I do is to completely turn the teaching guide and everything over to my older kid. When you’re finished with the younger kids, let your middle or high school kid work through the lessons at their pace or at their will. For example, Tiny skipped all over the place when it came to reading and what interested him. That is such a liberating feeling for any learner and it’s the way to encourage independent learning. A lot of Beautiful Feet Books curriculum can be used that way, which is why I’ve been a user for a long time and couldn’t be more pleased.

The last thing I know you want to know about is whether it’s Christian or secular. I guess that depends on your definition of those two concepts. It’s easier to tell you that it’s very friendly toward both type of views which I appreciate.

While it has some parts that ask your child to write a Bible verse, you can leave it, use it, or add your own. That part shows they support a Christian view. However, their goal with their curriculum is to leave it up to you as the parent to add your worldview. I can say it’s more easily done with this curriculum than many I use which saturate their curriculum with their Christian or secular worldview and makes it almost impossible to tweak.

If you’re wanting to use curriculum that teaches science through storytelling with a focus on hands-on learning by using a part unit study approach and part Charlotte Mason, you’ll love this curriculum like I do.

Read about the other curriculum I’ve used here at Early American and World History, the Medieval History Sr. High levels and Medieval History Adv. Int. & Jr. High Pack history curriculum.

Guess what? You read down to here and I told you there was a surprise!

Beautiful Feet Books is giving away $100.00 of living books! Oh, you want this and please don’t think you’ll not win! I have to give this sweet giveaway to somebody! Go ahead and enter below.

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: History of Science
►Website: Beautiful Feet Books – BFBooks
► Don’t Miss: The Getting Started page. It’s been such a helpful guide for me through the years.
►Type of product: These is a physical product but the study guide is available as a digital download too. From their site: Our newly revised and updated History of Science is a popular and exciting read-aloud approach to the study of science! Rebecca’s course uses biographies to tell the life stories of famous scientists like Archimedes, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, George Washington Carver, Einstein, and others as well as hands-on experiments to prove the scientists’ theories and test their discoveries. An enriching way to introduce biology, chemistry, and physics. For grades 3-7, this one-year study will cover basic scientific principles and the history of scientific study beginning in ancient Greece and continuing through the 1990s. Contains 85 lessons, dozens of experiments, lab reports, and much more.
►Price: Regular Price: $182.49 17% OFF! BFB Price: $150.95 but this is a yearlong curriculum. 

 

 

118 CommentsFiled Under: Build Character in Homeschooled Kids, Choose Curriculum, Do Unit Studies, Free Homeschool Resources, Giveaways, Graduate a Homeschooler, Hands-On Activities, Homeschool Curriculum Review, Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation, Homeschooling, Middle School Homeschool, Notebooking Pages, Other Unit Studies, Product Review, Science, Sponsored Posts, Teach Homeschool Science Tagged With: freeprintables, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, high school, livingbooks, middleschool, science, teens

Grab 14 unit studies on history, geography, science, and more for just $14.95!

May 22, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Grab 14 unit studies on history, geography, science, and more for just $14.95Grab 14 unit studies on history, geography, science, and more for just $14.95

It’s HERE, the biggest sale of the year and I’m PROUD to partner with Build Your Bundle in bringing this savings to you, which is up to 96% off. It is such a value and I LOVE when I can save and I know you do too!

You’ll love the different homeschool curriculum providers participating this year.

The BIGGEST Homeschool Sale of the Year Starts 5/22/17

Stock up for the whole year as you peruse the different bundles!

Here are a few quick details to keep in mind before I tell you about the different bundles.

Begins: Monday, May 22 at 8AM EST
Ends: Tuesday, May 30 at 11:59PM EST – 8 Days Only!

Buy 2 Individual Bundles and Get 1 FREE – the more you buy – the more you save!

  • Buy 2 Individual Bundles and Get 1 FREE
  • Buy 4 Individual Bundles and Get 2 FREE
  • Buy 6 Individual Bundles and Get 3 FREE
  • Buy 8 Individual Bundles and Get 4 FREE
  • Buy 10 Individual Bundles and Get 5 FREE
  • Buy 12 Individual Bundles and Get 6 FREE

There are several bundles to choose from and a few of my favorites are listed below.

(Click on the graphics to go the page.)

I love this unit study and lapbooking bundle!

Save up to 96% on Unit Studies & Lapbooking Resources at the Build Your Bundle Sale!

The Build Your Bundle Sale can be overwhelming, I know!

You can use this handy shopping list printable to get your thoughts organized and to put your plan in action.

Click here to get the pdf that you can print.

Also, I love this elementary bundle, but you need to see them all!

Save up to 96% on Elementary Curriculum at the Build Your Bundle Sale!
The BIGGEST Homeschool Sale of the Year!I hope you love the selection!

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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Leave a CommentFiled Under: Other Unit Studies Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, unit studies

The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum

March 29, 2017 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Are you missing out on free unit study resources, how-tos, and encouragement I share JUST on my closed Facebook Group?

Switching from a strictly classical approach to a unit study curriculum wasn’t a quick decision, but it was the best choice for our family. Homeschool unit studies allow us to work on a mastery-based level on topics that fascinated us instead of learning in small bites.

Two things I quickly learned was that prepared homeschool unit study curriculum was not as readily available as curriculum for other homeschool approaches and that not all of my boys wanted to do hands-on activities.

 

Although there may not seem as many choices for curriculum using the unit study approach, there is still a variety.

Listing some of the ones I’ve used and which ones have more hands-on ideas, I’m hoping one or two here will help you to make the switch to unit studies easier, ease your planning time or just let somebody else take the teaching reins for a while.

 

Also, where possible if there is a discount available, I’ll point that out because I like to save money too.

Beautiful Feet Books. Beautiful Feet Books is based on history centered literature and I’ve used it for my boys at the middle and high school level. Be sure to grab the coupon at my article Medieval History for Homeschool Middle School and read about using Beautiful Feet Books.

You can add hands-on ideas here, but it’s not required.


Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row are literature based unit studies based on living books and I used them when the boys were young. It’s one of my top choices for the younger years and lot of hands-on ideas are sprinkled throughout which I feel is a valuable component for younger grades.

BookShark. BookShark is the secular version of Sonlight and I classify it as a unit study because of the literature based focused. I love their 4-day a week schedule and this is an all-in-one program or boxed curriculum because it comes with everything you need for a year. I like BookShark because it allows me to add my own Christian view. Too, hands-on ideas are not required but I love the fact you can add your own activities.

GeoMatters. Combining our love for geography, history, living books with a Charlotte Mason twist, makes GeoMatters a fun unit study. We loved doing their Trail Guide to Learning. And this is a nice discount at Homeschool Buyers Co-op. I love the ideas for hands-on activities.

HomeschoolLegacy.  This is an all-in-one unit study provider where the planning is laid out for you. I’ve tried one of the history ones and enjoyed how easy it made lesson planning. And it has a nice balance of both laid out planning and hands-on ideas.

Home School In the Woods. If you love history like we do and build a lot of your unit studies around it, then you’ll love the approach taken by Home School in the Woods which is through timelines, lapbooks and hands-on activities.

I love how many ideas are given for hands-on projects, but also a good amount of information is given for background information. If you’re looking for long-term hands-on projects, this is a great option.

In the Hands of a Child. Then this is a lapbook approach to unit studies. The best part besides the fun lapbook is that they can span many ages and there are multiple them

 

es to choose from. This is also discounted through Homeschool Buyers Co-op.

Because lapbooks are hands-on activities, each unit has one for your child to do.



Intellego Unit Studies. I love these unit studies though they are light on hands-on ideas and are secular.

I’ve used several of these studies when I first started because I didn’t want to have to research all the information. I like them because the background information is well laid out. I normally end up adding my own Biblical content anyway and have ideas for hands-on. Also, you get a discount when you buy from Homeschool Buyers Co-op like 45% so I’m giving you the heads up.

 

There is very little hands-on required.

KONOS. Yes, it’s true they are the absolute granddaddy of unit studies and I used them when I first got started. It is a very comprehensive unit study and you can buy just what you want or buy a laid out curriculum. They have more fun hands-on ideas than most other unit studies.

I love the amount of hands-on ideas for each age given, but again it’s not required because there is a sufficient amount of information given without having to do the hands-on activities.

 

Learning Adventures. This is one I’ve been eyeballing and would love to try because it includes all my favorites. It’s for upper grades or 4th to 8th grade, it’s based on living books which I try to always use in our unit studies and our passion for history is what is at the center of the themes.

I’ll let you know about the hands-on ideas after I use it, but wanted to be sure you knew about it.

 

Moving Beyond the Page. This is a favorite when I need a literature based all-in-one unit study. They have rigorous academics and when you need a more rounded out unit study, they are a great choice.

My Father’s World. Incorporating classical education and hands-on, this is a very comprehensive unit study approach.

NaturExplorers. My favorite curriculum for science always uses a living book approach and is hands-on which is why we love NaturExplorers. From Beautiful Birds to the Fungus Among Us, you’ll find a title your kids will love.

 

There are a good amount of hands-on ideas which I love because science should be about doing and not just reading.

Nia Unit Studies. Though a much smaller company, I love that the unit studies take a notebooking approach and are downloadable as e-books. This is a great choice if you want to get started quickly and inexpensively. I’m hoping to see more titles, but I love mom-and-pop shops.

TRISMS. Having used TRISMS as well, I love the history approach to unit studies. However, it is very comprehensive because it adds in all other subjects. I love the research aspect of it and there are several activity ideas to include for each theme. This was challenging for my middle school boys when we started and I loved that aspect of it. I could make it as challenging as I wanted it to be for them.

Hands-on ideas are offered but don’t have to be done.

 

Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. This is another provider that has been around for years and her format is one where the pdfs have research and links in the download. I would consider them a light coverage and more for younger kids.

Weaver Unit Studies. Weaver has been around for years too and gently covers multiple subjects with a Christian view. If you want to take a more gentle approach, add in more information and want more of a Christian view, then you’ll love this one. This is discounted through Ho

 

meschool Buyers Co-op too.

There is not an extensive list of hands-on ideas, but some are given.

WinterPromise. This is another wonderful all-in-one program where the themes are based on history using a Charlotte Mason approach.

Free Homeschool Unit Studies

Also, I’ve rounded up some big lists of free homeschool unit studies.

Free Literature Based Unit Studies from Homeschool Share.
50 Free History Unit Studies –History Lover’s Round Up.
The Ultimate List of Unit Study Resources.

 

Whether you’re new to the unit study approach or if you’re like me and your needs change each year, I know you’ll like having this list at your fingertips.

 

Switching from a strictly classical approach to a unit study curriculum wasn’t a quick decision, but it was the best choice for our family. Homeschool unit studies allow us to work on a mastery-based level on topics that fascinated us instead of learning in small bites. Two things I quickly learned were that prepared homeschool unit study curriculum was not as readily available as curriculum for other homeschool approaches and that not all of my boys wanted to do hands-on activities. Grab this Big List of Homeschool Unit Studies to get some ideas!

Hugs and love ya,

3 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, Hands-On Activities, History Resources, Homeschool Multiple Ages of Children, Homeschool Simply, Homeschooling, Middle School Homeschool, Other Unit Studies, Science Tagged With: curriculum, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, multiple children, unit studies

Shakespeare Unit Study Starters

April 9, 2016 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Shakespeare Unit Study Starters @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Stepping back from our routine of how we normally do language arts, I wanted to teach Shakespeare differently than I had with my older boys. I have been using the book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare with Tiny and we have been loving it. I have a post coming up soon about how easy this book has made it to teach about Shakespeare.

How to Teach Your Children About Shakespeare

Today though, I have rounded up some Shakespeare unit study starters that will spark some ideas to make learning about Shakespeare fun and interactive.

tempest

Grab this nice 30 page free pdf. study guide about The Tempest.
Grab this one page pdf that compares Shakespeare’s life to the inspiration for some of his plays.
This next free 27 page pdf has various writers, including Shakespeare, which gives you tips on breathing life into dull, boring writing.
This one page free pdf has information about the construction of the theater, which would make a great start for a sketch or art lesson.
This video mini-biography is another place to start when wanting to get a quick glance at the life of Shakespeare.

teacher guide

Then of course, if you tie in history with learning about Shakespeare, then it makes total sense to us. So grab this free 10 page teacher guide on Julius Caesar, which has some super helpful teaching tips.
This next idea is plain hilarious, but typical of what interests our kids. From the site Ye Olde Official Shakespearean Insult Kit: “With this handy-dandy SHAKESPEAREAN INSULT KIT,you can have the spleen of The Bard at your disposal! The next time someone cuts you off in traffic, or a clerk behaves rudely, stun them with your lexicographical command of vituperation.” Just click on a pull down menu and a few of these expressions will at least evoke a conversation with your teen about The Bard.
This next site has an online handy reference for learning, which is a good resource for learning about the theatre. The Globe Theatre: A Study Guide.
Also, grab this free 18 page lesson planning guide for scenes from Romeo and Juliet as a way to introduce kids to Shakespeare.
This next site has some great ideas to use cooking or learning about the foods of Shakespeare’s times Shakespeare and Food from A to Z.

This Did Shakespeare Write His Plays video makes another great unit study starter or at least a debate.

Also, I have this free huge Renaissance Lapbook and Unit Study.

Grab this free Renaissance Lapbook at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then you have to scoot by and check out this huge page, Shakespeare for Children, which is a roundup of great links for a unit study.

Hopefully, a few of these links will help you to make a great start to studying Shakespeare.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

 

3 CommentsFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, History Resources, Other Unit Studies, Teach Homeschool Language Arts, Teach Unit Studies Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, language arts, shakespeare

Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive. Day 4 – Look to Free Unit Studies.

October 4, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 4 Look to Free Unit Studies. Free Downloads & Activities @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

If you missed any days, grab them below:

Day 1. Look to the Sea.

5 Days of Look Alive day 1Day 2. Look to the Sky.

5 Days of Look Alive day 2

Day 3. Look to Pokemon.

5 Days of Look Alive day 3

Moving on along through our series: Look Alive:Winter Homeschooling Ideas & Downloads, Day 4 is Look to Free Unit Studies.

You know how passionate I feel about unit studies.

No, I didn’t start off my homeschool journey with unit studies.

Back when I started homeschooling, I felt that if we did one, then I would be a rogue homeschooler.  Unit studies were for those “other” homeschoolers.

We all fight being a product of a public institution and our approach to homeschooling can change within the same year or if we add a second child to our year.

Maybe that second child proves to have a very different learning style from the first one which is the case a lot of times.

I have found that regardless of the learning styles of each of my sons, we all benefit from unit studies.

The resources I want to share today are from Homeschool Learning Network.

They have several free unit studies. I happen to like unit studies that are more loosely written with more information and less emphasis on grade level.

What I like most about these is that each unit study contains a lot of useful links which helps to flesh out your study on that topic.

Just to let you know though you do have to fill out some personal information to download them instantly. The form asks for your name, address and email. You do not have to give a phone number.

I usually don’t recommend websites like that unless they have some juicy tidbits that are worth downloading.

The units from Homeschool Learning Network are: The Mayflower – Journey to a New Life, Deserts of the World, Understanding Emotions, The Vikings, Planning Your Music Curriculum, Robert Louis Stevenson, Afghanistan and Greek Literature:Homer and Aesop.

Click here for the page and happy downloading.

You know I heart inspirational quotes. Here is one that I am thinking about today when it comes to facing the feat that your present homeschool approach might not be working.

“To live an extraordinary life, you must resist an ordinary approach.”

~Frank McKinney~

5 Days of Look Alive Winter Homeschooling. Day 1 Look to the Sea. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus featured
Day 1- Look to the Sea. Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive.
Day 2 – Look to the Sky. Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive.
Day 3 – Look to Pokemon. Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive.
Day 4 – Look to Free Unit Studies. Winter Homeschooling – Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive.
Day 5 – Free Teacher Guides Bliss. Winter Homeschooling Activities and Free Downloads. 5 Days of Look Alive.

 

Hugs and love ya,

Also check out:

Free 27 Week American History Study Through Lapbooking
Toddler to Teen – 100 Free Unit Studies

 

4 CommentsFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, History Resources, Look Alive: Winter Homeschooling Ideas & Free Downloads, Other Unit Studies, Science Tagged With: hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, unit studies

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