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You are here: Home / Archives for unit studies

unit studies

Homeschool Curriculum by Teaching Style

August 7, 2020 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Choosing a homeschool curriculum is one of the biggest decisions for homeschool families. There are many different homeschooling styles and even more homeschool curriculum providers. So, how do you know which homeschool syle and curriculum is best for your family?

Hands-On Homeschooling Curriculum from The Crafty Classroom

Choosing the best program for your goals and family learning style is the best way to ensure success. Here is a simple guide to homeschool curriculum by style to help you find the perfect one for you!

Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum

Focuses on living books, nature study, and narration for assessment.

  • The Gentle Feast: A complete curriculum that is family focused.
  • Ambleside Online : A free, complete curriculum plan for all grade levels based on living books.
  • Beautiful Feet: Learn through reading rich stories.
  • Five in a Row: Weekly unit studies in social studies, art, applied math, language arts, and science based on excellent children’s literature.
  • Blossom and Root Nature based, secular, complete curriculum.
  • Heart of Dakota Christ-centered, literature-based program, and resource publisher.
  • Sonlight Complete, Christian, homeschool curriculum that is literature based.
  • The Good and the Beautiful Ecumenical, Charlotte Mason style, complete curriculum at a very affordable price.
  • Queen Homeschool Christian, complete curriculum that focuses on habit training and character building.
  • Masterbooks: Charlotte Mason inspired, biblical world view, complete curriculum that is designed for families.
HUGE Directory of Free & Low Cost Distance Learning Programs

Traditional Homeschooling Curriculum

Homeschool curriculum options based on traditional school model of textbooks and workbooks.

  • Switched on Schoolhouse: A complete, Christian, online-based education that is interactive and multimedia-based.
  • Abeka: A traditional curriculum created for brick and mortar Christian schools. Homeschool version includes scripted lessons for parents.
  • Lifepac: A unit based curriculum designed for mastery by professional educators.
  • Bob Jones University: Complete, biblical worldview curriculum with textbook, online, and DVD video course options.
  • Christian Light: Complete, comprehensive, and accredited program that is workbook based.
  • Christian Liberty Press: A complete curriculum that offers, accredited, comprehensive, and individual course options.
  • Rod and Staff: Traditional, Mennonite curriculum that focuses on mastery of core subjects.
  • Critical Thinking Company: A secular complete curriculum designed to build critical thinking, logic, and mental focus.
  • Calvert: A secular, accredited, online academy for all grades.
  • Bookshark: Literature based, secular program that is based on a 4 day school week.
Free Homeschool Portfolio

Classical Homeschooling Curriculum

Rooted in classical education with an emphasis on language studies, history, and literature.

  • Classical Conversations: Program developed specifically for homeschool families that offers a classical education through communities around the world.
  • Learning Adventures: Hands-on, literature based curriculum with 180 days worth of lessons.
  • My Father’s World: A combination of Charlotte Mason, classical education, and unit studies that is hands on with Christian worldview.
  • Classical Academic Press: Creative and classical curriculum for all grades that includes complete, online, and self paced DVD course.
  • Memoria Press: Christian worldview complete curriculum based on the Great Books, and liberal arts studies with online options.
  • Tapestry of Grace: Hands-on, classical curriculum that is complete and flexible for Christian families.
Free Unit Studies from The Crafty Classroom

Unit Study Homeschool Curriculum

Learning that teaches multiple subjects through a single topic or theme.

  • Gather ‘Round: Charlotte Mason friendly, curriculum for families that is based on thematic weekly unit studies in nine subjects.
  • Konos: Hands-on, unit studies that are designed for grades kindergarten through eighth grade to learn together.
  • Magic Forest Academy: Secular, nature based, weekly unit studies that cover 52 weeks and are divided by season.
  • Moving Beyond the Page: Complete, secular, unit based curriculum for gifted students.
  • Our Star Spangled Story: A unit study based history program that is simplified into a textbook.
  • Trail Guide to Learning: A Christian, complete curriculum centered on a series of unit studies that focuses on critical thinking skills.
  • Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett: A wide array of unit studies that focus on topics in science, history, geography, and other topics.
  • Winter Promise: Charlotte Mason and classical education based unit studies in themed or subject based categories.
  • Techie Homeschool Mom: Digital based unit studies on a variety of topics.
FREE First Day of Homeschool Photo Signs

Filed Under: Homeschool Curriculum Tagged With: charlotte mason, classical, homeschool choices, homeschool curricula, teaching type, traditional, unit studies

Mushroom Unit Study

August 2, 2019 By Valerie Mcclintick 2 Comments

September is National Mushroom Month, its the perfect time to dive into a nature study on the topic. You really don’t need to wander farther than your own backyard, the next open field, or local state park to unearth your next nature study. There are so many things to learn about and enjoy while keeping it simple.

Free Fall Unit Study

Just choose a topic, like mushrooms, and expand upon it with books, nature walks, videos, hands-on activities and even recipes. I have gathered some starting points for you here that would make a great unit study on their own, choose just one, or expand on them even further!

If you are unable to find any mushrooms growing wild in your area you can use your reference books or look online and complete most of these activities.

Mushroom Investigation- Go on a nature walk and bring some mushrooms home (we found all these in our own backyard). Be sure that you know they are safe, I personally prefer to be the one picking the mushrooms and I use gloves at that. Maybe that is overkill but it works for me. There are a few recommended books for learning about mushroom identification that I’m sure you could find at your local library before your nature hike.

Spore Prints

Mushroom Spore Prints- Spore prints are the powdery residue that is left behind under mushrooms and other fungi. They are often used to identify different types of mushrooms. You can make spore prints at home for some fun mushroom science!

How to Make a Spore Print:

Cut the stems off your mushrooms and spread them out on a piece of white paper with the gills (underside) facing down. Add a little water to the top of the mushroom by spritzing lightly with a spray bottle or use a paintbrush to apply.

Let your mushroom tops sit at least overnight. When your pull your mushroom top up you will see the unique prints it leaves behind

Mushroom Photo Hunt

For this activity, you can let your child use a digital camera or smartphone. Head out on a nature walk and look for different types of mushrooms or other fungi and capture them with a photo. If you want to know what you found right then and there you can use a program like iNaturalist to identify them immediately.

Print the photos or simply review them on the phone and research the names using a combination of internet and reference books, this is a great easy way to incorporate some research skills!

  • Research the names of each.
  • Identify at least 3 different types of mushrooms.
  • Determine whether the mushrooms are edible or not.
  • Observe the color, the size, the location you found them,

Spelling/Vocabulary-Have your child look up the definitions for and use the following words as spelling practice for the week: Fungi, spore, mycelium, scales, hymenium, annulus, stipe, gills, and volva. Younger children can work on simple terminology like cap, stem, mushroom.

Parts of a Mushroom Worksheet

Nature Journal Sketch- Whenever we do a nature study I like to spend at least one day a week creating a page related to our study in the nature journal. I like to give the kids a spiral-bound notebook with watercolor pages, it is great for many different mediums like a pencil to sketch, beautiful watercolors, chalk pastels, oil pastels, and good old colored pencils.

Free Mushroom Printables from Homeschool Clipart

Life Cycle of a Mushroom Worksheet

Encourage your child to lightly draw images of mushrooms with a pencil and then color it in with watercolor.  Once dry, let them label the types of mushroom as well as its parts depending on their ability. You can use your favorite medium but I love watercolors because they are light and easy to carry out in the field or to use at home. For your art journal, you could also draw and paint the life cycle of a mushroom.

Sauteed Baby Bella Mushrooms

I like to incorporate cooking into our lessons as much as possible because it can utilize so many skills- math, science, following directions, geography, knife skills, and other basic life skills. We grabbed some Baby Bella mushrooms from the grocery store and I incorporated them into a very simple dish for the kids to make and they were able to use knife skills and learn about stove safety while tasting something they made with their own hands!

  • You will need 1 package Baby Bella mushrooms, 3 T. butter, 2 teaspoons diced garlic, 1 tsp. Dried parsley, salt, and pepper to taste.
  • Rinse and wipe off mushrooms well with a paper towel to remove any remaining dirt.
  • Slice mushrooms into thick pieces.
  • Melt butter over medium-high heat.
  • Stir in mushroom slices and all seasonings except garlic, sautee for 5 minutes.
  • Add garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  • Add mushrooms to hamburgers, over green beans, or eat them straight off the dish!

Ideas for younger children:

  • Create your own mushrooms with playdough.
  • Make and paint a mushroom with paper plates.
  • Make a mushroom sensory bin with soil, moss and fake mushrooms.
  • Sort edible mushrooms by size.

Learning about mushrooms can be tons of fun! With all the possibilities for art projects, nature hikes, hands-on journaling, and even recipes, this is definitely a unit study you want to add to your fall line-up!

Filed Under: Fall Learning Resources, Nature Crafts, Nature Projects, Science, Unit Studies Tagged With: fall, hands on, mushroom, nature, unit studies, unit study

Africa Art Projects for Kids

 

Learning about the different countries of the world can be lots of fun! Use our country themed crafts and activities to enhance your geography unit studies on Africa! We are busy creating new Africa Art Projects for your children to try, with more coming during Summer 2016.  Be sure you are subscribed for updates, and check out our other Country Themed Art Projects Here.

 


      


African Inspired Mask

This is a beautiful art project inspired by the intricate patterns and lines in traditional African masks.

View Resource

Owl Folder Game & Owl Valentine

January 20, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

We’ve added some other Owl resources on our sister sites too!

Be sure and check these out and bookmark them for your Owl Unit Studies!

owl valentine craft

Owl Valentine Craft

owl file folder game


Owl File Folder Game

And we’ve got more fun Owl crafts coming too, so stay tuned!


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Filed Under: Owl Crafts Tagged With: bible printables, educational crafts, file folder games, homeschool, Owl Crafts, unit studies, valentines day

Owl Mosaic

January 18, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

owl books


We picked back up with our Owl unit this week, reading “Our Wild World: Owls”. I say reading lightly because the text was a little thick for my 4 year old, but the photographs were quite awe inspiring.

So much so that on the spur of the moment we decided to make a mural mosaic of one of them.

We got to work punching circles…

owl crafts

(I am soooo glad I bought that Martha Stewart Circle Punch.)

Trust me you don’t want to be cutting all these circles out by hand.

Plus the kids love to slam down the puncher and watch the circles fly. Good Fun.

And at the end of a 20 sheets of paper, 4 glue-sticks and eating all our meals in the living room, our Owl mural was complete:

educational crafts owls


We hung him up in the living room, with a view of the kitchen “so he can catch any mice that come in for snacks”
owl mural mosaic craft


Mice? I don’t think it’s the mice coming in and slurping down all the whip cream for breakfast honey…….

Wanna make one? Here are the Full Photo Instructions…


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Filed Under: Bird Crafts, Owl Crafts, Raptor Crafts Tagged With: birds of prey, christian lessons, great horned owl craft, homeschool, Owl Crafts, printables, raptors, sunday school, themes, unit studies

Owl Crafts!

January 15, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

We’ll if you haven’t already figured it out from the Owl File Folder Games, or the preview of the Owl Softie I’m sewing together, we’re busy working and learning about OWLS!

And you know what that means….

OWL CRAFTS!

Owls are just adorable aren’t they?

Owl books

We started by snagging a bunch of Owl books from the library. Right off the bat, I saw that this book called, “Owls” by Gail Gibbons was a winner! There is so much information in the book that we spent a long time on each page reading and learning about the different types of owls, what makes owls unique, and even learning more detailed facts about barn owls.

owl crafts

So anyway, to kick things off we started with these little pinecone owls. I let the children pick one of the owls they would like to try and make (mines a Great Horned Owl…can you tell?). Then I had them look at the colors and sizes and shapes to see how they could copy it with the supplies we had. Needless to say, they were a HUGE hit at our house, especially with Bubba (4) who made sure that his “Great Gray” owls wings were extended in flight so he could catch the mice.

owl crafts

We even made little nests out of clay pots and moss, so our owls would have a place to come in and land.

These are super simple to make for all ages, and I’ve got photo instructions up on the main site here.

If you make these leave me a link so we can see your adorable raptors!

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Filed Under: Bird Crafts, Owl Crafts, Raptor Crafts Tagged With: bible, birds, crafts kid, educational crafts, lapbooks, learning crafts, Owl Crafts, raptors, unit studies

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