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"Thanks! Our family greatly
appreciates this installment of The Homeschool
Minute!"
-Esther
Hill, on behalf of the
Hill family:
TSGT
Douglas Hill, Esther, Todd, John and Gabe
Hill
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"Thank
you for setting aside this week's Homeschool Minute to honor
the men and women who have given the great gift of service to
this country. I have a special place in my heart for this. We
just arrived home from S.C. this past week. We watched our son
graduate from Army basic training and couldn't be prouder of
him or of the other men and women."
- Cindy, THM
Reader
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"I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your
emails. I look forward to each week's
"Minute". This week's especially touched me. My
younger brother, Tony, has served a 14 month term in Iraq and
is due to return for a second term in the fall."
-Luisa, THM
Reader
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"Every
issue is just like attending a homeschool conference, --
motivation galore! I receive many homeschool magazines, etc.,
but yours really stands heads above the
rest."
- Katrina, TOS
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The Old Schoolhouse Store Sale
only lasts through
June...hurry!
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The Old Schoolhouse
Magazine
Home Where They
Belong
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May 30, 2007
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 I can still remember when I first learned about unit
studies as an elementary education major. I thought, "What a
novel concept, tying in all the subjects together like that."
It does usually involve some extra work, my kids in
public school used to LOVE when we'd "take a break" from the
books and do a unit study on the beach or weather. And my own
kids still love them too.
Unit studies just bring a lot
of fun to your studies and mixes them in with your family life
- dragging out the read-alouds, doing some fun hands-on
activities, and just soaking up all you can learn about a
topic. For us it's even more fun because we can often get dad
involved whether he joins in with the read-alouds, watches
some cool videos with us, or just looks over the kids'
creations.
One of my favorite bloggers, Jaminacema, blogs a lot about
how her family incorporates unit studies via lapbooking. I love this entry
about how she basically does an alphabet unit study with her
preschoolers. That's kind of what I do too!
Enjoy every
minute!
THM
Editor
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 Home Where They
Belong
Gena Suarez, TOS Publisher
The Unit Study approach! It's a popular
one, I'll tell you. In fact, it's so
popular that unit
study homeschooling is one of our upcoming themes for TOS.
Why do homeschoolers love it?
I think it's
because you can use the method with all ages - together. 4th
graders can study right alongside 10th graders - seriously.
Two of my favorite unit study authors are Amanda Bennett and Jennifer Steward. If you want to understand
how unit studies work, consult either of these two
experts.
Meanwhile, this is also a call to some of you.
With the upcoming issue which will feature unit studies, I'd
love to have some "Show & Tell" articles from some of you.
Do you use this method? Why? Contact me if you would like to
be
published in TOS Magazine telling us all how you do
it.
-
Gena
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 Homeschool Freebies
Julie Nott, TOS Marketing Manager
Unit studies...Oh yes, I was going to do
unit studies when I first started homeschooling. I bought the
whole package deal and I was gung ho about it, yes ma'am I
was. I spent about a month
gathering all my supplies, getting the library books I
needed, and preparing my schedule. And that was just for the
first week! Phew! My unit study days did not last long, but I
firmly believe that this is probably one of the best ways to
educate kids and have it stick in their minds.
TOS has
a slew of unit studies on our website that you can use...for
free! Check them out here!
-Julie
P.S. Don't forget to
shop the Back to Homeschool Sale in the TOS Store!
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Schoolhouse Spotlight
Dena Wood, Schoolhouse Store Manager
Unit studies - now there's a subject I can get
excited about! I LOVE unit
studies! I started homeschooling my oldest with unit studies
over 15 years ago (should I admit that?) and have continued
ever since. My UPS man used to joke that he could tell what we
were studying based on how my kids were dressed; Indians,
frontiersmen, jesters, etc. What can be more fun that that?!
One of the cons of managing the Schoolhouse
Store, however, is constantly being bombarded with
excellent unit studies and having to restrain myself from
purchasing them all! Just check out our extensive Unit Study category and you'll see what I
mean!
Our family has spent this year focusing on US
Geography. A fun resource we've used, that can be easily
tied in to nearly any study is Hands on Geography - full of fun and
creative ways to incorporate geography into learning. My
latest "want" for our lessons is the recently added Sticker USA resources from Barker Creek! My
kids would love these and they'd go wonderfully in our
notebooks.
But then again, it's now time to plan for the
upcoming school year, isn't it? I'll
admit that I must have checked out the Time Travelers CD's fifteen times by now!
The thing is, I have to decide between Colonial Life or New World Explorers. Decisions,
Decisions!
Even if you don't use unit studies as your main method of
teaching, they make wonderful "treats" throughout the year. Hands of a Child and Knowledge Box Central products help you
create lapbook studies to correspond with what you are
currently studying or follow up on an unexpected area of
interest. Marmee Dear even has some adorable (and inexpensive)
Sugar & Spice unit studies based
around....spices, of all things!
I really could go on and on but I've used up WAY over my
space allotment! You'll just have to trust me - if you
don't spend some time browsing our Unit Study resources,
you're really missing out!
-Dena
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The Familyman
Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries
OK, I'm in way
over my head now. I'm not even going to pretend that I know
how to develop a unit study. Actually, when I hear the words
unit study, it makes me tired. It sounds like more work and
high expectations. I imagine an already over-worked mother
working way into the night on a large-scale replica of the
inner nose made entirely of cereal boxes, tuna fish cans, and
scotch tape.
I know my wife
has tried unit studies, but they never worked out quite like
the books made them sound.
Now, after
reading my introduction, you might think I'm against unit
studies, but oh contraire (I love
saying that), I'm really in favor of unit studies and have
been doing one for many years.
It's called LIFE.
In fact, it's a
curriculum designed by God and delivered to my doorstep, or RV
step, each day. Take today, for example. Today, God decided
that my family needs to work on living together in an
unselfish way. For the first hour of the day, we've been
hollering, arguing, and being about as ugly as a homeschool
family can be. This is God's unit study for my
family.
All my wife and I
have to do is to lead the rest of the troops in learning the
lesson, which is a lot harder than building a model of the
nose.
So, Mom, you
might need to throw away the tuna fish cans and be on the look
out for the LIFE unit study God gives you instead; it should
be hand delivered any minute now. Believe me, if that's all
you teach your children today, you will have taught them
well.
Be
Real,
Todd |
 Mercy in the Morning
Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor
I wish I was a total
Unit Study momma. It's the greatest way to educate your
children. I just am not there yet. I doesn't fit with the way
our family operates. And that is one of the great things about
homeschooling. There are as many different ways to do it as
there are different families, and they all are proven to work
well. I do know the times I have used Unit Studies, the kids
have loved it.
One of the best classes I attended
was from one of the greatest experts in Unit Studies, Jennifer
Steward. She not only knows her stuff, but she has great
resources as well. Check out her offerings at
www.unitstudies.com
Although I don't use
Unit Studies all the time (being rather eclectic in my
homeschooling) I do make sure I keep my home library stocked
with good books on subjects I plan to teach. I ask the kids
what they would like to learn about, and I look out for sales
and pick up books from many sources such as library sales,
thrift stores, garage sales and used curriculum sales. Because
the books are on subjects that the children are interested in,
they gobble them up. I can even get a good book report or two
out of them!
In all of your unit
studies, the most important element, I believe, is
incorporating the Bible into whatever you are learning, for
that is where knowledge truly begins. Leave God out, and your
unit study won't be nearly as useful in life as you would have
hoped. Put God in everything you teach, and everything you
teach will be beneficial to your children's souls.
Study HIM every
minute!
- Deborah
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Meet Some of Our Friends
Father's Day is June 17th. Here's a UNIQUE and PERSONAL
gift idea!
Between Me And You™ A Few Things I've Been
Meaning To Ask
Sand Dune Publishing
has created these very special relationship keepsake journals.
Give them to the people you care about most. Each hardcover
journal contains 40-45 fun-to-ask and fun-to-answer questions.
You get them back with handwritten responses that you and your
family will cherish forever. Between Me And You™ Journals are
great gifts for new parents, Mother's Day, Father's Day,
birthdays, weddings or ... just because! Use them to collect
grandparents' handwritten thoughts and memories for your
children. Or fill one out for a loved one who's away from
home. 9 versions. So many cherished memories. See page samples
and order securely online at www.sanddunebooks.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drive Thru History America is a values-based
history course offering character, faith, & Christian
worldview. It explores the lives of eight founding-era
individuals who, through commitment to God and Country, helped
shape the U.S. Designed for homeschoolers in grades 6-12 the
curriculum is supported with action-packed, adventure-filled
videos and engaging activities, textbooks and study guides.
This exciting new
curriculum keeps the historical record straight, presenting
American history as it always was, in a way it's never been-a
challenging, compelling & engaging way. It's time to
remember our foundation of faith and values...and teach it to
our children before it's
forgotten. | |
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