July 21, 2021 – Choosing the Best Lapbook or Unit Study for Your Homeschool

Hey, Mama!

Gena Suarez, Publisher of TOS

A Good Day for Spontaneity

Did you know that as the teacher of your homeschool, you can call a field trip anytime you want? An extended recess, too. Or do a unit study. Or have a few fun book days . . . when everyone simply sprawls out where they’d like and reads for enjoyment. If you choose, you can require that short book reports be written after each book is finished. Or, perhaps just have your students narrate back to you what they comprehended from those books.

You can also call a P.E. day – or a three-day camping trip – if you’d like. Sometimes it’s good to put up the computer, books, and notebooks and head to the park for some running around and a little relaxation. Get some sunshine and Vitamin D for you and your little brood. Or take a picnic lunch, some workbooks or lapbooks, a musical instrument or two, and go find a big playground or a lakeside beach if you have one nearby. Hang out and do school there. Bring lots of water bottles; stay hydrated!

Looking for ideas on how to incorporate lapbooks and unit studies into your homeschool? Let these interviews and articles from The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine spark new ideas for your fall studies.

Making Education Fun: An Interview with the Co-creator of A Journey Through Learning by Kathleen Conway
Hands-On Math Helps Make the Grade! by Nancy Fileccia

And remember, Mama . . .

Your house is different from a pre-scheduled program where everyone is marching to the same drumbeat. Your children’s schooling is uniquely theirs. They get to work for hours on that LEGO^® or DUPLO^® invention, and if they’re really getting into it, you’re likely not going to blow a whistle in their ear and tell them to stop so they can “do art” next or whatever else might be on the schedule.

The bell does not dictate your homeschool. You are not a slave to it. You’re free and your kids are, too. Education should be a joyful adventure, and many times it should actually be spontaneous, as well.

Don’t forget to LIVE your life during these homeschooling years; they fly by so fast. Just because school may have felt like a prison to you as a child (and I could tell you stories) does not mean it should even come close to resembling such a thing for your children, no matter what age they are. Enjoy playing and learning with them. Do it in freedom with a light heart. And Mama, I cannot stress how important CONVERSATIONS are. Lots and lots of heart talks. Don’t skimp on the chats. Your children will remember.

Maybe today is a good day to take that field trip, start that unit study, or dive into that engaging lapbook. But first call a family huddle and talk it through. New memories, incoming!

~gena

Created by a homeschooling mom, My Teaching Library offers thousands of Print-n-Go lessons @ https://myteachinglibrary.com/

Raising Real Men

Hal & Melanie Young, RaisingRealMen.com

Adapting Lapbooks and Unit Studies to Fit Your Child

I remember a day years ago when I was excited to share a new curriculum with our kids. “First, boys,” (our first six children were boys), “we’ll color these pages to put on the front of our notebooks, so they’ll look beautiful!”

I was heartbroken to hear, “Why?” and “I like it fine the way it is,” and “Do we have to do this?”

How differently our daughters reacted when they came along! They just loved lapbooks, colorful things, and decorating their work.

The same curriculum doesn’t work for every family, or even every child in a family. That’s why you may need to adapt a resource to fit your children. That’s okay; it’s good even. You can save yourself some trouble and expense, though, by choosing what to buy with your kids in mind.

The most important thing to remember is that the point is learning, not doing every assignment or learning in a certain way.

Some kids love arts and crafts. They learn by making things.

Some kids love to learn through discussion – working it through verbally.

Some kids enjoy experiments, activities, and acting things out.

Some kids love to write (if they don’t like handwriting, try dictation), processing by creating the written word.

When you are choosing unit studies or lapbooks, think about how learning takes place and how they will show what they’ve learned. There isn’t any right or wrong here; it’s just, “Does this look like something my family would enjoy?” or “Can I adapt this to suit our children?”

That was hard for me to understand in the beginning. I was terrified that they’d miss something important if I skipped a problem or didn’t do a worksheet. It took getting a few children through elementary school to realize that we teach things over and over again. There’s no need to worry! Protecting their love of learning is more important than following a curriculum exactly!

Learning should be enjoyable. Trust your gut. Choose what suits you. You’re the expert on your family!

Your friends,

Hal & Melanie

Get our Reading Pack FREE here for great downloads, discounts, and reading lists!

Jodi Riddle

Pillar of Hope
Jodi Riddle – What Do You Expect?

There are several definitions of hope.

Here, we believe the hope of the world is Christ Himself. The Old Schoolhouse® delivers hope to the homeschooling community and families worldwide, corporately placing our hope in God as we raise a generation that will offer much hope to their communities and to their world.

There is also an eternal hope . . . a certain expectation. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you.” 

There is also, for the homeschooling family, a hope that you choose the right things to educate your child. This hope is defined as a desire with an expectation of good. Start by choosing something that interests your child. Be creative and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Most of all, make lasting memories and have fun as you continue to educate your child knowing you are doing what God has called you to. You will only obtain what you set out to do. Expect to achieve and accomplish regardless of what you use to educate your children.

Jodi started her journey with TOS in April 2016 and serves as the Operations Manager. She and her husband, Duane, have been married over 30 years and have spent over 20 years in the ministry. Along with being a pastor’s wife, she homeschooled her 3 (now grown) sons for 18 years and also taught in the private and public-school settings. Jodi enjoys teaching, playing the piano, and making cards. Her heart’s desire is to serve others and use her gifts to glorify the Lord.