Archives for October 2017

We love unit studies in our homeschool! Whether it’s studying about our state, learning about the weather, or growing our knowledge of ancient Greece, our favorite homeschool moments have been through the unit study activities that make our days fun!

We have done everything from a Greek lunch to visiting Mt. Vernon after a study of George Washington, and the memories we’ve made have helped the ideas and concepts we are learning about stick for a lifetime. When it comes to planning a unit study, use our list of activity ideas to make planning simple. Your homeschool days will be much more interesting for everyone!

Unit Study Activities for Notebooking:

1. Create a timeline of events.
2. Write a description of a moment in time in your study, then draw that moment.
3. Write about what it would be like to live in the moment in time you’re studying.
4. Write about what life would be like if you were the animal, machine, or element you’re studying.
5. Create a newspaper front page all about your subject.

A Timeline of United States History: A Visual History of the USA for Students.

Unit Study Activities Involving Food:

1. Cook a dinner typical to the point in time you’re studying.
2. Visit a restaurant and eat a meal common to the country you’re studying.
3. Create a model of your animal or concept out of Jell-o and other foods.
4. Find a historic recipe and work as a family to re-create it.
5. Studying the Old West or a time of war? Cook an outdoor meal people of your target time would eat.

Unit Study Activities to Build:

1. Build a LEGO Creation related to your studies.
2. Use marshmallows and toothpicks to build a model of a place you’re studying.
3. Create buildings, animals, or any other related objects out of play dough.
4. Build a tent or fort in the living room to act out parts of the history you’re learning about.
5. Build replicas of historic or scientific items out of recyclable materials.

Unit Study Activities to do Outside:

1. Create a science experiment related to a scientific concept you’re studying.
2. Stage a battle related to a war or time period your family is learning about.
3. Journal related nature concepts through observation.
4. Stage a scene from a time period and act as the people in that point of history.
5. Bring an art unit outside to paint replica paintings or draw chalk copies of the originals.
6. Draw creatures, buildings, or other related items to scale on your driveway or street for a new perspective on your studies.

Unit Study Activities Involving Projects:

1. Create a salt map of a location, country, or time period.
2. Design a tri-fold display discussing a person, place, or concept.
3. Prepare a presentation describing the concept you’re learning about. Grandparents, friends, or other family members can be your audience.
4. Create small mini-books about people or animals to build a larger book about a subject.
5. Create a magazine detailing different aspects of the subject you’re learning about. This would be a great project for a family to work through when studying a subject together.

Grab your subscriber bonus, the printable Relaxed Unit Study Planner!

Learn more about unit studies with TCHSL:

5 Ways to Make Unit Studies Work for Your Family – Everyone likes the idea of adding unit studies to their homeschool days, but how do you make them work for your lifestyle. We have 5 different ways to make homeschool unit studies work for your family.

How to Plan a Unit Study in Less Than 10 Minutes – Unit studies are a great way to add to your homeschool learning and fun. Use this guide to make it super easy to plan a unit study for your family to enjoy.

Over the past several decades, homeschoolers have come to the realization that learning is not confined to one subject at a time. You can grow math skills while discussing geography, you can grow science skills during a reading lesson, and much more. The rest of the educational world is finally catching up with us! STEM learning is an incredibly popular buzzword in the educational sector these days, but what does it really mean and what does that have to do with your homeschool?

STEM stands for the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The concept behind STEM learning is to integrate the subjects together into one lesson so children see the potential beyond one-sided learning in a single subject lesson.

Sometimes the Acronym STEAM is also used. STEAM learning adds Art into the mix and is an attempt to create a well rounded student.

What does that mean for homeschoolers? Well, most of us are already using some form of this in our homeschool. It’s simply a part of life for us! We naturally extend learning and incorporate ideas and concepts across different subjects.

STEM Learning is something that comes naturally to us as homeschoolers, and it’s something our kids will love. We have 101 more reasons to keep using STEM Learning in your homeschool, or to make it a bigger priority in your lesson plans!

It’s important to use STEM Learning because:

1. Jobs involving both science and technology will dominate the job market for our children
2. Math is the universal language and our kids need to know how to put it to use
3. Technology gives us more free time when we know how to use it well
4. Technology gives us information with the click of a button, but our kids need to understand why that happens
5. Math teaches rational thinking and using STEM helps kids apply those skills
6. Without applied math there would be no buildings
7. STEM gives us inventions, like the ones in this book:

8. STEM jobs pay really well
9. You can find a STEM job in any industry, and it’s never too soon to be thinking about your child’s future career!
This book gives you a great starting point for your discussion:

10. STEM occupations are growing at a greater percentage that others
11. STEM jobs have the power to change the world
12. Engineering designs things that really matter, like 100 mile long bridges and buildings taller than 1,000 feet
13. We can use engineering to build better roads and bridges and connect people around the world
14. STEM teaches us that there is a valid explanation for almost everything
15. Science helps us understand the weather and helps us prepare before natural disasters
16. Math never changes, and a strong foundation in math is essential for a strong future

17. Without math a quilt would be nothing more than random pieces of fabric
18. Science gives us the diagnoses and medicine to cure diseases
19. Using math in daily life helps us calculate risk, successes, and failures
20. Failed experiments can often lead to marvelous products

21. Math teaches you how not to be manipulated by facts
22. Science doesn’t make assumptions, only conclusions
23. Madame Curie pioneered radioactive research thanks to her love of physics

24. The entire universe is modeled by math
25. Math is not subjective and using the framework of math for experimentation shows a child what can be possible
26. STEM investigation helps people to see and discover possibilities
27. Science sent humans to the moon

28. Technology is the way to progress
29. Technology can instantly spread knowledge, news, and ideas
30. Because of Benjamin’s Franklin’s love of science, we have bifocal eyeglasses
31.Technology makes life more efficient
32. Math doesn’t lie
33. Science helps to feed the hungry
34. STEM gives us robotics that can do the work no human can
35. Science has shown us what is at the bottom of the oceans
36. Science has explained the Northern Lights

37. Isaac Newton started a scientific revolution when he started to experiment
38. Through STEM Leonardo da Vinci’s designed some of the greatest technological designs hundreds of years before they could be manufactured

39. STEM investigation leads the way to biomedical discovery
40. STEM experimentation helped George Washington Carver develop over 300 uses for peanuts
41. What would homeschooling be without the invention of the printing press?
42. We can’t have music without math working for us

STEM Learning helps your kids grow because:

43. STEM learning, experimentation, and investigation creates critical thinkers
44. Science is everywhere and STEM learning helps them understand the world around them
45. Technology helps us keep in touch with family and friends around the world
46. Technology makes the world smaller and other cultures more relatable, especially when Mom teaches kids in China on a daily basis
47. Learning programming and coding will lay a strong foundation for future tech development
48. STEM tells us how accurate movies and stories are
49. STEM helps us explain unusual phenomena
50. STEM can turn kids into inventors

51. STEM learning will grow a child’s natural curiosity
52. STEM will always leave you challenged
53. STEM is perfect for kids always asking “why?”
54. STEM is perfect for hands-on learners, especially when you’re doing fun and colorful activities like these.
55. STEM learning teaches a child to make mistakes and get messy, not to be fearful of failure
56. STEM experimentation creates children who are innovators
57. Math teaches us that every problem has a solution
58. Math is the poetry of logical ideas, and strengthening a child’s logical reasoning helps them grow throughout life

59. Math shows us there are different ways to reach the right answer
60. Math gives us guidelines to create beautiful art
61. Math teaches us how to know whether a sale is worth it
62. Solving problems is very satisfying and grows a child’s self confidence

63. Math challenges the mind
64. Technology places thousands of books immediately at our fingertips
65. Technology allows us to take courses online
66. Technology saves us time with online shopping, like when we shop for cool STEM books!
67. Science teaches us to love and care for nature
68. Science teaches us about the complexity of life and DNA
69. Math puzzles can sharpen your brain

70. STEM helps students develop critical thinking skills
71. STEM helps to develop logic and reasoning skills

STEM Learning is fun because:

72. STEM learning and thinking leads to science fiction movies and novels
73. STEM helps us imagine a fun or interesting futuristic world, like that of The Incredibles.


74. STEM experimentation is perfect for the kids who love to ask “what if?” because it gives them the ability to figure out a problem
75. STEM helps us explain why some foods are delicious
76. STEM helps us figure out the science of Star Trek
77. STEM helps us figure out the science of Star Wars


78. Geeks are cool
79. STEM will always give you that “wow!” factor that makes learning fun
80. Engineering gives us fun things like roller coasters
81. Math applied in the kitchen helps us double or divide recipes
82. The Basher Science books make STEM delightfully silly and fun


83. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fascination with forensic science gave us Sherlock Holmes
84. The Way Things Work Series is full of the inner workings of everything from simple levers to complicated Wi-Fi


85. Science gives us new and improved products, like the technology we use every day
86. Without technology we wouldn’t have bloggers, who give us everything from cool experiments to yummy recipes
87. Technology allows us to share creations around the planet
88. Without STEM we wouldn’t have the Mythbusters

89. God’s beauty in nature can be seen through a microscope

90. The glory of the universe can be seen through a telescope

91. STEM learning allows schools and co-ops to host science fairs and create more learning opportunities
92. STEM allows schools and co-ops to host robot battles
93. STEM is the reason for FLL (First LEGO League)
94. The FLL STEM program is about more than just robots, it inspires kids to do scientific research willingly

95. The TV show How Did They Make That? will keep your family engaged for hours
96. Programming STEM Robots is COOL
97. Exploring and calculating Pi can be lots of fun!
98. Kids can discover the awesome-ness of a rhombicosidodecahedron
99. First Tech Challenge (FTC) and First Robotic Competition (FRC) are Way Cool
100. STEM Toys and experiments give kids ways kids explore ideas in a hands-on way
101. A programmer’s love of engineering gave us the amazing game of Minecraft
Bonus:  STEM gave us the most innovative toy ever – LEGO® Bricks – Visit this link for an entire year of learning through LEGO® bricks!

Visit this TCHSL Pinterest Board for STEM Learning Activities

This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s 101 Reasons…. Link Up. Click on the photo below to find more reasons to enjoy your homeschool journey! (Available February 12, 2018)