My biggest scariest thoughts when deciding to homeschool our daughter was "What about High School?" Surely I couldn't teach her all the electives at home ???
Well the more I researched myself and found people in the area that have already done it, watched several workshops, asked unlimited questions I realised that is the answer!!!
Inquiry Based Learning!!!
That is exactly what I did to find out about "How to Homeschool my Teen" and that is how we teach them.
To Open the subject, Immerse them in the subject, let them explore the topic, Identify what is important then gather the information to Create and Share a Presentation on what you have learned. After that we can evaluate what we learnt and then Find the next subject
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What is Unit style?
Unit style learning is choosing a Topic and integrating all our multiple areas and subjects to master the topic. Diving deep and wide!
How to get started with unit style
To get started is as simple as reading a book! Yes a book, I love books and there are books on every subject you could imagine and what a wonderful way to Open the curiosity of a child, no matter the age. I love picture books, information books,
Living Books and Fiction books.
OOOOh seriously there is just too many books and not enough time!!!
Tips for Success in Unit style learning
Choose your Theme/Topic
Consider your academic Goals for the Unit
Search for Books
Find videos
Choose Craft, Art or Games
Research outings, excursions or day trips
Consider Science experiments
Fill out a project planner
Create a schedule
Add to weekly Plan
Want a quick and easy planner to get started?
Want access to our Resource Library for Free Printables?? Click here for access
Our Project Planner is a simple planner to get you started.
Want access to our Resource Library for Free Printables?? Click here for access
Common Questions/FAQ About Homeschooling
What are the different homeschooling styles?
There are a lot of different styles of homeschooling and every homeschooler decides to homeschool for their own reasons. The first mainly being the learning style of the child. This is to me the first thing you need to uncover before even thinking about what style would suit your child. Some of the styles include Traditional homeschooling, Unschooling, World schooling, Eclectic Homeschooling, Classical, Montessori, Unit Style, Waldorf/Steiner, Charlotte Mason, Project based or distance ed.
HOW long should a unit last?
This is a bit like the old saying how long is a piece of string! The beauty with any homeschool curriculum is you can dive deeper and wider and keep learning for as long as your child is interested because you will never ever know all there is to know on a Topic. We want to encourage our kids to be life Long Learners. Teach them how to learn not what to learn.
So in answer to that question you can take as long as you like. A small unit could take an hour or spread over a week, you could go deeper over a Term or travel around Australia ALL Year! For this one I would love to head off in my caravan and see you this time next year. Oh well we can all dream.
What are some good homeschooling programs?
There are some awesome Programs out there and that is how I started. We started with Traditional and we soon found out that this is the reason that my daughters anxiety was at a high, so we unschooled for a little while to get her anxiety under control and then I found a curriculum, a Charlotte Mason curriculum and loved it! The only issue was my daughter was not as fond of it as I was, she loved the living books and the copywork really helped get us back on track. I then went on a search and found Unit style. We both feel in love. Me with the concept of bringing all subjects and connecting as one and my daughter to able to dive deep on her interests and passions.
How do I make sure I cover everything?
Coming from the school system and being so curriculum driven this was the scariest for me. So many boxes to be ticked, yet that is what I disliked about the system, see it tick it doesn't really matter how much they learned, understood, retained or Mastered. I didn't want her to just be the best at memorizing for the test, I wanted her to master the concepts and really love to learn.
The best thing about Unit style you can incorporate so many subjects into one. Let's take cooking a cake - English to read the recipe, Comprehension to understand the recipe, Maths to measure the ingredients, Science when we mix dry and wet, History or geography from where the recipe came from and let's not forget the decorating and taking a photo at the end there's the Art component!!! Now seriously did you think cooking a cake could cover so many things, just hold on we now have to eat it. Take it outside for a picnic - Nature study, add a poem to your picnic more English. Well I think you can see where I am going and I haven't even started on the soft skills like confidence, resilience, self esteem, healthy eating. OK OK I will stop now but I think you get how excited I am about Unit Studies.
How do I record it all?
Journals, Lap books or messy books what ever you want to call them, but we journal all the time. It may be a drawing or a photograph, a leaf, a story, a letter, 3 research facts whatever it may be we put it in our journal. This is a great way to keep our facts, memories and let's face it if it looks like Art we are winning. This may not suit your child but explore and find the way your child likes to present it. Excel, powerpoint, Stand up and tell the story. We love books so Journals are a winner!!!
The Last Thing You Need to Know about unit style
The most important thing that helped me homeschool my child and the biggest gift of learning I can offer is BOOKS....... Yes I love books, I love to read and this helps all subjects from English, grammar, Art, Science, History, Maths, Tech, commerce the list is endless.
I found my Dyslexic daughter struggled so hard to actually read each word she lost the love of the story, so by introducing Read Alouds - thanks to the awesome Sarah Mackenzie we have found the love of stories and lets face it Kids love to learn through stories!!
I remember a WISE WISE woman asked me when I first started homeschooling " In 5 years time what is it you want your daughter to tell a stranger was the best part of her schooling?"
My answer was to love learning and love Stories!!! I have succeeded in as little as 2 short years and our journey as just begun, we will be life long learners and love books for life.
Now my question to you is
