Creative Ideas??

Cheryl - posted on 08/22/2009

We have been homeschooling for 11 years and are expecting baby #10 any day now. We try to do Unit Studies as much as possible to keep the family learning TOGETHER. Of course we have math and language arts, but the rest can be incorporated into the unit study. Some fun things we've done: study about a foreign country (what items are made/invented there, foods they eat, music they listen to...) Once we did a study on China. The children discovered some things unique to China (panda bears, yo-yos, etc.) They cut out or drew pictures of these items and we hung them on the wall. We also made Chinese kites. The children poured over Chinese cookbooks from the library and everyone had a particular dish they were responsible to make. The day of our celebration, we had authentic Chinese food, eaten with chopsticks of course, with our Chinese kites and other decor on the walls, and listened to Chinese music while we ate. Also, we enjoy memorizing Scripture or poetry and having "recitation night". Sometimes we'll turn what we're learning into a "minit book" (Dinah Zikes has some great books on this). We try to gear learning toward their interests as well. We have two boys, ages 6 and 8 who really enjoy learning about the Civil War. We go to reenactments, have blue/gray army men, own many books on the Civil War, and have seen Gettysburg many times. This year we are doing the Little House Primer Unit Study, which includes some creative ideas for projects. When we are finished with this study, we plan to go to Mansfield Missouri where Laura Ingalls wrote the Little House series. There is a wonderful museum there that houses all the artifacts discussed in the book (such as Pa's fiddle, Ma's china doll...).

Jennifer - posted on 01/17/2009

Those are some great ideas, I have to think about what I want to do! Thanks!

Mandy - posted on 01/17/2009

I run into this problem too. I have a 3rd grader. He loves math but as for everything else ugh. One thing I like to do when possible is create a board game. I just use scraps of paper to make a board kinda like candy land. Then I make cards that match the colors of squares and put questions from the curriculum on them. We use a die and play just like candyland. My son loves it when I do this. Also you could do an insetive jar or chart. For practicing tests you can get some of their favorite candy. When they answer a question right they get a mark on the chart or a marble in the jar. When they reach the insentive spot they get the candy. Hope this helps some. I'm looking forward to hearing some other ideas too.