Welcoming Unit Studies

The past couple of months have been a doozy when it has come to homeschooling. And life in general.

Special needs parenting through the teenage years is no joke.

I have been muddling through all of this so much and it has been so difficult to navigate through all of it.

One of the things that has been obvious is that Calvin has not enjoyed school the past couple of months. We’ve been struggling with negative attitudes (everyones!) on top of our amount of learning that we were getting done.

I took a step back and I am so thankful for the wisdom that this journey has afforded me. When I was a new homeschooling mama I would have been so frustrated, trying to figure out why what I was doing wasn’t working.

I now know though that when something isn’t working it is because it isn’t a good fit with Cal. I’ve come to recognize this not as being defiant or stubborn but rather away from what his brain is needing.

So I decided to try unit studies again.

If you’re new to homeschooling you might be wondering what all unit studies entail? Well for us we simply pick something that has interested Cal and we learn about it. I gather as many materials as I can to try to make learning fun. We read books together, art projects, crafts, write stories or discover facts, and really fall back in love with learning by learning something we love.

Sometimes unit studies are broad and cover things like cooking and math, other times they are just a general theme and we continue on with our regular math and without the cooking projects. Basically it’s all about what I can find, where we are, and what works for us.

In case you need some inspiration, here are some unit studies that we have done this year, the previous years, or are planning to do:

Civil War

World War II at Home

Cactus

Dinosaurs

Rainbows

Spring

Penguins

Weather

Tornadoes

Photography

Math

Noodles

Doughnuts

Those are just some ideas to get you started. Even if your kiddos asks you something like “why do we get brain freezes” that could inspire you to study how water freezes, cold weather, the brain, whatever! So many possibilities!

I hope this gives you some ideas and some insight into what we’ve been doing! Never ever give up on your kiddos! There are so many techniques, and learning styles that can be incoportated into your day that you’re bound to find something that works. And remember….their learning style can be ever evolving! Sometimes for Cal we use unit studies and sometimes we use things like classical studies…it’s all about what Cal is going through and what he is capable of at the time. And celebrating that!

Can’t wait to share with you what we’ve been learning!