Planning!

I am so excited!  Last year I finally waded into the waters of Unit Studies.  I walked in carefully using a wonderful "beginner" program called "Learning Adventures."  This has been a great program for us as it has laid out very clearly our daily activities.  It is so detailed that I could just read from Dorian's notes if I wish (and on the days that I'm experiencing fried-brain, that is exactly what I do.)  However, now that I have gotten my feet wet and I see how to do a unit study, I am ready to take the plunge into developing my own unit study for next year!

I have been very happy with Learning Adventures, but so far, the author has not had the opportunity to continue the program through the Civil War - a subject in which my children are extremely interested.  I am also not completely satisfied with the grammar section of the study.  Therefore, I have done some searching.

My cousin's wife introduced us to Evan-Moor's History Pockets this year and has allowed us to borrow 3 of her books.  If you have never used these, they can be found here.  They are filled with information and lots of fun and EASY projects for the kids to really comprehend what they are learning.  I have supplemented  our study of the colonization of America with these pockets.  The book gives some starter information about the topic and it would be so easy to use that info as springboard into finding other books to dig deeper. 

As I was preparing some more pockets for my children to do in the next couple of days, I noticed on the back of the book that Evan-Moor also offers Literature Pockets.  I hurried to the computer, went to the Evan-Moor site and I have found a pluthera of educational supplies that will make it easy for me to create a customized curriculum for next year.  Each of my subjects may or may not relate to one another, but each subject will be a fun, hands-on, and educational unit. 

If you are looking for something more interesting to do with your students next year instead of the same ole workbooks, I highly recommend this site.  I understand that the information comes from a secular and evolutional world view, however, I see that as a teaching opportunity in itself.  I plan on using their "Daily Science" books, yet when we are confronted evolution, we will see what their belief is and search out and contrast the Creationist view. 

I am so excited about this new venture next year and the fact that I have months to plan for it!

First Week - Done!

Ok - so it's been a couple of months since I've posted. But, after all, it's summer and this is a homeschool blog.

I had every intention of schooling through the summer to prevent boredom and to finish up what we didn't finish during the school year. However, by mid-July I surrendered. It was a losing battle. The kids are older which means we are a lot busier and going more places. This provides less opportunity for boredom (and less opportunity for me to get any real projects completed).

However, we just completed our first week of school today!! Most importantly, it was incredibly successful! I was able to accomplish most everything I had planned. We began last Friday so we all could get a taste of our new schedule without feeling overwhelmed. After a nice weekend, we did school on Monday, took Tuesday off to go to a friend's (planned months ahead of time) and then did school yesterday and today. As my niece and nephew are coming tomorrow, we doubled up on our work today.

The older kids are studying the Age of Exploration. We are reading through an antique textbook - Explorers and Founders of America (written 1907 - our copy was printed in 1929) - which has made Columbus, De Leon, De Soto, and Vespuci come alive. I love old history books as they tend to stay closer to the truth than modern-day books. Even some of the Christian books tend to slant history a bit more conservative than it actually was. We are also enjoying a mini-study on oceans for our science.

The younger ones are doing Five in a Row this year - Volume 1. Madeline was the book of the week. We also did a little fish project to kind of tie in with the older kids oceanography. Lots of fun. And, even though the craft was simple, it made me look like a fun mom - always a bonus! We are reading The Light and the Glory for children in history this year. I like the style of writing, but I've never been to keen on the slant. It may sound odd, but, as I mentioned earlier, it has a very Christian slant to the degree of changing facts, I believe. I am not sure if Christopher Columbus really came here to spread the gospel - any thoughts on that? Everyone in the book tends to either fight with pride and/or want to spread the gospel to the natives. The next chapter deals with the Jesuit priests who come to bring salvation to the Indians. Not to offend any of my readers, but this book uses this in a positive light and equates them with born again Christians. This makes my job a little more interesting. However, I'd rather have a book add more Christianity to history than to scorn it or take it completely out. Anyone know of an interesting book for kids that has the balanced truth?

Our schedule seems to be working wonderfully. I teach the younger children in the morning while the older kids do their independent work. Then, after lunch, I sit with the older kids doing our read-aloud, history, science, and English. This has only taken an hour, so far, each day, but there will be many days that it will take 2 hours. Our schedule looks like this:

8:30 - individual Bible reading time (I read w/ the younger children)
9:00 - 11:00 - I teach the younger ones - Five in a Row, history/science, spelling, math, penmanship, reading. The older children do their math, any english and spelling assignments, and practice their instruments. If they finish with extra time, they keep Zane occupied.

11:00 - 12:00 - finish up morning assignments, Bible memorization (yet to start), getting ready to make lunch

12:00 - 1:00 - lunch/free time

1:00 - 3:00 - younger children finish any independent work; little ones go down for naps; I do the "together-schoo" with the older children.

3:00 - 4:00 - my favorite addition to this schedule - QUIET TIME FOR MOMMY!!!!! The children go outside or play QUIETLY in the house while mommy goes upstairs to read or nap. This is a great refresher for the evening!

4:00 - 5:00 - dinner prep with dinner @ 5:00

Notice my schedule has become more flexible - it is no longer minute by minute. We often finish school for the younger ones after 11:00 and the older ones, like I mentioned, are done before 3:00. I love the flexibility our school is allowing us - so much less stress for us all!

Have any of you begun school, yet? I would love to hear how it's going or when you plan to begin. Comment away!:)

Just a Bit of Reading

William Shakespeare and Martin Luther. Two very different men with two very different purposes in life. I've introduced both of them to my children in our study of the Renaissance & Reformation. They are our read-alouds for this unit.

Leonardo DiVinci, John Bunyan, and Johann Gutenburg - these are the men my children are reading about on their own during this unit. Each is reading a different biography and they will inform the rest of us on their character in a report they will read during our end of unit celebration.

Have I ever mention how much I love unit studies?!:)

Switzerland

We're studying the Renaissance and are getting a bit of a European tour in the process. We are loving it - especially trying some of the yummy foods!

Today, we stopped over in Switzerland. I never knew that Fondu originated in that European country. The word fondu apparently comes from a French verb meaning "to melt." Usually, as they are a big dairy country, cheese is the melted delicacy of choice. However, they are known for another favorite food group...

CHOCOLATE!!!

So, guess what our afternoon project was. Oh yeah!!! Chocolate/peanut butter fondu in which we dipped and smothered strawberries, bananas, and marshmallows.

Can you say "OUTSTANDING"?!!!




The best part - the kids won't be hungry for supper meaning I can get away with serving left-overs!:)

Oh - in case you want the recipe:

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. peanut butter

Mix chocoate, sugar, and milk and microwave until chocolate melts (watch carefully so chocolate doesn't burn). Add the peanut butter and blend. Pour into fondu pot. Skewer fruits, etc., dip, and enjoy!!

Next stop - France. I see dessert crepes in the menu!

A Quick Summary of the Last Couple of Months!

It's been forever!! No we haven't decided to send our kids to public school. Or private, for that matter. Though, we've thought about it at times.:)

We've just been crazy busy. And having fun.

We finished Rome ages ago and completed the Middle Ages a couple of weeks ago. LOVED our end of unit feast. We ate roast chicken, rolls, salad with herbs and fruit tarts. YUM!! We were entertained by minstrels, jesters, a couple of miracle plays, and the readings of poems and essays done throughout the unit.

Can I just say how I LOVE my husband for his participation in our craziness? These feasts are a ton of work, but we both agreed that our kids learn so much from the "doing" part of school. Eric is a huge encourager and it helps the children look forward to surprising daddy with all of our festivities.

We are now studying The Renaissance & the Reformation. I am looking forward to giving my children a closer look at some of the true heroes of the faith. We are studying astronomy for science and we are all looking forward to a visit to the planetarium & science museum in a couple of weeks.

The food is awesome in this unit. We learned about Italy last week and enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal. Not to mention we discussed that sardines were first caught off the coast of Sardinia - so, of course we had a bit of a treat that day as we delved into a can of sardines. YUM! (well, the kids loved it, anyway). That same day, we discussed the Milky Way in science. What better way to make it memorable than by washing those sardines down with Milky Way bars?

Today, we studied Germany. Dinner was bratwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes, salad, and a delicious Black Forest Cake for dessert. Who knew that Germany has the Black Forest region which is known for its cherries? I love that I am learning right along with my kids!

On top of all this fun school at home, we have been busy with our homeschool co-op. This was our first year and we've loved it! Our last day of classes is this Thursday and it will be followed by a curriculum fair and a presentation about our co-op. We are very much looking forward to that.

I have also been taking kids to the library for book discussion groups 3 Thursdays/month. The girls go to an American Girls group while Mike, Katrina, and Seth go to groups appropriate for their age groups. We have loved being a part of these groups.

FYI - I do preview the books my kids are assigned before they read. This month, I have had to turn down 2 of the books. The wonderful thing is, the kids are still allowed to take part in the group. Their part of the discussion is just why they didn't read the book. I hope they don't just say, "because my mom wouldn't let me." They have an opportunity to be a witness. Please pray that they will politely tell the truth with conviction. What a great education!

It is late and this mom has much more to do. So glad to stopped by. I hope to talk with you again real soon!

Volcano Dessert!

Yes, we're still learning about Rome - almost finished, actually. It has been quite interesting seeing how the Roman Empire parallels the history of the United States.

But, this post is not meant to make you lose your appetite, but whet it!

Our science for this unit has been geology - focusing on the 3 categories of rocks and then on to earthquakes and volcanoes. What's the connection to Rome? The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 occurred during the Roman empire in Pompeii.

Of course, we did the age-old volcano eruption using baking soda and vinegar, but my favorite project is our volcano sundae! Be warned - the picture doesn't do it justice!

I'm telling you, one of the best things of Learning Adventures are the awesome recipes we get to try! This Volcano is made with 1/2 gallon vanilla ice-cream, 1 C. peanut butter, 1 C. chocolate chips. You mix in your mixer and then pour it into a graham cracker pie crust. As the ice cream is softened, you mold it into a volcanic shape (I had my children do this all by themselves - hence, the charming imperfection). After you finish sculpting, put it in the freezer for a couple of hours or until dinner. Then, take it out, form a crater in the top and pour hot fudge into the crater, until the "lava" begins to flow down the mountain. A mixture of powdered sugar & chocolate milk powder dusted over it makes the appearance of ash! Add a few volcanic bombs (chocolate chips) and dig in!!! YUM!!!

WARNING: By the time you finish this delicious dessert, your stomach will feel like it's about to erupt!:)

You can make this dessert without creating the volcanic shape, etc - just in pie form. This way, your guests won't think you've totally lost your mind!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our science class and wishing you all a wonderful school day!

Olympic Festivities

This was the day of our Ancient Greek Finale! What a wonderful few weeks it has been studying Greek culture, myths, history, people, along with the human body (for science). There is SO much more to learn in these areas - which is part of the beauty of unit studies. We walk away knowing so much more than we used to but realizing there is so much more knowledge to gain. We have just whet our children's appetites for more.

Today, the children held the Olympic Games at Mount Olympia. Well, the Mount looked much like our hay barn, but with imagination we were champions at the place of champions! I read through the names of the participants, the athletes repeated the Olympic pledge (they each wrote one and voted on the best pledge to repeat), and I began each event with the trumpet fanfare (otherwise known as the screeching of a recorder). Races were run, ropes were jumped and tugged, relays were...relayed. Fingers and feet were frozen, but all walked away winners.

The Olympic banquet consisted of Greek pizza (pitas topped with ricotta & feta cheeses, spinach, tomatoes, & olives), Greek tortellini salad (tortellini marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, & salt and mixed with fresh spinach, red onion, and feta cheese), and, for dessert, Greek lemon cake. A very different meal, but one that most of us enjoyed. Best of all, it was a huge success with my husband!

Once we cleaned up from the banquet, the children presented the play they wrote together based on the fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." It was quite good and it's always fun to see them successfully work together. I never enjoyed doing skits or family plays, but our children seem to live for it!

Then came the awards ceremony. I presented the medals for each race, always beginning with the bronze and ending with the gold. Of course, the gold medalist stood on a stool between the other two medal winners.

We then had a group recitation of Psalm 139:1-15. There are 24 verses in the chapter, but we had a rough time with a couple different verses. It is our goal to have the entire chapter memorized soon.

We topped the evening off with a reading that concluded Book 3 of Mary Pope Osborne's "Tales From the Okyssey" entitled "Sirens and Sea Monsters." This is an abridged version of Homer's Illiad & Odyssey written for children. It has been a great evening read aloud for the family and we will begin book 4 as soon as we can check it out of our library!

I am actually sad to say good-bye to the ancient civilization of Greece, but I anticipate a great adventure beginning next week in Ancient Rome!

Good-bye, Egypt! Hello, Greece!

Well, we have officially completed our study of Ancient Egypt. I must admit, though I was excited about beginning unit studies, I was looking forward to just getting through this topic so I could get on to one that really interests me. Ancient Egypt just didn't sound very appealing to me. You know, eat the spinach so you can have cake? I'm amazed at how much I did enjoy the "spinach!" Not only did my children learn much from our study of Egypt and deserts but I did, as well!

We concluded our travels in Ancient Egypt with a Passover meal. We had read the Exodus story and learned the history of the Passover and the meanings of the various foods and traditions of the Seder table. So, if you had come to our home on Friday night, you would have observed our children searching for the 10 pieces of leaven left throughout the house. Once found, each child threw their leaven (bread) into the fire. The next night, we prepared a Seder plate including 3 pieces of Matzo (representing the fact the Jews left Egypt before their bread was able to rise), onion (bitter herb - representing the bitterness of slavery), an egg & parsley (representing new life that was begun once the Jews left Egypt), and a bowl of salt-water (representing the tears shed by the Jews during their slavery). In the middle of the table was "Elijah's Goblet" - a goblet filled with grape juice waiting for Elijah to enter our open door (which remained open throughout our meal) and announce the coming of Messiah and drink the juice waiting for him. The juice (wine) represents the joy of the Hebrew's freedom.

Eric took one piece of Matzo and broke it in half. He wrapped half of it in a napkin symbolizing the bread packed in the Jews' knapsacks during their flight. Anna asked him questions concerning what we were doing - in the tradition of the youngest child asking the questions of their father so that they may learn of their heritage and how God saved their people. We then named each of the ten plagues taking a sip of juice after each one was mentioned. Eric left the table for the ceremonial washing of hands and then hid a piece of Matzo for the children to find after dinner. When he came back, he broke matzo and gave each family member a bit of it to eat.

Once the ceremony was finished, we ate our dinner of Chicken & Matzo Ball Soup, Potato Latkes, Baked Asparagus, and Hard Boiled Egg. It really was a good meal. Before you begin to think that I must have over-done myself with grating potatoes and mixing matzo meal for the balls, think again. You'd be amazed at the convenient instant Passover foods you find at the local supermarket!

After dinner, the children presented the play Cassia and Anna wrote (for Language Arts) illustrating the story of Moses' birth through the time of his escape from Pharaoh who sought to have him killed for the murder of an Egyptian. It was quite good and the kids had a great time performing it.

What an incredible adventure Ancient Egypt was! I look forward to beginning our adventure in Ancient Greece tomorrow. I've always been fascinated with mythology, the Greek way of life, and their architecture. On top of that, the science study for this unit is one of my favorite topics - the human body! We are going to have such a great time with this. Will 30 days be enough? Obviously not. But that's what is great about these unit studies - it wets the children's appetites and encourages them to continue learning even more long after the study is "finished."

Good-bye, Egypt. I'll actually miss you. Hello, Ancient Greece! Can't wait to get started!!!

As we are studying Ancient Egypt, I wanted to read the children a biography of a missionary to this country. Obviously, there were none to Ancient Egypt (unless you count Moses), so I Googled "missionary to Egypt - biography" and came up with very little. In fact, the only name that was consistent in popping up was Lillian Trasher. As I couldn't find anything about her in our county library system, I went ahead a bought this biography from Amazon.com - a missionary biography is always a good investment.

I had never heard of this woman, but after reading about her, I wonder why I never have. Lillian Trasher was a remarkable woman of strength and faith. She cared for over 20,000 orphans in her lifetime. She had nearly 900 orphans in her home at one time. She cared for these orphans (as well as some widows) as a single woman throughout both World Wars and a cholera epidemic that ravaged the whole of Egypt. She and the children often lived day to day not knowing where the next meal was coming from. In my opinion, Lillian Trasher is the female equivalent to George Mueller in many aspects.

Everytime I would finish a chapter, the children would yell, "Read more! Read more!" The girls can frequently be found playing "orphanage" and whenever I would pick up the book to read in the evenings, the children would excitedly exclaim, "LILLIAN!!!!!" Definitely worth the $8.00 I spent for this book!

We finished "Lillian" last night. Today, I perused the orphanage's website with the children. It was so interesting to them to see the orphanage their new-found heroine began and that it is still taking in and raising children in Egypt. We also watched a short documentary about Miss Trasher which was filmed in the mid-1950's. How intrigued they were to actually see this woman and hear her speak!!

Whoever said nothing good came from the internet?

I believe the most profound statement came directly from one of Lillian's quotes that was at the end of this biography. When asked what was the greatest thing she ever did, Lillian answered, "I just stayed! I did not quit. I stayed with the work God gave me to do."

Oh, if each of us could just do what she did - stay with the work God gives us!

"Lillian Trasher...The Greatest Wonder in Egypt" - 189 pages that will stay with my children for the rest of their lives.

Ask Mr. Bear

If you don't already use Five in a Row, or even if you do, you must be sure to read "Ask Mr. Bear" to your little ones! I have been reading this classic to my 3, 4, and 6 year olds during the past few days and they are loving it just as much as their older brother did when he was their age.

The story is about a little boy named Dannywho is trying to find something to give his mother for her birthday. He sets out for ideas and asks each of the farm animals if they have something they could give for the occassion. The hen has an egg, the goose has feathers for a pillow, etc., but the boy's mother already has all these things. In the end, Mr. Bear whispers a great birthday gift idea into Danny's ear.

Anyway, you have to read the book. A large part of the fun comes AFTER you read. My children and I have re-enacted parts of the book a few times. For instance, the guessing session Danny has with his mother towards the end. Also, Danny hops, skips, gallops, etc., throughout the book and we have hopped, skipped, and galloped, throughout our house as well! Yesterday, we went in search of all the items suggested to Danny from the animals. That was huge fun. When it came to the milk and cheese, we had a little snack. Of course, we ended that session the same way we complete our reading of the book - with a great big birthday bear hug!!!!

Last night, as I read the book, I changed all the gift ideas from the animals. Seth and Gloria tried to "remind" me what the correct idea was as they giggled. I made a "mistake" at the end of the book and said that he gave his mother a birthday tickling which I proceeded to give to them. Through absolute fits of laughter, they were able to "correct" me again!

We have had so much fun with "Ask Mr. Bear"!

Our Journey from Textbook to Unit Study - Part II

For those of you who may not know what a Unit Study is, let me explain. Instead of having several different workbooks with different subjects and topics for each individual child to learn, a unit study will take one topic and use it to incorporate all the subjects for several different age ranges. For instance, if you were to do a study on the Civil War, your English would be to read a book such as "Across Five Aprils" and you would possible write a paper explaining the style in which the book is written. Spelling would consist of words used in articles about the war or from the Gettysburg address (which you may have your children memorize for Social Studies). You may study human anatomy or the development of modern day medicine in science. Most of the books you use would be found in the library. You would do various hands-on projects, such as, recreating a battle using civil war action figures or you would create a large map illustrating General Sherman's march, etc. Baking "hard-tack" (a soldier's food staple) would be a fun thing to do in the afternoon as well. The list goes on.

Unit Studies rarely contain Math, so you have to supplement that course with a textbook or something similar.

I've always been fascinated by the Unit Study concept. My hesitation came as a result of the overwhelming projects often suggested and the lack of pre-planned lessons from the companies offering such studies. I'm a person who can take a plan and get creative with it, but I need the blue-print to get me started.

Not to mention, getting 150 of my children's friends to re-create the First Battle of Manassess complete with large cardboard cannons and a tremendous amount of red dye (for blood, of course) was not something I was excited about doing with a bunch of pre-schoolers and nursing babies in the house!

However, with BJU's announcement of the coming cancellation of our satellite, I began to investigate Unit Studies. I was being pulled in several different directions as once helping various children in various subjects. The idea of teaching most or all of them at one time was beginning to sound very appealing.

So, I found "My Father's World," a great Unit Study which incorporates many Christian biographies as it covers an intense geographical study of the world. Most importantly, it offers a day to day lesson plan to guide me as I attempt to successfully teach my children.

One problem. No one I knew had ever used it. There was no way for me to get my hands on a copy to really look at it to see if it was right for our family. Three hundred dollars is a lot of money to spend on a curriculum sight unseen.

As I was calling and e-mailing various Unit Study moms, I talked to a friend from church. She did not use MFW, but had used a similar curriculum (meaning, it was laid out with a day-to-day plan).

Enter, Learning Adventures. I had not come across this curriculum in my research, but my friend had it on hand and was willing to let me take it home for perusal. I got myself to her house as quickly as I could. The first year is called "A World of Adventure" in which 180 days are spent studying Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and Reformation, and The Age of Exploration (all in 30-day increments).

As I looked through the massive 3-ring binder packed full of detailed plans, book lists, materials lists, etc., I became quite excited about the prospect of actually taking a completely different approach in our home-school. How could I wait a whole year to try it out? At the same time, we had spent quite a bit of money on a curriculum that we were only into 5 weeks of using.

I broached the subject with my husband.

"I feel bad about possibly dumping something we just spent a lot of money on."

"What? A thousand dollars?"

I must remind you - we're farmers. We're not exactly rolling in the dough. Dirt maybe, but not money!

He continued. "If it's not working and you find something better, go for it!"

Trust me, you don't have to tell me how blessed I am to have a husband like that!!!

So, the next day, I informed the children we were to embark on a trial week. I let them know we were going to put away all but the Math books and begin a new way of learning. So began our study of Ancient Egypt.

We're in our 3rd week and we haven't looked back. My children have frequently mentioned how much fun school is now. One even told me that she looks forward to school everyday! I just ordered my own copy of the study a few days ago.

We have made an easy model of the Nile River which has real grass growing on its banks. We made barley cakes which turned out to be quite good (a lot like pancakes) with butter and honey. Soon, we'll be creating friezes with plaster of paris.

We have covered the story of Joseph and explained the 5 parts of a plot line using this biblical story. We talked about characters, settings, and styles. My children learned about conflict in a story and we discussed the various conflicts found in the story of Joseph.

In science, we're studying deserts. We spent one evening teaching daddy about camels and the many interesting facts we had learned together. Even now, we have 2 jars in our green house filled with water - one with aluminum foil over it and one without. This is demonstrating how clouds keep moisture in the earth and without them (such as in the desert), water evaporates much quicker.

Our spelling words are words that we are finding in our study. The children also have begun a study of latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes to help learn the meanings of various words that have come from them.

Notebooking is another element that we have been able to naturally incorporate into our school. I have different papers with various borders for much of their work - many times they are able to draw a picture that goes with the assignment. They LOVE this part and it allows them to individualize their work.

The children and I are loving spending this time together. We don't spend all day in school, but we spend enough hours to know that they're getting effectively educated. We usually begin at 8:30 and they finish all of their work (including Math) around 1:30 or 2:00. But, they're not stressed out because we've had a lot of fun and variety throughout the day!

I could write so much more, but I will continue to share our days with you throughout the coming year. I am just so thrilled that education has become a JOY at our house.

Our Journey from Textbook to Unit Study - Part 1

Within the past two weeks, the face of our home-school has completely changed. Since our oldest (who is now in 6th grade) began school, we used textbook curricula. This was the best way for me to gage my children's rate of learning and it helped me to stay on track. Textbooks are helpful in keeping the school day organized and predictable.

We began our home-school with books mainly from Rod & Staff Publishers. A Mennonite-based publishing company, their textbooks were completely black & white, but were quite thorough. Some of the history had philosophies reflecting their beliefs, but instead of shielding my children from these, I took the opportunity to show them how others believed and why we believe what God says in His Word. After 3 years of Rod & Staff, my children were getting weary of the pages of rote math problems and having to copy 20 sentences out of their English texts to diagram every day. When you're experiencing burn out in the 3rd grade, it's a sign that things need to change.

Unfortunately, using just textbooks in several different grade levels I was pulled in several different directions at one time. When one child had a question while I was working with another, they had to wait. Inevitably, this would result in the waiting student going off to play or finding some sort of trouble to get into. Not to mention, I had 3 little ones in school, 2 toddlers that kept getting pushed to the side so I could help the students, and I was pregnant again. Whew! I'm getting tired reminiscing!

Halfway through Michael's 3rd grade year, we began to investigate DVD schooling from A Beka and Bob Jones. After much research, we decided that BJU's Home-Satellite program would be best for us. It required a bit more work on my husband's part (recording and burning dvds), but it would grab the interest of our children, they would have "real" teachers teaching them, and it would free up some of my time for other things - such as making sure our house didn't fall down, nursing a baby, and paying attention to our pre-schoolers.

For 2 school years, BJU HomeSat was a life-saver for our family. We knew exactly what our children were learning and they were enjoying most of their classes. As with most schools, you had some favorite teachers and some teachers who really seemed to have picked the wrong occupation. But, it worked for us while I was pregnant with another baby and nursing him.

We began this school year continuing with HomeSat. I now have 4 full-time students and one little guy in K4. Mike began doing the A.C.E. curriculum this year, for various reasons and it seemed to be working for him, though I felt a bit out of the loop with what was really going on. But, if it was working and he was giving me less trouble, I count it a success. My other 3 1/2 students were using BJU. Often, I would find myself pulled in 3 different directions looking for materials for this person's class, helping this one with their assignment, and re-teaching the other one their math lesson. On top of that, my bright fourth grade student was spending 7-8 hours on school work. Something is wrong when a student gets about 2 minutes of play outside and little time to practice her piano or send notes to a friend or someone who is ill.

About a week into the school year, we received a notice from BJU stating that they would be cancelling their satellite program at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. The program is no longer cost effective for them - in fact, the college has been subsidizing HomeSat for a couple of years.

We could go on and continue recording classes for future use - until they update the books and the classes and work are not longer coinciding. But, we thought that this was a good time to see what else was out there.

So, the hunt began and I was led to something I was always interested in, but somewhat afraid of...

The Unit Study.