I know this website you're on is for a photography business- I'm a family and business branding photographer in College Station, TX. However, I'm also a homeschooling mom of three! I currently homeschool my first grader & third grader.
Just to give you an idea of how we do things, we use The Good and The Beautiful (TGATB) curriculum for math for both kids & we fill in writing and language arts gaps year round with TGATB too. But my kids REALLY love the unit studies I create about subjects they're interested in!
I truly believe kids learn best through storytelling.
Stories catch their attention, their imagination, and their creativity in a special way. That's why a huge part of our homeschooling revolves around reading. I can share a ton of studies to back this up, but that's an easy search you can do on your own.
The way I encourage reading with my children is by finding a specific subject they're interested in & searching down amazing books on the subject. I look for living books over textbook-style books. After collecting a good set of books to efficiently cover a subject, I create lessons based off of each book.
I've done this for two years now. And I will tell you, it is very time consuming. I love it, so that helps with making the time I commit to it not feel like a chore. But not everyone loves to do all of those things, or many people just struggle to find the time. That's why I've decided to start creating lessons plans others can follow along as I make lesson plans for my own kids! If it helps anyone feel prepared and confident in teaching their little ones, then that's wonderful!
This first unit study I have decided to share is one based on the Ocean!
So, we usually kick off the school year/end the summer with a beach trip. I plan to start our schooling a little before that beach trip, so an ocean unit study just felt like the way to start. But honestly, my kids are very curious about the ocean and would have been excited to read these books and do the lessons just about any time of year. No beach trip required (although a quick Galveston visit after or during is sure to be a hit while doing a lesson plan like this).
So this blog post was created to not only share about the Ocean Unit Study packet, but I will also share all of the books that I selected for the Ocean Unit Study! The books we used really are all wonderful books. The books include incredible stories of determined people who achieved great feats for our oceans. Some of the books teach about different parts of our oceans, using creative imagery and captivating detail. There is also a mix of fun little stories that kids just enjoy, but still the books sneak in ways to naturally include science and literary learning along with the silly story.
You can find the unit study packet for purchase at my brand new etsy shop!
As I mentioned before, I created a lesson off of each of the included books. And just to give you more of an idea of what to expect from the lessons, here are criteria met through the lessons in this unit study:
Critical thinking & discussion of important themes in a text
Cause & effect
Problem solving (Identifying problems and finding solutions)
Learning about conservation & taking care of the world around us
Geography & using maps
Using a chart/table to compare and contrast attributes of different things
Prefixes/Suffixes
Parts of speech: Finding the verbs/adjectives
Finding patterns
Writing a paragraph (older children) or writing a sentence (younger children)
Learning about character traits (understanding characters in books)
Literal vs. figurative language
Main parts of a story: Who? What? When? Where?
The books you will need
Here is the list of needed books (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
Manfish, and Story of Jacques Cousteau: https://amzn.to/4cuvbMz
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish: https://amzn.to/4baEEHS
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist: https://amzn.to/3KTnW5d
Bloom https://amzn.to/3zbQT9L
Inky the Octopus: The Official Story of One Brave Octopus' Daring Escape: https://amzn.to/4bgASwo
One Tiny Turtle: https://amzn.to/45GM4l8
The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs: https://amzn.to/3XwaQ5j
In One Tidepool: https://amzn.to/4baWMRS
Over and Under the Waves: https://amzn.to/3VRDRXM
Sea Glass Summer: https://amzn.to/3xt7V2I
The activities and crafts in the unit study
There are also activities and crafts throughout the study! Children will draw and paint a tidepool, make ocean and sand slime, and create their own yarn octopus!
Here is the list of needed supplies (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
Sand Slime: Craft sand https://amzn.to/4beQAZ5 Baking soda Contact lens solution Clear liquid glue https://amzn.to/4cb57Xa Small seashells https://amzn.to/4eu9rCt
Ocean Water Slime: Shaving cream Blue food color Tiny sea creature toys https://amzn.to/3VSN0PX Ziploc bags to store slime
Tidepool craft: Watercolor Paint Kit & Paper https://amzn.to/3Xy6Fpt OR Construction paper https://amzn.to/4cetqmP Oil pastels https://amzn.to/4bgGzux OR ocean (pearl) crayons https://amzn.to/45EW3Hw
Sea glass pieces https://amzn.to/4eD2nmK
Yarn octopus: Yarn in 2 colors https://amzn.to/3XCCo9k Cotton balls or small styrofoam ball https://amzn.to/4exQ23t Hot glue gun https://amzn.to/4ewR9jL Googly eyes https://amzn.to/4bjlxvf
I hope this is helpful for those of you that plan to or have already purchased the Ocean Unity Study, or for those of you just browsing out of curiosity!
Can't wait to share more homeschooling fun with you guys!
Shelbi
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