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FREE Unit Study e-Newsletter, August 2006
In This Issue A Word from Your Editor Unit Study: They Followed the Call by Debbie Klinect Guest Article: Our Journey with Unit Studies by Debbie Klinect Customer Testimonial:     "I love your magazine and I'm not new to homeschooling - been homeschooling for 17      years!" -- Gina Snyder from OK on our Winter 2006 Issue
A Word from Your Editor: You know what I've been intrigued by lately? Lapbooking. I'm already a scrapbooker, so this style of teaching with my children is appealing to me. One only has to listen to Cindy Rushton at a homeschool conference to get the urge to make a notebook/lapbook right then and there! I found another lapbooking resource recently. Cyndi Kinney over at www.knowledgeboxcentral.com has a business offering kits for lapbooking on her website. Each quarter she offers a free project. Here's the latest!! Guess what our family is going to study for science next month? Yep, you got it-- the heart! Check it out! And guess what? Cindy Rushton, notebooking guru extraordinaire, interviewed Cyndi Kinney recently. Listen Here! In addition to scrapbooking, one of my other loves is reading biographies. Debbie Klinect gives us a mini-study of one of the greatest women missionaries, Gladys Aylward. Our whole family has watched the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which was based on a book written about her life. But of course you must read the biography first! Debbie also shares with us her journey of homeschooling and unit studies. You will be encouraged and inspired as you read her story. She's one creative gal! Well, folks, that's all I have this month. Sorry I couldn't bore you with another story of "Julie's Bike Riding Adventures." But stay tuned next time ... you never know what I might be cookin' up! Blessings! Julie Nott, Editor www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/Julie www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/FreeStuffForHomeschoolers They Followed The Call Unit Study   By Debbie Klinect Gladys Aylward and the Flight of the Fugitives "Here is my Bible. Here is all the money I have. Here is me. Find some way to use me, God!" --Gladys Aylward Key Activity   HI 1. Go to www.gospelcom.net and read the biography of Gladys Aylward.   TL 2. Put Gladys on your timeline.   TL 3. Look up the year 1920 in The Timetables of History. See what else was happening in the world at that time. Add this information to your timeline.   Geo 4. Go to www.enchantedlearning.com. Print off worksheets for China.   SS 5. Fill in Country worksheet.   CO 6. Collect recipes from Cooking the Chinese Way.   CO 7. Make some Chinese dishes. Eat with chopsticks.   LA 8. Be a food critic. Fill in the Food Critic sheet.   RE 9. Read Flight of the Fugitives by Dave and Neta Jackson.   MS 10. On a map of China, draw the route the children had to go to get to safety.   ACT 11. Go to www.enchantedlearning.com and do some of the crafts listed under China.   ACT 12. Use Sew the International Wardrobe to make a Chinese outfit for your 18" doll.   V 13. Watch the movie Inn of the Sixth Happiness.   LA 14. Japan was fighting China during World War II. Read about World War II from an encyclopedia. Write a paper on what you learned.   MS 15. On a world map, color all the countries that were a part of the Allies green. Color all the countries a part of the Axis red.   ACT 16. Use Chinese in 10 Minutes a Day to learn some words and phrases.   MIS 17. Go on a mission trip to China. Contact a mission organization, such as the people at New Day Creations, about helping them.   SS 18. Go to http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/newyear/newyear.html to read about China and the Chinese New Year.   ACT 19. To see what your name looks like in Chinese, go to www.chineseculture.about.com/culture/chineseculture/library/weekly/aa103199.htm   ACT 20. To play a Chinese game, go to www.americangirl.com/fun.html. Click on Mah Jong Madness to play this tile game.   LA 21. Pretend to be a travel agent. Make up a brochure or flyer to get people to take a trip to China. On the Home Front America was coming through the Great Depression. Read about life during the Depression years. World War II brought many changes to America. Women went to work, families started Victory Gardens, and children did things for the war effort. Start a garden. Contact the Red Cross to see how you can help. Activity Key ACT--Activity CO--Cooking Geo--Geography HI--History LA--Language Arts MIS--Mission opportunity MS--Map Skills RE--Reading SCI--Science SS--Social Studies TL--Timeline V--Video or movie They Followed the Call is a year-long study of the lives of ten men and women who answered the call of God on their lives. While reading about these men and women, you will see how God took ordinary people and gave them a life filled with Him and service to others. This study, along with others, can be purchased by going to alongthejourney.sytes.net and clicking on Unit Studies. Debbie Klinect began homeschooling her oldest child in 1988 and putting together unit studies. She is also the co-writer of the e-zine for ladies "Along the Journey." Debbie lives with her husband and six children in central Florida, where she also teaches enrichment classes at her church. Visit Debbie's website at alongthejourney.sytes.net/ or email her at dgklinect@cfl.rr.com. US Subsciptions: Whether you are new to our magazine or a long-time subscriber... The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine has an incredible offer that you won't want to pass up! In the past, we couldn't offer the renewing subscribers the 19 free gifts - those were only for new customers. But for a limited time only, RENEWING subscribers get all 19 gifts (over $200 value), too! I'm a new subscriber…what do I get? With your paid two-year subscription to TOS you'll receive: •A 2-year/3-year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine •19 FREE gifts for you All this for ONLY $39 for 2 years and ONLY $59 for 3 years Click Here to Purchase Online Or, call 1-888-718-HOME Already a subscriber? Renew now and receive: • Two or Three more years of your favorite homeschool magazine and 19 FREE gifts (valued at over $200)! All this for ONLY $39 for 2 years and ONLY $59 for 3 years Click Here to Purchase! Or, call 1-888-718-HOME The first 3,000 two-year or three-year new subscriber or renewing your two or three year subscription, you will receive (by USPS mail) NINETEEN free homeschooling gifts. But you don't get four gifts - you get 19! And yes, even the shipping is paid for - and you are not required to buy anything again - EVER. Hurry! Promotion will sell out fast! - TOS Staff (US Residents Only) Click Here to View the FREE Gifts International Subsciptions: Whether you view your subscription as a gift for yourself, a homeschool conference delivered to your door, a professional journal, or simply a wonderful opportunity to fellowship with other homeschool families around the world, subscribe now to insure that you are in the first 2,000 and receive this incredible International Subscription Homeschool Gift Pack! One-Year International Subscription: Receive four issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered directly to your door and 19 FREE gifts from our generous sponsors. Subscribe now! Only $38! And we have an additional gift for two-year and three-year subscribers! Two-Year or Three-Year International Subscription: Receive eight issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the 19 free gifts, AND our Secrets of Successful Homeschooling e-book! Subscribe now! Only $69 for 2 years and $83 for 3 years! These special offers will expire soon, though. Subscribe or renew today so you don't miss out on this opportunity! We have three easy ways to subscribe! Subscribe online Call 1-888-718-HOME Mail your order to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC PO Box 10 White Pine, TN 37890 Hurry! Promotion will sell out fast! - TOS Staff (International Residents Only) Click Here to View the FREE Gifts Our Journey with Unit Studies   By Debbie Klinect "Debbie, what curriculum are you using this year?" I have been asked this question every year since we started homeschooling. Every year, it is somewhat the same answer, "We aren't using any." In 1988 I started our homeschooling journey. My oldest child had been in a private school for three years, and we had made the decision to bring him home. My other two children weren't in school yet. I had no idea how to homeschool, so I found out what the school was using for third grade and we ordered those books. We brought the classroom into our home. That first year was a true learning experience, but nothing academic. At the end of the year we sold all of the textbooks and I went to a seminar on unit studies. We purchased the program and began. We learned and experienced so much that year that I knew God had given us the answer to our question. The Lord was also showing me many things about myself that I didn't know were there. Following the purchased unit study program gave me insight into how unit studies were put together. I decided the following year, in 1990, to try my hand at putting together a unit study. I love to know about people and why they did the things they did. Chris, my oldest, is also a lover of history, so we spent many hours at the library looking over books about people and also activity books relating to what we were wanting to learn. To make sure that we were getting what he was supposed to learn, I found a scope and sequence and used that as my guide. We followed this pattern of learning until 1995. In 1995, after a ten-year break from having children, I was pregnant again. We had decided to use another means of learning and went with a program that was character based and all laid out for us, or so we thought. It turned out to be the most difficult year of our schooling experience. With a new baby to take care of, one child in high school, and the other two in junior high, we went back to me putting together our units. About this time I was introduced to the Charlotte Mason Method. I read Karen Andreola's book, The Charlotte Mason Companion, and was convinced that we were doing the right thing by going back to what was working so well for us. During the course of time, I started working with others in a co-op type setting. One of the girls had just been introduced to The American Girl books. I was asked if these could be used for school. I said "Absolutely!" My oldest daughter had read all of the books when she was younger, and we thoroughly enjoyed the activities related to each of the time periods. I decided to put together the materials I had and show the mom and her daughter what it would look like. We spent many months reading the books, sewing our dolls some time period outfits, and cooking the foods from the American Girl cookbooks. After that we moved to other books that were about girls who grew up to be queens throughout history: The Royal Diaries, from Scholastic. Knowledge Quest is running a huge summer sale for friends of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Purchase their history and geography resource package for less than 1/3 of the retail value... That's over 66% off! The sale is running for 1 week only, so if this interests you at all, click here!! My younger boys, who were 9 and 6 at the time, didn't like that I was spending so much time doing things with the girls. They wanted a unit study, with all of the fun, for boys. I went back to the library and found the series of books for boys called My Name Is America from Scholastic. These books are written in journal form and are about boys who lived in different time periods of America's history. The boys wanted me to sew outfits for them so that they could act out what they were learning. This went on for two years. As a side note, while we were doing the American Girl and Royal Diaries unit studies, my boys were reading along too, but I would teach them about the boys and men who were living during these times. Even though a unit study may be written specifically with a girl in mind, that doesn't mean a boy can't learn from it as well. Today I am still putting together unit studies, but we have made some changes in one of the activities we do. Since my boys grow so very fast, I decided that I didn't want to take the time and spend the money on sewing costumes that they were just going to grow out of in a few months' time. Last fall I was praying about what I could do for them for Christmas. The Lord gave me a very special idea, and I ran with it. I went to the store and purchased two 18" dolls. I brought them home and literally chopped off that long hair. I turned these dolls into two young boys. We also had a very special vacation last summer, filled with many activities on a camping trip that we took in the mountains. I pulled all of those experiences together and wrote a story for each of my boys. I also sewed some boy clothes for the two dolls. On Christmas morning my boys were so very surprised and excited. They loved the idea and immediately said we had to start a new thing with our unit studies. Now, when we learn about something, we make costumes, but for the dolls. My boys still act out what they are learning but through those two guys that I gave them. In the spring of 2004, I broke my right ankle. I was literally taken out of commission for three months. The Lord gave me all of that time to start what is now New Life Homeschool Books. We have 8 unit studies. The unit studies are The American Girls, The Royal Diaries, My Name Is America, The Magic Treehouse, Creation to the Middle Ages, The 20th Century, Around the World in 36 Weeks, and They Followed the Call (about missionaries). You can see sample pages of the unit studies by going to alongthejourney.sytes.net and clicking on Unit Studies. We have started a line of clothing for the 18" guy dolls and currently have Frontiersman, Roman, Middle Ages, and others. We also have two volumes of a newsletter for ladies called "Along the Journey." You can see back issues of the newsletter on our website. I love doing unit studies. There is so much material that can be read and so many lessons that can be learned. I know that textbooks are a valuable tool for many, and I thank God for the creator of those books for those families who don't feel that unit studies are for them. For the rest of us who like the results that we get from doing this method, I am so very thankful for those who have gone before us and paved the way. I hope that your experience using unit studies is as fulfilling to you as it has been for our family. Debbie Klinect has been homeschooling her six children, ages 6 to 26, since 1988. You can contact Debbie at dgklinect@cfl.rr.com and sign up for her free e-zine, Along The Journey, at alongthejourney.sytes.net. Thank you for reading the TOS FREE Unit Study e-Newsletter this month. We'll have another exciting unit study for you next month! You may forward this e-Newsletter to your friends in its entirety. If you have any comments, email me at FreeHomeschool@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com with your feedback.

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