Planning a Thanksgiving Unit Study

 *This post was originally published on 11/2/22.  Enjoy!

It's November and that means just over 3 weeks until Thanksgiving.  This year I wanted to share the holiday with my kids in a way that focuses on gratitude, love, and family.  So I went searching for fun, nostalgic stories and activities that we could sprinkle into our homeschool throughout the month.  And I came to find that there were so many good ideas that we probably won't get through them all.  So if you're looking for some family centered ideas for your homeschool, I hope you'll find lots of inspiration here.

Reading Ideas:

*An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott

--Listen on audio

--Watch the Hallmark version here

*Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Alsdurf

*Over the River and Through the Woods by Lydia Maria Child

*Twas the Night before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

*Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

*Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin

Poetry & Essays:

*We Thank Thee by Robert Louis Stevenson

*Hunting the Deceitful Turkey by Mark Twain

*Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner by Lucy Maude Montgomery

Author Study:

*Louisa Mae Alcott Unit Study

*Louisa Mae Alcott Biography

Grammar:

*Thanksgiving Mad Libs

*Thanksgiving Writing prompts

*Thanksgiving Writing and Grammar

*ABC Gratitude List

*Thanksgiving Analogies

Math:

*Thanksgiving Math and Logic Puzzles

*Thanksgiving Dinner

*Turkey Touchdown

*Thanksgiving Dinner Shopping (including sales flyers, budgeting, quantities to purchase for a crowd, etc)

Science & Baking:

*Turkey Mini Unit

*Turkey Nature Study

*Hasty Pudding

*Old Fashioned Doughnuts

*Cider

Art & Music:

*How to Draw a Turkey

*Freedom from Want

*8 Thanksgiving Paintings

*How to Draw a Pumpkin

*Over the River and Through the Woods unit study

*Thanksgiving Music Lesson

Handicrafts:

*15 Thanksgiving Yummy & Crafty Ideas

*Hand dipped candles

*Orange Pomanders

*Popcorn Garlands

*Popcorn Candleholders

*Corn husk dolls

Family Activities:

*Including the Kids in Thanksgiving

*10 Thanksgiving Ideas for Christian Families

*Giving Thanks Family Traditions

*Thanksgiving Family Traditions

*Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt

How are you bringing Thanksgiving into your home?

What We Read in October and Our Homeschool Read Alouds ll October 2024

 What I Read:

A Lancaster Amish Christmas

by Anne Blackburne, Amy Clipston,

Mindy Steele, and Amy Lillard

See my full review here.

The Foundation of a Disciplemaking Culture

by Justin G. Gravitt

See my full review here.

I Want to Trust You, But I Don't

by Lysa Terkeurst

See my full review here.

Our Homeschool Read Alouds:

Stella by Starlight

by Sharon M. Draper

This book did a great job of introducing a very good job of addressing a very challenging subject.  I have a fairly sensitive 13 year old and this book brought enough light to the subject without hammering the reader.  Stella faces the harsh realities of racism through a young girls; eyes.  But it's also mixed with the joys of girlhood and life.  She written as a very real, complex character making her so relatable.  So glad we were able to finally read this one in our homeschool.

Mr. Lemoncello's Fantabulous Finale

by Chris Grabenstein

See my full review here.

Rascal by Sterling North

Rascal is really one of my favorite books for the World War I time period.  This sweet story of a young body who raises a raccoon kit while his older brother is off to war.  With a loving, but distracted father, an older meddling sister, and a mischievous little raccoon, Sterling is growing up.  He and his little raccoon, Rascal, become the best of friends.  it's a story about friendship, growing up, and finding family in the least likely places.   

Christian Heroes: Samuel Zwemer and John Flynn

by Janet & Geoff Benge

Still making our way through this series.  These are two men that I hadn't heard of in church history and both were very interesting.  What made of these men unique was that so much of this series (at least the books we've read) have been centered on India or China.  It was interesting to read about the missionary efforts in other parts of the world.  John Flynn's story was particularly insightful as it focused on Australia, a part of the world that we rarely think of when we talk about missionaries.  He led such an interesting life.  I really loved this one.

What are you reading?

I Want to Trust You, But I Don't {Review}

 

Author Lysa Terkeurst takes readers on a journey through the in-between... the desert land of desiring relationships and overcoming broken trust.  Trust is the oxygen of relationships.  It's what breaths life into our connections.  But what happens when the betrayal is so deep you're not sure the tears will stop?  And where is God when trust is broken?  If He could see the behind the scenes, can He even be trusted?

Broken trust in past relationships can quickly become a stumbling block to future wholeness.  Deep wounds, shattered illusions, and discarded dreams take more than time to heal.  They require strategic reprogramming to stop them from destroying future relationships.  But what does that look like when we loose faith even in your discernment? 

As someone who's walked through deeply broken trust, Terkeurst's book was incredibly timely.  She brings words to hurts and betrayals that feel so profoundly inescapable.  I found myself nodding along with all she was saying.  These were the words I've been searching for to describe how I feel.  Here was a woman that understood the groans of my pain.  I could identify with this feeling of despair.  And yet, neither of us could be allowed to live there.  Yes, this type of broken trust requires hard work, but it's not meant to be a dead end.

This book is exactly what I needed for this season of my life.  Full of insight and practical advice... while not allowing the reader to remain stuck.  I waver between 3.5-4 stars.  This book hits on this topic with such precision and insight.  I just expected it to have more Scriptural backup.  However, the advice is solid and life-giving.  I was continually surprised by Terkeurst's ability to clearly identify the issue and slowly chip away at the solution in a way that as neither cliche or belittling.  Definitely recommended.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

My Mom Morning Basket

I realized it's been a very long time since I did an update on what's in my Mom Morning Basket.  Just as we have a morning basket to start off our homeschool day, so I also have a personal "morning basket" to keep myself learning and growing as I have small moments of time.  I've realized that those small moments add up quickly, and just as the kids need life giving ideas to meditate on, so do I.  So while my basket isn't necessarily done in the mornings, I do try to touch on it throughout the day.  This is just a sampling of someof the items in my basket: 

This has been my Bible for over 20 years.  I love that it's filled with notes and dates, and growth.  This Bible has a ton of study helps, maps, commentary.  It's a great Bible for giving in deep.

I don't have this specific journal, but rather an inexpensive one from Dollar Tree.  But I love having a journal in my basket for writing down my thoughts.  Typically I spend making notes a few times a week.  But it's also really helpful to have some place to brain dump when I'm feeling distracted or for processing what's going on in life.

I also have a non-fiction book in my basket.  Currently I'm reading this one by Lysa Teurkerst and I'm hoping to review it this week.  I love having something meaty to think on throughout the day so my non-fiction book is usually the book I pick up sometime mid-morning or at lunch.  I try to read non-fiction when my brain is fresh.  Sometimes this category is history, Christian living, how-to... but it's always something that I want to learn more about in this stage of life.

Besides a non-fiction book, I also keep a fiction book in my basket.  My high schooler is in American History this year and this one if coming up quickly for her.  I saw her reading list and decided this was one that I wanted to read as well. I've never read Uncle Tom's Cabin, and being a lit major, I'm slightly embarrassed to say that.  This is a heavier book for this category, but I'm about 1/3 of the way through and it's not too bad.  Looking for books that will challenge me, but still not be as heavy as the non-fiction category.

This year I'm reading through several of these Christian Heroes books with my 8th grader.  Currently I'm reading about John Flynn and he's been one of the more interesting figures that I've read in awhile.  The content of these books is really good, but they're not so hard to read that you struggle through them.  This is a great series to inspire young and old alike.

I keep a stack of index cards in my basket as well.  They're great for writing down quotes or Scriptures that I want to remember.  There are so many uses for index cards... I can't see myself ever not wanting them in my basket.

Page Flags... with all these books, need I say more???

I always grab a package of inexpensive note cards from the Dollar Tree as well.  I try to write an encouraging note at least once every couple of weeks.  By keeping notecards in my basket, I'm guaranteed to have a note on hand when inspiration strikes.

Finally, I like to keep some sort of learning activity in my basket. Dover Coloring books are always a good option.  I've enjoyed working in various animal and bird coloring books, and I'm thinking about adding this one next.

Do you keep a Mom Morning Basket?

What do you like to included in yours?

First Quarter Homeschool Update ll 2024-25

I know I'm a couple of weeks late, but I wanted to share a first quarter update for our homeschool year.  I know resources for middle and high school are few and far between (although it's becoming more common), and I hope that our journey of homeschooling through the high school years will be helpful for other families.

My 11th grader just finished her first college course.  She was taking an introductory course for the culinary arts program called Sanitation and Safety.  It was a shortened course that only took 9 weeks and ended with an in-person certification final.  She paced with flying colors.  So proud that she's stepping into bigger and more challenging arenas.  

Her other DE course is Eng 1A.  This course has definitely been a challenge as we didn't do a lot of writing in our homeschool last year.  That's been a learning curve for sure.  It's not that she incapable. Rather, it's combining one of her weaker subjects with some firm deadlines, and has required her to put in some effort.  The other thing that's been difficult is that she's very low-tech.  So with both of these courses being online, she's really had to learn to navigate the internet in completing and submitting assignments.  We've had to work through some technical difficulties, but all in all, she's doing great.

She's only taking a few classes from me this year.  I talked her into adding Physics to her course load and I'm sort of regretting that.  I do think she may have needed it eventually to build a strong transcript, but this may not have been the right year.  Looking at her DE courses and her dancing, she's had a lot to accomplish.  However, because she is so strong in math, Physics was definitely the route to go over Chemistry.

My eighth grader is doing pretty well.  We hit a few snags in Math that we're having to work through.  He was factoring polynomials and that slowed us down for awhile.  This week we entered into the world of slope and I'm the one slowing us down.  As much as I love Sadlier-Oxford, I've always personally struggled with the slope chapter.  So I'm laying down my teacher hat, and we're using IXL to make sure he learns it correctly the first time.  I love having a handful of resources like IXL or Khan Academy to step in and teach it the right way when I'm struggling with a concept.  Definitely helps.

One thing that's worked amazingly well this year is writing narrations for our missionary books.  I pulled 12 different Christian Heroes books from YWAM for us to read this year.  While I was looking for writing ideas, we decided that writing about our missionaries would be a good way to incorporate something we're already studying.  So every other book, he's writing a 5 paragraph essay about what he read.  I've really had to scale back our Rod and Staff curriculum to accommodate the writing, but I'm already seeing HUGE improvement.

That's been some of our strengths and weaknesses over the past quarter.  I can't believe we're already well into October.  Seems crazy.  So much growth with these two this quarter and I'm excited to see where it leads.  

How is your homeschool year going?