Free Homeschool Units & Materials

We have done quite a variety of art over the years - we have taken several art classes at co-ops, used the "How Great Thou Art" Art Curriculum and others, searched online resources, worked on art related to different time periods and other subjects, and mixed a variety of each. Here are only a few of the supplemental activities we have done.

We all have days where it is just not working in our regular methods of teaching. There are days the kids (and moms) prefer to do something fun! That' why I started this ever growing collection of free cool online and print games. When kids and parents are enjoying themselves, they are also learning more - and remembering it! Go have some fun with your kids!

Legos for Learning & Play!~ We like to use Legos blocks for tons of educational activities! Find some fun ideas on the page.

Labor Day ~ Since my elementary student was learning about community helpers and occupations at the same time my middle schooler was learning about the industrial revolution and labor unions, we combined the studies with Labor Day to come up with the activities and games on this page!

Valentine's Day Unit Study ~ The Valentine's Day Main Page has lessons for Valentine's Day history, Saint Valentine, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Games, and Multi-Curricular lessons. Other pages of the unit are Reading Books for Valentine's Day, Children's Crafts for Valentine's Day, Fun Valentine's Recipes for Children to Make, and Bible Verses about Love!.

Saint Patrick's Day Unit Study ~ The Saint Patrick's Day Main Page that I've listed below links to all 7 sections of the unit to make a month long unit or to pick and choose what is beneficial to you. Also on the page is information about Saint Patrick and the holiday, Bible suggestions, multi-curricular activities, and dancing for physical education. The other sections are Social Studies, Science, Language Arts & Math, Irish Foods & Recipies, Music & Instruments of Ireland, and Arts & Crafts.

The Christmas Unit Study is a huge multi-curricular unit study in 6 parts to use throughout the entire month of December, or in pieces as a supplemental. ~ You will find sections for Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Bible, Crafts, and Math.

~ A "Collection of Christmas Crafts" is just that ~ a collection of many craft ideas!
~ "Dickens - A Christmas Carol" has materials for studying the classic book and Charles Dickens. Videos and lesson suggestions are given, also.
~ "Christmas Literature by Illustrator - Author Jan Brett" contains information, lesson ideas and worksheets, and other materials related to all of Jan Brett's Christmas related books.

JoyfulPamela ~
homeschool mom by day, music teacher & musician by evening and weekend!

Before I homeschooled my children, I was a music teacher in a Christian school. My excitement for music has never diminished therefore I still perform, teach private music students, direct music ensembles, and teach music history / theory type classes at times. I love doing it!! I've created a ton of lenses here at Squidoo and webpages around the internet about music and music education. A complete listing is found at "Joyful Songs Music" below.

Lessons that I wrote especially with fellow homeschoolers in mind (I've used them to teach in various homeschool co-ops in our area - but contain worksheets, videos, and full lessons for at home) are the "Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Unit" (5 pages), the "Mozart Unit Study", "Ludwig van Beethoven", "Antonio Vivaldi", "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint Saens, "The Orchestra Series" (5 pages) - strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion), and "Music Theory ~ Reading Music". Most of them are full lessons written out and have lapbook materials, worksheets, games, videos, and other resources. They are all free to use. (I wouldn't mind a comment though so I know if anyone is using them,) I truly hope they will be helpful to you. :-D

Tutorials, videos, materials, lesson plans, and websites for learning a variety of things regarding computers ~ Computer History, Computer Science, Typing / Keyboarding, Computer Basics, Computer Parts, Word Processors, Databases, Spreadsheets, PowerPoint, Photoshop, HTML, CSS, and Computer Careers!!

Resources and suggestions to enhance a child's learning about cooking, economics, cleaning, yard work, repairs, and more.

The website Kid's Cooking Activities starts with 10 reasons why kids should be taught to cook. Teachers, homeschoolers, club leaders, and parents will enjoy the free materials they offer such as: list of multi-curricular skills that are acquired while learning to cook, free lesson plans for several age groups, cooking printables such as recipe cards and shopping lists, kid's instructional cooking videos, international recipes for world cultures study, picture recipes, cooking party suggestions, seasonal cooking recipes, recipes for 6 or less ingredients, cooking crafts, fun with food section, food fact sheets, kid's cooking blog, cooking challenge contests, dinner party themes, and food science experiments! Upon signing up for the free Kid's Cooking Activities Newsletter, you will also gain free access to Cooking with the Alphabet ebook, an article on healthy kids, 101 Snack Ideas ebook, back issues of their newsletter, and a few other goodies!
~ Most of the items are free, but may also be purchased from their site: Just for Fun Cooking Unit ~ World Studies International Cooking Unit ~ Cooking & Learning Unit ~ They have amazing related sites, also! Kid's Meal Ideas, Learn Cake Decorating, and Kid's Sewing Projects. They all have incredible ideas, activities, and lesson plans for families! I highly recommend checking this family of websites.

History ~ wow! So many cool places to visit, interesting cultures to meet, and influential people to study over centuries and millenniums! As with most homeschool families, we take a handful of years to go through the cycle of history, then start all over again with deeper research and understanding!

During the 2011 - 2012 school year, we will be focusing around the ancient civilizations of the world! History is one of the subjects that we tend to build more around unit studies than other topics, so, here are some of our units we've worked on. Yes, there are a lot of things listed. No, we didn't do everything on the pages. Each of the children worked at the same topics but at a different level, of course. Then, as I was creating these pages, I decided to add other interesting resources that I came across while I was searching. I thought they might be useful to you, plus maybe we'll use them next time around the cycle and I won't have to search very far for new ideas! :D

Check the "Holiday Units" for other social studies and history ideas to use around your holidays!

After we studied about explorers, colonial America, and the Revolutionary War, we did an indepth study of the US Constitution and Patriotism! Since I did not even understand some of the parts or terms myself, I started researching and studying like I love to do! We made a lapbook and game while studying, watched some videos, learned some songs, read a bunch of books, and had quite a bit of fun surfing around the web finding kid friendly sites to learn, play games, and take "quizzes". All of the templates and pages we created along with mega information about the Constitution for all ages may be found via the "Constitution Lapbook Unit" page.

The "United States Flag" lessons and lapbook were made in the summer right before the 4th of July. The "Patriotic Music" page contains the history of some of the most famous patriotic songs, some videos of the tunes, and resource links to find out more.

During the 2009-2010 school year we studied the history of the United States during the 1800's. So many cool events happened during that time period! The new nation began to grow and wanted to spread it's borders - whether that was a good idea or not, well, you'll have to decide for yourself. The children wanted to know how the US claimed more land, so we took a step back and studied the French Revolution to try to understand the time period and events of the world. From Napoleon to Jefferson led the Lousianna Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition! After that huge chunk of land opened up, so many things began to happen (again, both good and bad).

The "United States History in the 1800's" page contains a little of everything that was happening over the century. You will find resources for the following.
~ History of the Century
~ Online History Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
~ Geography and Map materials, printout, and games
~ Schoolhouse Rock Videos
~ Online Educational Videos
~ Virtual Fieldtrips
~ History Webquests!
~ Important Leaders and Events in History
~ Science of the 1800's
~ Inventions & Inventors
~ Communication: Telegraph, Telephone
~ Transportation: Animals, Covered Wagons, Canals
~ The Transcontinental Railroad
~ The Industrial Revolution
~ Music & Art of the 1800's
~ Popular Foods of the Century / Recipes
~ Mathmatical Advances
~ Language Arts Suggestions
~ Foreign Language
~ Native American Leaders & People
~ The Louisianna Purchase
~ The Lewis & Clark Expedition
~ The War of 1812
~ The Mexican - American War
~ Westward Expansion
~ Pioneers
~ Gold Rush
~ New States
~ The Civil War

I am currently researching topics and events of the 20th century trying to find free resources to use in our studies. I'm looking for books, websites, gamesites, lapbook and notebook materials, games, worksheets, and anything else which looks beneficial to our studies this fall. If you have a suggestion, please feel free to leave it in the comment box or email me. Thanks!

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This page is part of a collection of pages created by hard working, dedicated moms! Here are some from my pals that I thought you would enjoy! Check out others , too!