Coffee Talk: What Is Your Goal?

No, I’m not asking WHY you homeschool. Those are the reasons that you homeschool.

I am asking you to name your GOAL in homeschooling.

After coming to grips with the concept that I was homeschooling them to help them discover and develop their gifts and talents, I realized that God had given me the goal. It was now up to me to follow His plan, and step out of the boat of “normal” and “standard.”

Our walk away from a standard textbook curriculum was a walk of faith. The discovery of the unit study model of learning was a result of that walk, much prayer, and a very colicky baby that loved sleeping in my arms while I searched for answers to my questions about teaching children using their interests.

From that point on, we followed all kinds of interests and side roads. We’ve now got two college graduates (one is a veterinarian and one is a tree farmer), and one starting his junior year of college, majoring in computer science. Not one similarity in any of their interests, gifts, or talents. But what a blessing it has been to watch them take off in the directions that they were designed for! Yes, it took plenty of faith and courage to step away from the "traditional" education model, but it's one of the best gifts we've given our children.

Fear can be crippling - toss it! Grab faith by the hand and head for a new kind of year. Focus on the child, not the standardized lists. I don't know about you, but nothing about our children was "standard!"

Blessings,

Amanda B.

You’ve probably heard by now that I love unit studies. ;) It all started when we tried textbooks, and the children lost that spark of enthusiasm for learning and exploring. I was determined to kindle that fire with interesting topics—I wanted them to WANT to learn, not have the next world war. I began creating unit studies for just that reason, and it worked. I have that same goal for your children. No more fighting over how many textbook pages to read or “Do I have to do ALL of the problems?”
Over our next few days, let’s talk about how to plan this coming year the easy way. First, download our free Build a Year Planner.
Begin filling in your planner by including the special days—holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. All of these are important to the family and can be great indicators of unit study choices. At our house, birthdays call for a weeklong celebration, while Thanksgiving and Christmas always involved a four-week unit study and the making of many memories.
You are off to a great start! People are so amazed with how simple it is to fill a year with unit studies, add a math and language arts program, and be FINISHED with shopping and planning! Keep it simple, friends. This isn't rocket science, and I know rocket science. :)
Until next time,
Amanda B.
PS – Download a list of all of our unit study titles here. This list makes planning MUCH easier!
- See more at: http://www.unitstudy.com/CoffeeTalk.html#sthash.3SLXNayB.dpuf

You’ve probably heard by now that I love unit studies. ;) It all started when we tried textbooks, and the children lost that spark of enthusiasm for learning and exploring. I was determined to kindle that fire with interesting topics—I wanted them to WANT to learn, not have the next world war. I began creating unit studies for just that reason, and it worked. I have that same goal for your children. No more fighting over how many textbook pages to read or “Do I have to do ALL of the problems?”
Over our next few days, let’s talk about how to plan this coming year the easy way. First, download our free Build a Year Planner.
Begin filling in your planner by including the special days—holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. All of these are important to the family and can be great indicators of unit study choices. At our house, birthdays call for a weeklong celebration, while Thanksgiving and Christmas always involved a four-week unit study and the making of many memories.
You are off to a great start! People are so amazed with how simple it is to fill a year with unit studies, add a math and language arts program, and be FINISHED with shopping and planning! Keep it simple, friends. This isn't rocket science, and I know rocket science. :)
Until next time,
Amanda B.
PS – Download a list of all of our unit study titles here. This list makes planning MUCH easier!
- See more at: http://www.unitstudy.com/CoffeeTalk.html#sthash.3SLXNayB.dpuf

You’ve probably heard by now that I love unit studies. ;) It all started when we tried textbooks, and the children lost that spark of enthusiasm for learning and exploring. I was determined to kindle that fire with interesting topics—I wanted them to WANT to learn, not have the next world war. I began creating unit studies for just that reason, and it worked. I have that same goal for your children. No more fighting over how many textbook pages to read or “Do I have to do ALL of the problems?”
Over our next few days, let’s talk about how to plan this coming year the easy way. First, download our free Build a Year Planner.
Begin filling in your planner by including the special days—holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. All of these are important to the family and can be great indicators of unit study choices. At our house, birthdays call for a weeklong celebration, while Thanksgiving and Christmas always involved a four-week unit study and the making of many memories.
You are off to a great start! People are so amazed with how simple it is to fill a year with unit studies, add a math and language arts program, and be FINISHED with shopping and planning! Keep it simple, friends. This isn't rocket science, and I know rocket science. :)
Until next time,
Amanda B.
PS – Download a list of all of our unit study titles here. This list makes planning MUCH easier!
- See more at: http://www.unitstudy.com/CoffeeTalk.html#sthash.3SLXNayB.dpuf

You’ve probably heard by now that I love unit studies. ;) It all started when we tried textbooks, and the children lost that spark of enthusiasm for learning and exploring. I was determined to kindle that fire with interesting topics—I wanted them to WANT to learn, not have the next world war. I began creating unit studies for just that reason, and it worked. I have that same goal for your children. No more fighting over how many textbook pages to read or “Do I have to do ALL of the problems?”
Over our next few days, let’s talk about how to plan this coming year the easy way. First, download our free Build a Year Planner.
Begin filling in your planner by including the special days—holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. All of these are important to the family and can be great indicators of unit study choices. At our house, birthdays call for a weeklong celebration, while Thanksgiving and Christmas always involved a four-week unit study and the making of many memories.
You are off to a great start! People are so amazed with how simple it is to fill a year with unit studies, add a math and language arts program, and be FINISHED with shopping and planning! Keep it simple, friends. This isn't rocket science, and I know rocket science. :)
Until next time,
Amanda B.
PS – Download a list of all of our unit study titles here. This list makes planning MUCH easier!
- See more at: http://www.unitstudy.com/CoffeeTalk.html#sthash.3SLXNayB.dpuf