| Homeschooling your child using theme-based learning is | | | | some freedom in choosing themes for the lessons. |
| a fun way to teach and learn. You can involve your | | | | By giving your child choices, you help build his or her |
| child as you brainstorm a them from virtually any topic | | | | interest in what you're teaching. I believe it's essential to |
| your child shows an interest in. | | | | involve your child as much as you can in all aspects of |
| Young children might prefer themes around things like | | | | lesson preparation and planning. |
| apples, the zoo, birds, stars, or a favorite author. | | | | Let's have a look at an example to see exactly how |
| Whenever you tailor your homeschool lesson plans | | | | you would use themes in your homeschooling lesson |
| around a theme, learning becomes a lot more fun and | | | | plans. Let's say you chose apples for your thematic |
| creative. | | | | unit. That being the case, you might have a science |
| When you base your homeschool lesson plans on a | | | | lesson on how apples grow. |
| thematic unit, you will also want to determine how | | | | When we do math, we could work on fractions by |
| much time you'll need to cover that theme. | | | | dividing apples into slices. Learning about Johnny |
| You could spend anywhere from a week to a month | | | | Appleseed could be a lesson for Social Studies. We |
| on the theme, depending on how much your child | | | | could study books about apples. For Language Arts, |
| wants to learn the content. I suggest spending only | | | | we could write a paragraph about apples. |
| two weeks at most on one theme. | | | | But there's more: We could turn those apple slices we |
| It's not difficult to integrate themes into homeschool | | | | used in the math lesson to create apple stamps for |
| lesson plans. You'll also come to realize just how much | | | | our art lesson. We could sing songs about apples. We |
| fun you and your child are having by learning so much | | | | could finish off with a cooking lesson and make apple |
| through a particular theme. | | | | bread or apple sauce. |
| You don't actually have to integrate all subject matter | | | | The important thing to remember when you're putting |
| into a single thematic unit. In fact, you don't even need | | | | together theme-based homeschool lesson plans is to |
| to do theme-based learning all the time when coming | | | | use your child's interests. You'll make learning even |
| up with your homeschool lesson plans. | | | | more enjoyable when you use thematic units to |
| One of the most important things you can do is involve | | | | enhance the curriculum you already have planned. |
| your child in planning the themes. Let you child have | | | | |