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folklaur
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| Posted: Jan 05 2010 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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....now that i think this might be a good idea for history, science, geography....
but then - oh goodness - there is just so many options. so many choices.
which can be so WONDERFUL but also....overwhelming!
but i saw some neat ideas going on in the other thread!
so - you already chunky planners - what are some things you have done - or plan to do?
please share. (pretty please!!)
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EmilyC
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| Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 7:41am | IP Logged
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First, I really like the name "chunky homeschoolers." 
I have only really just started planning this way, but so far, I'm really liking it. It's freeing somehow. I always felt boxed in when I planned for a whole year. I would see fun little unit studies and feel frustrated that we couldn't do them because they didn't fit into our plan. Then we would start to get bored studying the same thing for so long.
I really like to plan things by month. Each month has a focus--either science, history or geography. That way none of those subjects gets neglected. Often it's the science and geography that I just sort of forget about. And of course, those are 2 of my children's favorite things!
I try to plan all the months in advance, but they're subject to change if we decide to study something else. Currently, my plan looks like this:
January - Science focus - Human Body
February - Geography focus - Russia
March - History focus - Middle Ages
April - Science Focus - Oceans / Ocean life
May - Geography focus - China
June - History focus - American Revolutionary War
If this goes well the rest of the year, I can easily see doing this through high school.
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Emily,
Wife to Rob since 8/98
Mom to 4:
Sarah (13) Robbie & Riley (10) Regina (nearly 3)
My secular lit-based curriculum:
Build Your Library curriculum
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JuliaT
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| Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 5:22pm | IP Logged
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I am new to this chunky approach so I don't have lots to offer. I am, so far, doing it differently than Emily. Instead of going with subjects and then a topic. I use a chapter book and use that for my jumping off point.
For example, we are reading Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. So our topics with this book are history (various mysteries throughout history, important historical letters) science (science mysteries), art (Vermeer)math(pentominoes) and geography(learning about various kind of maps and map making.) So I don't do one subject a month, but rather one chapter book and do the various subjects based on that one book. This way the kids and I don't get bored from doing one subject for one length of time.
Our discussion over the past few days has made me start to think about what we should do when we are done Vermeer. I would like to do something on the human body but I just can't think of a chapter book that touches on that. After that, we might do the next book in the Vermeer series, Wright 3 or we might do I am Regina and focus on Native Americans.
Blessings,
Julia
mom of 3(10,8,6)
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 10:40pm | IP Logged
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Totally and completely random. And yet we seem to eventually get to everything!
Really, I just go with whatever the kids want to learn about. They always have good ideas. And then sometimes I make suggestions, too, for things they may not have thought of. There is ALWAYS something else we could be learning.
We just finished up a major Shakespeare jag. Watched and read about all we want of that for a while. It was great while it lasted! Lately JBug has been asking about whales since she knows she will get to see some when we move, so I imagine she will be pretty into that for a while. Superboy is interested in volunteering at the Raptor Rehab center, so I guess he will be learning a lot about birds. Who knows what else.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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KauaiCatholic
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| Posted: Jan 08 2010 at 1:26am | IP Logged
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one more "chunky homeschooler," reporting in. 
in answering this question, I realize there's a distinction between overall chunky scheduling, and chunks of topics. (or am I combining concepts? I'm pretty tired so that's possible.) I think I do a combination of what Emily and Julia described. I schedule our "semesters" as smaller chunks of time (up to 2 months, usually), and I also use a theme or a "chunk" to encompass several areas of study over the course of one or two of those semesters.
I LOVE this approach because I am trying to avoid textbooks and yearlong lesson plans, but really need something structured to plan around. our biggest and most successful chunks have been tailored for upcoming trips. this has the added benefit of prepping the kids for what we'll be seeing, and results in those precious "aha!" moments when they're actually face to face with something we've studied. I can also justify the vacation to those who ask by explaining "it's all part of their studies!"
oh, and bear in mind that my kids are little, so this may sound simplistic to some.
anyway, we've done "zoo critters," in advance of a trip to Seattle and Boise where we would get to visit several zoos and wild animal parks. (it's a big deal for us, OK? ) we looked at the zoos' Web sites to learn who we might see, and I broke the types of critters into weeks. on Mondays we'd head to the library to check out everything they had on, say, bears or lions or primates, then studied them all that week (some of the books my beginning reader could tackle, others I read aloud or summarized while they looked at the pictures). we used what we learned for penmanship practice, looked up their home countries for geography, and got really creative with different types of artwork. (for example, we discovered that clay may be great for elephants, but not so much for flamingos. although watercolors are!)
we did the same thing before a trip to the Big Island: lots of science (obviously the geology of volcanoes and earthquakes, but also the endemic birds and plant life), geography and Hawaiian culture. (I may actually have gone a little overboard on the cultural stuff, which I personally found fascinating, because while we were there my son kept telling people not to anger the volcano goddess Pele by stealing her lava.  )
our most in-depth so far was designed for a trip to Oahu. not only did we get completely absorbed by Pearl Harbor, we branched out into other areas covered by museums there (submarines for the USS Bowfin and aircraft for the Pacific Aviation Museum). wow ... kids can really dive into things they're interested in, as Theresa says! we covered a WHOLE lot more WWII history than I thought a second-grader could handle (which, in turn, led to a lot of geography and cultural discussions). I learned from my Pele lesson, too, and pulled in a lot more religion. (I found a great book called "Battlefield Chaplains" and read sections from the War in the Pacific. some of it had to be edited on the fly, but made some really powerful impressions of priests as more than men in church.)
again, with the two Hawaii trips, I used the facts we were learning for penmanship and spelling practice, and definitely as fodder for art time. books he could read were harder to find, but there was plenty for me to read aloud.
next up: ocean studies. same basic plan as the zoo critters, with plenty of beach trips thrown in for good measure. (this is deliberate: with a newborn, I think I'll need something as "fun" and hands-on as possible to occupy the older two.)
wow. I wrote WAY more than I meant to. hope this is helpful to someone out there!
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 Viviane
Grateful mama of Jonah Augustine ('01), Sophia Marie ('05) and Luke Dominic ('10)
We can do no great things; only small things with great love. -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Jan 13 2010 at 6:55am | IP Logged
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The more I read how everyone else does this, the more I'm beginning to think we are doing the majority of our learning this way. I should have known, being a chunky homeschooler and all.
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Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: okay, all you chunky planners...
