Revolutionary Ideas (Review)

I have never done a unit study so I was curious about testing one. We already strive for a literature based education, and Revolutionary Ideas fit our family perfectly. It also came at a time where curling up with good books has been a blessing. Our youngest daughter has endured some intense tummy pain over the past few weeks. We don’t have an answer yet, but prayers would be wonderful. Now let me tell you about this fun study.

Revolutionary Ideas is a once-a-week unit study by Sharon Gibson from Homeschool Legacy. It’s a 7 week unit study designed for grades 2-12. The website says no prep, but there is a little prep involved. Not much at all, and the kids and I have enjoyed getting things ready.

Sharon offers a list of read alouds for non-readers, a small list of references, and then each week has a list of books applicable to that week’s study. She even includes DVDs which your library or Netflix might have. The beauty of the lists is the ability to pick and choose for your own family.

As a family of book lovers, our study is lasting a little longer than a week because we want to read a lot of the books. If you want to keep within the 7 week range, you will have to limit your book choices to only a couple. We’re enjoying the richness of a slower pace, and more books.

Revolutionary Ideas includes family devotions, activities involving research, creative writing, family discussions and dramatizations, games, and even a stump your dad trivia. As you progress through the weeks, the children create a pretty cool history notebook (including a timeline) along the way. Mine are excited to show their grandparents in November. I’m also able to tailor the activities to each child since I have a 9 year old, 13 year old, and 16 year old. This has been easy, and fun for our family.

Now, I mentioned having a sick daughter. The read alouds and some of the activities have been a wonderful time of snuggling and helping to distract her until we get her mystery illness solved. What a blessing this unit study has been to our family during such a stressful time. What’s been neat is hearing the older three kids sharing all about this time in America’s history. They are really learning quite a bit, and will have a good handle on the revolution and surrounding events when we finish.

A note to parents of scouts:
Boy scouts will fulfill the majority of their American Heritage Merit badge requirements through this unit study. American Heritage Girls earn requirements for Dawn of Our Country badge. Sharon explains this in the book.

Homeschool Legacy has other unit studies covering Birds of a Feather, Forest for the Trees, Horsing Around, Weather on the Move, Knights and Nobles, Native America, Early Settlers, We the People: Getting to Know Your Constitution, Lewis and Clark: From Sea to Shining Sea, and Christmas Comes to America. You will even find a fun list of “stay-cation” ideas, and a summer read alouds.

Disclosure: I received a free book to review. All information was correct to the best of my knowledge at the time this review was written. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. You can read my full disclosure policy here.