Home Grown Hearts Academy Homeschool Blog: Homeschool Legacy ~ Horsing Around ~ Review

Hi Friends, I'm pretty excited to share our newest review with you today.

Are you a fan of unit studies? We are! As a matter of fact they are our favorite studies. We recently had the opportunity to review a once-a-week unit study called Horsing Around from the wonderful company, Homeschool Legacy. I have to say that this was probably one of our favorite studies this year so far. My children love unit studies and horses. So doing this review was definitely a win-win.

What is Horsing Around?

Horsing Around is a 4 week, no prep, once-a-week unit study for grades 2-12 that allows children to learn life science and explore basic horsemanship. Children are able to choose from a wide variety of quality, library reading selections within the unit that focus on classics, breeds and characteristics, equestrian events, biographies, cowboys, and the pony express. The unit includes wonderful library lists that are alphabetically and numerically arranged, field trip ideas, and even movie suggestions. Another great thing about this study is that it is Boy Scout & American Heritage Girl friendly. Your children have the opportunity to earn merit badges while completing the unit study assignments. Also, this unit study is Biblically centered and very flexible.

How we used Horsing Around

The first thing I want to say is that I love that their was no prep work required. I can't say enough how simple it was to do this unit study with my daughters. Before starting the unit, I briefly looked it over and was pleased to find a page with suggestions on how to schedule our unit study time. I found this to be extremely helpful and we tried to follow the suggestions. I also wanted to say that instead of this unit being only for my daughters we used it as a family study. It was a ton of fun having the whole family involved.

Week One -

Week one was such a fun start to the unit. We took a trip to our local library and picked up a few of the books that were on our reading list. After that, we were able to learn about the different breeds and characteristics of horses. We analyzed and discussed the character traits that God describes the horse as having, we traced and labeled the parts of a horse, and we started reading King of the Wind. We also watched The Black Stallion as a family. I was amazed at how much we were learning in just week one. It was fun to watch my daughters enjoying the unit. Our favorite part of week one was the field trip we took to our local horse veterinarian. They were able to spend time asking him wonderful questions about proper horse care, immunizations, common horse injuries, and what colic is.

Another favorite is a section called stump your dad trivia. In this section my daughters learned fun facts about horses. They were always eager for their dad to arrive home to try and stump him.

Week 2 -

In week 2 we were able to learn about horse and tack care. We also learned the parts of the saddle and brindle. We learned about a famous poet and his works, as well reciting a famous poem. My daughters also learned about horse safety and even memorized stable rules of safety. This weeks field trip was a two part trip. The first part was a trip to our local horse supply store. We were able to look at various types of horse care products. Our local store didn't have much of a selection, so we visited another store virtually using the internet to locate and view different products. The second part of the trip was to visit with a horse expert. We were unable to visit one, but once again we used the internet to find answers to the questions my daughters were wanting to know.

Week 3 -

Week 3 focused on equestrian events. We started reading Black Beauty and learned about a famous composer. We watched two movies and still have one on our want to watch list. My daughters also had the opportunity to start planning a cowboy fun night party. They absolutely had a blast planning out their party. They called a couple relatives and invited them to it. At this time the date is set and we are really looking forward to it. There is going to be yummy food and lots of fun games. A list of games to play is actually included in the unit. I loved this, as it made planning much easier.

Week 4 -

Week 4 my daughters used a cookbook to plan a chuck wagon meal for their upcoming party. They are pretty excited to come with me to buy the supplies and also help me make it when the day of the party arrives. They also started working on a skit that they want to perform during the party. We took a trip to watch an actual cowboy skit. It was a ton of fun and it gave them plenty ideas for one of their own.

They also started reading and learning about the pony express, which was suggested on week 4's library list. So it was a ton of fun when they visited an actual Buffalo Bill impersonator. He had a ton of information to give them about the pony express. I truly loved watching them ask him questions and learn all about it.

One thing they really wanted to do during the course of this study was to ride a horse. They have rode before because their grandparents own horses, but they wanted to ride again. They weren't able to actually ride a horse but they did meet some really nice gentleman that explained a little bit about horses and gave them a nice carriage ride.

Our Favorite Parts

Each week in this unit has a family devotional section, this was one of my favorite parts. I loved how biblically centered they whole unit was. I also loved how thought out and put together the unit was in whole. It was a very flexible study, yet I feel like we learned so much. My daughters favorite part was the field trips. They loved being able to not only read and learn, but also get out and be hands-on with their learning. The trips taught them some pretty valuable skills and lessons.

Final Thought

As you can probably already tell, we fell in love with Horsing Around. There is so much wonderful information and ideas in this unit. I absolutely love putting together unit studies for my daughters, but there is no way I would have ever been able to put a unit like this together. It's pretty wonderful and I highly suggest it to anyone wanting to do a horse unit study. As a matter fact I highly suggest Homeschool Legacy period. I can't wait to try out one of their other units.