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Unit Studies A unit study can be described as an in depth study of one particular area or theme where all other relevant areas are pulled in. You can go as in depth as you and your child desire. Perhaps studying an area lightly in the younger years and returning in the older years but from a different angle or view. The best suggestion is to start with an area that your child has shown an interest in already. Of course you must decide what topics are age appropriate and how in depth you will study. Families with many children really love this method of teaching because you can include all the children into the same unit study. Smaller children will of course do less in depth reading and studying but still actively participate. The older children can give reports, show experiments and do quite a bit more. This method shows you how all learning is connected in some way and gives you a sense of connectivity. While doing a unit study basic academic skills are being built upon. There are of course the reading skills with the many books that are read through a study. Copying, dictation, reports, written assignments all utilize handwriting and grammar skills. Math skills are strengthened by completing timelines, comparisons, and other projects. Science, history, and literature seem to flow naturally through just about any study you choose. Some other benefits of unit studies are that it is not necessary to purchase a separate curriculum for each subject area. There is less planning required for lessons because subjects are not taught separately. Natural curiosity and thinking skills are promoted because you can go further into an area or spur off to a new unit study. There are no time constraints though I would not spend any longer than the suggested 5-6 weeks per theme. It seems that areas learned in with unit studies are learned faster and are retained for a much longer period. I have seen this with my own children where they can quote facts and other things they learned through a unit study from even years back. I believe this is so because the children have the interest in a particular area and hence learn better. They retain the knowledge because it is learned in a related way where the kids can see all the connections. This method is a good way to see how all things are interrelated around us. For us Christians, it teaches how we affect one another through many means and avenues. I will use 'weather' as an example to show you how this all pulls together. You start by reading basic books on weather and watching some weather reports on TV. Then you go on to explore the evaporation process (science). Perhaps make your own backyard weather station to measure humidity, rainfall, moisture, etc. (hands on activity, art, science experiments). Older children can map out weather charts (art, math & science). Study the weather and the seasons (astronomy). Discover weather around the globe with differences and similarities (geography). Create an annual rainfall, number of days of sunshine etc. from cities in the world in a comparison chart (math & art). Research how weather affects people in different part of the world (social studies). As you can see this list can grow and grow into many more different areas. This is the beauty of a unit study. You can go more in depth if the child's interest is there and/or for older students. I believe that even those parents who are dedicated to their standard curriculums can still benefit and use unit studies once in awhile. At least after doing a few you can pull together the subjects a bit better and look for the way they are connected as you teach. Some prepared unit study curriculum that you may be using or have heard about are: Konos, Beautiful Feet, Five In A Row, Weaver, Amanda Bennet, Sonlight, Greenleaf Press and others. What they do is prepare the unit study, listing out all possible resources for you to pick and choose from. The caution area here is that some parents may feel like they must use ALL the resources listed and will become once again subject to overdoing it. If you want to put together your own unit study, which isn't that hard by the way, I suggest using the free planner from the Holden Website. I have reviewed it and it is really a good starter. You can also visit the above mentioned preplanned unit study curriculum websites for more info. (If you need specific addresses, visit the Home Crusader website or drop me an email at usteach@aol.com.) God Bless! Leslie Resources for unit studies:230 Free Online Unit Studies -
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