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What's A Unit Study?
April 12, 2017
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I used to jump out of bed in the morning, quickly get dressed, and race out the door to catch a bus or walk/run to school. I walked in the Virginia snow, the California rain, and the heat of the Arizona desert. I got up too late for breakfast, never packed a lunch, and often had no jacket or umbrella or backpack. I was never prepared. My body was wide awake by the time I got to school, but my brain was still dozing. Sit down; open the books; listen to the teacher; write notes; the end. Get up; try to get to the next class before being bullied or made fun of, and sit down again for the next class. I slogged through each day just waiting to get home so I could eat and rest, relax and be myself . . . oh, yes, and do all the homework I had accumulated throughout the day.
Looking back, the troublemakers weren’t really troublemakers; they were just boys who needed to move, wiggle,
do something
active while learning
. . . and the girls just needed to talk and relate; move and create. Our children get to do all of that as hands-on, real-life learners.
They can take their math or language arts anywhere and enjoy their work with a snack and a pair of binoculars. They can read classics, listen to history on audio, and perform cool science experiments. They can open the art cabinet, and pull out whatever they need to be creative anytime they would like. Oh, and they get the sleep and the nutrition they need—and no extra homework bogging down their free time, so they can play baseball or go bowling or catch butterflies—without the stress.
Hands-on learning is the opposite of what traditional school offers children. Other schooling options have to fit the child into the school mold, rather than opening a door for the child to learn in freedom. Home-educated children have the time and can go as deep as they’d like on any topic they love.
Hands-on learning is lapbooks, drama, unit studies, games, nature walks, and building projects; creating artwork for Grandma and baking treats for the neighbors; sewing and beading and paper crafting. Hands-on learning is gardening and raising fish or lizards or sea monkeys. Hands-on learning is knitting hats for orphanages and entering rabbits in county fairs; collecting flowers or insects, rocks or chickens or snakes, and identifying them, researching their habits and habitats, and building exhibits. Hands-on learning is creating code for computer games and creating home-based businesses as entrepreneurs.
Your children will have far better memories and a far greater learning capacity, along with aptitude and life skills, because of all the hands-on learning you are doing in your home environment—much more than anything your own boring school days did for you.
In my schooling experie
nce as a child, I was never able to really rest in body or soul, were you? But your children will have rest. And, they will learn where real rest comes from: “
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
In case you needed a reminder, you are doing what is best for your children by keeping them
Home Where They Belong.
~ Deborah
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Dear Friends,
When I was a young mom, the buzz word in homeschooling was “unit study.” People were always talking about how great unit studies were, but the concept was not clear until someone sat me down and explained.
“Diana, a unit study is the natural connection between one subject area and another. For instance, we are studying the moon right now using a unit study approach. That means we read poetry about the moon, we learn about the effect of the moon on ocean tides, and we look at paintings of the moon. So, literature, science, and art—all naturally connected to one topic. It makes learning much more interesting, much more fun!”
Oh! That made sense! And, as I fleshed this out in my homeschool, it became an essential element in the development of my children’s creative and critical thinking. That’s why it is now one of the foundations of my History Revealed World History Curriculum.
One of the most important aspects of unit study, if it is going to be effective, is that there are “natural connections” between the subject areas. If our kids can see how “this” connects to “that,” and if it is interesting and fun (which leads us to the reason for hands-on projects), it will be a powerful type of learning they will remember . . . and one that will help build their creative and critical-thinking skills!
History is, perhaps, the easiest subject to connect to others—making it a wonderful vehicle for unit study. Let’s say your kids are fascinated by ancient Rome. You could:
• Read The Young Carthaginian, by G.A. Henty (historical fiction—learn about Hannibal crossing the Alps in his war with Rome).
• Look at the mosaics found in the ruins of the ancient Roman city, Pompeii; then make some homemade mosaics (art—a creative hands-on project that will delight your kids!).
• Discover how the Romans built their famous bridges and aqueducts; then look on Pinterest for a kid's-Roman-bridge-building project (science—learn the science behind the Roman use of arches in their bridges and aqueducts while having fun building your own miniature bridge).
• Find the territory belonging to the Roman Empire on a globe or map; then make a salt-dough map (geography—help your kids see for themselves that the Roman Empire was one of the largest in history as they form salt-dough mountains, seas, and deserts).
• Bake anise cookies (home economics—let your children taste one of the most prized spices in Rome as they munch on these delicious licorice-flavored treats).
Do you have to do all of these hands-on projects in a unit study? No! Pick the ones that your children will enjoy the most, and let them discover for themselves how interesting this kind of learning can be.
Remember, stay relational!!
Diana
P.S. By the way, all the projects listed above can be found in my Ancient Civilizations & the Bible curriculum. If you like the idea of bringing history to life through its natural connections to art, geography, literature, science, Bible, music, and more—but don’t know how to put it all together—check us out!
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Unit studies are a wonderful way to homeschool! Whether you are teaching one or ten, using unit studies will add fun, hands-on learning to your homeschool. I know some of you are wondering how to go about doing that. You have lots of questions and concerns. Read on, and hopefully those questions will be answered, and you can go about the business of making your homeschool more exciting than ever.
“What exactly is a unit study?”
A unit study is a method of teaching in which you choose a topic and then dig in deep to learn everything you can about it, incorporating every subject you possibly can: history, geography, science, art, music, even language arts, and applied math. Instead of touching on a lot of topics and barely learning about them, you’ll be digging deep, where real learning happens. And you’re doing this with all of your children together, all learning about the same topic, at their age-appropriate levels.
“I feel overwhelmed and out of my element. How will unit studies help with that?”
Many moms are overwhelmed with homeschooling. The last thing you need is a new twist, right? Wrong. The last thing you need is a child that equates learning with dread, drudgery, and disappointment. Don’t let your child’s boredom weigh you down—that is overwhelming. Toss the textbooks. Ditch the workbooks. Follow your child’s interest; try a unit study, and watch your child go from uninterested to enthused.
“But won’t there be gaps in their education? I feel more comfortable if my kids are learning the same things the kids in school are learning.”
In this age of information, there is no way you are going to cover everything, no matter what curriculum you use. You had gaps in your education, and so did I. If you try to cover everything, your child’s education will be a mile wide but only an inch deep. You’ll produce students who think they know everything about everything, but really don’t know much about anything.
“Planning and implementing a unit study takes too much time, doesn’t it?”
Who has time to sit around and plan a unit study? The reality is that you probably don’t have the time. The good news is you don’t have to bear the burden. You can spend as much or as little time as you want planning unit studies. Or you can just not plan them at all. Many unit studies by many different authors are out there waiting for you to discover them. You are sure to find some that will pique your child’s curiosity.
We hope that you can now see all the benefits to homeschooling with unit studies. Why not add some fun, hands-on, child-led, creative, real learning to your homeschool? Your children will thank you, and you might find yourself enjoying teaching more than ever.
-Marcy Crabtree
Marcy Crabtree is a Christian homeschooling mom to one teen son. An encourager at heart, she is passionate about cultivating relationships with other moms and spends much of her time doing so both on her blog, Ben and Me, and in social media.
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One of the many resources on SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the Unit Studies and More section. This hidden corner of the site offers your family dozens of supplemental resources you can do alongside our 300+ courses. Whether you want to study maple syrup’s journey from the tree to the table; follow the Iditarod; trek the Appalachian trail; learn geography through the life of William Carey; or meet Mary Slessor, the “White Ma of Calabar,” there’s something here for almost every age. Don’t miss these beneficial and entertaining studies!
If you’re not already a member of
SchoolhouseTeachers.com
, we would love to have you join us. Sign up for a trial membership today and discover all the courses and resources we offer that can make your homeschool day simpler and less stressful. There are no per-child fees or additional fees for textbooks. Join today!
If you or someone you know is interested in designing lessons for our site, please contact Executive Editor Bonnie Rose Hudson at
bhudson@theoldschoolhouse.com
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in the latest issue of
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.
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The Smart Circuits: Games & Gadgets Electronics Lab, from Smart Lab Toys, is a fun learning kit intended for kids ages eight and up. It includes plenty of components, including a microprocessor module, battery module, variable resistor module, tricolor LED module, speaker module, photodiode module, tilt switch module, six-LED array module, two push button modules, thirty-one jumper wires, six base boards, and a forty-eight-page book with instructions for building a variety of projects!
In addition to the fifty projects in the book, you can also download eighteen additional projects from the website! Now that's a lot of fun! The first eleven projects in the book are very simple and are intended to be completed in order so that the user can learn the basic principles of electronics. Then the others can be done in any order you choose. This kit is available for just $49.99, and there are certainly plenty of activities there to keep any child busy for quite some time! The projects include a variety of games and gadgets, such as a sound box, a drag race game, a motion-sensing room alarm, a dance party light show, an electronic drum kit, and so much more! (. . .)
(Read the rest of the review.)
YOU can WIN this kit for your homeschool!
TO ENTER: Email Kathleen with your name, mailing address, and phone number for contact purposes, with the subject line, “Smart Circuits” for a chance to win* it for your family!
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