{"id":17554,"date":"2011-04-28T18:00:51","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T22:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/?p=17554"},"modified":"2019-10-29T14:32:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T18:32:40","slug":"how-to-create-unit-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/how-to-create-unit-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Create Unit Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I believe the best part of homeschooling is the flexibility. <\/strong>For the most part – you can school when you want, how you want, where you want, and what you wan. Each day is a new adventure! Especially so when we create our own unit studies.<\/p>\n

In my home it all begins with one question, “What do you want to learn about now<\/em><\/strong>“? \u00a0I give my son a few days to think about our next science or geography unit study. \u00a0He picks a topic – most times it’s been animals – bugs, wolves, alligators and other times more broad: planets, knights, oceans to our most recent unit study on flight and evolution of airplanes.<\/p>\n

A few points to consider when creating unit studies to keep them interesting:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duration<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once we decide what<\/em> we’re going to learn about – \u00a0I decide how long<\/em> the unit study will take. \u00a0Some have taken one week because there is nothing more I can offer about honeybees. \u00a0Others have taken two weeks, but due to my son’s attention span … we have never stretched a unit study beyond three weeks.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/span> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I live at the library! \u00a0Every time we go – we stock up! \u00a0I check out every single<\/span> book I can find on that one topic. \u00a0Then we look for movies (National Geographic or Animal Atlas) . \u00a0Once \u00a0home I check out a few websites like Homeschool Share<\/a>, Enchanted Learning<\/a>, and ABC Teach<\/a> for any free <\/em>printables.<\/p>\n

Vocabulary<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

As we read through our stack of books I write down the vocabulary words he does not know and encourage him to look them up in his (age appropriate) dictionary. \u00a0Later in the week he will write sentences using these words. \u00a0(I try to pick 10-15 words for the whole unit study).<\/p>\n

Geography<\/strong> & Science<\/strong> <\/span><\/h3>\n

Whenever there are locations mentioned – we check those out spending a day studying the globe. \u00a0I print out a few black and white maps to label the appropriate hemisphere, continent, country, biome, etc. \u00a0We discuss language, culture, time zones, and weather. \u00a0If we started with a geographic region – then we discuss the animals, habitats, etc. living there.<\/p>\n

History<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When we see historical names – we also pull more resource books and read a few junior biographies<\/strong>. \u00a0(my son loves the Animated Hero Classics dvds by Nest Learning). \u00a0If there is a time “period” mentioned we check out a few more books.<\/p>\n

Reading<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

After we’ve exhausted those resources I try to incorporate chapter books – currently his reading level includes Magic Tree House (the Teacher Guides are fantastic so do not forget them), and A-Z Mysteries.<\/p>\n

Art<\/strong> <\/span><\/h3>\n

We pick up a few craft or art project books. \u00a0Most times we try to incorporate Legos or play dough for my tactile learner! \u00a0Our recent flight unit study my son put together a model airplane purchased at Michaels. \u00a0During our \u00a0Ancient Greece unit study we cut apart a Huggies diaper box, painted it white, and drew Corinthian columns for a Greek temple. \u00a0Projects do not have to be award winning as long as they are educational and fun.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After all the “paper work” we throw in a field trip for some out of the house fun!<\/p>\n

TIPS <\/strong>– \u00a0Be sure to document all book & DVD titles, snap photos of art work or crafts to put in your folder – print out your resource list, staple it to your vocabulary sheet or slide into a folder with the completed printables, and you’ve created your 1st unit study!<\/p>\n

Learning is so much fun and we have the ability to guide our children in the direction of their interests. \u00a0You do not have to work for a curriculum company to create a unit study. \u00a0We can customize lessons according to our children’s learning styles and most of all … have fun learning together!<\/em><\/p>\n

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