Homeschool Unit Study
Homeschooling doesn't have to break the bank. You can, for instance write your own homeschool unit study. Here are some great tips on how to do it.
How To Write A Homeschool Unit Study
Regardless of what methodology you normally use for your homeschool, unit studies can provide you with a nice break from the norm sometimes. They are especially nice whenever you're trying to teach your child(ren) to think a little more about how the different parts of life actually fit together, and they can also give you a break whenever you're faced with the doldrums.
So, how do you decide what subjects to persue whenever you're ready to do a unit study? Well, take a look at your child and see what he/she is deeply interested in. Those are the subjects to pursue with your unit studies. Another way to decide what would make a great unit study is to look through your year's studies and notice
if there are any "holes" in subject matter that you think should be filled. Once you find that "hole," you can find a unit study on that topic, and take a week or two to teach it.
For instance, if your child finds black holes fascinating, but your science text book
covers them in just a paragraph or two, then there is the perfect opportunity to do a unit study on astronomy.
Once you've figured out what you'd like to do a unit study on, all you need is a little time and creativity, and you can create your own unit studies. Assembling your own curriculum around one topic sounds difficult, but if this wasn't the case, then educational companies such as "Teacher Created Materials" wouldn't publish and
sell as many great unit studies as they do.
There are 2 main drawbacks to designing your own unit studies.
First of all, it takes time. If you're a busy parent, this could be enough of a reason to take a trip to your nearest teachers' supply store with your credit card in hand. Secondly, it may require access to a couple of grade-level subject books (ie science, language arts, or math) so that you know which skills are typically covered at a particular grade level. If you have a good library with an educational books department, then you may also have the perfect excuse to spend a long Saturday with a pocket full of change at the library with a stack of books. Another
idea is that if you have a good set of Internet research skills, you can spend your Saturday tucked away at home.
Now that we see the drawbacks, what are the benefits of a unit study? You can teach whatever your heart desires. Plus, if you decide to create your own unit study, you'll find that it is cheaper and more economical than tracking down a pre-made unit study. Furthermore, nobody knows your child as well as you do, and
therefore nobody can prepare a unit study for your child as well as you can.
Whenever you're creating your own unit study, you need to keep in mind that your unit study needs to cover all of the subjects that you'd normally teach, unless you plan to skip a specific subject and keep working through your regular curriculum for that subject. However, to create a complete unit study, you need to include the
first 2 subjects from the following list and as many of the other subjectss as you can logically fit in there too. Now for the list:
(1.) Math - You need to create math problems at your child's level.
For instance, if you're working with a young child on a unit study
about baseball, then you can practice addition with bats and balls,
write a story problem that talks about number of pitches thrown
until the team reached the final out, etc. However, older children would need
something that is more on their level. For instance, you may
discuss the speed of the bat, distance the ball travels, or the
number of hot dogs that individual team fans eat.
(2.) Language Arts - This area includes reading, comprehension,
grammar and writing skills. While you don't need to include every
one of these items in every unit study that you write, you should
have your child write something about the topic. A great suggestion
here would be to have your child read a book about the topic then
write a narrative telling you about what he/she read in the book.
(3.) Science - Sometimes a unit study lends itself quite easily to
science, but other times you'll find yourself having to work a
little bit harder. For instance, a unit study on bugs will let you
off the hook since the entire unit study is about science. However,
if you are doing a unit study about ancient Egypt then you may need
to take some time to look at the creations of the Egyptian
engineers, study mummification, think about ancient medicine, or
consider the tools that the Egyptians used to do their work.
(4.) Social Studies or Geography - This may be your main topic, but
if it isn't, then you'll need to work some information into your
topic. Some questions that can help you here include: Where was
your topic first seen or invented? What culture surrounded the time
or event? Where did this take place? You may also want to learn
more about the people of that time period and place.
(5.) Art - Take time to draw, build, act, design or create. You
could design a Roman mosaic, sketch an insect's genetic makeup,
build a temple from clay or LEGOs, create a tapestry
to illustrate the unit that you're studying (felt shapes work for
quick tapestries when needlepoint takes way too long), or paint the
flowers that you're learning about.
(6.) Music - Sometimes music fits into a unit study nicely. For
instance, you could always listen to some folk music while you
explore the civil unrest of the 1960s. However, if you're studying
something more scientific, then you may need to work a little harder
to fit music into that unit study.
(7.) History - Adding history to a unit study should be relatively
easy, regardless of the topic. You could simply research when an
event began or an item was invented or you could talk about the
events and times that affected an item's inventor.
(8.) Physical Education - Here again, you may need to be a bit
creative. However, when you discover that physical education fits
into your unit study, then you should definitely use it! For
instance, if you're studying the ancient Greeks, then you could run
footraces like they did.
If you're still not certain what to do for your very first unit study, try "following" your child(ren) around for a couple days and watch what they do. For instance, if your child spends all of his/her time engrossed in books, then think about a literature-based unit study (ie how books are made). On the other hand, your child may
spend his/her time outside digging for rocks. Then why not do an archeology or rocks and minerals unit study?
Of course, there are some topics that you can use numerous times as your child(ren) grows older. These include:
(1.) Animals, horses, or mammals
(2.) Baseball, basketball, fencing, or sports in general
(3.) Cooking or catering (which may include business and economics
information)
(4.) Kites
(5.) Flight
(6.) Transportation
(7.) Weather
(8.) Historical cultures (ie medieval history, ancient Egypt, etc.)
The spark of a unit study is lit whenever your child(ren) mentions an interest. Whenever they do, you need to write it down somewhere. Keep a running list of interests and you'll soon have more than you'll know what to do with. However, even if your child only shows a deep interest in one or two topics, you should take time to explore those. You may discover that you're able to create
several unit studies based on the first one as new interests are
developed.
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Reverend Brenda Hoffman has been delivering holistic health and
wellness advice for over 7 years. As a home-based professional and
mother of 1, she operates a holistic wellness and homeschooling
network. Learn to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and richer
relationships with your homeschooled children through the range of
resources at http://www.yourhealthyfamilyhome.com/
