Develop Your Approach

Unit studies allow us to pursue a topic in-depth, while applying the disciplines of each subject to the topic. For example, you could develop your child's recent interest in stamp collecting into a unit study by incorporating books (reading), monetary equivalents (math), geography, different currencies over time (history), classification (science) and art. Include communication skills by requiring a report (writing/grammar) or speech. Unit studies typically take advantage of hand-on activities, field trips, and other forms of investigation.

There is no shortage of resources when it comes to purchasing pre-planned unit studies or helps for developing your own. Chances are you, too, will incorporate at least one unit study during your family's homeschooling adventure. The following are unit-study features that can be implemented into any philosophy:

Investigation. Unit studies provide us with an opportunity to satisfy our curiosity. We can stay with the same subject matter until each one of our questions has been answered and we feel intimately familiar with the subject. This is a particularly wonderful way to learn history and the characters who have shaped it.

Sources of information. Unit studies are also a great way to investigate all that our local library has to offer. Children are more likely to want to participate in finding their own information when it pertains to a topic of their interest.

Application of the 3-Rs. Applying any learning tool to an arbitrary topic dreamed up by the curriculum provider can take the life out of learning. On the other hand, applying "real" math to a topic of our interest makes it interesting and fun. Writing finds new life when it isn't a contrived lesson. Reading can be magic when we are reading about something of interest, rather than an abridged version of an arbitrary story in our reader.

Teach more than one child at a time. Unit studies are one of the most effective ways to teach multiple children at multiple levels. Assignments can easily be fine-tuned to fit each child's level while everyone studies the same topic.

Further Reading

• Creating Your Own Unit Studies
  "With just a few resources you can put together your own units and track what topics you have covered through the years. The biggest fear of those who are debating about using the unit study method is fear of leaving something out. I’ve found three ways to deal with this fear. Use a scope and sequence, find a resource that covers the breadth of a subject for a particular age child and set up a multi-year topical plan." Ready to create your own unit studies? Beverly S. Krueger shares how it works in her home.
• Planning a Unit Study
  Welcomed help from Highland Heritage. Includes definitions and ten steps practical steps to help you incorporate units studies in your homeschool.
• Power of Homeschooling
  "Rote memorization of textbook material is no replacement for thinking skills and logic when it comes to leading a satisfying and fulfilling adult life. If the knowledge isn’t there to stay, there is no foundation or framework to build on for the rest of their lives... If the framework isn’t there, the new information isn’t connected to anything, and it is difficult to use new information in a meaningful way." Amanda Bennett makes the case for unit studies.
• Unit Studies
  "The unit study method of home education has fringe benefits that go beyond teaching the 'connectedness' of things. My children retain information and facts, because factual data hangs together in nice tidy packages. But the greatest bonus from doing units is the sense of learning, reading and doing together as a family. There is a sense of family connectedness in addition to the factual connectedness." Article by Jessica Hulcy.
• Unit Study Approach
  "The child learns by actually experiencing or discovering through different methods and activities, rather than just reading a chapter from a textbook. Studies show that children using unit study methods retain 45% more than those using a traditional approach." Explanation and examples from Heart of Wisdom.
• Unit Study Basics
  "What is a unit study? It is defined as an in-depth study of a topic (space, trees, cars, etc.) that takes into account many areas of the topic, such as geography, science, history, art, etc. It is a complete immersion into the topic so that the student will see things as a "whole" instead of bits and pieces learned throughout their education." Amanda Bennett gives you the basics you need to get started!