I think it was our third year of homeschooling when I got tired of just combing the local library for picture books about the holidays. Thanksgiving was coming up, and I wanted to add some fun to our learning while we prepared to celebrate. That’s when I found some unit studies written by Amanda Bennett and I was hooked!
If you haven’t used unit studies yet in your homeschool, summer, celebrating the seasons, and holidays are a great way to give them a try!
What are unit studies?
Topics are explored from top to bottom, inside and out in unit studies. You dive deep into an idea, rather than breaking it apart into particular subject areas, time periods, or tidbits of information. Products from UnitStudy.com offer a cross-curricular approach to learning, taking advantage of their gift for narrative combined with relevant internet links. Your students get to learn in-depth about interesting and timely topics and make connections between ideas in a way that textbooks don’t.
Why do I like unit studies?
For some, unit studies are the whole curriculum. They go from topic to topic following their kids’ interests. For others, it’s a piece of their studies, filling in what another curriculum may have missed, or filling time between seasons of homeschooling.
My family falls somewhere in the middle. We deliberately pick up unit studies when we’re looking to go deeper into a particular topic, especially when I feel like I don’t know enough about it myself to find the best resources for a well-rounded, in-depth study. We also use them to give us a break from our major individual subjects. I find unit studies help to reinforce the concepts we’re learning in those subject areas, especially language arts!
Giving my kids a chance to talk and write about something that’s not a textbook exercise is a great checkpoint to see if they’re really able to apply communication skills.
My personal favorites are holiday and seasonal units! But this year, I’m adding American Government and Elections unit studies to my self-designed high school-level Am Gov’t study.
Are you interested in trying some?
The great thing about unit studies is that you can make a small investment to give it a try. You might decide they’re not for you, or you might reap big rewards! To be honest, I’d recommend trying a few different styles and authors before deciding what works and what doesn’t. Maybe you’d even have the best result from designing the unit study yourself!
While I personally recommend trying a title from UnitStudy.com, here are a few other links to help you get started:
- Unit study links from TheHomeschoolMom.com
- Unit study info from Cathy Duffy Reviews
- Search unit study on Pinterest
- What Is a Unit Study? from UnitStudy.com
Check out the weekly specials at UnitStudy.com for a great way to sample these learning tools!
** So sorry, but the giveaway originally published with this post has ended. I hope you learned enough about unit studies to help you on your homeschool journey. If there are any questions I can answer for you, please leave a comment or use the contact form. **