Unit Studies – Poison or Possibility?

One of the first things parents explore when they start down the road to the home education adventure is to learn what’s out there. They want to know about field trips, curriculum, resources, AND teaching methods. Folks tell them, “Well, there’s the Textbook approach…the Charlotte Mason approach, the Classical approach…and there’s the (eh hem – clears their throat), UNIT STUDY approach. You probably don’t want to go that direction because you have to be the creative type, spend lots of time on planning, AND have lots of energy for doing crafts and making costumes!”

Unit Studies have been given a bad reputation. There are many misconceptions surrounding this method. So I pose the question: “Are Unit Studies poison…something to be avoided? Or, are they filled with possibilities…something that can bring endless educational rewards including: family unity, provide a superior education, engage children’s interest through interactive teaching, and develop a true love for learning and books!

We started homeschooling our eight children 23 years ago. Back “then” the textbook approach was pretty much all there was so that’s what we used, but within a few years I was ready to give up. I had a huge stack of teacher binders for EVERY subject for each of my 3 school age children. I could not overcome the guilt of never being able to finish anything and my children were bored and were not retaining much of what we covered – a disappointment considering how much time I was devoting to the little darlings!

I decided to do a Unit Study on trains. I grabbed some books and started reading to them. I didn’t really know what I was doing but I understood that a unit study was where you would choose a topic and try to accomplish your school subjects through and around it. It was amazing! Each day they would say “When are we starting? What are we doing next?” - words I hadn’t heard before! From that day to the present, we have done unit studies as our core of teaching because I knew, by their responses, that I could not go back into bondage.

Since then, I have been perfecting the method and finding ways to lead parents in the endless possibilities for teaching interactively using living books and notebooks. I like to remind parents by saying “There are no rules” – just guidelines! It’s really about the books so if you can read…you can teach!

One of we parents do repeatedly is to approach education from a fear base. How do I know? Because parents often say of unit studies, “I’m just afraid…” they are afraid they will miss something important, they fear their child will not be academic enough to attend college (sometimes worrying over these things when their oldest child is 3!), they fear they will not be able to teach certain subjects.

Possibilities abound!

First, you are not God so you WILL miss something important. I went to public school and missed something important – it was called an education! Do your responsible best with teaching but remember if you’re teaching to the test and trying to check off all the boxes and fill in all the blanks, if it is not interesting and engaging, your child will not love learning and it will NOT stick. Just because the textbook contains ALL the information, does not mean your child will learn it. I love the story Diana Waring tells about how homeschoolers approach teaching as if there were a mountain of information and we parents have X number of years to try to shovel as much information in as we can!

Second, relax. We tend to stick with what is conventional and accepted and prepared for us because it makes us feel secure but it may not be necessarily what is best. I think we all desire to develop a true love for learning, but we aren’t willing to do what it takes. We must stop feeling so pressured to get all these subjects done and instead enjoy reading aloud with our children as a priority. Many of your “subjects” can be integrated into your topic of study and accomplished much more naturally. Devoting a daily read aloud time is such a beneficial and educational highlight in our school day. This is where meaningful discussion takes place and springs from. When Dad sits down to the dinner table, all the kids are sharing some part of what they learned and the others are interested too because they have learned the same thing. The more times you discuss something, the more it is reinforced!

Third, just think of what you could do with some extra time! Unit studies allow you to teach most all your varied age students the same thing and the outpouring of their assignments and subjects will be accomplished at each child’s skill and ability level. Plan one lesson, teach one lesson, read to a whole group at once…so much time can be saved and the learning possibilities are endless because when all the children are learning the same content, further discussion only adds to the learning.

The proof is in the pudding and the pudding is your children! Try it and see how your children come to life and their eyes will sparkle with interest. You’ll be amazed!