How to Create Your Own Unit Study

Posted by Deb | 0 comments

My son loves volcanoes. I mean, he LOVES volcanoes. He loves them way more than he liked the little 1^st grade science program I bought for him. That program was very basic and very open-and-go, and I liked it very much. My son, however, wanted to watch volcano videos and read volcano books rather than learn about the life cycle of a plant.

At some point I realized that getting exasperated with him and essentially saying things like, “Quit reading that science book you love so we can do this science book that bores you,” was patently ridiculous. It’s embarrassing to admit how long it took me to get a clue.

When the light went on, I decided to ditch the first science program and stick a Volcano Study in its place. After all, I had already bought out Amazon’s entire stock of books and spent hours watching documentaries on the subject – I might as well put this investment into the School column and pat myself on back for being an awesome homeschool mom.

But I didn’t know where to start. I flailed around the internet and eventually found some great worksheets at places like Homeschool Share and ABC Teach. I also discovered Hands of a Child and their project packs. I had the books, the videos, and some ideas about notebooking. I still needed to make a plan, though, and boil everything down into a reasonable six-week study.

After a few false starts, I finally started writing my plan in outline form. Once I decided on that format, I was able to divide the study into six week-long pieces; and then I further divided every week into even smaller bites. Each week would have the same elements – reading, discussion, vocabulary, activities, etc. After that, it was easy to sort my worksheets, reading assignments, and activities into the appropriate week.

I thought it worked so well, I am planning on making a Geology Study soon. If you are like me – wanting to tailor a unit study specifically for your children, but having a hard time getting started – give this basic outline a try:

Unit Study

Goal:

Part One:

• Reading
• Discussion
• Vocabulary Words
• Activity/Experiment
• Notebooking Pages
• Review Questions

On the other hand, these planning tips might be the home school equivalent of making a big announcement like, “you GUYS, GUESS WHAT? You can put music on this little thingy called an iPod! You should get one!”

Deb is a knitting, cooking, home schooling mom. Who is way cooler than that sounds. Really. She blogs about all sorts of random and sometimes even mildly interesting things at Not Inadequate.