Unit Studies Questions

[OregonNative]

I'm wondering how US generally work. I'm reevaluating how we are schooling.

Are there US that incorporate Christianity, Science, History etc.? What about Writing? ? I assume I would need to add Math and Handwriting. I'm OK with prep work and I still want to stick with real books. I've looked at some of Amanda Bennett's studies, but have no clue how in depth they are or what age groups they are for. I've also looked at Organic H'schooling, but can't tell if they are too young for a 1st and 3rd grader. I've looked at the KONOS site, but it has me completely confused:001_huh:

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :001_smile:

[MangoMama]

We like using Unit Studies. I used to make them up myself or use homeschoolshare.com, but I was fortunate enough to finally get my hands on all the volumes of Five in a Row for my son and Beyond Five in a Row for my daughter.

 

Science, History, Language Arts, and Applied Math are usually all included in a Unit Study. In the later years, it may be necessary to add a writing, grammar, and math program. I also use a phonics program for my younger child. With FIAR, there is Christianity included. With BYFIAR, you have to purchase the Christian Character and Bible supplement separately. I believe Amanda Bennett includes religious studies in hers, but I'm not certain as I've never bought any of hers (yet). I know that a lot of people that have used and liked FIAR will also use Amanda's stuff for their older kids.

 

There are some fantastic articles on the FIAR forums about how unit studies work and why they work well. If you need links to them, let me know. :)

[HomesteadMommy]

I think there are a few. The main one I use is FIAR and it has a Bible supplement you can buy. It covers social studies, LA, art, science, applied math. Then you add math and phonics.

 

TOG is another one although I haven't used it yet. It covers history, church history, writing. I'm not sure what else. But I'm sure someone here can tell you more about it.

 

FIAR is my fav for the younger years though. My oldest is in grade 3 and I've been using it with them since prek.

[MangoMama]

FIAR is my fav for the younger years though. My oldest is in grade 3 and I've been using it with them since prek.

 

My fave, too. :D

 

Forgot to add that previously. :tongue_smilie:

[OregonNative]

My oldest is in grade 3 and I've been using it with them since prek.

Do you use Beyond FIAR with your 3rd grader? Or just FIAR?

[OregonNative]

Thanks for reminding of FIAR! I considered it when choosing curriculum for this year:)

[HomesteadMommy]

Do you use Beyond FIAR with your 3rd grader? Or just FIAR?

 

She's just using FIAR. I do add a little extra work for her. I use Galloping the Globe as well and some times pick out some selections from it. So for a social studies on China we would learn were it is, color a flag, color the area on a map and label the capital.

The FIAR lessons are really rich and can be done orally or you can do written work or lapbooks with them. What ever suits your family best. I only add the extra because she really likes hands on things and wants it.

 

I'm going to get the FIAR vol 4 to use next year. It's like a bridge between FIAR and Beyond FIAR. Longer story books and the studies I hear are more for older children.

But I know there are people using the normal FIAR with kids as old as 10 just fine. They just give a little extra work with the lesson. Like more map work or reading a related book.

[Mothersweets]

Have you ever looked here for unit studies?

 

Jennifer Steward has a great book all about unit studies and how to put your own together. Hope this helps. :)

[mommyagain]

Another one to consider is Christian Cottage Unit Studies.

[Hunter]

A friend and I are doing SOW together right now, for adult remedial self-study. It's a 6 year Unit Study on the Bible, for k-12.

 

 

SOW Yahoo Group

Edited December 30, 2010 by Hunter

[....]

We use a lot of Unit Studies, too. SWB has an article on the main website about Unit Studies. My kids retain a lot of information when we use this approach and they have a great time, too. I actually take the topics from the Core Knowledge Sequence www.coreknowledge.org and twist them into Unit Studies.

 

There's a book about US that gets pretty good reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Unit-Studies-Bendt-Family-Ministries/dp/1885814135/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293718745&sr=8-1

 

I also use stuff from here: (we're currently in their Farmer Boy US)

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/levels.php

 

Other parents recommended this, too:

http://www.handsofachild.com/

[OregonNative]

Another one to consider is Christian Cottage Unit Studies.

 

A friend and I are doing SOW together right now, for adult remedial self-study. It's a 6 year Unit Study on the Bible, for k-12.

 

 

SOW Yahoo Group

 

Thank you ladies!! I am going to look into these:grouphug:

[OregonNative]

We use a lot of Unit Studies, too. SWB has an article on the main website about Unit Studies. My kids retain a lot of information when we use this approach and they have a great time, too. I actually take the topics from the Core Knowledge Sequence www.coreknowledge.org and twist them into Unit Studies.

 

There's a book about US that gets pretty good reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Unit-Studies-Bendt-Family-Ministries/dp/1885814135/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293718745&sr=8-1

 

I also use stuff from here: (we're currently in their Farmer Boy US)

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/levels.php

 

Other parents recommended this, too:

http://www.handsofachild.com/

 

Thanks!! I am excited to look into these:001_smile:

[OregonNative]

Have you ever looked here for unit studies?

 

Jennifer Steward has a great book all about unit studies and how to put your own together. Hope this helps. :)

 

I have not-thanks so much for the link:grouphug:

[Susie in MS]

Another vote for FIAR!

 

My dd and I have been using Vols 1-3 for a year and a half now. We started when she was 4 yo and did only the light assignments. Now we are re-rowing and doing the ones a bit harder and expounding when I see we have great interest. I may re-row those vols with her one more time before moving onto Vol 4 which looks even more awesome! If we do a third row I will go even deeper with the lessons. That is the beauty of FIAR: it works with such a wide range of ages. At that point I would have dd doing notebooking. Right now we do some lessons orally and do hands on and the occasional wksht from HHS. We also look at other websites for pics and go along books that are on topic. But we don't over do. We just do what works for the moment.

 

Each unit in vol 1-3 are designed to last about 1 week. Each unit in vol 4 is designed to last for 2 weeks.

 

Vol 1-3 only have the Christian Character Supplement IF you get the combined super book that includes vols 1-3 and the supplement. If you get the individual vols (1-3) they do not have the supplement and you will need to purchase that separately. Vol 4 includes the Bible and also the recipes.

 

If you want the story disk it is included in the superbook and in vol 4. If you choose any of vols 1-3 individually you would need to purchase the disk separately.

[OregonNative]

Another vote for FIAR!

 

My dd and I have been using Vols 1-3 for a year and a half now. We started when she was 4 yo and did only the light assignments. Now we are re-rowing and doing the ones a bit harder and expounding when I see we have great interest. I may re-row those vols with her one more time before moving onto Vol 4 which looks even more awesome! If we do a third row I will go even deeper with the lessons. That is the beauty of FIAR: it works with such a wide range of ages. At that point I would have dd doing notebooking. Right now we do some lessons orally and do hands on and the occasional wksht from HHS. We also look at other websites for pics and go along books that are on topic. But we don't over do. We just do what works for the moment.

 

Each unit in vol 1-3 are designed to last about 1 week. Each unit in vol 4 is designed to last for 2 weeks.

 

Vol 1-3 only have the Christian Character Supplement IF you get the combined super book that includes vols 1-3 and the supplement. If you get the individual vols (1-3) they do not have the supplement and you will need to purchase that separately. Vol 4 includes the Bible and also the recipes.

 

If you want the story disk it is included in the superbook and in vol 4. If you choose any of vols 1-3 individually you would need to purchase the disk separately.

 

Do the volumes specify anywhere how to do the lighter lessons for the young child and to go more in depth with and older child? Or do you have to figure this out on your own?

 

How many weeks in one volume? I thought I read somewhere it was 6-8.

[Susie in MS]

Do the volumes specify anywhere how to do the lighter lessons for the young child and to go more in depth with and older child? Or do you have to figure this out on your own?

 

How many weeks in one volume? I thought I read somewhere it was 6-8.

 

Well, there are several lessons to choose from under each subject. You look over those and see which ones your child is capable of. Do the easier ones for the younger crowd, the more difficult ones for those a bit older, and for more of a challenge (IF you want to) you can add outside ideas from either homeschoolshare or the archives at the FIAR board. Some have a geography book on hand for info and pics of countries that you cover. What is in the vols is enough on its own, but some choose to add to it where others don't. .

 

If you mean weeks per book...In vol one each book is rowed for 1 week. Now if you are talking about BeyondFIAR then each book is studied for 6-8 weeks. So in FIAR vol one you have 19 books for a total of 19 weeks (aprox) of studies, give or take depending on how deep you want to go with each book and if you row them all.

[Marcy KY]

Amanda's unit studies are written in 2 levels....one for elementary and one for jr/sr high. They work especially well if you have kids spanning those ages. I just have one child, so I didn't start using them until 3rd grade, and even then we struggled to get through all 4 weeks. If we needed to stop and move on to something else, we did and there was still lots of learning happening. Oftentimes, we went back and finished up later.

 

Amanda has a new set of unit studies geared toward K-4, Download N Go. They are awesome and my son absolutely loves them. They are my new favorite curriculum. They combine unit studies with lapbooks, and are done interactively on the computer. The topics are fun, and the learning is deep. http://www.downloadngo.com

 

Amanda is running a huge sale right now--12 Days of Christmas--so it's a great time to pick up some units at a great price. She's also having a Kindle giveaway. http://www.unitstudy.com

 

We used FIAR for PreK-2 and loved it! We use it in our co-op now as well.

[Ellie]

I'm wondering how US generally work. I'm reevaluating how we are schooling.

 

Are there US that incorporate Christianity, Science, History etc.? What about Writing? ? I assume I would need to add Math and Handwriting. I'm OK with prep work and I still want to stick with real books. I've looked at some of Amanda Bennett's studies, but have no clue how in depth they are or what age groups they are for. I've also looked at Organic H'schooling, but can't tell if they are too young for a 1st and 3rd grader. I've looked at the KONOS site, but it has me completely confused:001_huh:

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :001_smile:

The KONOS site confuses me, too.

 

KONOS does history, geography, science, Bible, arts and crafts, literature, while studying godly character traits.

 

I prefer the original three volumes. Each one can be used for at least two years. Vol. 1 and 3 character traits can be done in any order; Vol. 2 is chronological.

 

KONOS doesn't teach writing skills, but there are opportunites for writing.

 

When I did KONOS, I did two KONOS days a week (some people do some activities daily, but I was more successful doing KONOS on two days), and English/math skills the other days. Also, I did all character traits in a year--not all activities, but all character traits, usually one a month but sometimes one character trait for two months.

 

KONOS was my favorite. :-)

[AngelBee]

Trying to figure out how to design my own.