Unit Study help needed

[Deece in MN]

Hi,

I know in another post I mentioned that we were leaning towards unschooling (just about every year after our Christmas break I go through this stage where I think we should unschool or at least relax a lot). Well, I have been discussing this with my dh and he finally came out and said that he is not completely comfortable with unschooling and would like to see us have some structured learning.

My dh works hard so I can stay home and I would like to honor his feelings on this, so we talked about unit studies and he was ok with that.

So, I have not really ever done unit studies or approaching our learning through a specific topic of interest. Does anyone have a good web-site(s) that I can look at?

Also, my dc are 13 & 11 and they don't agree on a topic. So, how would you approach this? My dd really wants to unschool so she is not happy about having some structure. It has not been easy getting her on board so I want to make sure the topic is something she is interested in to help her have some ownership in this.

My ds wants to study the Spartans (he watched 300 and now has an interest) and dd is saying she would like to learn about China. Should I let them each do their own topic? I was hoping we could do this study together so we can discuss things as we go along and do some projects and just have fun.

I feel that if they each do their own thing, it won't work as well.

Any thoughts or advice from someone who has done interest-led unit studies?

Thanks!

[Lisawa]

Hi... I have a few resources for you to try...... free ones and some to buy....

 

The first resource and a great tool is "Everything You Need To Know About Unit Studies" This book is by a woman named Jennifer Steward... wonderful grace filled woman... I have been to 2 of her unit study work shops and I co- organized one of them.. and she came to my hows to host a workshop too.... this book can help you plan your own unit studies... but to tell you... she also has planned ones too... it wont cost you and arm and a leg either...

 

How too book http://www.unitstudies.com/unitstudy/product/0050004.aspx

 

Unit Study guides

http://www.unitstudies.com/unitstudy/category-study/

 

 

Here is a web site that offers free one The Easy Fun school :

http://www.easyfunschool.com/IndexUnitStudies.html

 

It might be a bit overwhelimg.... each one has a lot of reasources to wade thorugh... but they are free.

 

Design a study is another great resource! :)

http://www.designastudy.com/

 

Pegs unit study planing page is a great tool as well! It has free resources as well and might be a bit easier to wade through info wise.... she also has pages to print out for free to help aid you in your study...

http://members.aol.com/PegFlint/units_how_to_plan.html

 

If any of these links dont work please let me know... I will be glad to re link them.... but you can also google the name and it will show up.

 

Google is also a resource for looking for great resources and information on unit studies.... You will have to keep us posted on how it goes! Have fun!

[Lisawa]

Hi... I have a few resources for you to try...... free ones and some to buy....

 

The first resource and a great tool is "Everything You Need To Know About Unit Studies" This book is by a woman named Jennifer Steward... wonderful grace filled woman... I have been to 2 of her unit study work shops and I co- organized one of them.. and she came to my house to host a workshop too.... this book can help you plan your own unit studies... but to tell you... she also has planned ones too... it wont cost you and arm and a leg either...

 

How too book http://www.unitstudies.com/unitstudy/product/0050004.aspx

 

Unit Study guides

http://www.unitstudies.com/unitstudy/category-study/

 

 

Here is a web site that offers free one The Easy Fun school :

http://www.easyfunschool.com/IndexUnitStudies.html

 

It might be a bit overwhelimg.... each one has a lot of reasources to wade thorugh... but they are free.

 

Design a study is another great resource! :)

http://www.designastudy.com/

 

Pegs unit study planing page is a great tool as well! It has free resources as well and might be a bit easier to wade through info wise.... she also has pages to print out for free to help aid you in your study...

http://members.aol.com/PegFlint/units_how_to_plan.html

 

If any of these links dont work please let me know... I will be glad to re link them.... but you can also google the name and it will show up.

 

Google is also a resource for looking for great resources and information on unit studies.... You will have to keep us posted on how it goes! Have fun!

[Alana in Canada]

to your daughter?

 

At 13, I, too, wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to persue my own interests, on my own time. Is there some way you can let her do that and still have her be accountable for her learning? Perhaps, she can come up with her own "topic," her own approach, and with input from you, determine what she will "produce:" lap-books? Essays? reports? timelines? A curriculuum to post for other kids her age on the 'net?

 

If she plans her own course of study--she will learn an awful lot--you just have to work out a way to keep her accountable and on track. Hope that helps, in some way.

 

I remember I was fascinated by China in eigth grade (which was about 12-13 for me). I wanted to know why they had a "closed door" policy --but there was never time to pursue the question in "school."

 

But for example, you could ask her, "which dynasty do you want to focus on?"

Dynasties? Oh, what dynasties?

And you say, "go find out about the different dynasties, write a paragraph on each for me, and then we'll decide." What else do you think you could do to organize the info?

Oh, what about a timeline and a paragraph on each? How long do you think you need? A week: ok, see you next Friday.

 

Tell her it's a *test*--if she doesn't have the work done in a week, the project is off, and you're taking back the reigns. (Though if she has worked diligently, of course, then discuss better time management, or whatever, rather than calling it off....)

 

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

[Deece in MN]

Why don't you study a time period. Base the study around history. history of the Spartans and China at that time period. I think doing such a narrow topic for so long would be terribly boring. I would camp on the Spartans and then camp on ancient china in the context of a larger study about the Roman era.

 

That's just me though and I don't let my kids dictate these things. I know many people would disagree but I don't think children understand what they need to learn well enough to plot their own educational path. I guess that's why I don't unschool. I hope you can find a way to make this work for you. Already done unit studies based on history are Tapestry of Grace (TOG) and My Father's World, among others. You might also like to see Sonlight. I *think* they have a whole core dedicated to Asia.

 

I recently listened to a really great lecture called "not getting bogged down in a unit study" If I can find a link I will post it. There were great instructions on how to go about designing a unit study if you wanted to make your own.

 

The lecture sounds interesting, if you do find the link please post it.

 

Our studies shouldn't get boring because we are not planning on doing it for a pre-determined amount of time. I know the topics are narrow, but I think one of two things will happen: either new topics will come up during the study and we will follow those rabbit trails for a bit or they will learn what they want, be done with that topic and move on to something completely different. I am fine with either one of those possibilities.

 

I know not everyone agrees with this approach, but I do take into consideration what my dc are interested in. If I chose the topic, they may have no interest in it and real learning won't happen.

 

We have SL 5 and will use it in a modified way as my dd does not like some parts of it. She is also very hands-on, so I need to help her find some creative activities to go along with China/Far East.

 

Aside from the SL, I am not looking for complete curriculum. I think I am in need of a "how to" so I can create an outline of a study and still allow my dc creative license to fill it in.

 

I do appreciate your post and suggestions. Thanks.

[Tina in WA]

Toss a coin, the one that wins gets the 1st choice and then the other child gets the their choice. :) I agree that you should do them together. It will help in able them to do activities together as well as make it less teacher intensive for you.

 

Steward Ship is wonderful. I love Jennifer Stewards unit studies! YEARS ago I was burnt out on homeschooling, thinking about putting my son in school, etc. I attended one of her workshop on unit studies. Not because I was interested in them mind you, but because I wanted some friend time... Lisawa was one of the friends I attended the workshop with. Attending this workshop really saved my homeschooling outlook, thoughts, etc.

 

Another product I like for Unit Studies is from Amy, Homeschool in the Woods. Her Time Travelers series are WONDERFUL! But she doesn't have anything on Spartans or China...YET, that is. :) We did Colonial Life and it was WONDERFUL!

 

You could try lapbooks. Hands of a Child has lapbooks with study guides on Ancient China & Asia. For the other child, there are lapbook on Gladiators and some others that might fit the bill.

 

You could also do notebooking. The child researchers the information and then fills out wonderful notebooking pages and keeps them in a 3 ring binder. Here are some for Ancient China. And some on Ancient Greeks, Mionan, & Mycenaeans.

 

Or get a great book series for your kids and see if there is a unit study based on the series of books. For example, there is a wonderful study on Lord of the Rings, or Little House on the Prairie, Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, Eragon, and more...

 

Cindy Rushton has a lot of information on notebooking & unit studies.

 

Hope that helps some. :D I love unit studies, notebooking, and lapbooks.

 

~Tina

[Deece in MN]

Lisa,

Thanks for the links. I think I am looking for a "how to" type resource, so I will check out the link to Jennifer Steward's book.

 

I do have the Design A Study books, but they feel disjointed to me and I have a hard time with them. I will pull them out again as I haven't looked at them for a long time, maybe they will spark something for me.

 

I appreciate the links and am working my way through them. Thanks, again.

[Deece in MN]

to your daughter?

 

At 13, I, too, wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to persue my own interests, on my own time. Is there some way you can let her do that and still have her be accountable for her learning? Perhaps, she can come up with her own "topic," her own approach, and with input from you, determine what she will "produce:" lap-books? Essays? reports? timelines? A curriculuum to post for other kids her age on the 'net?

 

If she plans her own course of study--she will learn an awful lot--you just have to work out a way to keep her accountable and on track. Hope that helps, in some way.

 

 

Yes, this is exactly what she would like to do and I would like to offer to her. Thank you for putting into words what was in my head. :)

 

I was like this when I was in school and it bothered me that we could not study what we wanted. This was a big part of why we started hs'ing. It seems I have forgotten this along the way.

 

I appreciate your post. Thank you!

[Lisawa]

Lisa,

Thanks for the links. I think I am looking for a "how to" type resource, so I will check out the link to Jennifer Steward's book.

 

I do have the Design A Study books, but they feel disjointed to me and I have a hard time with them. I will pull them out again as I haven't looked at them for a long time, maybe they will spark something for me.

 

I appreciate the links and am working my way through them. Thanks, again.

 

 

Amanda Bennet has one too... I forgot about that...http://www.unitstudy.com/internetspecials.htm

 

:)

[Deece in MN]

Hmm, coin toss or maybe rock, paper, scissors or maybe the one who writes the best persuasive essay on why we should study their topic first, hmm... :)

 

Steward Ship is wonderful. I love Jennifer Stewards unit studies! YEARS ago I was burnt out on homeschooling, thinking about putting my son in school, etc. I attended one of her workshop on unit studies. Not because I was interested in them mind you, but because I wanted some friend time... Lisawa was one of the friends I attended the workshop with. Attending this workshop really saved my homeschooling outlook, thoughts, etc.

 

Yes, I am looking at this web-site (have it open in another tab right now) from a link in Lisawa's post. I am glad it helped you. I am liking what I see so far, so I am going to spend some more time on the site.

 

I have looked at the Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers and they do look great! I am thinking maybe after the kids turns to pick that I could have a turn because I think I would choose one of these studies.

 

You could try lapbooks. Hands of a Child has lapbooks with study guides on Ancient China & Asia. For the other child, there are lapbook on Gladiators and some others that might fit the bill.

 

You could also do notebooking. The child researchers the information and then fills out wonderful notebooking pages and keeps them in a 3 ring binder. Here are some for Ancient China. And some on Ancient Greeks, Mionan, & Mycenaeans.

 

I think the notebooking would be my ds style. I will show him these tomorrow and see what he thinks. My dd would like both lapbooks and notebooking, I think.

 

Or get a great book series for your kids and see if there is a unit study based on the series of books. For example, there is a wonderful study on Lord of the Rings, or Little House on the Prairie, Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, Eragon, and more...

 

This is a great idea! We do have the Literary Lessons From Lord of the Rings. We skipped over the unit studies in there because my ds wanted to read through the books without those breaks. Maybe we will look through that again and see about picking up some of those again.

 

Cindy Rushton has a lot of information on notebooking & unit studies.

 

Hope that helps some. :D I love unit studies, notebooking, and lapbooks.

 

~Tina

 

Your post helped a lot, thank you! You have given me some more ideas to share with my dc. I think we will be able to find a way to work with everyone's interests and have fun doing it. Thanks!

[Tina in WA]

"the best persuasive essay on why we should study their topic first" What a perfect writing lesson/topic! I love it!!! :)

 

I am tickled the information might help you find what will work for you & your kids. I forgot to put in 2 of my other favorite notebooking resources: History Scribe & Hold That Thought

 

I am sooo excited for you and this new journey you are looking into. The possibilities are endless! :D

 

~Tina

[gardenschooler]

At least they're both in the same time period! Honestly, if you're up for a unit study and your dd is expressing an interest in China, I'd feed that. Total immersion! I remember so many times in school, wanting to know *more* about something, but no, we had to move on. I'd make sure she had plenty of books, ideas for projects (and a due date - maybe one every two weeks), and plenty of hands-on projects, if that's her thing (or cooking, art, etc.)

 

How about letting dd do China and the east, and ds do Greece, Rome, and the west? In the same time period? They could learn from each other in the forms of posters, reports, and who knows, maybe even in conversation over their books. You could have a time when you all come together to work on your timeline, compare notes, and discuss how one affected the other.

 

It also might spark a little competition, which was always a good thing with mine that are close in age. And who knows, each one may become more interested in the other's studies, and want to learn more. I'd do the 'library basket', games, and videos for that.

 

I agree with Alana about having her form her own course of study. I'd give her a list of what she needed to accomplish, though, but be open to other ideas.

 

To organize it, you might make her a grid (or have her do it with you), listing across the top the time period (and of course, if she goes on with it, another one for the next time period):

Main Topic - History/Ancient/China

Geography

Rulers, dynasties, politics, wars, etc.

Famous people, important events, etc.

Art, Music, Inventions, Culture, Daily Life

Writing assignments - use this to have her work on writing skills, but tie them to her unit study

Creative Arts (cooking, crafts, music, art study)

Literature - assigned literature (I'd let her help choose, but want to have some input into this)

Writing for literature

Free Reading - her picks (There are two good Royal Diaries for this - Ancient China and Japan, I believe)

Non-fiction reading

Other: field trips, movies, other ideas

 

I know that doesn't seem like so much unschooling, but if she gets to choose the topic and choose a lot of her materials and activities, she's getting a great deal of ownership of it. You could also let her choose how long it will go on, if you're not in a hurry to get back to the daily grind.

 

If it were me, I would try to think of at least 10 writing skills that she needs to work on, and list those on a chart for her, for her to fill in as she works on them, with guidance and direction from you. If you're not using a writing curriculum, spend some time on the web searching out the resources to help you narrow down what you're going to do and how. This one is good for getting them started on essays: http://www2.actden.com/Writ_Den/tips/contents.htm, and this one, too: http://oswego.org/staff/tcaswell/wg/index.htm.

 

I would also have her study each dynasty in-depth, and I'd go super-heavy on things like art, cooking, There are tons of extras you could add, even Bellepheron coloring books were enjoyed by mine, Ancient China treasure chest, all of that fun stuff. And Chinese New Year is coming up!

 

Japan is full of fun, too. The doll festival, the tea ceremony, gardens, haiku, and other poetry: http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/Challenge/choka.html

 

After that, she might want head back and go to India....which is just perfect for a unit study. We have such wonderful memories of India! My girls wanted to stay on India forever.

 

You know, even if she starts with ancients, you could still have her do some sort of current events related to each, how girls and women live in those countries, how things are different (and what's not different) today, etc.

 

(I realize I just wrote all of this assuming your dd was the 13 yr. old! That may be because I have a 13 yr. old dd. And I'm sure some moms of boys can give you suggestions on studying Spartans with your ds. I have no boys, and I have no idea how their brains work!)

 

So if you did that, you'd have all of her history, geography, current events, writing, literature, and art. I'd probably throw in a little philosophy/religion. And definitely some mythology.

 

I'd get crazy with pottery and silk ;d.

 

It doesn't always work out so well, but I think with this one, you could probably hook up science in there, as well.

 

So then you need what? Math and grammar? And a foreign language? Add that one to the unit study, too. Dabbling in languages is fun, even if it's just for exposure. Or chuck the grammar and foreign language for awhile (but I think it makes the study especially cool to learn at least a few phrases), and just do math.

 

Have fun!

[Tami]

Have you tried Modified Child-Directed Learning? I think it is a happy medium between NO structure and allowing children to develop their own passions.

 

I have used it many years when I need a time of less structure, or need dd to work independently. This idea is absolutely brilliant! WHy not give it a go! I think it is a happy medium.

 

Joy to you!

[Deece in MN]

Thank you for this post, very full of ideas and information!

I talked to my dc this morning a bit and they both want to do their own study, so I think we will do it that way and have a group time to share a couple times a week or whatever ends up working best.

I am excited about this, especially the China, Japan and India study with my dd. I am looking forward to some fun hands-on projects.

Thanks, again. I appreciate your response and the detailed suggestions, very helpful.

[Deece in MN]

Have you tried Modified Child-Directed Learning? I think it is a happy medium between NO structure and allowing children to develop their own passions.

 

I have used it many years when I need a time of less structure, or need dd to work independently. This idea is absolutely brilliant! WHy not give it a go! I think it is a happy medium.

 

Joy to you!

 

Thank you for this link, it was very interesting. I am trying to achieve a balance between the the extremes and this is very helpful.

Thanks, again.

[Tami]

Thank you for this post, very full of ideas and information!

I talked to my dc this morning a bit and they both want to do their own study, so I think we will do it that way and have a group time to share a couple times a week or whatever ends up working best.

I am excited about this, especially the China, Japan and India study with my dd. I am looking forward to some fun hands-on projects.

Thanks, again. I appreciate your response and the detailed suggestions, very helpful.

 

 

There is some info on our Japan unit study on my blog. At the right sidebar there is also a PDF file under "Planners."

 

Have fun!