Paige Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I'm interested in one of the Unit Study type programs that have everything but math worked into the program. Are there any good ones? I've been interested before because they seem fun but have always rejected them because I thought the samples in the ones I looked at seemed a little weak in regards to any subjects other than history, geography, or literature. I'm willing to overlook that a little bit now and to give it a try because I think my kids would really enjoy it and bond- and I'm only looking to break up the routine for 1 year. We are bored and I think it's a good time to mix it up because I know that my middle DDs will not do well with the materials I've saved from DS's 5th grade, and little DD will be a little young for the materials I have leftover from my middle DDs. Most of their 2nd grade was consumable. I'm not planning on a 3 yr plan here. I want something that requires minimal supplementation. I know I'll supplement anyway, but I don't want to *have* to supplement to make it good enough. My kids will be in 7th, 5th, and 2nd grades next year. Recommendations, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The one i've seen recommended the most is Moving Beyond the Page. You can buy individual units if you want to try it for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 There are the Trail Guides to Learning series from GeoMatters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loulou belle Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 We just started Konos last week. I have a 6th, 1st and pk. We are having a ton of fun. I tossed the curriculum we were using and it has been so freeing. The first part of the year, I felt that we were do a ton of DOING, but not really learning. This week? I feel like we have done a ton of learning. And the kids actually enjoyed it. We did so much more work this past week, and the kids never noticed that school sometimes took much longer to complete. They were/are having fun. After reading a book about Helen Keller one afternoon, my 1st grade kid said "Mom! that was an awesome story!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Learning Adventures The first volume is called A World of Adventure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I would like to second A World of Adventure. It's in there! In the guide you will find: commentary for EVERY subject except math, full instructions for crafts, full instructions for science experiments, recipes, grammar and writing lessons, Bible lessons, lit discussion questions....EVERYTHING is in there! All you will need is the require lit books, Bible, and listed supplies for crafts, experiments and recipes you choose to use. Get any library book or book from your selves to let the child do further reading on the history and science topics covered in the manual. It is the best priced study I have ever seen because it includes so much, and is designed for 4th-8th grades (little tweaking for your younger). The whole family can use it at the same time. I used this for my olders and plan to use it for my youngest coming up and almost ready for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Konos. Hands-down, the best out there. I've raised all my kids on it. My oldest two are now in college on full-ride scholarships, and their professors regularly compliment them on everything they know. We love Konos!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I adore Amanda Bennett unit studies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 KONOS (original volumes, especially) does everything except English and math skills. The Weaver does, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Can I do KONOS without read alouds. I hate read alouds and so do my older kids. We'd all much rather read independently. I wouldn't mind reading to my youngest and assigning my older kids to read it on their own. Would that work? I don't want Bible lessons. I am happy with a Christian worldview, but I don't want any theology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjdan Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 My son's been doing the Trail Guide to Learning. We finished Paths of Exploration and are doing Paths of Settlement this year. It's very enjoyable, and includes everything but math. It's a multi-age curriculum http://www.home-school-curriculum.com/learning_series/ that has different options for each levels within the same path (biggest kids have more complex writing, more or slightly harder map work, read all on their own vs read-aloud, etc). Some friends of ours have doing it as a two-kid curriculum. My son has enjoyed what he's learned, and retained the information well. Some topics were more exciting than others (Daniel Boone vs Pilgrims), but that's also a balance of very boy-friendly ideas and those that aren't quite as interesting. The levels have a Middle School supplement that goes with the text for the oldest, and we've thought it's well-presented and clear to expectations and process (no hunting around trying to figure out what you're supposed to do). They have samples you can download on the page to check it out- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Can I do KONOS without read alouds. I hate read alouds and so do my older kids. We'd all much rather read independently. I wouldn't mind reading to my youngest and assigning my older kids to read it on their own. Would that work? I don't want Bible lessons. I am happy with a Christian worldview, but I don't want any theology. There are suggestions in every unit for library books. They are optional. Most of what happens in KONOS is not reading; it is doing. Sonlight is reading, not doing, but then Sonlight is not a unit study. :-) Ninety-five percent of what you will do is written right there in your KONOS volume. You don't have to have outside resources at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTJo1996 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I second the Trail Guide to Learning from Geography Matters. My DD (10) and I have been doing the 1st book (Paths of Exploration)over the past 2 years. In fact we will finish it next week and move on to #2 Paths of Settlement. We love this curriculum. I am one of those people with ADD who gets easily distracted. It really helps me to stay in one book on one subject for everything except math. Also, if DD seems to really be enjoying a topic, there are suggestions for additional readings and projects. We didn't start TG until 3rd grade and I think that was a good time to transition from Horizons workbooks to a unit study approach. I also like that I don't have to buy it in a big box and fork out a ton of money at one time. I buy the textbooks and then buy the readers one unit at a time after 1st checking with the local library. It saves me considerable amounts of money to be able to buy the readers used. And it helps the hubby not have a heart attack when I drop $500 on curriculum in one purchase! LOL Sometimes I do wish that the language arts components were a little bit...more. I don't know exactly what I want "more" of, but sometimes I feel that copywork and sentence writing are not enough to make me secure that we have covered it all in LA. But we do Easy Grammar and Evan-Moor's Paragraph editing about once a week to make me feel better. I also have enjoyed being able to weave some religion into our discussions without having a separate religion curriculum. If you want to avoid Christian content (CC), you might want to substitute a few of the readers. For example some of the units utilize the Mott Publishing books from The Sowers Series. These stories are written as Christian hero stories, so there is no way to avoid CC unless you just switch that book out for something else. But I believe that is totally do-able. I can't say enough good things about Trail Guide. And to top it off, the company is small and if you have a question, it's possible you will get an answer directly from the author. I've met a few of them at conferences and they truly love what they do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakshmi Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Moving Beyond the Page isn't exactly unit studies. It is organized by units but it works a little bit differently that just exploring one topic like "apples" or "horses" or "Australia". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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