tdbates78 Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 The "dummy" meaning myself ;) I've only been homeschooling since the beginning of January and so far we really enjoy it. I have my lesson plan filled and love to check off completed tasks each day. But as much as I like that, it does feel a little too much like school sometimes and I think it could get monotonous for us next year. I love the idea of a Charlotte Mason-style approach but I'm the type that needs more structure. Which leads me to unit studies. I'm really intrigued by the idea of unit studies but I don't really get it either. I could use some help! 1) How do you come up with a topic? Just something random based on my girls' interests? What if it's something like horses...can a whole unit study be done on a subject like that? Or does it have to be more complex like a specific book or history/science topic like space (which I often see mentioned)? 2) If you don't come up with your own topics, are there recommendations for unit study curriculum that would be easy enough to follow? 2) How do you incorporate it into your day? Do you forego all other curriculum for the duration of the unit study? Or do you still take time to do math, language etc.? Or do you try to incorporate all subject matter into the unit study? Not sure how I would convert our math lessons into a unit study. I don't think I would want to do one unit study after another, but I kind of like the idea of something like 6 weeks of "regular" school followed by one or two weeks of a unit study throughout our school year. One of my daughters has high functioning autism, one of the reasons why we chose to pull her (and her twin) out of school, and sitting through school each day is difficult for her and she gets easily frustrated. I think taking time for unit studies may be a nice break amongst our regular school days. Thanks!! Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 The "dummy" meaning myself ;) I've only been homeschooling since the beginning of January and so far we really enjoy it. I have my lesson plan filled and love to check off completed tasks each day. But as much as I like that, it does feel a little too much like school sometimes and I think it could get monotonous for us next year. I love the idea of a Charlotte Mason-style approach but I'm the type that needs more structure. Which leads me to unit studies. I'm really intrigued by the idea of unit studies but I don't really get it either. I could use some help! 1) How do you come up with a topic? Just something random based on my girls' interests? What if it's something like horses...can a whole unit study be done on a subject like that? Or does it have to be more complex like a specific book or history/science topic like space (which I often see mentioned)? 2) If you don't come up with your own topics, are there recommendations for unit study curriculum that would be easy enough to follow? 2) How do you incorporate it into your day? Do you forego all other curriculum for the duration of the unit study? Or do you still take time to do math, language etc.? Or do you try to incorporate all subject matter into the unit study? Not sure how I would convert our math lessons into a unit study. I don't think I would want to do one unit study after another, but I kind of like the idea of something like 6 weeks of "regular" school followed by one or two weeks of a unit study throughout our school year. One of my daughters has high functioning autism, one of the reasons why we chose to pull her (and her twin) out of school, and sitting through school each day is difficult for her and she gets easily frustrated. I think taking time for unit studies may be a nice break amongst our regular school days. Thanks!! Tracy At the young ages of your kids I did little units interspersed in our years throughout the year like you are suggesting. I often did it around holidays or around learning opportunities that came up. I didn't always drop all of our regular subjects. But sometimes for a bit we did and did all of our writing or reading on the unit. We always kept up math too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 This video might be helpful as a start: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.