Unit
Study Approach
Unit
studies, sometimes called thematic units or integrated
studies, are very popular with home schoolers.
Unit studies usually use a hands on approach for
effective learning. The child learns by actually
experiencing or discovering through different
methods and activities, rather than just reading
a chapter from a textbook. Studies show that children
using unit study methods retain 45% more than
those using a traditional approach.
Unit
Studies are Great for Multi-Ages
Unit
studies are especially beneficial if you are teaching
more then one child. If you are teaching three
children each seven different subjects using textbooks
and workbooks - that's a WHOPPING twenty one subjects
to prepare and teach. A family with three children
using textbook methods might have one child study
the Civil War another learning about Ancient Rome
while another is studying the American Revolution
in history. In Science one child may be studying
plants, another the planets and another reptiles.
In Bible one child may be studying Moses, another
studying Joseph and another studying Paul. With
unit studies, history, geography, art, music,
science and Bible can all be taught together to
all ages.
Each
child studies the topic at his level. This saves
over half of your teaching and preparing time.
All children can go on field trips together, many
projects can be done together, writing assignments
vocabulary words will be about the same topic,
just on different levels. For example while studying
animals a younger child may be able to classify
birds, mammals and insects. While an older child
would classify animals in much more detail such
as: Arachnids, crustaceans, etc. The older learns
and helps to teach the younger while the younger
learns from the older child.
The
"unit" or "theme" part refers
to the idea of studying a topic as a whole instead
of several "subjects." Thousands of
years ago, the Greeks decided to break whole topics
into subjects. For example: most people think
of water as a science subject.
One
way to look at water is as H2O--a chemistry subject
but, it is also
 |
art--a
beautiful waterfall |
|
history--the
Red Sea |
|
economics
--water bill |
|
theology--baptism |
|
language
arts--babbling brook (a
metaphor) |
|
geography--the
location of bodies of water |
|
and
more |
A
unit study takes a topic and "lives"
with it for a period of time, integrating science,
social studies, language arts, math and fine arts
as they apply. For example a unit study about
animals would include
|
Literature
--Reading stories such as Charlotte's Web,
Flicka, etc. |
|
Creative
writing, capitalization and punctuation--Writing
stories about animals |
|
Science--earning
about the classification of animals |
|
Vocabulary--earning
new words such as vertebra and invertbra |
|
Geography--Finding
out which animals live on which continents |
|
Bible--Reading
parables or stories about animals in the Bible |
|
History--Examining
man's relationship with animals throughout
history |
Unit studies work well for children
with different learning styles. Most unit studies
give several options to learn about a topic. For
example: Study the history of slavery in the United
States. Let your student choose how they want
to study the subject.
|
Read
about slavery in the encyclopedia |
|
Read
a portion from a textbook |
|
Research
from reference books in the library |
|
Read
a historical fiction about slavery |
|
Read
a biography about a slave |
|
Watch
a documentary |
|
Write
a letter as if you were a slave owner |
|
Write
a poem about slavery |
|
Create
and act out a play with slaves and a slave
owner |
|
Do
a web search on slavery |
|
Create
a shadowbox depicting a plantation and slaves |
|
Draw
or sketch a scene depicting a plantation and
slaves |
Several
unit studies are available. Heart
of Wisdom Unit Studies, Alta Vista, KONOS,
The Advanced Training Institute, and Weaver are
good Christian unit studies. With some creative
work and a nearby library you can make your own
unit study, see How
to Create Your Own Unit Study by Valerie
Bendt.
More
Teaching Approaches
I More
about Unit Studies
Bible
Centered Internet Linked Unit Studies
utilizing
the Charlotte Mason Approach!
Ancient
History Internet Linked Unit Studies
|
