All unit studies are not created equal. For some the term applies to a cross curricular topical study which incorporates as many academic subjects as possible. Usually only math is left out, but even then most complete unit studies involve graphing or measuring or some other mathematical activity. Most complete unit study users do use a math program. Homeschoolers using this type of unit study usually have vocabulary lists and discussion questions. They have learning objectives for each academic subject. Although they may not work on objectives for each subject every day, their goal is to complete all the objectives for the study. Although I am making this sound somewhat rigid, it is actually only as rigid as a person wants it to be. Serendipity is one of the loveliest benefits of using the unit study method. For those that want to use this type of unit study you’ll find more and more being published with all the particulars laid out for you. A great resource for creating your own is Valerie Bendt’s How to Create Your Own Unit Study.

Another form of unit study does not attempt to incorporate all the academic subjects but focuses on one or two for the studies objectives. Our family uses this second type of unit study. We usually focus on a social studies or science topic. Objectives are written to cover only the main subject area. The material I use in the study is chosen to meet those objectives. How we use those materials depends on what needs I perceive in my kids at the time. Since my unit objectives are all written during the summer to meet state filing requirements, I don’t know at that point which learning skills we will need to polish or strengthen. As we start a study if I feel my kids need more work on reading out loud, they do the reading. If I feel they need to work on listening and narrating skills, I do the reading. Yes, that does mean we incorporate language arts skills into our units, but it is not a planned or structured thing. We still use a grammar curriculum and have a reading program. Once the children are solid readers their reading revolves around good books that I select. Sometimes these tie into what they are studying, but not always. We also do not attempt to tie our writing to our units. If they are doing a type of writing that can be incorporated into the unit they are studying, then I always feel it is best to kill two birds with one stone. However, I don’t stretch my writing objectives or my unit study to make them fit together. It is easy to develop your own unit studies for this type of study.

With just a few resources you can put together your own units and track what topics you have covered through the years. The biggest fear of those who are debating about using the unit study method is fear of leaving something out. I’ve found three ways to deal with this fear. Use a scope and sequence, find a resource that covers the breadth of a subject for a particular age child and set up a multi-year topical plan.

There are a number of scope and sequence books available. One I use is Teaching Children by Diane Lopez which covers Kindergarten through 6^th grade. It lists learning objectives by subject for each grade. I use this book especially for its math and language arts listings. For science units I use Kathryn Stout’s Science Scope published by Design a Study. She also wrote Guides to History, which can be used for creating history or cultural studies.

I have a written social studies plan which year by year gives a general outline of what will be covered in each grade. I decided early on under the influence of Chris and Ellyn Davis of Elijah Company and Rob and Cindy Shearer of Greenleaf Press that using good books and biographies was a great way to learn history. I have since collected a number of biographies and other history books that each child reads as they work their way through my outline. For world history, I use as my basis the Greenleaf Famous Men books. I also use a set of out of print books, A Picturesque Tale of Progress. Both of these resources will take me through the Reformation with my children. I haven’t yet decided what to use for 9^th grade world history. For United States history in the elementary grades I use A History of US by Joy Hakim as the backbone for our studies. We supplement with a wide array of other books. I also have a number of activity books to draw on for hands on activities for social studies lessons. They include a US History and a World Cookbook, various topical US history activity books such as an Oregon and California Trail book I picked up on a visit to an Oregon Trail museum, and the textbook, Streams of Civilization which has an excellent list of activities and research topics with each chapter. United States history in the senior high years emphasizes thinking as a historian. We will use Critical Thinking Press’ Critical Thinking in United States History Series as well as a variety of history books. I haven’t yet determined what we will use for US government or economics, but for our 12^th grade world view studies we plan to use the Understanding the Times curriculum.

Krueger Social Studies Plan

I do not have a set schedule for science in each grade. Using the Science Scope, I select five or six topics for each year. This year our topics were flight, fossils and creation science, sound, skeletal and muscular system, genetics, and chemistry. I try to mix things up, so that we do some biology, physics, chemistry and earth science each year. I have found over the years that many science topics are interrelated, so it is easy to review past studies. We use these units from 3^rd grade through 8^th grade. All children in those grades do science together. Younger kids tag along with us if they are interested. Our high school years include two years of biology. Those who wish to go on to physics or chemistry can do so, but I do not make them requirements. My oldest daughter wants to become a marine biologist, so she would take more science than my second daughter whose passion is art. The Science Scope has a convenient chart for tracking what you have covered. You can use it to keep track of all the units you create, or copy it and use it individually for each child. Over the six year period it is easy to cover all areas found in the Science Scope and to review most of them at least once.

As with history I have several sets of books that I use as the backbone of our studies. The first is World Book’s Young Scientist set. This set of 10 books covers most science topics through the elementary school level. The pictures are large and easy to understand and the activities are easy to do. I also have most of the Science Nature Guide series by Thunder Bay Press. I purchased these books at Sam’s Club for $6-7 each. These are a combination of a first field guide and activity book. They cover the following topics: fossils, rocks & minerals, seashells, wild flowers, trees, amphibians & reptiles, insects, mammals, butterflies, freshwater life, and birds. We also use Usborne books, Eyewitness books, and many other books we get from the library. Often with the younger children, I will get a picture book such as the Magic School Bus books that correspond to a topic the older children are doing.

We also made the decision early on in our homeschooling to purchase quality science equipment. We use this equipment to explore and learn about our topics and sometimes just to play with. We also buy a number of science kits each year. Kits are handy because they often come with short, easy to understand explanations of the science involved in the kit. We often use these explanations as review of what we have already read elsewhere. Kits also have everything you need right there. This is especially handy when you are working with chemistry. I also have a box full of all kinds of odds and ends like cotton balls, paper clips, straws, and string. These are many of the items used in physics experiments.

We follow a more structured approach in our home for high school biology relying on Abeka’s biology textbook and Kathleen Julicher’s Experiences in Biology for lab work. Additional lab equipment we did not already own was purchased through Tobin’s Lab including a microscope. They offer a variety of kits that could be substituted for some of the lab work and everything you need for dissection work.

Creating your own units of study is one of the best ways to assure that your children will enjoy what they learn. Learning together strengthens family bonds and often helps the learning flow at unexpected moments. You’ll find your children spontaneously acting out their history lessons in the back yard or lying flat on their backs in the yard staring at the night sky looking for constellations or peering at the moon through binoculars. With the tools and ideas I’ve suggested you too can begin creating your own unit studies.

Use our forms.

Resources:

	Science Scope by Kathryn Stout
	How to Create Your Own Unit Study by Valerie Bendt
	Unit Study Idea Book by Valerie Bendt
	Teaching Children by Diane Lopez
	Guides to History by Kathryn Stout
	A History of US by Joy Hakim (Individual titles available in our Bookstore.)
	Streams of Civilization by Christian Liberty Press Streams of Civilization : Earliest Times to the Discovery by Al Hyman Streams of Civilization : Cultures in Conflict Since the Reformation Until the Third Millenium After Christ by Garry Moes
	Critical Thinking in United States History Series by Critical Thinking Press (Complete set 4 Student books & 4 Teacher Manuals.)
	Famous Men Series by Greenleaf Press
	Young Scientist Series by World Book
	Science Nature Guides by Thunder Bay Press
	Biology by A Beka Book
	Experiences in Biology by Kathleen Julicher

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