What is a Unit Study?

Unit studies are focused, in-depth studies on a chosen subject. For instance, say you and your child would like to study ancient Egypt. You would gather books, materials and resources, develop a reading/activity schedule and time line to follow. A unit study is generally designed to last anywhere from one quarter (3 months) to one semester (6 months), although they could be longer or shorter depending on how deep you choose to delve into the subject you are studying.

Should I design my own unit study or buy a prepackaged one?

That depends on how much time you have, how much money you have to spend and how confident you feel about putting one together yourself. Probably the most difficult task in putting together your own unit study is finding good reference, fiction and nonfiction books related to your chosen subject. This is very important, because these are the core of your study. If you are searching in your local library, especially if you live in a smaller town, it can be difficult to find what you want. Amazon.com is a good place to research books on your subject of study and, quite often, you can find these for a great deal on E-bay or at Abe books (www.abebooks.com). It can be quite fun putting together a unit study, but if this sounds a bit too overwhelming or you are new to homeschooling, you may want to start off with a prepackaged unit study.

The anatomy of a unit study

Using the example of Ancient Greece, a unit study generally includes these elements:

Core books: Depending on reading level: A Children's Homer, The Golden Fleece, The Iliad, D'Aulaire's Greek Myths.

Hands on activities: Design a trojan horse model, make a toga, put together a mosaic or make a traditional Greek meal.

Multi-media: Watch the Odyssey on dvd (for older kids), listen to Greek Myths on cd by Greathall Productions, explore a website such as Kidepede.

Notebook/writing: It is a good idea to put together some kind of a notebook to keep together all of the things learned in your study. This could be more simple for younger children with sketches or colored-in paged pasted in the book, photos of completed projects, along with short paragraphs or captions. Older children could be assigned essays on various portions of your study such as, "write a 500 word paper on the Peloponnesian war."

Prepackaged unit studies

Beautiful Feet: These are very well done. You can purschase just the unit study guide and gather your own materials or you can purchase a complete package which includes the books needed as well. *Of note, their materials are decidely Protestant, so the Medieval unit study is a bit anti-Catholic.*

Greenleaf Press: These are very Christian and not quite as comprehensive or as well laid out as Beautiful Feet, in my opinion. I particularly enjoyed the Old Testament study guide.

KONOS: This a unique unit study program in that it can be used exclusively for teaching all subjects. KONOS studies one character trait such as Attentiveness, Orderliness, Obedience, etcetera, for a month or two. At the same time, science, social studies, art, music, great literature, health, safety, and Bible are integrated into the unit studies. Each volume is really a teacher’s manual which always includes activities for K-8th grade.

In conclusion, unit studies can be a great hands-on, family-oriented method of homeschooling your children. Whether you choose to supplement with units studies or use a complete curriculum like KONOS, you are in for some fun and exciting learning adventures with your children!