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Anya
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| Posted: Sept 16 2006 at 12:25am | IP Logged
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Hi everyone!
I am new to using the real learning living approach to educating my children, but I'm learning alot on these boards. I love the idea of a focused study for history, science and nature study using good books. I have one question about implementing it.
I noticed that everyone seems to put some work into putting one together. I am wondering if I could just collect a variety of good books on a specific topic and simply read them to the children and have them read some themselves. Then they would narrate and illustrate.
That's it. Nothing more. No planning except for which topic to study and which books to collect.
(edited)
Anya
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 16 2006 at 8:06am | IP Logged
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Hi Anya
Interesting question. Of course there is no "right way" to do things. Only what is right for your family.
Part of the beauty of a unit study is making connections to a topic in a wide variety of ways.There are books to read and discuss, with narrations and illustrations, as you said. But there are also related projects, art, excursions, music, experiments, etc that add so much to the experience. Honestly, even the best book cannot include all of that because reading is only one way to learn. The purpose behind a unit-study approach is so that we appeal to many of the ways a child learns, helping to gain a deeper understanding of a topic. In a sense, the child "lives" that subject for the duration of the unit. And it is fun!
However, it is not for everyone. Even a pre-planned unit takes a bit of pulling together to make it work.
What you seem most interested in doing would be more of a literature approach to education. I advise checking out resources such as Real Learning, Literature Alive, Sonlight, or Winter Promise for ideas on how to do a literature-based program (though Real Learning is full of wonderful advice on rabbit-trailing, too!).
Happy trails!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Dawnie
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| Posted: Sept 16 2006 at 12:56pm | IP Logged
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Anya,
I am learning that there is no "right way" to homeschool. There is only the right way for our family.
I find that as I get more experience homeschooling, I feel more comfortable doing my own planning. I've planned unit studies this year for my 7yod and I'm designing my own preschool curriculum for my 4yod...There is NO WAY I would have attempted this even a year ago. But I feel more confident now and I have a better idea of what will work for our family. I'm still learning, though, as the first unit study I planned was really too intensive to be doing in addition to my dd's other work.  The next one won't include quite so many projects and read-alouds! I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't even tried, though!
I find that if I don't plan to do something, it won't happen. So even if I have resources lying around for crafts and hands-on projects and lots of ideas for rabbit trails, if I don't plan it out, it just doesn't happen. For us, it works better if I make out a do-able plan and then work the plan, revising if needed.
You could just go ahead and read out loud a lot now, then add more as you feel more comfortable and as your and your dc's interest leads you.
Dawn
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 16 2006 at 8:34pm | IP Logged
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We most often pursue what might be called an "organic, interest-driven approach" instead of more formally planned unit studies. So I will often collect books on topics of interest to my kids. As we read the books, we have more questions and go get more books. I try to provide some hands-on learning in the form of arts and crafts, kits (depending on the topic), and field trips. Sometimes I'll work in math by making up little booklets relating to the topic; I've had some success with dinosaur math, Egyptian math (we learned how to 'count like an Egyptian", which was a good way to practice trading tens and hundreds), and dragon math. I also like to find board or card games relating to whatever it is we're learning about. The kids usually draw a lot This process spools itself out generally for as long as the kids are interested in something, which may be a few weeks or a whole year (as was the case with dinosaurs.) I don't sit down and plan it all out in the beginning; it just sort of grows as we go along.
This approach works pretty well for us up to a certain point. Sometimes I find a book to read which would have been nice to pair with an art activity or a game, but I don't have the materials. Sometimes content is seasonal and I don't have anything prepared and the season passes us by. Sometimes I don't have any hands-on stuff and the kids are bored by just drawing while I read, and it would have been nice to have a specific craft for them to do. In fact, I am really bad at getting coordinating crafts.
This year I am trying to plan a little more. For one thing, the kids' interests are fairly divergent this year, so we need to find a common ground we can all study. For another thing, I found that we were getting a little skimpy on the products created through our learning, and the kids really enjoy those products.
I think it is possible to only read, discuss, and do narrations, and particularly if you are in one of those hard seasons of life when health and sanity are more important than providing cute crafts. When it is possible, my kids really like adding in the other hands-on stuff. They get bored if all we do is read and draw. Your kids, however, may be totally different. I think the important thing is to tailor the learning to *your* family.
--Angela
Mom to 3+2
Three Plus Two
Wild Things
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rose gardens
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| Posted: Sept 16 2006 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
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I just noticed this thread, so I deleted a related question and ask my questions here. I incorparate the "real learning" style into our homeschooling, but we don't exclusively do unit studies. (I'm a little workbook dependent  ) I'm curious how I compare to veteran Charlotte Mason-style homeschoolers, so I'm glad to see this discussion about how others approach unit studies.
For September I planned a unit study of apples, including information about trees and seasons. We read books such as The Season of Arnold's Apple Tree, stories about Johnny Appleseed, along with references about growing apples and making cider, etc. I plan one related activity, more or less per day. For the apple unit, one day we selected apple trees at a nursery, another day we planted, some days it's an art project or cooking lesson, etc. I teach a variety of ages (2-12) so I vary the activities and lessons to different age levels. We enjoy activities related to the books.
I'm also reading aloud Treasure Island, and the only connection that has with apples is the hero at one point hides in an apple barrel. Unfortunately, the story doesn't hold the attention of my younger children, as I think it's mostly beyond their understanding. My 12 year old listens attentively, while the others usually just color pictures of treasure & pirates, play with a toy boat, etc. as I read. I didn't "officially" plan this as unit study, but I encourage quiet activities that somehow relate to the story, hoping the younger children may absorb some of it. We began Treasure Island after my 7 year old finished reading aloud to me a Magic Tree House book, Pirates Past Noon. He recently picked out another magic tree house book about dinosaurs to read aloud. Looking at the books we read, we seem to have a apple/trees/seasons/pirate/dinosaur/frog and princess study going on at our house  .
Now my question for the Charlotte Mason homeschoolers: Do all your children's books revolve around one theme and the accompanying rabbit trails during the time your family does a unit study? Or do you have several different unit studies going at once? How many days/weeks/months do your unit studies last?
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Erin
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| Posted: Sept 17 2006 at 12:15am | IP Logged
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Anya wrote:
I am wondering if I could just collect a variety of good books on a specific topic and simply read them to the children and have them read some themselves. Then they would narrate and illustrate.
That's it. Nothing more. No planning except for which topic to study and which books to collect.
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Anya
You certainly can do this, in fact I have often done this for the past several years. I or the dc would decide on a topic area and we would gather heaps of great books and read and read  We have enjoyed ourselves and learnt alot.
The drawback I am now finding is that we have rather neglected the area of writing, therefore I feel my dc are rather needing some intensive work in this area.
I also regret that we have not notebooked a great deal in the past to capsulise what they have learnt. When I have reminded them of topics we have covered they don't always remember and I wonder whether writing down some of it would have helped the retention.
For the first time recently with our Mass Unit I planned ahead and was so surprised and pleased at the result. Dc did find it hard towards the end to complete the unit and some waned on the notebooking. However I can't help but wonder whether it was simply poor study habits.
We will mostly continue as before primarliy reading great books but I am now going to expect more writing in some form for our readings.
Anya, you need to work out what works best for your family, not only your children's learning styles but yours as well. Sometimes we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone, I know I have to push myself to do art with dc as they enjoy it. But you also need to understand yourself, I know for me although I admire all the planning that many do and use some of the ideas extensive planning is not me. I am striving to find my balance between 'winging it' and being really organised.
Good luck in finding what works, and enjoy great books
rosegardens wrote:
| Now my question for the Charlotte Mason homeschoolers: Do all your children's books revolve around one theme and the accompanying rabbit trails during the time your family does a unit study? Or do you have several different unit studies going at once? How many days/weeks/months do your unit studies last? |
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Rose,
Often all our books will revolve around a certain theme whilst we are doing a focused study. Sometimes we will take a break from a study and just have a single book going, for example at the moment we are reading our way through a science book together
Exploring the World around you- from the Tropics to the Tundra. Whilst we are doing our study I try to have the older dc read some extra books related as well as reading the ones together. I am finding the most we ever get through would be three chapter books if I'm lucky. I always plan for more but it never happens. I also try to find picture books as well.
Our studies, which are more literature based, usually last 3-5 weeks. My dc seem to peter out after 3 weeks  I would prefer if they lasted 5 weeks, it would be much tidier for planning sake
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Erin
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 17 2006 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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Erin,
Our units have usually stalled in about 3 weeks as well. A couple of units back I figured out that if I change emphasis within the unit after about 3 weeks, it freshens it up a bit and renews interest.
For example: in our current unit on sailing we have spent approx 3 weeks learning the geography and physical properties of the ocean (location, waves, tides, currents, wind, buoyancy), next week is the physics of sailing where we will do his science fair project, and then after that we will drastically change emphasis and begin our study of the biological side of the ocean (habitats, fish anatomy, plankton and kelp, the fishing industry, etc). At that time we will also switch read-alouds to something new.
Maybe this approach will help you to extend your units a bit longer. It works for me!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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marihalojen
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I kind of extend-plan as well. We are spending a whole month on Egypt, but one week on Pyramids & (common) People, one on Pharohs & Princesses, one on Mythology...I find this works better than just jumping in 'Woo-hoo! Egypt!' and doing all the super cool things first  Besides, as I find cool things (or actually, this year - as Dd finds interesting things) we place them in the appropriate week in our binder. Gives us something to look forward to.
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Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 18 2006 at 9:50pm | IP Logged
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Rose,
We are currently doing two units at the same time, per the kids' request, and although I feel like *I'm* getting whiplash, they seem to be enjoying it. We;ve organized this (sort of) by alternating days. So, we just read some of our farming books, and now it's time for our Helen Keller rabbit trail. The farming unit is somewhat planned (thanks to the helpful 4Real moms), but the Helen Keller connections are done as we go along. Based on interest I collect a few books and other resources, we go through those, I assess the interest level and go on from there.
Our units vary in length and intensity. Some only last a couple of weeks (these are often seasonal in nature, such as the Hannukah unit I did with the kids a couple years ago, culminating in some completely failed but edible latkes), but some last a really, really long time, such as the "unit" we did on dinosaurs that ran from October to May of one year. The long units are usually driven by the kids, and the short ones are usually units that I introduce to them.
I actually don't mind focusing on one topic so intensely for such long periods of time because it allows the kids to delve as deeply as they want, and we usually work in every subject. And *all* of our books don't relate to the topic at hand -- there are bedtime stories and audio books in the car and books from the library perused at quiet time to offer variety.
--Angela
Mom to 3+2
Three Plus Two
Wild Things
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: How much planning for a unit study
