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Leonie
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4mothermary wrote:
How do you transition from study to the next? Do you seem to follow a certain pattern? (i.e. people, places or things)
What is the continual theme, where's the continuity? Is it the given courses like religion, math, phonics and language arts? |
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We are not pure unit studies people - but neither are we pure CM or pure unschoolers. More Real Learners. 
However, I *do look at scope and sequences at the start of each year. Gives me a feel for what is normally explored by my dc's individual ages or grades. Dh and I then set some ideas or goals, we look at our year and see what it might bring ( another move? etc) and we meet with the kids to talk about their goals and ideas. This all helps with rabbit trails.
A lot of what we do is interest lead and/or family centred -for example, last year we had a trip to Canberra ( Australia's capital city) so it was a given that we were into all things Canberra and parliamentary afterwards. Now, an understanding of Australian history and geography and of our government is on the scope and sequence for several school years, so this also fit the state's curriculum standards.
I know that Valerie Bendt ( author of unit studies books) suggests alternating units between curriculum areas - one five week study with a main focus of history, for example, followed by a five week unit with a science focus and perhaps another five week unit with an arts emphasis.
For us, living books and daily/weekly rhythms provide the continuity. No matter what else we do, we share living books . No matter how we approach our education, wheter it be more or less unit study-ish or unschooly or CM, there is a ( flexible) rhythm to our days and weeks.
Is this helpful at all? 
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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TracyQ
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Jenny,
If you're not used to unit studies, getting used to them can be a bit difficult, and the concept foreign, especially if you've been using a textbook type of approach or school at home approach, because they are quite different.
The school at home approach, using more of a textbook approach has the kids digest bits of information year to year, building a bit more as their education moves along, but they never really have the chance to delve deeply as much into the topic they are studying.
The unit study method really allows the student/parent to delve more deeply into a subject, allowing them to even move into other areas of study related to the topic of the unit study (these are called rabbit trails). It takes a topic and explores it more deeply than the small bits of information learned in a more traditional method of learning.
There are pros and cons to every method of education, and that's why often homeschoolers end up being very eclectic, trying to take the very good from the many varied methods/philosophies.
The one link I gave earlier in this thread from the Donna Young website on unit study planning is excellent when you are ready to plan your own unit study. It's this one: Donna Young's unit planning sheets
If you click one of the links above what comes up, either for IBM or MAC, you can open it, save it to your computer, and then it becomes usable, so you can type what you want from it to plan right into your own WORD document.
I think Scope and Sequences are an excellent way to just use as reference, and look at them yearly, and see where your kids are. You'd be surprised just how much your kids are learning beyond the S&S while doing unit studies as you check them from time to time. I know I always am very surprised when I check a S&S. I think one of the very best Scope and Sequences is the World Book Course of Study. They have S&S's for PreK-12. You can find it here:
World Book Typical Course of Study
There are others of course, and you can type scope and sequence in a google search if you want more than one. There are others you can buy through homeschooling curriculum catalogs such as Rainbow Resource. This is their page with these types of resources:
Learning Assessment page
I hope this helps answer some of your questions, Jenny. 
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Jenny
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How many units a year do you study?
How do you organize them physically? Do you keep them on hand in folders in case you want to study that unit again with the other children?
Are Charlotte Mason and Unit Study two different things? Or do you apply CM ideals to a unit study?
I appreciate the answers as I sort this out.
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Jenny
Chris' wife and momma of 7. My blog: The Littlest Way--Bible Journaling, Inspiring Bible Quotes, Daily Affirmations, Prayer Journaling & photography
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saintanneshs
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4mothermary wrote:
| How many units a year do you study? |
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There's not really a set number for us, since our unit lengths vary. Some units are just one week, like the mini-literature unit we're doing in two weeks on books about the zoo, just before we visit the zoo. Some units are 4 weeks, like our Lent/Beatrix Potter/Botany unit. Since I just brainstorm what I'd like to cover one season at a time, there isn't really any way to determine
how many units I'll cover since we don't have set unit lengths. (I'm only spending a week on the zoo books/unit because we've already done a lot with animal science this year and we did 4 weeks on botany because we'd done nothing in depth with it this year aside from nature journaling.) Also, I did want to point out that "planning" is just that. I plan units but don't always get all of them in. When other things come up, we'll sometimes skip out on the plan and go somewhere else with our learning. I used to feel really locked into our plans but I'm working on letting them go when needed so we can experience "real learning."
4mothermary wrote:
| How do you organize them physically? Do you keep them on hand in folders in case you want to study that unit again with the other children? |
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I start out with a planning web (looks like a spider web) with a big circle in the middle with the topic written inside. From the topic circle come little lines attached to other circles with subject areas written inside, like art, math, science, etc. Lots of times the subject areas will overlap. Inside each subject circle I brainstorm or write out other moms' ideas for learning. This is where the unit starts to take shape. As a beginner, I used lots of preplanned units, just to get a feel for what a unit looked like. After a while, I tried planning on my own and found I liked the creative aspect of planning. When I'm done with my planning web, I move it into a file folder where I can keep all my materials, ideas, etc. together. I use these folders to help me make plans for each day. My folders are stored in tubs.
For the actual lesson plans (goals for what to explore each day), I keep them in a 3 ring notebook with page protectors. This is my plan book and everything, other than our routine, is in pencil.
4mothermary wrote:
| do you apply CM ideals to a unit study? |
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I think so. I think CM is helpful in keeping me grounded in how to implement/facilitate what I've planned so it's less "filling a bucket" and more "lighting a fire."
Since we don't ALWAYS do units because life on a farm sometimes requires more of my participation in certain seasons and leaves less time for "teaching at home," CM brings me back to what I desire most when we do have that time at home. It also helps me to keep focused on quality over quantity no matter how we are learning.
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Kristine
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cathhomeschool
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4mothermary wrote:
How do you transition from study to the next? Do you seem to follow a certain pattern?
You obviously will not study oh, let's say rabbits in depth for every child right? Or will you do a Beatrix Potter unit every child?
What is the continual theme, where's the continuity?] |
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We don't really have a formal transition from unit to unit. We finish up each unit with written narrations or by putting together a lapbook, and then slowly move on to the next unit. There is usually some overlap, with the kids finishing up narrations/gluing/coloring at the same time that they begin reading and research for the next unit. Often entire units overlap. We rowed Albert (FIAR) in January and began a study of birds and St. Francis. We finished Albert and then rowed Angelo, but continued birds and St. Francis. We finished St. Francis, but continued Angelo and birds, and added a brief look at Rome and the Vatican and began John Paul II. Finally, we finished birds/Angelo and started studying Poland and Polish Easter traditions, and St. Faustina/Divine Mercy. In the next week and a half, we will wrap up Poland/John Paul II/St. Faustina, and will move on to something new. During this time, we've also been covering the human body on and off, and math.
I'm sure I won't repeat every unit for my younger ones that I covered with my older ones. I will play it by ear, gauging interests and studying what makes sense based on our lives and interests at that moment.
Like Leonie, our only constants seem to be great books and a focus on Real Learning. We do try to keep math going, regardless of our unit, but even that gets put off sometimes (like when we refloored our whole house last fall. Books on tape were the school diet during those months!)
4mothermary wrote:
Do you have a goal or requirement that must be met at the end of the year.
Is this type of study year round?
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I occasionally look at scope and sequence, but only in math. (And this is to make sure I don't forget to cover anything major.) I ignore the rest of it because we just work differently than a public school. The kids won't spend 7th grade studying state history, and 8th grade studying world history. We study as a family, so everyone covers the same history period at the same time. Same with science and literature.
We study year round, so that it is easier to take breaks when needed throughout the year. I really feel it is a waste to take 3 consecutive months off anyway. As a child, I loved the first weeks of summer vacation, but eventually boredom set in. Sometimes it's nice to take a week off between units or after a unit that has involved a lot of reading/writing.
4mothermary wrote:
Is there a difference between Charlotte Mason and Unit Study?
Is there something else I should be reading? |
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Unit Study is an approach, Charlotte Mason is a philosphy. You can take CM's ideas/philosophies and apply them to a Unit Study approach. For instance, CM believed in using "real books" to teach, not textbooks. In a unit study, you could use textbooks. However, a CM style unit study would avoid textbooks wherever possible, using whole literature and exciting living history/etc instead. Make sense?
I think that the more you read, the better you'll feel. I really liked Levinson's books. Real Learning is an essential read imo. I think that reading at some of the articles at MacBeth's website will give you a good feel for CM style science based studies.
An easy way to "let someone else figure it out for you" is to pick a unit or three from the Rabbit Trails forum and work through them. If you can't find something there you like, FIAR is a nice option too. Or you can ask here if anyone has ideas on ____. I keep all of my plans on the computer. Elizabeth and several of the other moms do too. Once you jump in and try it, you'll get a better feel for what works with your family and you will find a rhythm.
4mothermary wrote:
How many units a year do you study?
How do you organize them physically? Do you keep them on hand in folders in case you want to study that unit again with the other children? |
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The number of units/year varies. I do try to look ahead and plan things out somewhat, but extra units always crop up unexpectedly. A unit lasts between a week and a half and 4 or 5 weeks, depending on interest and on how much we're covering. (eg. Is it just a science or literature unit? Am I trying to draw in history/geography/culture too? Does it involve a major war?)
I try to keep copies of everything on the computer, and I keep a printed copy of each "plan" in my school notebook too. After we finish a unit, I try to go back and write in what worked and what didn't, and add any impromptu ideas/projects that we added on the fly.
One more comment on overall flow/continuity: At first glance, our months seem to have no rhyme or reason. A science unit is followed by a history unit is followed by a liturgical unit, another science unit, another liturgical unit... because we hit units as interest leads and the Liturgical Year presents opportunities. Random and chaotic? ...maybe. But if I step back and look at the last 2 or 3 years together, I see that we've covered ancient history, American history, and some modern history. We've covered the seasons of the year and of the Church year. We've studied various birds, insects, mammals and reptiles, and some human biology, botany, physics and astronomy. We've covered math and geography, cultures and traditions in other countries. We've hit art and music at times as well, and we've read LOTS. The daily course may have seemed random and wandering, but the further back I step, the less "random" it seems. Some people would feel very uncomfortable with such a course, but it works for us. I do love to plan, but I do love to deviate from the plan too!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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TracyQ
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I agree with Janette. So often, it's funny, because even in my own mind, sometimes our studies seem so random (at least in the younger years). But when you take a big step back, you see how the Lord's leading has really developed the education of your kids to be quite more extensive often than if you'd studied the same history/geography, science, etc. in bits and pieces using other, more traditional methods. At least it's also been that way for us.
And when I've taken a course of study or scope and sequence, and looked it over, checking things off that they've learned, not by grade level, but by what they've learned, they've learned most of it, or even more than what's listed, but learned it all in different grade levels than what's listed. That's the beauty of homeschooling, we don't have to fit a square peg in a round hole, we can make our learning fit the unique creations the Lord made our children, and our families to be.
We can really delve into the studies more by using this method, or including this method, whether by preparing units myself, or using already prepared units, and I can also tailor them more to each child's learning style, the way they learn best. It's been a blessing for us.
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Leonie
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4mothermary wrote:
| How many units a year do you study? How do you organize them physically? Do you keep them on hand in folders in case you want to study that unit again with the other children? |
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I found this article and thought it might be helpful -
planning a unit study
Also, a nice short article on why do unit studies, by Jessica Hulcy
And - Peg's Unit Study Helps
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Leonie in Sydney
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Katie
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I just wanted to add that using Five in a Row really helped me with the whole unit study concept. When nothing else shows itself I usually just grab a FIAR title and go from there. Sometimes we spend a week and make a small lapbook - other times it ends up taking us a month to cover all the ideas I have. Using FIAR in the beginning was like a tutorial for me, and now I'm comfortable going it alone or adapting plans to suit me.
The thing that is most scary to people starting out seems to be the one thing that makes unit studies so marvellous. I think it is fantastic that I can tailor a subject to match the ages and abilities of my children, and more often than not I find I can tie in concepts the younger dc are learning in math or phonics into the study. The very little ones can learn a significant letter, a kindergartener might have "apple math" in a lapbook on "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World"; simply some clipart apples laminated and used as manipulatives during addition problems. The little ones get a map to color, the older ones have to research capitals and rivers or mountains, and even older children can put together a country study. From there we might read a folktale from that country; the younger ones can narrate back to me and draw a picture, the older ones can write their own narration or story, or complete some other exercise relevant to their current language arts level.
All this to say that I encourage you to try a few prepared units first, keeping things simple, and just sit back and watch your creative juices flow, becasue I'm sure they will. You know your children best, what they need this week and what will get them excited. Soon you'll be tweaking things, and then all bets are off. In a few months you'll be posting your units on the Rabbit Trails forum. 
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Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
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Jenny
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I had been tossing the idea around for a bit, ok, 2 years and then on our last trip to the library we checked out this boook All the PLaces to Love and then I was just poking around here and there and found Tracy Q's Unit on the book & the thought "Aha!"
So I am requesting some additional books from the library & putting together a few Catholic resources; St Isadore study & a Marian Flower Garden. I think we will start our first unit study, using Charlotte Mason ideal in a week or two.
Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. I have read and re-read them 
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Jenny
Chris' wife and momma of 7. My blog: The Littlest Way--Bible Journaling, Inspiring Bible Quotes, Daily Affirmations, Prayer Journaling & photography
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lapazfarm
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Sounds like fun! Good luck!
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Theresa
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TracyQ
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Jenny,
Let me know how it goes! I have yet to use my own study myself! I'm planning to use it myself this Spring before the schoolyear ends.
Just use the study how it best suits YOUR family. That's the beauty of unit studies. Just as with ALL curriculum, it is a TOOL, a guide to help us, and we need to use the Lord's discernment when using them so they become a blessing to our unique family.
I hope you have fun with it. It's the perfect unit study for this season! And it's my very favorite picture book in the world. Have tons of fun!!!
__________________
Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Leonie
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Have fun with Tracy's unit! 
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Leonie in Sydney
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Kelly
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Gosh, I've been doing unit studies of a sort for years, but never realized how much MORE there is out there to learn! Pretty exciting! Thanks for all the great leads.
Now, true confessions: am I the only person that flies by the seat of their pants when it comes to unit studies???? Though it's probably not optimal, I just kind of ponder a subject for a while (often inspired by these threads---eg the Rainforest lapbook project last year was a HUGE success, thanks to all the great input here!), collect resources as I continue to ponder and run across them, and ultimately, when the mood hits us, off we go! Sometimes I'll have topics simmering in my head for years before it comes to fruition, others get thrown together really quickly, and planning time (such as it is) seems to have no affect on success---smoothness of implementation, yes, but likeability, nah. Some hit the sweet spot, some don't---go figure. The only thing I know is I'd hate to see people put off from trying unit studies from Fear of Starting! They're so much fun. My advice is to just jump in with both feet-you will definitely learn what appeals to your gang as you go along, and streamline as you do so.
I also find that our unit studies or lap books or notebooks or whatever often focus on topics where we might have a "hole", for whatever reason. It's a fun and effective way to make up any gaps in your curriculum.
I use Enchanted Learning printouts a lot, too. Also, xeroxes of actual paintings or photos that smaller dc then color.
A good way to wrap up a unit study or a notebook is to plan a party at the end. This way, you have a deadline and can avoid the ever-present threat of that homeschooling nemesis, the Never-Ending Unit Study. We often incorporate some version of Jeopardy into our parties, too, which inspires us to review information as we go along. And of course, food is key. EG We finished up the Rainforest project with a meal at a Brazilian grill, and came home with a shrunken head, courtesy of the proprietor.  My dc are still talking about that little Amazonian nugget. That, and a real, truly grotesque, Bufo Toad purse my World-wide Traveler Aunt sent!
Anyway, thanks again, all, for so many (more!) fabulous resources.
Kelly in FL
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Leonie
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Oh, Kelly, we are pretty loose in our planning and executing of a unit - and so is Valerie Bendt ( at least it seems so from her books and tape! )
But its nice to know about resources to be more organized if we need or want to be....
I like your party idea.
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Leonie in Sydney
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lapazfarm
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Kelly, we are pretty loose as well. I like to let my son pick and choose the topics and be pretty spontaneous. I am often seen up late planning out a unit that we brainstormed that day and will start the next! I find it best to strike while the iron is hot!
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Erin
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Kelly wrote:
| Now, true confessions: am I the only person that flies by the seat of their pants when it comes to unit studies???? Though it's probably not optimal, I just kind of ponder a subject for a while (often inspired by these threads---eg the Rainforest lapbook project last year was a HUGE success, thanks to all the great input here!), collect resources as I continue to ponder and run across them, and ultimately, when the mood hits us, off we go! Kelly in FL |
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Kelly,
I confess I often am like this too. I was totally floored by Elizabeth saying she spent 10-20hours planning. I have never spent this much time
When we first started planning unit studies I planned more. But now that we have been doing them for years I am more relaxed. Often I will just browse through our bookcases and pull off several books on a similar thread, we read them and just 'fly by the seat of our pants' from there.
Reading all the great resources here though has inspired me to plan more for our next unit. I think I may be missing something. I'm off now to bookmark all these great suggestions.
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Erin
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Jenny
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Shouldn't this be harder?
We've read the book and are reading a childs account of living on a crop farm. We've looked at dirt under a microscope and read about soil in our Childcraft book and a farming book from the library. We're memorizing a poem each (Spring for the 4yo, Clouds 6yo & The Pasture 7yo). We've read & re-read the story of creation & read about St Isadore. We've made boats out of OJ cartons & floated them in the pond. we walk around speaking in similies In addition to keeping up w/our math book & SB spelling.
Next we'll study flowers & plant some flowers around our Mary statue. We are also going to read about clouds, identify them, lay on a blanket & watch them. Dad will read the tracking books w/them. They already know some about tracking b/c dad is a hunter & has already taught them.
It sounds like alot, but doesn't feel like alot. Are we doing this right?
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Jenny
Chris' wife and momma of 7. My blog: The Littlest Way--Bible Journaling, Inspiring Bible Quotes, Daily Affirmations, Prayer Journaling & photography
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lapazfarm
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It sounds very, very right! Can we join you?
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Theresa
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mairejam5
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OK, I'm intrigued. Will someone give me a link to the Rabbit Trails forum? Thanks. :)
Maire
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cathhomeschool
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Maire,
Here's a direct link to The Rabbit Trails forum. You can also access it from the our main 4real.thenetsmith.com page.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Planning a Unit Study ?
