Method Madness Monday
Well here we are at another Monday. This week I want to talk about a fun method that many homeschoolers dip into from time to time. The Unit Studies aproach. Sometimes called thematic units or integrated studies, the unit studies approach is teaching everything in one unti rather than spread out as several different subjects. There is a common theme running amoung every thing you do and all the areas are blended together. What is great about this is children get to experience how the world around them in interconnected rather than solitary.
Choosing to do with units is easily adapted to almost anyother style of teaching that parents choose to use. You can loosely mesh things together or neatly tie everything into one package. With a little creative adjusting on the parents part you can change any pre-packaged curriculum to fit a more “themed” aproach. If you ahve children of various age groups you can also create units that everyone can learn in their own ways.
So, how do you explain unit studies to someone who might not be familiar? My personal favorite analogy is the pizza. Take a topic, say the ocean, this is the crust. Now add some sauce all across it with some science on how the oceans came to be, some biology on what lives in the oceans, and maybe some math by plotting the low and high tides during a month. Next we sprinkle on the toppings by reading books and poems about the ocean, research sea battles, learn about various island nations, learn about the effects of commercial whaling, find out why the ocean is so salty, … The possibilities are endless and yet all still piled together on that same crust.
Some great links for you to explore are:
Unit Study Helps
The Joy and Ease of Learning Through Child-led Unit Studies
Learning Success with Unit Studies and More
Home Schooling With Frugal Unit Studies
Unit Study Ideas
A collection of great Unit Study links
homeschool, homeschooling, unit studies, Method Madness Monday
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