What is a unit study?
A unit study is a set of lessons, worksheets and more on a specific topic of interest.
Each topic provides comprehensive, cross0curricular activities to inspire and educate a child in science, social studies, language arts, math, fine arts and more.
They can encompass various learning levels making it useful to teach more than one child at different learning levels. It can work well with different learning styles because it offers a variety of lessons that focus on each learning style – an art lesson for the visual learner, a field trip or science experiment for the kinesthetic learner and a poetry or rhyme section for the audio learner for example. Since each lesson is based on the same topic it can give options on how to study the topic that best suits each child.
Unit studies can be downloadable which saves money, time and the environment since you only print the pages you need. They can provide fun and learning for your child and encompass puzzle sheets to “reward” children for finishing a more challenging exercise.
Homeschooling can get costly when you are buying all the books and materials needed for the lessons. But when it comes to math manipulatives, all you have to do is look around your house!
Manipulatives are defined as “any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in mathematics.” Using manipulatives in math can help explain tough concepts. Also, manipulatives are a great teaching tool to use for kinesthetic (hands-on) learners. Geometry manipulatives are easy to find around the house, just look for specific shapes – tin can (cylinder), sugar cube, book (rectangle) and the like. Counting manipulatives are also easy to find as you can use anything that you have a bunch of – marshmallows, paperclips, toilet rolls and more. Sorting and graphing manipulatives can be anything that differs in colour or shape – different coloured paper clips, beads or buttons or even cereal.
Before you spend the money on fancy math manipulatives, look around the house and see what there is you can use for free!
There are no rules, that is the beauty of homeschooling. Working one-on-one with your child will allow you to determine the best way for them to learn, and then you can teach it appropriately.
If your child does not like to read, offer stories in comic book form, you can get classics, Shakespeare, even the history of the world in this form. Comics break up the words with pictures making reading easier for reluctant readers.
If your child likes hockey bring that into your lesson plan. A unit study on a specific subject that the child likes not only covers the curriculum but also inspires them to learn because they are learning about something they are interested in.
If your child is an auditory learner, work in some audio books, computer games and music to the lessons so that they have the best chance to learn. Likewise, visual learners and kinesthetic learners can be taught to their learning style.
If your child is struggling with a concept, or is not liking a particular subject, tweak it so that the lessons will be more interesting, or easier for them to understand.
With homeschoooling you can take the time to determine how best to teach lessons to your child. You can cater to their interests, their likes and their dislikes. You can make education fun and important to them – that should be the only rule!
by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
Great words to keep in mind for homeschoolers, teachers, parents and anyone who has children in their life!
As the spring season meets us there a many chances for lessons in nature, science, health and more all you need to do is take a walk in the park (or neighbourhood, woods etc.)
The coming of spring brings a change in weather (Science), brings birds back to start their families (nature), creates new blossoms from the barren ground and trees (ecology) and brings sights, sounds and smells to inspire poetry (English).
When you take a walk in the spring, take your time. Look for new signs of life, listen for birds to identify and feel the warm winds on your face. Plan a garden, do a nature craft or learn about the power of the sun.
Get outdoors in the spring because you will find a lesson everywhere around you!
Homeschool lessons are full of facts, figures and information. Obviously, your students will not retain everything they learn. But the main lesson for them to get is how to find the answer.
Knowing how to find the answer is as good as knowing the answer. Not only does it teach children how to become independent learners but it also allows them to know the answer to any question they come by. When a child asks a question, certainly it is easy to offer them the answer. But it is a better learning lesson if you show them how they can find that out for themselves. Encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses can be used to find information, understand spelling or understand the meaning of a word. The internet is a great tool for search and find. Also, how to use the library is an important lesson on independent learning. At first, teaching them how to find the answers themselves will be a time-consuming lesson but eventually, much of their studies can be done on their own.
It is also encouraging for a child who is struggling with math or finds it hard to remember all the dates in history, that should they come across the need to know this information, there are ways to find it out.
Ever have one of those days when you are not sure what to teach? You are tired or not feeling well, have nothing prepared? Well why not have a Garbage Craft Day.
For this activity you need glue, tape, crayons and a recycling bin full of plastics, boxboard and paper. (avoid any dangerous items like metal cans). Make a pile of these recyclables in the middle of the room and give the kids a theme like – space ships or insects – then let them at it. Kids will spend hours sifting, creating and having fun building a garbage day creation. They will be learning engineering concepts as well as stretching their creativity. You can also follow up with lesson on recycling.
Smaller kids would love to use a cardboard box and turn it into a car, or rocket by adding wheels (pie plates, margarine tub lids etc), antenna, steering wheels and more!!
It is great to allow students to have self-directed activities, and very helpful on days when you need something to fill-in to your lesson!
The environment and the issues surrounding it is a common topic today. It is important to teach children about the environment, about the threats to it and about how they can help.
Simply reducing, reusing and recycling can be the first steps to helping the environment. Lead by example: recycle used paper (make sure you use both sides), seperate your trash into recyclable, compostable and reusable (great sorting lesson for kids). Donate out-grown clothing to a thrift store or charity, pay attention to packaging when buying products. Getting your children involved in the choices and the actions will help them learn how important it is to do.
Use downloadable resources so you only need to print the pages you need. Use household items meant for the recycling bin for crafts and science experiments. Melt down old crayons to make new ones, use a blackboard to write notes rather than paper. Adopt some wildlife as a gift for someone or as part of your school lesson plan. We adopted a sea turtle, then learned all about it and tracked his movements in the ocean!
Just the effort of thinking about it, and making good choices can make a world of difference.
To help pass the lesson on read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, underneath all the rhyme and silliness there is a strong message!
Today is Peanut Butter lovers day! They seem to have a day for everything, but that is good, it creates ideas for some fun lesson plans.
Discover how peanut butter (or any nut butter) is made, a good science lesson plan. Use peanut butter in a recipe to make something, a great math lesson plan. Make a craft using peanut butter, fill a pine cone with the nut butter and roll it in bird seed, this is a great bird feeder and can inspire a nature lesson plan. The peanut itself can be used as a manipulative (you can fake ones or even ones that are erasers if there are allergies). Or talk about elephants, do they really eat peanuts? The peanut is protected by a shell, what other plants have protectors around them, why?
So many ideas can be spawned from one special, albeit strange, day!
Our goal as homeschoolers is to help our children grow to have accomplished lives. The best way to do this is to show them how to live!
Book work in school is something everyone recognizes as education. But books don’t always teach what is important. Make sure your lessons include life lessons. Take a trip to the grocery store to understand nutritional food choices, price comparisons, recipe needs and budgeting. Follow recipes and do cooking and baking at home with your children or show them how to sew ( fixing a button or darning a sock can be a helpful lesson). Have them create goals, schedules, menus and budgets for themselves or for the family. Plan a family vacation together, use maps, travel brochures and such to learn about the place you are visiting. Have them follow a map on the travels, keep a travel diary about their trip so that they can record differences in the area compared to their own. Pretend and play such things as careers and parents to help them understand the responsibilities that go with a job, and a family.
Even discussions can be meaningful and educational. Talk about where garbage goes as you carry it out to the curb, discuss the importance of hygiene as you run a bath, even economics can be taught when negotiating an allowance.
Remember that what ever you do in life, be it housecleaning, grocery shopping, vacationing or a day at the beach, learning can be involved. And learning about life can be the best education a child can receive.