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How to Create a Unit Study

August 25, 2011 By Deb Chitwood 21 Comments

In my last post, (“Should You Use Unit Studies?”), I focused on why you should consider using unit studies. Today, I want to focus on how you can create your own unit study.

How to Create a Unit Study

It may seem overwhelming at first, but any homeschooler is capable of creating a unit study. You may be most comfortable with a lot of guidance or with very little guidance. Both options are absolutely fine. The freedom to individualize your homeschool to your family is one of the best parts of homeschooling. And a unit study can be one of the best ways to individualize learning.

As I said in “Should You Use Unit Studies?” my family used KONOS unit studies. The KONOS site has an excellent description of the 4 ways to do KONOS using an analogy of ways to get a cake. I like baking from scratch but having a recipe to follow. With unit studies, I was most comfortable having a basic framework and ideas along with a lot of freedom to change, add to, or delete activities.

A study of geology included a visit to the Petrified Forest of the Black Hills. Will (9) and Christina (4), 1994.

A study of geology included a visit to the Petrified Forest of the Black Hills. Will (9) and Christina (4), 1994.

With so many unit study resources available today, you can create your unit study totally from scratch. Maybe you don’t even like to use a recipe, and that’s alright, too. Or maybe you want everything prepared and delivered to your home. You just need to think about what you’ll be most comfortable with.

You can even create unit studies using only free (or free and very inexpensive) online resources. The unit-study posts I publish will generally have free or inexpensive materials and activities you can use to create your own unit study. You can also use a packaged unit study and substitute any activities that you think will be a better fit for your children.

Whatever format you use, here are some basic steps to follow in creating a unit study.

1. Decide on a topic or theme.

This will be easy if you’re using a planned unit-study program. Otherwise, check for ideas online or look at your child’s current interest and consider using an interest-based unit.

When Will was a preschooler, we used a Montessori curriculum with some Montessori-inspired seasonal/holiday activities. Christina is 5 years younger than Will, so as a preschooler she had a Montessori curriculum with some Montessori-inspired seasonal/holiday activities and some Montessori-inspired activities with the theme of Will’s current unit study. Will’s and Christina’s elementary-school years and up used unit studies while following many Montessori principles.

Montessori-Inspired Preposition Work Based on the Book Corduroy (Photo by Julie at Nurturing Learning)

Montessori-Inspired Preposition Work Based on the Book Corduroy (Photo by Julie at Nurturing Learning)

You could use a literature-based theme, science theme, historical theme, seasonal theme, music or art theme – whatever you choose as a focal point of interest. For example, Nurturing Learning has a bear unit for preschoolers, focusing on children’s fiction such as Corduroy (photo), We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, and Blueberries for Sal.

2. Select a starting date and length of time for the unit.

Many homeschoolers will follow a theme for a week, a few weeks, or a month. I know of many homeschoolers with preschoolers who follow month-long themes. I gave one example of our schedule focusing on orderliness in yesterday’s post.

Another example from our homeschooling was a study of attentiveness at the beginning of the school year emphasizing the ears, sound, and ear parts the 1st week; sound experiments and music the 2nd week; sound and types of instruments the 3rd week; percussion and music theory the 4th week; eyes, seeing, and eye parts the 5th week; sight, touch, smell, and taste the 6th  week; frontiersmen and Lewis and Clark the 7th week; tracking and trapping/predator and prey the 8th week; Woodland Indians the 9th week; Plains Indians the 10th week; Southwest Indians the 11th week; and Northwest Indians the 12th week. You’re really free to follow whatever schedule works best for your family.

3. Choose books, DVDs, and other media resources.

I’m a real book lover and developed a home library over the years. My whole family loved books and reading, so books were an extremely important part of each unit. Bookstores were always one of our favorite places to visit, so I was able to review a lot of the books myself.

We also used a lot of library books. I typically started a unit study with a visit to the library.

Now there are also many helpful book reviews online, and you can often see sample pages of a book online as well. A lot of parents now use NetFlix for DVDs as well as YouTube and the many videos and interactive resources online.

4. Plan activities for your children’s ability levels.

How to Prepare Themed Montessori Shelves

You might want to incorporate every subject area in your unit study, or you might want to have separate activities for language and math. KONOS doesn’t cover a language and math sequence (although it often has activities that reinforce language and math skills), so you’ll most likely need other curriculum materials for those areas. We always used Montessori materials in the early years and a mixture of language and math materials later on.

Update: With my grandkids, I have a themed shelf that typically includes some language and math materials. I still use the traditional Montessori curriculum but have the themed shelf and activities available for extra interest.

If you use a purchased curriculum, you’ll have many suggested activities available immediately. Feel free to pick and choose. With all the online resources available, it’s easy to add activities that might suit your children better. With Pinterest, it’s easy to bookmark activities into unit studies and save them for when you’re ready for that unit. I’ve started a collection of unit studies on Pinterest to go with unit-study posts I’ve published. See “Should You Use Unit Studies?” for my complete list of unit studies.

There are many sites with free unit-study resources, such as Homeschool Share, Oklahoma Homeschool (Cindy Downes), Homeschool Helper Online, Learning Ideas – Grades K-8, Book of Virtues Project, and Stone Soup Homeschool Resources.

5. Decide how you’ll record your unit.

You might prefer lapbooking or notebooking. Maybe you like portfolios relying heavily on projects and photography. Of course, you might use blogging to record your activities!

6. Plan a final activity.

For a longer unit study, consider having a special ending whether it’s a themed party, special field trip, themed meal, reenactment, or dramatic presentation.

The most important part of unit studies is simply remembering to adapt your unit study for your unique family. Be flexible. Don’t be afraid to make changes during your unit study. And don’t forget to have fun! 🙂

Deb - Signature

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Filed Under: Homeschooling, Unit Studies Tagged With: create a unit study, free homeschooling, free unit-study resources, homeschool, KONOS, Montessori, unit studies, unit study

Previous Post: « Should You Use Unit Studies?
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen says

    August 25, 2011 at 6:24 am

    Wonderful and informative post! I’ve always enjoyed teaching integrated units when I was a teacher. My kids are home doing cyberschool, but if I ever go the traditional homeschool route, I would teach using units for sure!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 25, 2011 at 7:01 pm

      Thanks for your kind comment, Jen! It’s fantastic that there are so many different homeschool opportunities available now, such as cyberschool. I hope you have a wonderful school year! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jannie Funster says

    August 25, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Hi, I’ve seen you commenting over at Sheila’s Zen Living, and had to pop over and say hi, having noticed your Montessori tagline.

    My girl, almost 10, is starting public school this year after 7 years Montessori private schooling here in Austin (she went as far as her 1st year of Upper Elementry). I cannot state how much we LOVE Montessori. But since we’ll be in public school next year in Middle School, this is her transition year — 5th grade.

    I was never brave or patient enough to homeschool. 🙂 I admire you guys so much.

    I am not familiar with the Konos or Pinterest programs. Both look great.

    Love your header photos. I bet your now-grown kids are reaping the Montessori benefits.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 25, 2011 at 7:08 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind words, Jannie! How wonderful that your daughter was able to experience so many years of Montessori education! I hope she has a positive transition experience in her new school. I can still see the benefits of Montessori in my kids, and I hope that happens for you, too!

      You don’t have to be a teacher or homeschooler to use Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/). It’s an awesome way to bookmark and organize any posts containing pictures. I know lots of people who have Pinterest boards with recipes, home decorations, quotations … just about anything! 🙂

      Reply
  3. JoAnn Jordan says

    August 25, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    I use many of the same steps when planning music therapy sessions. Using Pinterest for gathering information. I’ll have to give that one a try.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 25, 2011 at 7:11 pm

      Thanks, JoAnn! I can definitely see that planning music therapy sessions would have many of the same steps. As long as a post has pictures, Pinterest is a great way to bookmark and organize just about anything!

      Reply
  4. Amanda says

    August 25, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    Great post! I’m so new to creating “units” for my 2 year old so this was full of great information. I’m still learning more about Montessori’s style– but I’m hoping to incorporate more Montessori ideas. Any books to recommend? I’m such a bookworm!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 26, 2011 at 5:24 pm

      Thanks so much, Amanda! Reading about Montessori will help a lot! Here are a couple of book reviews I wrote about my two favorite books for parents wanting to start using Montessori at home: https://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/06/17/how-to-raise-an-amazing-child-the-montessori-way-book-review/ and https://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/06/22/teach-me-to-do-it-myself-book-review/. Have fun! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Tiana says

    August 26, 2011 at 12:03 am

    Such great posts on unit studies. They have really helped me. Thanks so much for all you do :).

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 26, 2011 at 5:24 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Tiana! I really appreciate it! 🙂

      Reply
  6. OneMommy says

    August 26, 2011 at 8:27 am

    I loved doing units when I taught middle school. I enjoyed finding all kids of activities that tied together and seeing how one idea might click for one student and another for someone else.
    stopping by from Mom Loop

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 26, 2011 at 5:27 pm

      Thanks for your comment, OneMommy! I was always fascinated by the differences between children’s interests, too. And by how much one child’s interests can even vary from one year to the next.

      Reply
  7. JDaniel4's Mom says

    August 26, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    I love how easy this would be to put together using your guidelines.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 28, 2011 at 11:07 pm

      Thanks so much! I hope you have a great week! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Alice says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    Hey Deb,
    I plan to create a study room for myself, yet your tips are still useful. I just love to make the room in an unique theme, which will automatically put me into the study state of mind. 😀

    Reply
    • Deb says

      August 28, 2011 at 11:09 pm

      Thanks for your comment, Alice! That’s a great idea! I love that many ideas can be applied in many different areas! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Aimee says

    August 31, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    Planning a full unit does take a lot of work and research! This is a very well done “how to” manual! Great job on all of your hard work. Thank you for linking this up to The Sunday Showcase.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      September 3, 2011 at 12:57 am

      Thanks so much for your very kind comment, Aimee! And thanks for hosting Sunday Showcase! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Aimee says

    September 2, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    I just wanted to let you know that you will be featured this week on The Sunday Showcase!

    Have a great weekend 😉

    Reply
    • Deb says

      September 3, 2011 at 12:59 am

      Thanks, Aimee … I really appreciate it! I always enjoy The Sunday Showcase, and I’ll really look forward to it on Sunday! I hope you have a great weekend, too! 🙂

      Reply

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