Author: Amanda Bennett

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Homeschool Unit Studies vs. Other Approaches To Learning

Compare homeschool unit studies vs. other homeschool approaches and learn why homeschool unit studies may be the right choice for your family.

Compare homeschool unit studies vs. other homeschool approaches and learn why homeschool unit studies may be the right choice for your family.

Homeschool Unit Studies vs. A Traditional Homeschool Approach

Take a minute to compare a more traditional approach to unit studies. Textbooks are one form of curriculum used for education, and most of us were educated using textbooks. They are written from the perspective that everything in the world fits neatly into one of several categories, like science and geography. Textbooks include a collection of information that is to be read, memorized, and repeated for a test or exam.

The main problem with textbook learning is that the student becomes well trained at memorizing information, but unfamiliar with how all of this information applies to the world around him.

Compare homeschool unit studies vs. other homeschool approaches and learn why homeschool unit studies may be the right choice for your family.

By coming from a different perspective and teaching about a complete topic, unit studies offer the advantage of helping children grasp the big picture and then apply what they have learned to other areas and other topics.

How Do Unit Studies Compare to Other Homeschool Methods?


A frequently asked question about the unit study approach is if there will be holes or gaps in a child’s education using this method. Let me ask you this, how many textbooks did you finish in your own education? Most of us never finished a single one. We have huge holes in our own education and no matter the method, your child will too. There are not enough hours in the day or days in the year to cover everything.

So what can you do? You can teach your child that learning is an incredible adventure. A journey that you get to go on together. We want our children to be lifelong learners but we don’t present learning in such a way that children would want to do it their whole life.

Compare homeschool unit studies vs. other homeschool approaches and learn why homeschool unit studies may be the right choice for your family.

It is vitally important that we teach these bright young minds how to think and find answers. In this day and age of information explosion, textbook publishers rush to keep adding new information to textbooks, further abridging, condensing and modifying or deleting what they deem less important or not politically correct. Many textbooks now read like encyclopedias, with little interesting reading included, just facts, figures and condensed material.

If we can teach our children with interesting materials, challenging them to think, reason, analyze and dig deeper for further information, we will find them to be well-educated and ready to move on to a lifetime of challenge and questions and adventure. While we will never be able to teach a child everything, we can certainly teach them these things, providing a strong foundation and knowledge base for the future.

More Homeschool Helps

Learn more about the unit study approach to homeschooling:

Explore Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett Now!

Enjoy the journey,

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What Is A Unit Study?

Homeschool parents exploring various approaches to education may wonder, “What is a unit study?” This overview answers this question and provides examples for real world learning.

Answering the homeschool parent's question: What is a unit study? How integrated learning works and what to expect.

I am often asked to explain units studies, usually by newcomers to homeschooling or frustrated textbook parents. Well, first let me tell you what it is not. A good integrated study does not involve dry reading or memorization, busy work, endless worksheet completion, and bored children.

What Is A Unit Study?


A good unit study involves learning about one topic in an interesting and engaging way that will captivate the student and make them want to learn more and continue to think about the things they are learning. From cell phones to Ethiopia to catapults and elephants, unit studies can open up the world to your child, one topic at a time.

A good unit study involves learning about one topic in an interesting and engaging way that will captivate the student and make them want to learn more! Answering the homeschool parent's question: What is a unit study? How integrated learning works and what to expect.

As the process of “education” has developed through the ages, people have slowly but surely categorized and compartmentalized almost everything in our world into specific areas of learning. These include science, history, geography, art, and many others.

However, to a child that is eager to learn, the world is viewed as whole pieces, not segmented bits and parts. When they see the vast ocean, they see it as teeming with wildlife, full of sunken pirate ships and seashells, covered with rolling waves. A unit study tries to work from this viewpoint, taking one topic at a time and explaining the way that it works as a whole to the child that already sees it as a whole.

A unit study captures children’s attention and helps them understand the pieces of the whole as they fit together. When they learn about the oceans with a unit study, they learn about whales and dolphin, how the oceans flow, how explorers traveled the oceans with currents and wind, and how big and wide and deep the oceans. Through this approach, children develop critical thinking skills as they see how all of these components work together.

Answering the homeschool parent's question: What is a unit study? How integrated learning works and what to expect.

More Homeschool Helps

Learn more about the unit study approach to homeschooling:

Explore Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett Now!

Enjoy the journey,

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What Is A Lapbook?

What is a lapbook? It’s a creative and fun learning tool that reinforces the unit study content – a very simple, hands on activity that is included with both the Download N Go® and Passport Scout unit studies.

What is a lapbook? It’s a creative and fun learning tool that reinforces the unit study content – a very simple, hands on activity that is included with both the Download N Go® and Passport Scout unit studies.

What Is A Lapbook?

Children remember things that they create, and lapbooking reinforces the content of these studies.


The colorful lapbook templates are ready for you and your child to print, cut out, and complete together. With these elements, your child will make pop-ups, vocabulary mini-books, timelines, and much more. These pieces are then attached to a simple file folder that is folded in a unique way to create a special “lapbook”.

What is a lapbook? It’s a creative and fun learning tool that reinforces the unit study content – a very simple, hands on activity that is included with both the Download N Go® and Passport Scout unit studies.

Why is lapbooking a great choice for learning?

Lapbooking brings a lively, creative project appeal in a simple, ready-to-use format. Daily lapbooking templates are ready to just print and use. Have you ever created a lapbook with your child? These activities are made to be easy enough for a beginner, but “meaty” enough for children who have been lapbooking for a long time.
Children often learn more easily by doing something with the information they are studying. Creating a lapbook allows a child to display what he has been learning, and they work well with unit studies. Lapbooks can be a great learning tool for all learning styles, too!

Lapbooking encourages interest and motivation levels by using bite-sized pieces of information at a time. Shorter units help kids stay focused and provide them the thrill of completing their project. (Time to show Grandma as they excitedly tell all about each of those parts in their colorful lapbook masterpieces!)


You can choose whether or not to include the lapbooking components on each study – they are optional. And remember that you can tailor my studies to fit your child – the very best approach to learning.

What is a lapbook? It’s a creative and fun learning tool that reinforces the unit study content – a very simple, hands on activity.

More Homeschool Helps

Learn more about the unit study approach to homeschooling:

Explore Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett Now!

Enjoy the journey,