Collections Archives - Page 2 of 2

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.

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.

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.

More Homeschool Helps

Learn more about the unit study approach to homeschooling:

Explore Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett Now!

Enjoy the journey,

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.