What is a unit study?

A unit study, often called a thematic or topical study is simply a method of incorporating all subject matters into the study of a given topic. Simply put, unit studies allow for immersion into a topic of interest by including all subjects — history, science, reading, writing, math — in the study of the topic.

Suppose your daughter, like mine, loves horses. One of the first units that we did together was about horses. While I like to mingle the subjects together, sometimes it’s easier to look at the possibilities separately, so that you get an idea of how the various subjects can be covered within a single topic.

Language Arts.

Research and write a report on a specific breed of horse. Write a fictional story about a horse. Read Justin Morgan Had a Horse, then write your own story about the origins of a breed of horse, real or fictional.

History.

Explore horses’ roles in man’s history. Learn about how horses came to be introduced to America. Research the controversies involving wild horse populations in America today.

Science.

Study and label the anatomy of a horse. Compare and contrast the anatomy with various other mammals. Create a notebook depicting the different breeds and coloration of horses. Learn about how and why various breeds developed.

Math.

Horses are measured in “hands.” Find out the equivalence of a “hand” and figure out the height of different horse breeds in feet. Measure, in hands, things around your house — Mom, Dad, the dog, your little brother!

Field Trips.

Visit a horse stable to see what is involved in caring for a horse. Take a trail ride.

Unit studies offer a fun, hands-on method for covering the typical subjects while offering high retention value due to the interest level of the student.

Kris can typically be found blogging about faith, family and life with her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Photo by zoned_dk

In this modern age of “me first” how can parents teach our children to be good citizens? What does it even mean to be a good citizen today? Let’s find out in today’s top 10.

Photo by Name

1. Citizenship is a tough concept for preschoolers but even our littlest citizens can begin to learn the meaning of citizenship through picture books, songs, & crafts. Some good ones to check out are Meet Our Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, America the Beautiful, & Yankee Doodle.
2. Talk about what it means to be a good citizen while you make a Patriotic Windsock, Make an All American Anne Doll, Paint a Patriotic Floor Cloth, Decorate a Piggy Bank, or make a Patriotic Symbols Cube. Check out All Crafts for more craft ideas.
3. Ask older children to brainstorm a list of do’s and don’ts for citizenship. Ask for specific examples of each behavior they identify.
4. Role-play your list from #3. Children can act them out themselves or use puppets. Role-play poor citizenship, and then, good citizenship.
5. Encourage your children to take part in community service projects. Check out these websites for ideas: Youth Noise, Idealist, Do Something, & Kids Care
6. Be a good neighbor. Visit ill or elderly neighbors together.
7. Visit these free online resources to explore the idea of citizenship: USA Flag Site, Law for Kids, Department of Justice for Kids, Kids in the House, Whitehouse Kids
8. Serve together in a service organization like the Young Mens Service League or National Charity League
9. Join other families to greet troops returning from active duty.
10. Take your children with you when you vote on November 4th.

Traditionally good citizens obey the law and take an active part in
civic affairs like voting. A good citizen also plays an active role in
his community & seeks to live a productive life. As homeschoolers
our goal is to help our children develop these qualities of good
citizenship. We want them to become law abiding, productive citizens
who invest themselves in their community & its government.

How do you teach your children about citizenship & patriotism?

Kat is a homeschooling mama of a preschooler & toddler and the founder of Moms In The Right.

Janet Halfmann’s Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story is a powerful slave story. I was not familiar at all with Robert Smalls but now that I’ve read this book - I am SURE to recommend it to others studying slavery or just interested in reading about the Civil War/Slavery, etc. Duane Smith’s illustrations are marvelous - they give you a rugged feel for the times. The powerful picture book tells an amazing story - I would read this to students WAY up even into middle school - it will be long-remembered.

Becky, a homeschool mom and part time Youth Services Librarian can be found In the Pages or with her kids at And Chloe Makes Six.

by jimmiehomeschoolmom

Many homeschoolers enjoy making lapbooks. We love them! Lapbooks are a fun way to showcase what your student has learned during a unit study.

The internet is a fantastic place to find free and next-to-free lapbook resources.

Here is a list of ten lapbooking resources:

1. Homeschool Share — Free resource with unit studies, lapbooks, & notebooking (plus a very active Yahoo group)
2. Just Call Me Jamin! - Ideas, pictures, & links
3. Lapbooks on Flickr — One family’s collection of lapbook photographs
4. Paper Dali — Great resource for printable historical paper dolls (a fabulous addition to lapbooks)
5. Homeschool Helper — Free resource with unit studies, lapbooks, & notebooking
6. Lapbook Lessons — A Christian-Run site for Free Lapbooks & Lapbook Video Lessons
7. Cereal Box Lapbook Holders — Now that you have a bunch of lapbooks, you need a frugal way to store them!
8. Enchanted Learning — This site costs $20/year, but has tons of resources and printables that are perfect for lapbooks.
9. Lapbooking 101 — Blog with lots of lapbooking “how to” info
10. Lapbook Lessons — You Tube videos on lapbooking

Does your family enjoy making lapbooks? What are your favorite lapbooking resources? Please join us at the Blissfully Domestic social network and tell us!

When her hands aren’t covered with glue from lapbooking, Angie can be found at Many Little Blessings talking about faith, family, and household management.

Implement a monthly(ish!) ‘homeschooling food’ session and bring your homeschooling project to life!

Choose a different country (or historical period) each session. Then plan, cook, & eat a meal from that place. Have fun thinking up new ideas or incorporating your current interests! Some ideas to get you started:

• Read Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and eat a meal of egg, lettuce, & tomato sandwiches, slices of ham, fruit cake, and bottles of ginger beer.
• If you’re studying World War II, spend a day eating wartime rations.
• Study Ancient Greece and eat olives, raisins & greek pancakes with honey.
• During the Gold Rush days miners ate ’sow-belly and beans’ or ‘Bear steaks’!! You might have to settle for a cowboy meal of sausages, beans and rice instead!

Researching which foods to include will make your project come to life - and help your students get a real feel for the place or time they are studying.

What a fantastic idea to get ‘picky’ eaters to try new foods they wouldn’t normally eat!

When she is not writing for Homeschool Hacks, Julie is thinking up creative ideas for her website www.Homeschooling-ideas.com - and bribing her children to try them out!