subject: Unit Studies A Free Alternative To Homeschooling Curriculum Books [print this page] If you're thinking about buying homeschooling curriculum books but you're concerned about the cost, don't despair. With a little creativity and courage, you can avoid expensive homeschooling textbooks by teaching your children with a unit study.
A unit study is a multi-disciplinary or thematic approach to education. They allow teachers to integrate several or all subjects around a central them, such as Ancient Rome, Butterflies, or Shakespeare. The unit study method is completely different from the traditional homeschooling textbook method, which splits the subjects into separate categories to be learned individually.
With a unit study, kids are free to learn as much or as little as they please about a subject. If it's taking them a little longer than you thought it would to grasp a particular concept, you can slow the pace down. If they're enjoying a particular topic, you can extend the study another week. Since your children have the freedom to learn at their own pace and indulge in their own learning style, they are likely to learn and retain more. School becomes fun when the students have the freedom to discover their own methods of learning.
When I was in school, I loved the freedom that came with homeschooling unit studies. While my parents used traditional curriculum for subjects like math and grammar, they would put together unit studies to cover the other subjects. The Unit Studies always included hands-on projects, research papers, and assigned readings. I loved it because I could study anything I wanted. My parents loved it because they could teach several grade levels with the same curriculum. While the first grader worked on a hands-on project, the junior high student would be writing a book report, and the high school student would be outlining a research paper. My mom took advantage of tons of free resources to supplement the homeschooling unit studies. The biggest resource of all was, of course, the Internet. There are countless free, pre-planned homeschooling unit studies online with lesson plans and supply lists. These materials not only saved my mom a lot of money but they also saved her time. She also took advantage of another great resource, our local library. I will never forget wandering the rows and rows of non-fiction books, amazed and overjoyed that there was so much to learn.
Not all of my brothers and sisters were like me, though. Without the structure of a traditional homeschooling curriculum books, some of them had trouble focusing on schoolwork. My parents recognized that some children learn better if they have a structured program that systematically reviews and tests their knowledge. So for those of my brothers and sisters that didn't excel with the unit study format, they used homeschooling curriculum books instead.
Another reason the unit study format is not for everyone is it takes a lot of planning and effort and require access to many resources. You will almost be creating your own curriculum from scratch. If you don't enjoy visiting your local library, scouring the Internet for information, or planning activities and assignments, unit studies may not be the best choice for you. Homeschooling unit studies also require a flexible attitude towards scheduling the day. There is no set routine with a Unity Study. If you prefer to have your day organized and scheduled, the unit study format is not for you.
In my case, homeschooling unit studies gave me the freedom I needed to develop my own study habits. I enjoyed being free from structured homeschooling curriculum books. It made school seem like a fun, worthwhile pastime instead of a chore. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it set me on the path to a lifetime of learning. I'm not intimidated by things I don't know, because I'm confident in my ability to learn anything and everything.
