Part 6 in our How to Write Homeschool Unit Studies series by Tina Franks

So You’ve finished writing out this unit study.  Now what do You do with it? 

How do You use it?

How you go about teaching your unit study depends on a great number of factors.  Before we discuss those, remember again that that beauty of learning with unit studies is the freedom they provide to really learn about a topic. 

While it’s great to set some goals for completing the study, don’t feel like you have to force yourself to run through it in a week.  Take the time you and your student need to learn and enjoy the learning process. 

But how long should it take? 

The answer to this question depends on how wide of a topic you’ve chosen to study. 

A study on a children’s picture book might take a week, while a study on Ancient China might take a month or more.  The broader the topic you’ve chosen and the more you’ve included, the longer it’ll take to go through. 

Let common sense and realism be your guide when planning and, above all, allow yourself the flexibility to take an extra few days or even weeks if you’re really enjoying what you’re doing. 

Foster that love of learning in your students and they’ll learn so much more!

But how do I teach it? 

Just because I’ve suggested flexibility in the duration of your unit study doesn’t mean that it might not be prudent to come up with a loose plan on what to cover and when.  Many people choose to break up the subjects in a unit study, dedicating one day a week to one or two specific subject areas. 

For a smaller unit study, like the children’s picture book mentioned above, you might choose to cover the language arts aspects of the study on Monday, the social studies aspects on Tuesday, science on Wednesday, math and art on Thursday, and field trips or miscellaneous projects on Friday. 

For a larger unit study, like Ancient China, you might choose to allocate one day to a certain sub-topic within a subject or several sub-topics from a couple subject areas per day. 

You know your teaching style better than anyone else.  You know your student better than anyone else.  And by know, you’ve probably got a pretty good grasp of the topic at hand.  Use this knowledge as your guide and schedule your day, your week, your month accordingly.

But I’m teaching several children on several different ability levels.  How can I make this work? 

Again, unit studies are flexible.  You’ve done all of the research already.  The information that an older child will study can be adapted so that a younger child can participate. 

Your older student, if he or she is reading well independently, can read that literature go-along to the younger children.  While the older child is writing a report on it, the younger child can draw a picture.  Everyone can participate in experiments and art projects. 

We include the younger kids in what we do around the house every day, so finding ways to include them in our unit studies is really no different.  Once again, common sense and your knowledge of your particular situation should guide you here.

Coming Next in this Series: Homeschool Unit Studies:Creating Your Own v.s. Buying Premade

P.S. Want to learn more about writing your own unit studies? Sign up below to Follow along (for free) as Tina shows exactly how she creates her latest homeschool unit study

Fantasy books are a huge part of our personal library – becomes my husband loves them. And he’s passed that love down to the olders – K and J. 

K, now at 13 almost 14, really doesn’t want to read or listen to much anymore unless it’s historical fiction or fantasy. She’s a voracious reader, and when she’s not reading or doing schoolwork, she’s listening to audio books. It’s gotten to the point that now she and her dad trade books back and forth.

So for literature this year, K is doing the Fantasy Literature course from CTT. Reading through all the great works of Fantasy – ranging from Winnie the Pooh and Aesop’s Fables to Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Beowolf.

So in March, when she was offered the opportunity to read and review a new children’s fantasy book - Save Magic City by Rocsanne Shield - she jumped at the chance

Save Magic City is written for tweens and teens maybe up to age 14. So Kate is at the upper end of that range. 

Now I had planned on also reading Save Magic City and giving you my opinion as well. But as soon as K finished it, her brother absconded with it, spending the next three days devouring it, and then promptly misplaced it.

So, instead I have for you Kate’s summary and review of Save Magic City, and the knowledge that it appealed to J (age 11) enough to consume him for three days.

Here’s K’s description of what the book is about:

Save Magic City by Rocsanne Shield starts when Sir Edmund from the 13th century is thrown into U.S.A in 2007 A.D. by a banishing spell done by Lord Sloanne. Sir Edmund is a evil wizard cursed to obey for good and only good whoever first to ask him to do something him after he arrived in 2007. He is found by Leona (the first ask him to do something) and her adopted son Leo.

At first he awed by the new world he was thrown into, especially by all the technology. But it comes to his attention that the dying town that he was thrown into is being sucked dry by its mayor. He decides to help with his magic powers but Leona doesn’t want to use them until something deadly horrible happens.   ~Kate, age 13

The author, Rocsanne Shield, had this to say about what she feels the messages in the book are:

“The town is any town in USA in which the corporations have left, leaving behind destruction of lives, breaking of families, loss of home and property.

Though I treat this as solvable through magic, a concerted effort of all inhabitants could bring good results even without magic.

Children are more aware of the environment then they were in other times. They live all these changes themselves and may recognize parts of the story as it applies to their own lives.

…being independent and helping one’s neighbours is more important in times of struggle than having a job for which one trembles every day in fear of losing it.”

~Rocsanne Shield of her Children’s fantasy book Save Magic City

While I have a hard time with the idea of evil corporations, I felt the discussion points and overall theme of helping each other through struggles was enough to allow the kids to read this book. 

So I told you, J absconded with the book and enjoyed it. Here’s what K, at 13, has to say about Save Magic City:

I’ve read and listened to a lot of books but I don’t think I’ve ever come across a book this unique  before. It flows together nicely and it has wonderful grammar.

I think it’s a great story. I’d recommend it to tweens and families who don’t mind their kids reading about magic.

The only thing I wondered about is that they disappear, literally at the very end of the book, where did they go? But it does make a very good dramatic ending.  ~Kate, age 13

So if you have a fantasy loving tween, this book is kid-approved by my household.

Kate did comment to me that the book is not really suited for older teens, but it is enjoyable for tweens and young teens who have enough reading ability to enjoy a 300 page book. Hence, why it’s a children’s fantasy book

You can find Save Magic City on Amazon.com and at other booksellers world wide. For a complete list and more information about the book, please see Roscanne Shield’s website.

…Shannon

All Those Library Books

You may have noticed back in part four that I included a warning about the number of library books to include in the research process.  I feel it’s important to spend a few minutes talking about this… to save you some undue stress. 

I call it the “TMI-trap.”  We’ve all done it. 

You go to the library, you’ve got three kids in tow, and you need to get some books on a certain topic that they’re supposed to be studying.  So you grab a backpack and fill it to bursting with everything on the subject that you can find at the library, intending to look through the collection when you get home and decide which ones to use, because you know you don’t have a chance of sitting down at the library and deciding. 

While the free time at home does pop up every once in a while for the typical busy homeschool mom to be able to do that, more times than not you’re just stuck with a backpack full of mostly untouched library books that you’ll have to lug back to the library in a few weeks. 

Please don’t stress yourself out like that. 

More information is great, sure, but taking a few minutes at home to research what’s available will save you a great deal of frustration and prevent you from getting overwhelmed and throwing in the unit study writing towel. 

Many library systems have an online catalog that will search by topic and then let you further narrow that search by branch (if you’re in a system of libraries) or language or type of book.  Check out what’s available if you can.  If the descriptions from your library are vague or you don’t have an online catalog to use, do your research on Amazon.com. 

Get an idea of which books you’d really like to use and take that list to the library. 

Choosing a handful of quality resources over a dozen random books on the topic will both save you time and sanity in the writing process and make the study much more fun for your student.  (You might follow this same advice when it comes to web links and worksheets, as well.  More is not always better!)

Coming Next in this Series: Homeschool Unit Studies: How to Teach with Your Unit Study

P.S. Want to learn more about writing your own unit studies? Follow along as Tina shows exactly how she creates her latest homeschool unit study – a study based on her son’s passion for the Godzilla movies. Just sign up below to follow along for free:

Continuing my work-at-home mom story …

When I was 10 or 11 I announced that I wanted to be a writer or a teacher. In sixth grade, when all the other kids were doing their reading time, my teacher allowed me to write instead. Writing is something that I did, it is part of me.

At home, we didn’t watch tv. We read or played outside. My favorite memory with my dad was when he’d take me to the local bookstore, and we’d both pick out a book. Years later that bookstore went of business, and I mourned. But I can still remember exactly where all the sections were in that store – including where the writing books were.

I got my first writing book as a Christmas gift when I was 11 or 12, and I still have it to this day.  It was the beginning of a long line of writing books, magazines, and courses I’ve invested in over the years – dreaming of writing for a living.

So when I was 5 months pregnant with K, I resigned from my job as a software trainer and installation coordinator, with the dream of staying home with my baby and writing. That’s what I wanted to do.

I had done some freelance writing in the past, and at work I had taken on any writing projects I could get my hands on – which amazingly was quite a few. So it all seemed like a natural thing to do.

My job had required 80% travel -which I loved. But the lifestyle wasn’t condusive to raising a family, much less homeschooling. And that is what I wanted.

If I was going to have children, then I wanted to be the one to raise them – and thankfully I had that option – not everyone does unfortunately

So Greg bought into this idea that I would be an at home mom, and bring in some extra money as a writer.  But he wanted me to write a book – a fiction book.

Unfortunately writing fiction is not my forte – and to make money at it takes a while.  But I spent those four months as at-home  soon to be mom – playing housekeeper (something else that I’m not particularly good at) and writing.

But the reality was that money was running short, and our debt was continuing to grow. While we wanted me to be at home, we weren’t  mature enough to change the lifestyle we had lived with two incomes.  

And it came that just about when K was born, I needed to go back to work – to make up the gap in our spending. Our Mulit-Level marketing/direct selling business wasn’t bringing in the income we needed yet, and I needed to step up and do my part in the mean time. Not what I wanted, but what was necessary.

God is amazing – even in our stupidity. In his perfect timing, he provided an opportunity.  The software company I had worked for asked me if I would write a manual for them about the software that I used to install and train.

I had contributed to the software manual before, and wrote many of  the training materials. So it was something I knew I could do – and do well.

So I set aside writing fiction, what Greg thought he wanted me to do, and did what he really wanted me to do - make money writing. 

 And since my background – even at that point – was in business and technology with an emphsis in communication and training, it was a natural fit.

I transformed the spare room in our little rental house into an office, and wrote about how to use the software and how it worked for a couple months. And it worked great – it was writing & teaching (my dream).  And it gave me another item to put in my portilio and more experience.

But when that project finished, I had to get to figure out another source.  It was before the internet, and while I knew exactly how to pitch and write magazine articles, for whatever reason it wasn’t something I choose to pursue. 

Instead, we decided that I need to stay in the technology side of things, rather than pursue more conventional freelance writing opportunities – at least for now.

Now, there’s several things that if I had known or had done differently, I could have made a really good living as a part-time freelance writer – especially as a freelance technical writer in a techie town. But at the time, I didn’t know and I’m not sure I had the confidence in my writing ability to really market myself like I should have.

But it all worked out – and became an important piece to the opportunities that came later.

Next up in My Work-at-Home Mom Story: What I wish I had known about Freelance Writing and Writing for Money

Until then, remember to believe in yourself and know that the right opportunties will come up if you are open to  them and willing to do the work.

I believe in you.

…Shannon

So how do you put it all together?

The thought of writing a unit study was terribly overwhelming when I first began.  After all, how can you possibly take one small topic and create an entire course of study around it? 

That task can easily seem daunting and strike fear into the hearts of even the most seasoned of homeschoolers.  But, it doesn’t have to. 

Take it one step at a time and you’ll breeze right through the process.  In the first three sections of this tutorial alone, you’ve already made quite a bit of progress!

Now is the time to grab a piece of paper and create a good, old-fashioned idea web.  Here’s a good link, if you need a refresher. 

So take one of those topics you came up with earlier and just brainstorm. 

Or, if you’re more of a research-minded bookworm, go to the library and pick out a few books on the topic first and use them to help you brainstorm.  (Don’t go crazy and get 20 books on the subject… just a few will suffice.  We’ll discuss that more later.) 

Once you’ve gotten your idea web down on paper, you can lay it out into a more useable outline.  From the ideas that you listed, categorize them under the major curricular areas where they belong. 

This outline will help you to discover any areas you might have wanted to cover but haven’t included or areas in which you’ve just got too much going on. 

It will also help you to uncover rabbit trails… those little learning detours that flow naturally from the study of your chosen topic.  Take some time to make sure you are happy with your outline.

From here, it shouldn’t be difficult at all to flesh out your unit study, if you choose to do that. 

Depending on the ability level of your student or students, you might choose to do either a unit study starter or a complete unit study. 

What’s the difference? 

For an older, more independent, student you might simply do a study starter.  This is where you would simply turn your outline into a list of expectations for your student and let him do all of the research. 

Likely, you’d want to do the research beforehand for a younger student or for multiple age groups.  So follow your own outline and fill in the blanks. 

• Get those books from the library, if you haven’t done so already, and answer your own questions. 
• Write out any hands-on activities or projects that you have in mind. 
• Print out any worksheets that you want to include. 
• Compile a list of any web links you want to follow or any extra reading you want your child to do (again with those library books!) and include that as part of your unit study. 

When finished, a complete unit study should ideally contain all of the information you’ll need to learn about the topic you’ve chosen.

Shannon’s Note:

If you prefer to create that Idea Web on your computer instead, I really like FreeMind mind mapping software, it’s free and fairly easy to use. I have it on both my netbook and my main computer and use it for unit studies, planning out the year, to do lists, when I’m stuck on a writing project ….you get the idea.

Coming Next Week: Homeschool Unit Studies: All Those Library Books

Until then, enjoy!

…Shannon

P.S. If you need help with FreeMind or want some great tips for using mindmaps, I highly suggest checking out Bob the Teacher’s step by step video training – Discover Freemind.  You can also get the Freemind software free there too.