If you’re wanting to homeschool out of the box, but are unnerved about the planning part of unit studies, you’ll want to start first with understanding the learning process.
How to create a homeschool unit study is done easily when you follow my mnemonic I-SIP.
I-SIP is something I created after I looked back and understood the 4 steps I followed regardless of whether unit studies are lengthy or quick.
The I-SIP steps are immersion, separation, individualization and personalization.
Homeschool Unit Studies: Moving From Immersion to Separation
In my first post on how a unit study unfolds, I shared points to identify the first step which is immersion. It is the one that can be most tempting to quit unit studies because you get totally immersed in an overwhelming amount of information.
Today, I’ll be sharing Step 2 which is separation and giving you tips on how to separate all the information or resources you’ve amassed. A lot of any good thing still needs to be spaced out and manageable in the best way to teach your kids.
At this point because you didn’t really limit subtopics, but explored them along with your kids, you now have an idea of the ideas or subtopics that interests your kids and which ones do not.
The length of time to stay in the immersion or Step 1 varies for us with each unit study. When I first started doing unit studies, we would stay days or weeks on this step.
Looking back, I almost quit unit studies because I went overboard with the amount of information I tried to cram in.
So after doing unit studies for quite a few years, my most basic tip is that Step 1 shouldn’t last as long you may think. Whetting the appetite of your children is the goal and that can be anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Delving into subtopics deeper is Step 3 – Investigation. Slicing and dicing material is what you’re doing in Step 2 – Separation.
5 Ways to Tame the Unit Study Information Beast
Also, this separation step is the first step which makes a unit study unique to your family.
Look at these 5 ways to tame the unit study information beast.
1) Select subtopics that interests your kids and limit the subtopics.
This is an obvious because you want your kids engaged. Allowing them to pick some of the subtopics piques their interest and your kids understand that this is their education.
By allowing them to choose the subtopics or themes to your unit study you already have kids that are engaged.
Also, it’s at this step that you narrow the teaching points so that your kids learn instead of trying to cram in too much information.
Look at my FBI sample below where I limited the subtopics to about 8.
2) Select subtopics that you need to introduce to your kids or that meet your scope and sequence goals.
Here at this point is the hidden benefit of unit studies. Folded in with subtopics that pique your child’s interests are topics or teaching points you need or want to teach your kids.
For example, when we did our FBI Unit Study, I chose a subtopic Why Formed because I knew we needed to cover Russian history and world history.
My kids chose topics like espionage and radio wave learning and I added in some hands-on ideas like finger prints and invisible ink for a fun unit study.
The point is that covering world history was so much more engaging when we studied it in light of my sons’ desire to learn about the FBI.
3) Plan for subtopics that build character or have lasting value for your family.
Also, every family is different, but at this point I also look for ways to make teaching points for character or for real-life learning.
Some unit studies like novels or literature may be easier to adapt to teach a moral or about the effects of making good or bad choices. Other topics like science unit studies may not be as natural to find a character point to teach.
4) Start planning for hands-on ideas or projects that fit your subtopics or themes.
From the subtopics that are coming to the surface that interest your family, you can start brainstorming easy projects or hands-on ideas to cement teaching points of each subtopic.
For example, in planning our Meso-America unit study we were going to learn about rubber. My youngest son was interested in games using the rubber made ball.
Some subtopics like nature may seem an easier fit for hands-on activities while a literature unit study may not be so apparent.
Just remember that you can add hands-on activities in as you move along in your unit study.
5) Include subtopics or ideas for both younger and older children.
What I really love about unit studies is that you can cover topics or ideas for your younger and older kids. Be sure to grab a mix of them. You can see how I do that below.
Including your kids in helping to plan is part of unit studies, but this step is one that is mostly for you.
Look at my planning page from my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.
My unit study theme is in the center of my brain storming ideas.
Then look how I numbered the subtopics that emerged around that main theme.
Some subtopics like espionage my boys chose, but look how I folded in number 2 which is a U.S. Government study. This was a high school level unit study and we needed to focus on a deeper study of the U.S. Government.
The green line connecting the study of the U.S. Government to the 3 Branches of the U.S. Government shows how I broke down that topic for my younger son.
In addition, look at number 7 where I added in study themes for my older boys which are communism and understanding Russia.
Here are the subtopics that have emerged after I started planning the FBI unit study and after my sons had a day or two to see what piqued their interests.
- J.Edgar Hoover
- U.S. Government
- Effects of World War I and World War II
- Other Important People During the Forming of the FBI
- World of 1908
- Science behind Labs
- Why Formed?
- Espionage
As you can see, it ended up being a balance unit study plan.
I had history, geography, and science as subjects that could easily be covered in a natural way without a forced fit.
Planning is that easy. Now, it’s time to move on to the next step which is personalization.
Does this mnemonic help you to remember how to start off planning a unit study?Here are other tips, you’ll love.
- Step 1 – Immersion. Unfolding of a Homeschool Unit Study – An Easy Mnemonic { I-SIP}
- How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment).
- Ultimate Homeschool Unit Study Planner – Which Lesson Planning Pages to Use.
Hugs and love you,
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