It is easy to get caught up in the hype of designing your own homeschool unit study before you have had a chance to explore potential mistakes that can be made when doing one.
Look at these 3 wrong ways to begin a homeschool unit study.
In creating a unit study, I had to decide which topics and subjects my children needed to cover.
Skinny It Up
My very first mistake was thinking I had to cover all the subjects in a balanced way. I did not.
Learning is about exploring subjects that your children are interested in or that you want them exposed to.
My beginning system wasn’t fancy, but it worked.
I simply took time to sketch out what subjects I needed to cover for that unit study.
Too, in my example above, I made the material have personal application to our family.
Meaningful Learning
That is the second common mistake to jumping into a unit study, which is not making the material personal to your family.
If you decide to use a prepared unit study, tweak it to fit your family’s needs.
Though children are interested in happenings on the other side of the world, learning comes alive when it is full of personal meaning.
For example, the first time I did the American Civil War, we lived in Texas and my boys needed more of an emphasis on learning about our home state.
I made the unit study to fit our needs because we took a trail off of the unit study to learn about Texas.
Curriculum Paradise or Pain?
Trying to cover two curriculum equally is the third mistake.
Why do we try to do that? It won’t work.
Well it might but then it might lead to homeschool burnout if you become too unbalanced.
There is nothing wrong with having more than one curriculum but the difference is that one curriculum is your main spine or focus.
The other curriculum simply supports or enhances your primary spine.
I have found that comprehensive unit studies are unlike short term enrichment projects.
In other words commit to a unit study all the way.
This means I don’t stress out my kids by going over other lessons in whatever laid our curriculum we are using at the time.
I simply move forward without feeling like we are behind.
Don’t stress you or your children either one by doing unit studies on top of what you are already using.
If you see something that is important to you to cover in your laid out curriculum, then fold that information into your upcoming unit study.
Grammar and spelling can always be applied to writing, atlases always fit geography and science and history can be hands-on activities.
Covering too many subjects, not making learning come alive by making it apply to your children and trying to do two curriculum simultaneously are sure ways to kill a unit study before you get started.
How about you? Have you made any of these mistakes?
Hugs and love ya,
Check out my 1o Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together
Thanks for bringing this up again. We start homeschooling next year, using our “once in a lifetime vacation” as a base for our social studies and science. We plan to travel from Maine to Glacier, Yellow Stone and Grand Teton National Parks, stopping at various other places over a 21ish day trip. Unit studies all the way; calderas, Great Lakes, glaciers, westward expansion, Mount Rushmore, prairie dogs, bison. Glad to know we are on right track with doing what we love.
Hey Heather,
Oh it sounds wonderful!♥ Oh yes, you’re on the right track for sure.
I hope you have a great time when you do go!! What an adventure.
Thanks for this, Tina. Since we’re doing unit study for the first time next year, I Really needed this advice! I’m already feeling relief. 🙂
KT recently posted…Homeschool Roast
Hi KT,
You are welcome. I know there is a lot out there on starting one, but I also need the reality of it too. So glad this resonates with you too.
Be sure and let me know how it’s going too. Always love your comments!!
Have a super day!
Yes, I have made these mistakes. When we first started Unit Studies our school day was taking forever. Mainly because we were doing way too much! Now, if we do a unit study we are more lax on some of the other subjects we normally cover and focus on the unit subject itself.
Doing to much definitely leads to major burn-out.
Brandy @ Our Thrifty Home recently posted…Do I really have to teach everything?
Thanks for sharing Brandy!! So glad to know that I wasn’t the only one making that mistake.