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One of the funniest magnets I can remember from
the annals of wisdom stuck to the face of my refrigerator door was
the work of Mary Englebreit. It was an illustration of a ditsy,
scattered-looking, young woman looking me straight in the eye with
an air of authority and her finger pointing skyward. The caption
below her read, “Let’s put the fun back into dysfunction!” The whole idea is so ridiculous that it’s funny.
Sometimes I think we look at unit studies that way. Kind of
ridiculous. I mean, who would dare to venture into the unknown
of unit studies when we can follow the formula prescribed for us by
the public school? Now, who’s being ridiculous? I wish I had seen this absurdity earlier in my
home-school career. Now that I have successfully gradu-ated
one, and I am feeling more adventuresome, my ninth grader is
participating in a unit study co-op for the first time. I am amazed
at the in-depth learning and joy of independent research that she is
experiencing–also for the first time. We have entered into the world
of the unit study.
Different from conventional schooling, a unit study looks at the
subject as a whole, instead of individual parts, according to Kym
Wright, a proponent of the unit study.1
The learning takes place around a central theme or subject and
incorporates a majority of school subjects. An example would
be a study of Ancient Mesopotamia. While studying the culture,
the student would study history, geography, architecture, math, art,
language and so on. Studying in this comprehensive fashion offers
several advantages. A unit study is flexible. The parent can
structure the study and set boundaries of time and subject depth to
meet her family’s needs. It is adaptable in that a parent can
teach the same subject at multi-levels. For larger families,
this is a wonderful way for children of varying grade levels to
spend more time together learning the same subject. It can be
inexpensive, depending on how much the parent wants to direct. A
full range of unit study types exist, from free resources on the
internet involving more work for mom, to completely organized, more
expensive products requiring little or no advance preparation. The integrated approach of the unit study
reinforces learning. Combining the learning of math, science,
history and literature at the same time allows children to see the
interrelatedness of subjects. Research skills are called upon, which
leads to higher thinking and better understanding. Many unit studies incorporate hands-on projects,
to highlight learning with memorable and fun activities. This
definitely puts the fun back into learning and builds familial
relationships. Both parents and students enjoy the break from the
dry textbooks. Lastly, the beauty of the unit study is that it
teaches to every learning style. All of us learn differently, and
the successful unit study meets each individual at his point of
interest, a topic I’ll develop later.
Some disadvantages do exist with this educational style, however,
according to Jessica Hulcy, developer of the KONOS unit study.2
A unit study can lose the focus of study by researching rabbit
trails rather than the subject matter. Secondly, a unit study can
force fit unrelated subjects in an effort to integrate every subject
into the unit. Some subjects simply don’t relate to a
particular unit study. She warns that unit studies do not
follow conventional theory, which suggests a specific amount of time
spent daily on every subject. Type A moms who worry about covering
every detail can become frustrated in a unit study approach. Lastly,
as with all curricula, the unit study can be so focused on the
subject alone that it misses the main point of directing the child
to a Christian worldview. Additionally, parents must remember that unit
studies are not a core but an enrichment curriculum. Parents
still need to teach core subjects such as phonetic reading, language
arts, math, and science. These subjects, mastered through sequential
learning, are the core. One of the best and least expensive places to
begin your research of unit studies is the internet. A variety of
websites exist. HSLDA.org has some great articles and interviews
with experts in the field of unit studies. Once you go to the site
run a search for unit studies.
Mary Pride’s Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling
is a valuable resource. In her guide, Mary clearly explains the many
different types of unit studies and gives a great list of available
unit study curricula in her quick resource guide at the back of the
book. Kym Wright just recently authored a new book,
Booster Shot: Energize Your Homeschool with Unit Studies.
In the book, Kym breaks the task down into three steps: the
fundamentals of unit studies which include the definition,
philosophy and methodology; creating a plan to accomplish the unit
study; and energizing the unit study with practical “how to’s” to
keep doing it. Her appendix includes reproducible blank forms.
According to Kym3 all
unit studies fall into one of three basic categories–subject,
character quality, and literature. A subject unit study
focuses on a specific subject or theme, such as a country, a period
of history, a science topic, or even a sport. A character
study focuses on a character trait or personal quality such as
honesty, self-control, or humility. Lastly, the literature
unit study is based on a great piece of literature. An example
from our homeschool was our study of the book, Roll of Thunder,
Hear My Cry. While reading that book we studied literary
themes, the Civil Rights Movement, the history of slavery in
America, racism, the Ku Klux Klan, sharecroppers, and life in the
American south during the 1930s. At the end of this article I have provided a
short list of curricula that represent some of the best in each
category. Many more excellent providers exist. My
apologies to any who didn’t make the short list. At this point I am going to feature two
outstanding curriculum providers to illustrate two types of unit
studies. Although both produce more than discussed here, I
have selected each for their excellence in the category I have
placed them. The KONOS Character Curriculum is an example of
a character unit. Tapestry of Grace is the example I
have selected to represent a subject study. KONOS Curriculum In 1984 Carole Thaxton and Jessica Hulcy, two
homeschool moms, accepted the challenge to develop a
biblically-based character unit studies curriculum for their
“wiggly” young boys. Dissatisfied with the secular rote method
practiced in the public schools, these women developed KONOS
Curriculum to be a hands-on, discovery approach–teaching several
subjects to several grades around the topic of biblical character. The distinctive of the KONOS curriculum are the
“5 D’s”– Do, Discover, Dramatize, Dialogue, and Drill. “Do to
capture attention” represents the hands-on aspect of learning by
experiencing. “Discover to foster thinking” comprises activities
that involve the mental exercises of discovery, imagination,
comparison, and evaluation. “Dramatize to visualize” is the process
in which a child acts out what he has just read to reinforce
learning. “Dialogue to internalize” is where the parent can impart
head and heart biblical knowledge. “Drill to crystallize” is the
grand finale wrap-up of each unit where data is compared and
contrasted. Integrated into the various activities of the
curriculum, the “5 D’s” methodology reinforces a thorough
understanding and learning. The beauty of the KONOS “5D’s” philosophy
is that it teaches to every learning style. The visual learner will
connect with the literature list of classics and the projects where
they can learn by seeing. The kinesthetic learner will be in
his element with the dramatization, the field trips, and the
hands-on approach. The auditory learner will thrive on the
family reading, dialoguing, and dramatization. Mom uses one
curriculum to meet the needs of several students in different grades
with different learning styles.
Michael Farris, chairman of HSLDA, has called KONOS the “granddaddy
of unit study” because it is one of the first and most enduring unit
study programs for home educators. The founders began with KONOS
Character Curriculum. This is a three-volume program, with each
volume covering two to three years of curriculum, essentially
covering K-8th grade
in all subjects but math and language arts. The program was an
immediate success, and KONOS moms begged for more. Over the years, KONOS has expanded to meet the
needs and “wishes” of its consumers. The second generation of the
original KONOS Character Curriculum is the New Classical KONOS
Curriculum. These are smaller versions of the original set, and each
book thoroughly covers one character trait in 18 weeks. The
lesson plans are daily versus weekly in the original. This new
generation is for moms who want the writers to give every detail
down to the script with which to teach their children. Additionally,
KONOS sells “KONOS In-A-Box,” which includes absolutely everything
needed to teach the curriculum—down to the paintbrushes. A creative twist on the character unit is the new
KONOS Culture Curriculum Series. In this series, the authors
develop the unit study around a country or continent that reflects a
certain character trait. For example, the subtitle for the
18-week curriculum entitled Russia is “The Land of
Endurance.” This series is sold like the other, offering a
version that includes everything needed for the study–”KONOS
In-A-Bag.” In addition to providing top-of-the-line
character studies, KONOS has a heart for homeschoolers. The original
curriculum has grown into an online co-op with Jessica Hulcy as the
“ultimate hand-holding” mentor, available at HomeSchoolMentor.com.
The Hulcys provide counseling, guiding, and just plain old help for
moms and dads through the KONOS website. They get personal with
those who purchase their products. Ever growing and expanding, the “granddaddy of
unit study” continues to provide the homeschool community with
creative curriculum and supportive tools to keep families
homeschooling. Tapestry of Grace
The story of Tapestry of Grace begins with a homeschool mom,
Marcia Somerville, telling her husband, Scott, an HSLDA lawyer at
the time, that she is done with home schooling. Having received an
excellent education herself at Kent School and Dartmouth College,
Marcia knew what an excellent education looked like, and her own
homeschool was not the picture she had envisioned for her children.
However, through prayer and encouragement, God led Marcia to
redefine her priorities, change her methods, and persevere in well
doing. The result after some 20 years in development is this
comprehensive, dynamic curriculum–Tapestry of Grace. A winner of several homeschooling awards,
Tapestry of Grace is a multi-level, integrated, four-year,
classics-based Christian curriculum for the whole family.
Based on the unit study approach with history as its core subject,
Tapestry weaves a myriad of topics and subjects. With
each lesson, students learn history, church history, literature,
geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing and
composition. The program does not cover phonics, science,
math, grammar, spelling or foreign language.
Structured after the classical Christian model, Tapestry
covers all of world history in four school years. Year one is “The
Story of Redemption,” covering creation to the fall of Rome. Year
two is “Between Ancient & Modern,” covering Byzantium to the US
Constitution. Year three is “The Nineteenth Century,” covering from
the turn of the century to 1899, and year four is “The Twentieth
Century,” covering the dawn of the 20th century
to present. As with the classical model, Tapestry has been
developed to cycle through every four years. The program is filled to the brim with purpose
and structure. Each year is separated into four binders representing
units, each covering nine weeks of work. Each week includes 45 to 60
pages of color-coded sections comprising the weekly objectives,
reading and writing assignments, student activities, teacher notes
and answers to questions, and occasional bonus articles or
materials. The program delivers all of the course instruction
at the four different levels of traditional classical educational
development–lower and upper grammar, dialectic and rhetoric. Although Tapestry has the depth of a
college prep curriculum, it provides several resources, which make
it user-friendly. Pop Quiz cards and audio disks keep Dad in
the loop and quickly prepare him to ask relevant questions of his
students. The Loom CD provides literally hundreds of files
for mom and students to access anything from writing charts and
“how-to’s” to organization and encouragement. Beautiful
reproducible maps with and without site locations are available for
each year in pdf form on the Map aids CD. The
Writing Aids workbook and CD is the most comprehensive writing
guide I have seen. It teaches the student how to write over 40
genres of writing, everything from analytical essays and descriptive
essays to fables and speech writing, and it provides dozens of
graphic organizers and supplements to prepare for such writing
assignments. These are just a few of the more exceptional resources;
others can be viewed online. At the Tapestry of Grace website viewers
can learn about the family of related companies. Also online is
information about the publisher LampstandPress, The
Bookshelf, which is the online catalog, and Together the
online community. The Together website is a
sophisticated forum for connecting with others who use Tapestry.
The site includes blogs from Marcia, popular and recent forum
threads, co-op information, mail groups and chat rooms. The website
is highly interactive and constantly growing and improving. The fantastic growth of Tapestry and its
widespread reception from the homeschool community is impressive.
And, the story is far from over for Tapestry of Grace. What
was simply a curriculum a few years ago has grown into a community
of families studying God’s History together in Tapestry
co-ops and online chat rooms. The company’s pursuit of excellence
has set a standard in the homeschool industry. Unit Study Curricula Subject-Based Unit Studies
Learn and Do Unit Studies alWright! Publishing PO Box 231 Oxford, MI 48370
Learn and Do Unit Studies possesses an easy style and a fresh
approach to unit studies. No matter what approach you may use in
your own homeschool, these Unit Studies are a great enhancement and
even more important — FUN for the entire family. These units are so
complete, all you add is the children!
Tapestry of Grace Lampstand Press PO Box 5798 Rockville, MD 20855 1-800-705-7487
Featured in this article.
The Weaver Curriculum®
Alpha Omega Publications 804 N. 2nd Avenue East Rock Rapids, Iowa 51246 1-800-622-3070
www.aophomeschooling.com/weaver/overview.php The Weaver Curriculum is a bible-centered
homeschool curriculum. For grades PreK-12th, it uses the same daily
Bible theme as a foundation and then follows with individual lesson
assignments geared to each student’s grade level. Literature Based Unit Studies
Beautiful Feet Books 1306 Mill St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-542-9847
Since 1984, Beautiful Feet Books has been supplying quality
literature to the home education and private school markets.
Beautiful Feet Books publishes noted authors and provides study
guides that incorporate the best works of children’s literature into
a comprehensive curriculum. Character Based Unit Studies
KONOS, Inc P.O. Box 250 Anna, TX 75409 972-924-2712
Featured in this article.
Advanced Training Institute International Box One Oak Brook, IL 60522-3001 630-323-2842
http://ati.iblp.org/ati/about/curriculum/
Using the unit study approach, The Advanced Training Institute
International has developed The Wisdom Booklet curriculum that
focuses on Biblical concepts and themes to which all academic
disciplines relate.
Suzanne Reid and her husband Brian are in their twelfth year of home
education. They graduated their eldest child in June 2008, and he is
now attending Patrick Henry College in Virginia. It is their joy and
pleasure to participate in their children’s education and to see
God’s provision and direction in their children’s lives To contact
Suzanne with any comments or questions, email her at
sreid@iche-idaho.org. This
article first appeared in CHOIS Connection, a publication of
Christian Homeschoolers of Idaho State.
1 “Defining
Unit Studies.” An interview with
Kym Wright by Mike Smith of HSLDA is available online at:
www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/77/hshb7711.asp
Visit her website at:
www.KymWright.com
2 “How
to Avoid Mindless Unit Studies,” By Jessica Hulcy; Printed in
Practical Homeschooling
#1,
1993; available online at:
www.home-school.com/Articles/MindlessUnSt.html
3 “Making
Units Yours: The Three Basic Types of Unit Studies.”
An interview with Kym Wright by Mike Smith of HSLDA is available
online at:
www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/77/hshb7713.asp
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