Homeschool unit studies are a great way to create school units around your child’s interests. When you can use your child’s natural interest in their schoolwork, it just makes everything easier.
What is a homeschool unit study?
Especially for younger children. I know for my girls, when they are interested in a particular topic, they are much more likely to want to stop playing and do their schoolwork.
Enter the homeschool unit study.
A unit study is basically a thematic unit. You choose a topic and then learn about that topic in a variety of ways covering most of your core subjects such a history, math, grammar, spelling, etc.
Unit studies are great to use for homeschool co-op class ideas, PreK units of study, or a preschool or kindergarten curriculum.
They are so easy to tailor to your child’s specific interests that they make fantastic lesson plans for elementary. Unit studies are especially popular with kindergarten through elementary-aged students, but they are just as effective with older students, too. So, don’t limit yourself. If you are homeschooling teens and tweens, don’t think they are too old for unit studies. Just find topics they like and build unit studies around those.
You can grab a free unit study planner at the bottom of this post!
Another reason I love unit studies is that they are easy to create. Grab a few books, bookmark a few videos, find some worksheets and activities online and……voila! You have yourself a homeschool unit study custom made for your child! You can make your homeschool unit study as easy or as in-depth as you want.
Creating a Homeschool Unit Study
I’m a planner. I like to have a big plan for our homeschool year. What big topics do I want to cover? What are some big skills I want to make sure my children master this year? That kind of thing. Homeschool units make it easy to plan. Pick a topic and get to planning. Just pick out activities that cover skills you want your child to master.
For example, let’s say you want your child to work on grammar and you are doing a unit study on polar bears. Find a short passage on polar bears, rewrite it with some grammatical errors, and have your student edit it.
Working on math? Create or find word problems around your chosen unit study topic. Let’s go with polar bears again.
You can do problems about the number of fish a bear eats in a set number of days. How fast will the ice melt if it gets 1/2″ thinner each day and it is X inches thick? The possibilities are endless!
I’ve created a printable unit study planner for you to use! It also includes a printable version of the homeschool unit study ideas in this post, a five step process to create your amazing unit study, note pages, planning pages, and some tips for a successful unit study. Just sign up at the bottom of the page or before you leave. Here is a sneak peek of the download:
Homeschool Unit Study Ideas
These homeschool unit study ideas are appropriate for a variety of ages. You can easily adapt and find different activities for each topic depending on the age of your child.
Here are over 100 homeschool unit ideas!
apples
zoo
Autumn
weather
explorers
oceans
family
Halloween
heroes
forest
Thanksgiving
Europe
winter
Christmas
countries
jungle
money
letters
pirates
unicorns
Valentine’s Day
farm
St. Patrick’s Day
Spring
desert
cookies
community helpers
strawberries
world landmarks
plants
circus
rainforest
Memorial Day
American landmarks
beach
superheroes
airplanes
robots
toys
dice
reduce – reuse – recycle
butterflies
colors
ice cream
Olympics
monsters
baseball
penguins
polar bears
sports
dinosaurs
forest
rocks
dragons
fairy tales
mammals
insects
George Washington
Native Americans
healthy eating
fitness
poetry
trees
volcanoes
Spanish
trains
amphibians
shapes
music
body parts
cooking
measurement
patterns
five senses
rhymes
manners
Narnia
Winnie the Pooh
family
Black History
Women’s History
gemstones
water cycle
Dr. Seuss
pets
immigration
moms
dads
friends
Asia
Oregon Trail
South America
Camping
North America
Antarctica
Australia
pioneers
gardening
lighthouses
fire safety
Africa
jazz
emotions
money
thoughtfulness
kindness
gratefulness
electricity
space
Get creative and have fun!
Using unit studies in your homeschool is intended to spark your child’s interest in learning and make school fun. Don’t get bogged down in making sure you complete every activity. Be sure to keep your plans appropriate to your child’s skill level and not what you think sounds fun (am I the only one who does that?!)
Have fun and enjoy the excitement in your child! Don’t forget to sign up below to get your free unit study planner. I’ve also included a printable list of the ideas in this post as well as some tips to successful unit studies.
Heya.
You can do a entire unit study on Europe. Make brief summary notes and use them as a initial source of fodder. Good luck. Then prepare a list of activities in order to do in lessons. These include researching a few different European singers.
Other activities that are worth trying are math questions on what current costs are. Or you can even have a lively discussion on geography in Europe.