What's A Unit Study?

Posted by Michelle Osborn on Apr 13, 2017

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Mercy Every Minute Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

I used to jump out of bed in the morning, quickly get dressed, and race out the door to catch a bus or walk/run to school. I walked in the Virginia snow, the California rain, and the heat of the Arizona desert. I got up too late for breakfast, never packed a lunch, and often had no jacket or umbrella or backpack. I was never prepared. My body was wide awake by the time I got to school, but my brain was still dozing. Sit down; open the books; listen to the teacher; write notes; the end. Get up; try to get to the next class before being bullied or made fun of, and sit down again for the next class. I slogged through each day just waiting to get home so I could eat and rest, relax and be myself . . . oh, yes, and do all the homework I had accumulated throughout the day.

Looking back, the troublemakers weren’t really troublemakers; they were just boys who needed to move, wiggle, do something active while learning . . . and the girls just needed to talk and relate; move and create. Our children get to do all of that as hands-on, real-life learners.

They can take their math or language arts anywhere and enjoy their work with a snack and a pair of binoculars. They can read classics, listen to history on audio, and perform cool science experiments. They can open the art cabinet, and pull out whatever they need to be creative anytime they would like. Oh, and they get the sleep and the nutrition they need—and no extra homework bogging down their free time, so they can play baseball or go bowling or catch butterflies—without the stress.
Hands-on learning is the opposite of what traditional school offers children. Other schooling options have to fit the child into the school mold, rather than opening a door for the child to learn in freedom. Home-educated children have the time and can go as deep as they’d like on any topic they love.

Hands-on learning is lapbooks, drama, unit studies, games, nature walks, and building projects; creating artwork for Grandma and baking treats for the neighbors; sewing and beading and paper crafting. Hands-on learning is gardening and raising fish or lizards or sea monkeys. Hands-on learning is knitting hats for orphanages and entering rabbits in county fairs; collecting flowers or insects, rocks or chickens or snakes, and identifying them, researching their habits and habitats, and building exhibits. Hands-on learning is creating code for computer games and creating home-based businesses as entrepreneurs.

Your children will have far better memories and a far greater learning capacity, along with aptitude and life skills, because of all the hands-on learning you are doing in your home environment—much more than anything your own boring school days did for you.

In my schooling experience as a child, I was never able to really rest in body or soul, were you? But your children will have rest. And, they will learn where real rest comes from: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

In case you needed a reminder, you are doing what is best for your children by keeping them Home Where They Belong.

~ Deborah

dwuehler@theoldschoolhouse.com

Great unit study resources from Yellow House Book Rental partners!

Enrichment Studies has so huge selection of resources for your Unit Studies

Knowledge Quest- Receive a new free unit study every month at - A new country every month! Learn the geography of the land, culture, traditions, history of the country, activities, recipes, mapwork and more.

Music in Our Homeschools has many free 15-minute music lessons to add to your unit study

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