Unit Studies

[duboisa]

What are the thoughts on unit studies. Has anyone heard of Five in a Row?

[Dianna]

What are the thoughts on unit studies. Has anyone heard of Five in a Row?

Lisa, a member of this forum, uses unit studies quite a bit. I'll see if she can post her experiences here. I've seen Five in a Row and like it. Do you have the link to their website and forum?

Dianna

[duboisa]

I think that it is WWW.fiveinarow.com

[MamaSweetie2]

Angie,

I am planning on using Five in a Row with my 1st grader next year. You do need to supplement with your own phonics and math. For Phonics we are sticking with Adventures in Phonics (Christian Liberty Press) and Modern Curriculum Press for Math which we used in Kindergarten. Inexpensive and they do a good job.

In retrospect, I am going with a more relaxed approach with my little one vs the rigorous and more formal curriculum I used in early elementary with my oldest.

Have you looked at Learning Adventures for your middle schooler? It is a unit study (minus the math) www.learning-adventures.org (samples online)

I know there is SO much out there that it is too much sometimes. However, it is good to explore all the options before you purchase curriculum.

[duboisa]

Dont I know, I am so overwhelmed right now. I cant afford to spend a fortune. I thought I knew what I was going to do but now i am not so sure. I really liked the way that five in a row looked. I am going to research some more and think some more. I have plenty of time before next year starts to make the best decision that I can for them, so next year will be better than this year. I have only been doing this for about 3 months now, so I am still new to this.

[duboisa]

have you used learning adventures? is it complete except for the math?

[Lisa]

Hi Angie,
Regarding Unit Studies. I have heard of Five in a Row. I acutally have one of the first books. I never really used it. I did look at the second or third book. For some reason, and I could be wrong, I think there was a lot of prep work. That was something I was looking to avoid. We have done "tradtional" school with work books.

I started using prepared Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett. She has many different topics to choose from. We have done Thanksgiving, Easter and are currently doing Gardens. I have also purchased, Horses, Bible Heros and Trains.

This is what I like about her studies. For one all the prep work and research is done for you! She has a quote each day for the student to copy for handwriting. WOW, Words of Wisdom 3-4 words for the student to define. Then there are 3-4 questions for research. Her studies are set up so you can click on a link and it will bring you to web sites for research. Of course, check prior to giving to child as sites change.

I have learned to use the unit studies as a tool and to modify to our needs. Example with Gardens they research Monet. I also had him look on a map to show me where he lived. Even though she has "each" day set up, modify it to your needs. Take longer or skip parts.

She has a good reading list for all her studies.

We still cover math and language arts while doing unit studies. Depending on what the unit study is sometimes I have son continue with History/geogrpahy or science lifepacs.

What I like about unit studies is I can pull in the little ones, ages 3 and 6 even if it is just during read aloud time. Amanda also has sites that have coloring pages that go with the studies. I will read and have them color.

At some point I would like to develop my own studies, so I am not dependent on what is out there. I am not at that point yet.

I hope this helps.

Lisa:wave:

[MamaSweetie2]

Yes, we are using Learning Adventures with my 7th grader, A World of Adventure (Vol I). I made a mid year switch , what we were using wasn't working, so I found Learning Adventures. It is complete except for Math. I find it to be very thorough, to the point where we even skip some of the stuff if I find it too overwhelming. She has everything laid out for you and every unit culminates with some sort of project of dinner, like a Medieval Feast. You can do as much or as little of the assignments according to your child. So it gives you that flexibility. As long as you don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed thinking you HAVE to do everything, and don't allow yourself to feel guilty that you leave some stuff out if you chose. The Science and History lends itself to be customized. I stick pretty much to the Lang. Arts, grammar and writing since it is working on progressive skills.

I like the way she has the Langauge Arts lessons set up. There are samples on their website and you can call and speak to Dorian, she is the lady who wrote the curriculum, she is wonderful to talk to. She was very helpful to me. The number is on their website.

There are novels to read, based on the time period being studied. You can use them as read alouds, and there are questions for discussion (comprehension questions) that can be done orally (that's how we did it) instead of written. It led to some nice conversations. It does include a Bible lesson each day, we personally skipped it since we use something else, but it doesn't take away from the curriculum if you skip it.

Your son might like it because of the topics, Ancient Greece , Ancient Rome w/gladiators, Middle Ages (knights and castles) Renaissance and then early Explorers. Things boys might be interested in . Your little one might help out with the projects also, or get some books at his level to read on the same topics and just let him have fun with it. My little one made her own mosaic when we made a mosaic for Ancient Rome and when we studies about plants and seeds, she helped and grew her own herbs.

For 8th we are using her second volume called A New World of Adventure. (American history up to 1800)


You know your son the best and whatever decision you make will be the best for him! Perhaps have him help in the decision making processs.

Hope this helps in some way,
Christine

[duboisa]

where did you find her unit studies?

[MamaSweetie2]

Here is the website:

http://www.learning-adventures.org/

[Lisa]

Hi Angie,
you can check out Amanada's unit studies at www.unitstudies.com. She has a lot to choose from and they are faily inexpensive. $15 I think. There is also a web site to download her studies directly. (I prefer the cd) I believe she has the link on her site.

Let me know if I can help you anymore. Lisa

[duboisa]

I actually talked on the phone with Dorian, the author of learning adventures today.. She is a WEALTH of knowledge. I am defintaly going to go with her stuff. She gave me more ideas in a 30 minute phone conversation than i could use all summer long. What a great person to talk to!!!!

[MamaSweetie2]

Angie,

I am SO glad she was helpful to you. She really helped me out also when I spoke with her.

There is also a Learning Adventures discussion group on Yahoo groups that you can join for more info and help with that curriculum.

Christine

[chrispeters]

Angie,

I am SO glad she was helpful to you. She really helped me out also when I spoke with her.

There is also a Learning Adventures discussion group on Yahoo groups that you can join for more info and help with that curriculum.

Christine
How long a day does it usually take to complete the lessons? My daughter will be in 7th grade next year and I'll also have a fourth grader. I visited the website and I think they would really like it, but Jordan wants to be able to take some classes online, too. Do you use this for multiple children? Thanks for the help.
Chris

[duboisa]

In my conversation with her, she said 4 hours or so a day. I think it could go longer or shorter depending on you. mamasweetie has acutally used it so I think she would know more about it.

[BeckyB]

Angie,

I used Five in a Row when my oldest was in Pre-K and K. I liked the fact that it uses classic children's books, and teaches world geography and art. In fact, this is the very thing I missed when child #2 was that age, since we had moved on to another unit study by then. What I didn't like is reading the same book every day, so, many times, we didn't. I would read the entire book the first day, then the second day, depending on the activity from the lesson, read the applicable pages. I found myself supplementing with lots of library books for each unit, and sometimes we would stay on the same book (unit) for a couple of weeks. It is a very relaxed approach, and a good intro into homeschooling. I also used the Bible/Character supplement. Also, there are user websites with links to online sites that go along with the different units. I think the Five in a Row forum gives more details. My favorite unit was The Story About Ping, and just the other day I ran across that book which brought back fond memories.

Becky B

[MamaSweetie2]

True, it depends.

I would say between 2 1/2 - 4 hours depending on how deep you delve into the topics and if you do all her topics. We personally do not use her Bible study.

Plus remember, you have to provide your own Math curriculum. Learning Adventures does not include Math.