When I first started planning my homeschool (6 years ago!) I wanted to focus on Unit Studies. I loved the idea of learning different aspects of a topic across all our subjects. And the good news is there are lots of other people that agree – and have offered online units they have created for us all to benefit from.

The basic idea of a Unit Study is to dwell on a single topic across all your subjects. Learning about Ancient Egypt? Read through some picture books for history. Make papyrus for art. Mummify an apple for science (yes, it’s a thing). Study pyramids and triangles in math. Throw in some language study with hieroglyphs. Draw and label maps for geography. That’s pretty much the gist of a Unit Study.

Benefits of Unit Studies

Unit Studies can help children make connections about what they are learning in every subject, because every subject supports the same topic. But practically speaking, it can be tough to integrate everything (particularly math). Even so, there are plenty of resources that provide help if you really want to be totally immersed in Unit Studies.

Most Unit Studies will begin with a history, science, or even literature topic, and then expand from there into other subject areas.

One of the joys of Unit Studies is the freedom to choose topics that your family delights in. While you could stick to a chronological approach and try to cover every historical event, this method lends itself a little more readily to choosing topics that you are interested in learning more about. An added benefit is that a child who does not enjoy history may find it more interesting when studying scientific topics they are curious about – making it easier for you to bring the historical side to life for them.

Often we see that we can get much deeper into a topic through a Unit Study. If covering every topic isn’t too important to you, but you love the idea of getting into the depths of a few key areas, this may be your method.

Challenges of Unit Studies

There are a few challenges to consider, however. The nature of Unit Studies makes it hard to be sure you are covering each subject fully. It can be easy to miss certain areas when you are trying to align each subject to one topic. It’s possible to end up with an “information gap” without deliberate planning to ensure the necessary topics are studied at some point.

Another consideration is the amount of effort that can be involved – when you forego the more traditional workbook format for lessons and bring in a lot more hands-on activities, you’ll have the prep and cleanup that goes with it. That’s not to say it isn’t worth it – even the before and after work can be valuable learning skills for your kids! But you should be prepared for what you are getting into.

Depending on the topic you choose to study, you may find yourself essentially writing your own curriculum. While there are a lot of unit studies online for free, plus many more you can pay for, if you have older kids or your kids have some really unique interests, you could have to pull together your own resources. But the plus side – older kids can do some of this planning themselves. Have them draw up a plan for what they want to learn and you can guide them in finding the resources they need. Kids taking ownership of learning – I love it!

Make it work for you

Because of some of the drawbacks inherent to Unit Studies, it is actually quite common to integrate them into one of the other methods. Classical or Charlotte Mason homeschools (and others) can use Unit Studies for just a few topics, allowing children to get deeper into a topic they are interested in without overlooking other parts of the curriculum. So while you can be all-in for Unit Studies, you can also take a sort-of-in approach and use them when they best meet your learning needs.

Resources for pre-made studies

• Konos  (Christian-based)
• DIY Homeschooler (some unique studies, free)
• Unitstudy.com (large variety of studies, Christian-based)
• Pinterest (a quick search will net you tons of resources)

If you like studying a single topic across all subjects (Ancient Egypt in history, making papyrus in art, mummification in science) and want to take time to get deep into your child’s interests, Unit Studies might be for you. If you want to learn about other methods, check out my summary here.

What do you think? What topic would excite you to try out a Unit Study?