Unit Studies

Least week was our last official week of school wit our umbrella school in Canada. My kids are so excited to be "done". I use the term loosely because we never really are done with learning, we just tone down the actual curriculum learning in the summer. 

A few years ago, we did unit studies as a family and enjoyed them very much. This summer, and possibly in to the fall, we are going to dive in to unit studies again. The concept is wonderful- find topics that interest your child, find resources to support learning within that subject and incorporate specific learning goals while studying.

For example, my kids are so excited to learn about caves this summer. On Amazon, I ordered many books for us to read. Since I have a middle schooler, an elementary reader and a beginner reader, I ensured to get varying level of reading books so that each child could enjoy reading. I also ordered books about cave animals so that each child could pick one they really like and research into that animal. I personally love having my kids make presentations and I am sure each child will pick something to do with caves to present. Zombie enjoys making power points, Sqwidward likes creating online stories and The Princess loves making posters to hang on the wall. To really solidify the learning of caves, I have found some local caves to visit and explore- how fun!!! Each child has picked a few subjects to study and we are very excited!

Over the summer, the little ones will continue on with their elementary online curriculum and Zombie has interest in classes for an online writing curriculum. While they will still complete these, it won't be as strenuous over the summer as it is in the fall and winter.