Homeschooling has quickly become a new normal across the world, and for many homes, it's brand new territory. There are many ways to approach it and it's an individual choice based on each child and parent. Remember, stay positive and do your best.
Prior to Covid19, my kids were in regular full-time public school, but even then I have always tried to supplement and add to their learning at home with our own material, especially during the summer breaks. For example, I created a unique way of learning Multiplication Facts during the summer before my son began Grade 3, and it proved to help him a lot when school began.
Since the Global lockdown, I have been researching different methods that veteran homeschoolers have been using, and I am drawn to the idea of Unit Studies.
The basic idea of Unit Studies is to dedicate a period of time (1-4 weeks) to a topic and use it as the theme to cover multiple subject areas.
The objective of Unit Studies is to allow students to thoroughly explore a topic so that they understand all aspects of it and eventually master it. When you examine a subject from multiple angles, the information and knowledge are more likely to be retained.
It is a great choice for families that are homeschooling children with multiple age groups because everyone can be learning the same thing but at their own age/grade levels. It's also a favourite for children that are hands-on learners.
I have decided to create printable Unit Studies based on topics from the Ontario Curriculum Books, which we have been collecting over the years.
Each of my Unit Studies has content for all ages, as well as age-specific material. For example, along with the main content, there will be letter tracing playdoh mats, colouring sheets and number cards (in English, French and Spanish) for younger ages, and more advanced math and formulas for kids at older grade levels.
I use a combination of Montessori-style fonts for all of the material, including print and script.
My first Unit Study is called "Our World". It is under the Social Studies category, specifically Geography. It is an in-depth exploration of the Continents, Oceans, Map and Globe Elements which include The Compass Rose, Lines of Latitude and Longitude, The Equator, Hemispheres, The Poles, Tropics, Arctic and Antarctic Circles, Date and Time, and The Earth's Surface Area.
These Printable Unit Studies are meant to complement and guide your homeschooling lessons. They are designed on letter-sized (8.5"x11") sheets for easy and affordable printing. (I recommend cardstock for the 4.25"x5.5" cards, and laminate for the tracing/playdoh mats, so they can be reused with whiteboard markers and playdoh).
I will be creating new units frequently, which can be purchased in my Etsy Store. Please feel free to suggest and request topics that you would like me to develop content for, as well as provide feedback on how my Units are working for you and your family!
Happy Learning!
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