Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely!

The family devotional is the “first fruit” of your unit study day. It sets the tone for the day as well as the unit study itself.

Often the devotionals focus on particular character traits, but sometimes they relate to the general topic being studied.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the NIV Bible.

Absolutely.
 
Completing any four life science or history-based Once-a-Week Unit Studies will easily provide your students with the material necessary for a full course credit in those subjects.
Definitely.
 
My husband and I chose the unit study approach when homeschooling our children, but we appreciate and respect the many, different homeschool methods and philosophies. So I designed Once-a-Week Unit Studies to accommodate all homeschool methods and to be used once-a-week regardless of your homeschool approach.
 
Over the years, we discovered many homeschool moms wanted to enjoy the experiential learning unit studies offered, but felt they lacked the time to pull them together. Some did not want to necessarily give up the curriculum they were using, either.
 
That is why I eliminated the time-intensive prep work typical of most unit studies by doing it for you, and designed our unit studies to be used once-a-week. That way you and your kids get to take a “breather” from text books one day each week to enjoy fun, creative, hands-on learning. The only activity you and your children continue all week is the library reading that revolves around the unit study.

Yes!

Once-a-Week Unit Studies are designed for grades 2-12 to enjoy together. The only aspects that vary from one child to the next are their reading and writing abilities. I provide weekly, library reading lists that accommodate a wide variety of reading levels. It is up to your children to choose from those lists what interests them.

Writing assignments will also vary from child to child. (Refer to the section below on writing assignments.)

All other Once-a-Week Unit Study activities will be enjoyed together as a family.

There are some Once-a-Week Unit Studies that would even appeal to a younger audience. Birds of a Feather, Forest for the Trees, and Christmas Comes to Americaare some we regularly recommend. Younger children will enjoy many of the activities in each of those unit studies, and can revisit them again when they are older.

If you have children ranging in age from preschool on up, your younger children will be constantly absorbing what they are able to alongside their brothers and sisters, so your whole family will enjoy the many activities together.

I also make sure your younger non-readers are included by providing a list of books with each unit study that will interest them and revolve around the unit study topic. You and their older siblings will enjoy reading those selections to them throughout the course of the unit study.

Once-a-Week Unit Studies range in length from four to eight weeks and in price from $17.95 to $21.95.

Each unit study is designed for the whole family to use and each unit study’s copyright page gives you permission to copy “student work pages,” so there is no need for each student to have their own individual book.

Are your children able to carry on an intelligent conversation with you and others pertaining to the information you are covering in your unit study? Are they able to summarize what they read on a given day? Is their writing demonstrating their knowledge of the subject? Yes? Then they are “getting it.” It’s that simple.
 
AND because YOU made it fun and engaging, they will retain it and remember all the fun they had in learning it!
Once-a-Week Unit Studies are designed to be used as their name implies, once-a-week. That way you still have plenty of time the rest of the week to cover the material in your other curriculum. I always found Wednesday to be a great day for our family, since it broke up the school week and gave everyone a much needed break from the everyday work texts.
 
Whatever day you choose, make it a day that is convenient for you to drop all other curriculum, allowing that day to be strictly your “unit study day.”
 
The only unit study activities you and your children continue throughout the week, unless otherwise noted, are their independent reading and your family read-aloud.
 
The suggested field trips are NOT meant to be done on the same day as your unit study day. Our family always kept Fridays “low key,” completing only the 3R’s that day. If this suits you, then Friday afternoons would be a great time to plug in your field trips. Saturdays, as part of a family day with Dad, would be a great time for field trips as well.
 
What if you are unable to have a unit study day for some reason? Since there are usually only four activities on unit study day (in addition to your reading and family devotional), you can split them up throughout the week, by plugging in an activity each day over four afternoons.
Absolutely not!
 
You already pay taxes for your library…why not put that hard earned money to use?
 
My goal is to always include classic and award winning literature, interesting and informative books, biographies, and classic movies, as well as documentaries, in order to offer what I have found to be the best in library resources.
 
Each week is accompanied by a list of quality, library reading selections. To facilitate your library visit, I have listed the books/videos in numerical and alphabetical Dewey decimal order.
 
All books, documentaries, and movies have been thoroughly screened for any objectionable material.
 
It is not intended that you and your children read all of the books listed. Rather, there are books of varying interest and skill levels listed in order to give you and your family a wide variety from which to choose.
 
I include a variety of books to accommodate multiple ages, including high school, but you could always offer your high school students an even broader range of literature by choosing books from the adult section of the library under the same Dewey decimal numbering pattern of that particular subject and focus.
 
For example, if you are studying Knights and Nobles and the reading list shows several J398’s or J728’s for subject matter pertaining to castles, Robin Hood, and King Arthur, just drop the “J” (for juvenile) and head to those same numbers in the adult section.
 
Do you have a child who struggles with reading?  Have him read to his younger siblings some of the unit study’s Pick & Choose Read-Alouds for Non-Readers, and offer books on CD whenever possible. Feel free to allow children, even those who don’t struggle with reading, to occasionally choose books below their reading level if it is a book that interests them.Think of it this way: if you needed to learn how to fix some plumbing at your house, but you had never done any plumbing before, would you look for a book that an experienced plumber would use, or would you opt for one you could easily understand that was written on a more elementary level? The same is true when it comes to your children. It doesn’t matter if they are always reading at their grade or skill level, as long as they are gathering, learning, and retaining the necessary information.
 
What if you don’t find some of the books listed? No problem. Simply note the common Dewey decimal numbers of that week’s “focus.” For example, if the focus is “castles,” just choose another book on that same subject matter. Interlibrary loans are also a great resource.
 
Dewey Decimals are the same at all libraries, except possibly when it comes to videos and DVDs. If that is the case at your library, search your library catalog according to the video/DVD title. Check your library for the movie listed first, but if they don’t have it NETFLIX does.
 
I include “Family Read-Alouds” with every Once-a-Week Unit Study no matter the age of your children. The read-alouds are a wonderful way to introduce your children to great classics and award winning literature. We enjoyed these at lunch, bedtime, and especially during our quiet, late afternoon R&R. Reading aloud to your children will create a lifetime of precious memories.
Once-a-Week Unit Study writing assignments are listed as a language activity. I often refer to them as “compositions,” leaving it up to you to consider your children’s abilities as well as the given assignment.A preschooler may dictate the assignment to you, your 1st grader may write a couple of sentences, your middle-school student may write a paragraph or two, and your older child may write a full page report in order to complete a particular language assignment. You are the teacher, and this is your tool. You know and care for your children best. Decide what you think is appropriate.
 
Being able to present oneself orally with confidence and clarity is as important as being able to write well. Therefore, feel free to switch out a written assignment for an occasional oral presentation.

Lap books are an effective learning tool that can easily be used in conjunction withOnce-a-Week Unit Studies, especially with younger children. They can compile their lap books while completing their unit study assignments. You will find simple instructions for making a lap book at YouTube.com.

Because Once-a-Week Unit Studies are jam-packed with an abundance of fun activities and field trip suggestions, they provide a perfect resource for co-op leaders!
 
Each family works from their own unit study book while coming together as a group on designated days of the month for field trips, presentations, and pre-selected activities.

You bet!

Once-a-Week Unit Studies are the perfect springboard for 4H Project Records.

Your children start by looking over the unit study’s reading selections, activities, videos, documentaries, and field trip suggestions. Then they make a list of their goals for that project. As they complete the unit study they record their accomplishments, and include photographs to help them better personalize their 4H Project Record.

You bet!

Once-a-Week Unit Studies are the perfect springboard for 4H Project Records.

Your children start by looking over the unit study’s reading selections, activities, videos, documentaries, and field trip suggestions. Then they make a list of their goals for that project. As they complete the unit study they record their accomplishments and include photographs to help them better personalize their 4H Project Record.

Have a question we didn’t answer? Send us a message! We are always happy to help!