Unit Studies Archives » How To Homeschool For FREE

Unit Studies Round-Up for Elementary

February 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

We love unit studies! I’ve found that they enable us to deep dive into individual interests, while also bringing the whole family together for discussion and sharing discoveries.

So, what is a unit study?

A Unit Study is normally focused on a specific topic and it pulls all the subjects (except math) from the topic. One topic normally doesn’t last the whole year and can be changed monthly, weekly, or daily. You can stay focused on the topic until you feel you’ve covered everything. The workload varies based on your children’s grade level and ability so it’s a natural way to keep the whole family learning together. And there’s much more than just reading and writing! You can make recipes, projects, or even go on field trips that pertain to your topic.

Check out our library of unit studies for elementary-aged kids!

Science and nature

Autumn Unit Study

Gardening Unit Study – great for younger ones

Weather Unit Study

Insect Unit Study

Winter Unit Study

History

Potato Famine Unit Study – upper elementary to middle school

Medevil History

Davy Crockett

Civics and Geography

US States

World Geography

Elections Unit Study

Literature

Chronicle s of Narnia

Boxcar Children

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Filed Under: Unit Studies

5 Winter Unit Studies For Elementary

January 29, 2021 Leave a Comment

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It may be cold and dreary outside but that doesn’t mean that your nature unit studies have to wait for Spring! There are some beautiful learning opportunities to be gleaned from these winter unit studies!

1. This winter nature unit study covers a little bit of everything, from wildlife to plant life, and suggests books, crafts, and documentaries to enrich your learning!

2. For the animal lovers in your house, this Arctic animal unit study for kids is a fantastic option! Learn about all kinds of different cold-climate animals, and all the inventive ways they brave their harsh environment.

3. Follow your arctic animal study with this hibernation unit study, deep-diving into why some animals hibernate and exploring the ones that do!

4. Here’s one all about snowflakes, where they come from, how they’re formed, why each is different. Included are book and craft ideas, fun for elementary ages.

5. This study on the Arctic and the Inuit is a beautiful exploration of Arctic wildlife, Inuit history and culture, and is great for upper elementary ages or middle schoolers!

Looking for more great unit studies? Check out the full unit study library at How To Homeschool For Free for more great ideas.

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Filed Under: Unit Studies

Free Elections Guide for Young People: Primaries, Delegates, Parties, & More Explained Simply!

October 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Are you trying to teach your children about the US Presidential election process? I found this really great Elections Guide for Young People from Farrar Williams. It is written in very simple terms, but explains difficult topics such as primaries, delegates, debates, parties, and more. The guide walks the reader through the entire US presidential election process from the primaries all the way to election day. This would be a great e-book to read as a family during the election. From what I read, I didn’t notice any particular political slant but you may want to pre-read before giving to your kiddos. You can get the FREE download here.

Check out all the FREE homeschool government resources on How To Homeschool For Free!

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Filed Under: Core Subjects, Government, Unit Studies

FREE Autumn Unit Study: Science, Literature, Geography, and more!

August 24, 2016 3 Comments

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Explore the wonders of Fall with your children with this FREE Autumn Unit Study! Science, geography, literature, and more!

Autumn evokes thoughts of crisp breezes and leaves changing colors. Let’s celebrate with resources you can use to create your own Autumn Unit Study!

Science (Photosynthesis)

Why Leaves Change Color is a great resource for around 3rd grade and up. It explains in Q & A format why and how leaves change colors.

Biology for Kids also has a page about photosynthesis, along with other activities about plants.

The US Parks has a page where you can find out which colors are dominant in your state and when you are most likely to see them in the fall.

The NeoK12 site also has a lot of videos, quizzes, and other fun information on photosynthesis.

Science (Equinox)

Learn about the rotation of the earth from EarthSky. This website has real-life pictures of how sunlight falls on the earth during the spring & autumn equinoxes and solstices. If you scroll down the page linked above, you will find videos taken from space & put on YouTube by NASA.

Geography and Science

Learner.org has Journey North. This program introduces the three sets of investigations that are featured in the Journey North program: Seasonal Migrations, Plants and the Seasons, and Sunlight and the Seasons. This is an interactive website where students observe nature’s patters and report it to the database. Right now, students are tracking monarch butterflies and hummingbirds in their winter migration. Students continue to check this site until spring, when they watch the migration change direction to the north.

Agriculture and Math

Find out what your local harvest foods are. Once you know, you can find recipes for your favorite foods!

SeasonalRecipes.com will also tell you what is in season as well as provide recipes for using those items. Fall is a great time for teaching real-life math in the store (budgeting, couponing, etc.) and through baking!! My kids always get excited about the days that we do math in the kitchen. One of our family’s favorite fall recipes is Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins. It uses canned pumpkin, but if you wanted to use a store-bought pie pumpkin, (get the smaller ones, not the ones used for Jack-o-Lanterns) you could make it into a memorable teaching unit. Here is a guide for how to cook a fresh pumpkin.

There are several autumn-themed math activities over at MathWire too!

Literature

Here are a few books that are great for the autumn theme and typically available to check out for FREE at your local library!

Here are the links to the books on Amazon so that you can read the reviews for each one…

Top Secret – John Reynolds Gardiner

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin – Margaret McNamara

From Seed to Pumpkin – Wendy Pfeffer

Johnny Appleseed – Reeve Lindbergh

Happy Autumn!

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Filed Under: Astronomy, Biology, Classic Literature, Elementary Science, Geography, Geography, Middle School Science, Science, Unit Studies

Oceans Of The World Unit Study

August 13, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Do you enjoy doing Unit Studies in your homeschool? They are such a GREAT way to add some fun and hands on interaction as well as just mix things up a little bit. Unit Studies can cover such a wide range of topics and subjects, and they are so simple to customize. It is so nice when you can find a free unit study to go along with what your students are learning about.

With that said, here is a wonderful FREE Ocean’s of the World unit study from Six Dollar Family [no longer available] you can go through with your students. She has some really neat ideas on books, movies, printables & more to go along with the Oceans study.

Don’t forget to check out all the FREE Unit studies on How to Homeschool for free!

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Filed Under: Core Subjects, Elementary Science, Geography, Science, Unit Studies

The Great Potato Famine Free Unit Study

August 3, 2016 1 Comment

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Are you stuck in the 1800’s for your history study at the moment or planning to be? If so you will definitely want to spend some time learning about the Great Potato Famine! This historical event was very significant in world history. You can use this FREE Great Potato Famine Unit Study to really dig in and enhance your study quite a bit!

Don’t forget to check out all the FREE Homeschool History resources on How To Homeschool For Free!

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Filed Under: European History, History, Unit Studies

Free Medieval History Unit Study

August 2, 2016 Leave a Comment

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History is such a fun subject! There are so many exciting ways to add extra learning to your history lesson such as unit studies, project, arts & crafts, and much more! I am so excited about this great freebie. On 123Homeschool4Me you can download a free Medieval History unit study and lesson plan which includes some really neat hands on activities as well. Just add a few history books, and you will have a wonderfully enriching history study this year.

Check out all the FREE Homeschool History resources on How To Homeschool For Free!

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Filed Under: Core Subjects, European History, History, Medieval History, Unit Studies

Learn All About Gardening Free Resources & Unit Study

August 1, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Hands-on Gardening is a wonderful way to learn science! If you are studying gardening this year you will definitely want to check out this wonderfully HUGE list of learning resources for Gardening by Blessed Beyond a Doubt! There you will find Unit Studies, online resources, and much more related to learning about gardening.

BONUS! Let your kids grow an herb garden, right on your counter-top with AeroGarden Herbie Kid’s Garden

Don’t forget to check out all the free homeschool science resources on How To Homeschool for Free!

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Filed Under: Botany/Gardening, Core Subjects, Resources, Science, Unit Studies

The Great Depression Unit Study

July 29, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Use this FREE Unit Study to learn about the Great Depression!

Unit studies are a great way to really dig into the subject at hand! Family Home and Health has a wonderful FREE Unit Study on The Great Depression. There you will find some videos to watch, book suggestions, and more!

Check out all the FREE homeschool History Resources on How To Homeschool For Free!

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Filed Under: American History, Core Subjects, History, Unit Studies

Free Chronicles of Narnia Learning Resources

July 19, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Are you reading The Chronicles of Narnia this year in your homeschool? If so you will definitely want to check out this FREE list of Chronicles of Narnia Resources from Homeschool Giveaways for your study! Following are some of the things you will find on the list:

Check out all the free Language Arts resources on How To Homeschool for Free!

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Filed Under: Classic Literature, Core Subjects, Printables, Specific Books, Unit Studies