We have over 75 Mini Unit Studies in our shop and we create a new one almost every week. And the best part? Each new weekly Mini Unit Study is FREE for one week! This week’s study is all about the US Air Force. Below I tell you more about the Mini Unit Studies we create.
What’s In the Mini Unit Studies?
Each of our Mini Unit Studies is carefully curated to take you on a deep dive into a specific topic. They might be about an animal such as butterflies or kookaburras, a food such as watermelon or tea, or a plant such as a sunflower or dandelions, or a landform such as glaciers. There are Mini Unit Studies about a variety of holidays and body systems. There are science Mini Unit Studies about topics such as composting and nuclear power and we are starting biography and city Mini Unit Studies as well.
Each study is meant to be completed in 2-4 hours unless you end up down a rabbit trail and don’t want to stop learning and creating. The units are created with 2nd-6th graders in mind, but some families pull in their younger learners and I use parts of them with my 14-year-old.
Each unit study includes a variety of ways to learn, work with the information you are learning and then apply that information. Here are the different sections:
Books and Videos
In each study is a Learn About… page. This page contains book recommendations, links to videos on YouTube, and sometimes links to related websites.
The book recommendations range from early elementary to upper elementary and even sometimes middle school. The topic influences the amount and type of books available with some topics having many recommendations and others having just a few.
The videos linked in each unit study are screened to make sure they appropriate for children, factual, and teach in a way that children understand. Not all ages will understand everything in every video, but I believe in introducing children to higher level concepts even if they may not grasp them right away.
Videos usually contain science-based or historic information and some give virtual tours related to the topic. We try to avoid videos that are too childish or talk down to kids. Again the topic influences the amount and type of videos available with some topics having many recommendations and others having just a few.
Guided Notebooking Page
Each mini unit study contains a notebooking page with different sections for kids to fill out as they listen to books, watch videos, and research websites. This helps them know what important information to listen or look for and teaches them how to take notes as they learn. Each notebooking page has a drawing section. Drawing what we are learning can help us visualize details better. It also provides a way for younger kids who are not writing much to participate in the notetaking.
Listening to Learn
The Listening to Learn portion in each of our unit studies is a unique activity not found in other homeschool resources on the market. You will print a picture for each of your children and then read the directions to them that will reinforce everything you have been learning about the topic while they color, draw, and write on the picture.
This is easy for parents to implement as an exact script is written for the parents to read. Of course, we encourage you to add to it and adapt it as needed, though. And kids love this activity because it is fun! They don’t even realize that they are honing their listening skills and learning how to take notes while they complete it.
Extra Activity
Each unit study has an extra activity that varies from study to study. Activities have included anatomy posters/worksheets, crosswords, life cycle posters/worksheets, mapping activities, logic puzzles, and many others! Not only do these activities relate to the topic of the mini unit study, but they help children develop other skills, too.
Hands-on Activities
We believe strongly in hands-on activities to help children remember what they are learning, develop eye-hand coordination, and develop scientific inquiry skills. Each unit study contains drawing lessons, modeling activities, science experiments, and/or other activities.
Quiz
Finally, there is a five question multiple-choice quiz at the end of each unit that is meant to be a fun way to see what everyone learned. They also help children learn to think carefully about the information and make connections between different details.
Download this week’s free Mini Unit Study
Check out these past Mini Unit Studies:
