The Question:
Could you please explain to me how you schedule unit studies so that you cover everything on the scope and sequence in one year? Is there a way to do all the lapbooks that talk about weather, all that talk about similes, etc. all at once in order? I am a little confused as I am doing 4th grade, 1st grade and kindergarten.
The Answer:
It sounds like you are looking for Homeschool Share’s Connection Pages!
On our Connections Pages you’ll find themes that have been assembled based on HSS units, lapbooks, and resources that share the same topic. Each theme contains multiple Homeschool Share units plus a library list of suggested go-alongs to embellish your study. Each Connections Study has the potential of lasting you and your student for at least three weeks.
So if you go to the Science Connections, you’ll find a link for Weather Connections. There you will find literature based unit studies for childhood favorites such as Thundercake, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Time of Wonder, Hurricane Music, and Nim’s Island, as well as topic based lapbooks and studies about Weather Words, Tornadoes, and Earthquakes. Also provided are printables, a list of suggested go-along books, and some links you may find helpful. There is plenty there to interest and teach your kindergartener, first grader, and fourth grader.
As far as covering everything in the scope and sequence in one year, there are different methods that work for different families.
Method 1 –
Alternate the Science Connections or Animal Connections with the Geography Connections or History Connections. So you could do the Weather Connections for three weeks, and then switch to Native American Connections for three weeks, and then Plants Connections for three weeks, and then Transportation Connections for another three weeks. Going like this you can knock out twelve different Connections in a 36 week school year.
Method 2 –
Dedicate the first half of the year to Science Connections or Animal Connections, and the second half of the year to Geography Connections or History Connections. So the first 18 weeks could include (6) three week long Science Connections, and the last 18 weeks could include (6) three week long Social Studies Connections.
Using either method, you can keep track of skills learned by using these checklists (or whatever checklist or scope and sequence you may be using).
You will find that science based unit studies often overlap social studies based unit studies, and visa versa. For instance, while Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Hurricane Music are heavy in science, they will also include elements to check off of your social studies list including neighborhoods and communities, occupations, social responsibility, interdependence of people, etc.
You will also find that most of the Unit Studies at Homeschool Share include language arts lessons such as vocabulary, writing, comprehension, and literary terms, and applied math lessons such as measurement, time, money, and problem solving, so a good sized chunk of these requirements can be checked off your list just by virtue of completing the unit studies in the Science Connections and Social Studies Connections. Some homeschoolers do choose to use additional resources to cover language arts and math, or choose to take a break from the Science and Social Studies Connections and complete one of the fun Language Arts Connections or Math Connections. The choice is yours!
Hopefully, this helps to make your Unit Study ventures a little less confusing. 🙂