Comments on: Unit Studies and Charlotte Mason

By: Naomi

Naomi — Tue, 25 May 2010 08:53:35 +0000

Interesting post, I've wondered about Unit studies and whether they contradict or mesh with CM's philosophy. I believe CM thought educators should integrate a curriculum along the lines of history that would enable students to make their own connections instead of compartmentalizing. Childlight has an interesting article on sequencing and ordering the curriculum in the Winter 2007 edition of The Review which mentions unit studies. You may find more information in it to help you discern what is right for your family, as we all must ultimately do.

By: Jimmie

Jimmie — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:12:03 +0000

Oh wow! Kris, that is an EXCELLENT discussion of unit studies and thematic units. I love what you’ve written. Thanks for posting it here on my blog!!

By: Kris

*Kris* — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:44:04 +0000

This is the text of my blog post I created in response to your thought-provoking entry:

Let me first define “unit studies” as the integration of multiple school subjects, such as literature, history, math, and science, based on a single unifying theme. Entire curricula are designed in this manner, the most well-known being the excellent program, KONOS. Yet even KONOS has parents supply their own separate grammar and math programs, and the science portion is weak in several units.

It is one thing to integrate topics that naturally flow together, for example drawing from your literature to create copywork, or reading historical fiction and period literature along with your history studies, or assigning writing topics based on your subject of study. Trying to make other subjects integrate, however, is like putting square pegs into round holes, and those other subjects suffer because of it.

Math and science are two subjects likely to be short-changed; this is because these are rarely the central theme of a study. Activities that integrate these subjects usually are contrived as Miss Mason observed. Creating word problems based on historical subjects does nothing to increase a child’s mastery of mathematics. Science involves reading biographies or science history rather than learning scientific principles.

Today I see a different notion of “unit studies” in homeschooling circles, something that is more properly called “thematic units.” We are studying Westward Expansion this year, so I have collected a variety of resources–books, movies, games, web links, lesson plans–relating to this theme. I do not try to integrate grammar, math, science, art, or any other subject into this theme. I do, however, provide a variety of approaches, including hands-0n activities, for kids to learn from, though our homeschool is child-driven in this narrow area. I give the kids an activity book and they pick out the project they want to do, or something else of their choosing, so they make their own connections rather than me giving them mine.

This goes back to my own philosophy about phantom “holes” I used to worry so much about. We are learning about vast subjects, like history and science, of which we could never master all there is to learn. The notion of “core knowledge” is an illusion when we consider all that we leave out of curriculum standards. And when we forget more than we learn of trivial facts, then what our children retain through the relationships they form with a topic is as worthy as what anyone else has formed. Our task as teachers is to provide the framework that reflects our world view and the resources that instill our moral values; our children will then forge their own knowledge relationships.

This reminds me of a G. K. Chesterton quote (who married a woman that worked for the P.N.E.U. by the way) that is at the bottom of my left sidebar:

“The present collapse of this country began when education was regarded as a substitute for culture, or rather when instruction was regarded as a substitute for education, or rather when getting facts by teaching was regarded as a substitute for getting truth by tradition.”

That is where KONOS has it right–by centering their themes around Christian virtues. In that sense, our entire homeschool is one continuous unit study centered on the Truth of Jesus Christ.
*Kris*´s last blog ..Response to "Unit Studies and Charlotte Mason"

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:29:44 +0000

Wonderful post. I tend to agree with Miss Mason; it doesn’t HAVE to turn out that the teacher is the one making all the connections, but there’s a good likelihood that it will. I always have a plan, but find that there’s more involvement from my children when I don’t have TOO detailed an agenda/set of expectations.
Janet´s last blog ..Charlotte Mason Carnival

By: Kyle Suzanne

Kyle Suzanne — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:50:06 +0000

I would consider us a CM Unit Study Homeschool, we do not use a unit study that claims to be CM but instead we use Christian Cottage Unit study which connects …History, geography, science, Literature, Writing (which I noramally do orally), Home Ec., Music & Art. The units move chronologically through history and are broad (Natural North America: Indians, Volcanoes, Eskimos, animals , plants….). Accordingly, subjects are not forced into a spot but fall into place naturally. I can skip CCU lessons and just read if that’s how we are going to cover the subject. There are projects available if I want to do them. I guess in CM language I would call CC my spine with projects.I like unit studies because it keeps me focused and moving through history in an orderly fashion. I also enjoy the hands on projects & science experiements. Right now the kids are outside making the volcano we just studied in our natural north america unit.

Now that said, I specificially do not make the connections for the kids. I just announce the name of the new unit study and we dive into it. The unit studies is not my master. We rely on great books, great books and great books. My kids love to read and we love to read to them. They often connect the book back to what they are studying and take ownership of knowledge. I love CM and we are incorporating more of her methods into our homeschool.

The other day my 1st grader was playing connect 4 and said Mom this reminds me of God. The red is like the blood Jesus shed on the cross and the black is like our sin. That’s ownership of knowledge (and sending your mom into shock).

Thanks for making me think!

Kyle
Kyle Suzanne´s last blog ..Come on by…

By: sarah in the woods

sarah in the woods — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:52:45 +0000

I haven’t done unit studies, but I do like to embellish a topic with hands-on activities. My daughter, 7, is not yet a fluent reader, and she is not an auditory learner. I read to her from a real book on a certain topic, and she cannot tell me much of anything about it afterwards. This could be just that she has difficulty with the narration part – expressing with words what she has in her brain. But if we also do a fun relevant project, she seems to understand and remember better. On the other hand, my son, 5, narrates from books with ease. I do agree that the teacher must be aware of what is truly beneficial and fun for the child and not carry on with one subject forever. The key is to be aware of your child, rather than every wonderful thing you could possibly do, your own teaching abilities, or whether you’re following a certain method exactly the “right” way. One child may want to live and breathe dinosaurs for six months, while another may like to have a couple books and move on. Of course, that’s one of the beauties of homeschooling – the teacher can be in tune with her child’s needs and desires in learning and provide what is best.
sarah in the woods´s last blog ..Nature Printing

By: Penney Douglas

Penney Douglas — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:15:30 +0000

I call what I do unit studies, but they’re not really what others might consider unit studies. I never try to tie math in to what we’re studying. Our main areas of study are Bible and History – they definitely tie together.
I let the Holy Spirit lead me in my planning, and He gives me the topic we’re supposed to study, or time in history. Then He leads me to great books to read about that era. I read them aloud to my oldest 6 kids. My oldest son is a philosopher. He almost always brings up a discussion later of what we read about during the day or from a particular book. Sometimes he tells my husband what we read about; other times he reasons out loud about what we’ve been reading. The other kids hear what we say and sometimes add their thoughts. Sometimes the Lord will give me ideas for notebooking, drawing maps, adding figures to a timeline, etc. But for the most part the reading and discussing are the main things we do. And I call it a unit study because we usually read several different books about the topic.
By doing our unit studies this way, I think we avoid the pitfalls that Charlotte Mason pointed out. I definitely don’t go overboard in planning. When I try to do that, it all seems so contrived, and it makes me go bonkers trying to make the kids do things whether they want to or not. My kids make their own connections, and I find out what they’re thinking through questions they ask me and things they come and tell me. Learning is very natural around here.
Penney Douglas´s last blog ..The House with the Lower Rent Wins!!!

By: Kylie

Kylie — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:24:55 +0000

I’d more likely agree than disagree, although for some students doing those ‘extra’ unneccessary activities is often the time when connections are made. It’s during these times when discussion is free flowing and thoughts are rolling around inside ones head…..well in our house anyway, I have witnessed that on a few occasions.
Kylie´s last blog ..Spring Fever!

By: Joy

Joy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:09:51 +0000

Great things to think about. I don’t have much to say on this yet as I’m just learning here, but I appreciate you bringing the topic up for discussion.

By: Dell

Dell — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:19:09 +0000

Agreeing with Miss Mason on this as well. It is wonderful for the student to find connections, but does a diservice to make many connections for them. It is quite possible that unit studies can be done in a manner that doesn’t spoon feed connections though.

Personally, like Kristen above, I’ve never really done true unit studies, although (Again, like Kristen) I really do like Tapestry of Grace, and it makes sense to my own thinking. One thing I love about it is exactly what Charlotte Mason is saying in the quotes you cited–it relies on rich living books and the child is allowed to interact with them himself, making his own connections between disciplines.
Dell´s last blog ..Daybook: Monday August 31, 2009