The Unit;Study Homeschooler
Jessica Hulcy
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Why
Units?
Our;brains;naturally;organize;information;in;tidy;boxed;units,
so;why;don’t;we;teach;that;way;to;increase;retention?
My mother was the queen of themes. Visiting the Alamoin San Antonio, my sister and I were dressed
in red dresses with Mexican trim, donning coonskin hats. If we had crepes we
dined;to;“La;Vie;en;Rose.”;A;bowl;of;chili
was eaten to the tune of “The Yellow Rose
of;Texas,”;with;bandanna;napkins;and;a
centerpiece;of;cacti.;I;was;literally;raised
on units. Small wonder I co-authored
KONOS Curriculum, a unit study ap-proach;to;education;.;.;.;but;was;it;my
upbringing that gave units their appeal,
or are there legitimate reasons to choose
the;unit;approach;to;education?;I;think
there are.
Establish “Put Places”
I offer a workshop titled “You Don’t
Have to Live in a Pig Pen if You Home-
school.”;Once,;while;giving;the;workshop,
it dawned on me how we think in units
naturally.;Stay;with;me;here.;Moms;think
in;categories;every;day;as;we;clean;our
homes. While vacuuming, we pick up
a Lego brick, hand it to our son, and tell
him to put it with other Legos in his room.
We do the same with schoolbooks that go
on the shelf in categories, doll clothes that
go in our daughter’s doll collection, and
papers;that;go;on;the;desk;to;be;filed;later.
God;put;in;us;this;orderly;nature:;to;de-
sire/work;toward;orderly;homes;and;op-
erate from an organized base.
The Box Method
Apply;the;way;we;organize;our;home;to
the;way;we;should;teach;our;children;to
learn. We live in the Information Age.
Information;is;increasing;exponentially.
Our children are never going to be able
to learn all the necessary information
they;will;need;in;life,;so;we;must;give
them a Christian worldview, the basic
skills;(the;3;Rs),;and;teach;them;how;to
categorize;the;information;they;do;have,
so;that;they;can;find;it;in;their;brains
when needed.
I use the box method even when I
am teaching high schoolers in KONOS
