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I’m a firm believer in using unit studies for homeschooling.
It has this magical ability to tie the whole family closer together and it’s a very natural way of learning.
Unit studies range wildly in pricing from free to hundreds of dollars per student.
Let’s take a deeper look at what a unit study actually is and how you can use it for your homeschool family.
What is a Unit Study Curriculum?
A Unit Study is normally focused around a specific topic and it pulls all the subjects (except math) from the topic.
For example, If your topic was Africa, you would read books about Africa, do map work, learn the history or a time period, study plants and animals that live in Africa for science, and your language arts would also come from that topic.
Language arts could include a research paper about Africa, or grammar work using sentences from your favorite book on Africa.
Learning to construct proper paragraphs and even copy work about Africa.
A Unit Study is a natural way to learn and it keeps the whole family together.
If you wanted to make recipes, projects, or even go on field trips that pertain to Africa, the whole family would be involved.
Topics normally don’t last the whole year and can be changed monthly, daily, or weekly until you feel you are one in that area.
The workload varies based on your children’s grade/level and ability.
For example, a 1st grader would work on spelling, phonics, coloring pictures, beginning reading, and lots of pictures and listening to you read books on Africa.
A middle schooler may work on an outline for a research paper, have independent reading with a study guide, conduct science experiments, and study topics in greater depth than the 1st grader.
The Best Unit Studies for Homeschoolers
I have used many unit studies over the years but some homeschool families prefer to make their own.
Maybe I’m more of a lazy homeschool mom because I want my unit study done and ready to go.
Here are some of the best unit studies for homeschoolers that include all subjects (except for math).
My Father’s World Unit Study
My Father’s World is by far my favorite unit study. The teacher’s manual is laid out by the week and it’s simple to just find the day you are on and follow the guide.
It follows more closely with a Charlotte Mason style learning than a workbook style.
The books are what make the curriculum so fabulous. They pick the richest, most heartwarming books I have ever seen.
It will instill a love of reading in your children for years to come.
All of the My Father’s World units are heavy on geography, culture, and missions. They dive deep into history without making it dry.
My favorite year with My Father’s World has to be Exploring Countries and Cultures.
My small children learned geography all around the globe and what people groups live in each area, plus how we could pray for them.
Overall, I highly recommend My father’s World because it involves minimal prep work and has created so many memories for our children.
In general, it is more parent lead but there is independent work for your children.
I wrote a more in-depth review of My Father’s World.
Gather ‘Round Unit Study Curriculum
The Gather ‘Round curriculum by HomeschoolOn is a true unit study.
I would describe it as a minimalist My Father’s World.
It focuses on a different topic each month and all subjects other than math get pulled from that topic.
Worksheets for different levels/grades are included so your kids would all be learning together on the same topic but at their ability.
I recently did a week-long sample of this curriculum and fell in love with it.
With some books from your local library, this curriculum is ready to go.
We sat around the kitchen table with grades 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th and was able to do school altogether as a family.
After reading from the teacher’s guide, my kids were able to do this curriculum fairly independently.
You can read my full review at Gather ‘Round Curriculum Review.
Five in a Row Unit Studies
There are 3 levels to Five in a Row which consists of:
- Before Five in a Row for ages 2-4/5
- Five in a Row for ages 4-8 but stretches to 10/11
- Beyond Five in a Row for ages 8-12 or middle school
Five in a Row comes with teachers guides that contain material for over 70 wonderful books with directions for history, science, language arts, Bible, art, and even some math concepts.
Although the curriculum doesn’t come with specific worksheets for each lesson, there is a notebooking download with pages that can be used with most of the lessons, almost like templates.
The literature books to run the curriculum can be purchased in a bundle or borrowed from your local library.
This curriculum has a lot of freedom for you as the parent to add videos, projects, spend extra days on interesting topics or go on field trips.
It doesn’t abide by a rigorous schedule but is full of natural learning opportunities.
If you wanted to pull almost every subject from literature books than this would be a good fit for you. It is very parent involved.
You can download samples at Five In a Row.
History Unit Studies
Sonlight Unit Study
I would not consider Sonlight a traditional unit study but it is heavy on living books (real books not textbooks) and it is based around a historical time period.
Many homeschool families have found Sonlight to be the perfect fit for their homeschool but I personally have found it to be a bit complicated for our household.
The levels are broken up to include a range of ages but since I have 4 kids the range wasn’t wide enough for me and I would have to run 2 levels at a time to make it work.
If you have kids similar in ages than I would recommend giving Sonlight a look.
The catalog alone is a must-have because it contains books that every homeschool family should read.
The language arts and science need to be purchased as separate levels from the main history/literature unit.
Sonlight is heavy on reading and critical thinking making it a good fit if you love literature.
Overall I think Sonlight is rigorous and produces extremely intelligent children.
It is parent/teacher lead and you will be actively involved during school time.
Amanda Bennet Unit Studies
These unit studies are shorter and you can pick and choose from tons of different topics such as sports, countries, earth science, and holidays.
I don’t believe they have one large unit study that covers the whole year but smaller unit studies focused on specific topics.
This could be helpful if you wanted to focus on one area that your child is interested in or take a break from your regular curriculum to learn about a holiday.
These units are mostly parent/teacher-led and do not contain worksheets or workbooks.
These unit studies don’t pull in all the subjects like My Father’s World or Gather ‘Round curriculum.
You can look at sample of Amanda Bennet’s Unit Studies.
Beautiful Feet Unit Studies
Beautiful Feet is a teacher guide built around amazing history and geography books.
The guides are easy to use with simple instructions for each day involving reading aloud the book selection and answering questions orally or creating a notebooking page.
Beautiful Feet study guides are going to cover history, geography, character, and some language arts.
I love how this curriculum uses living books and not textbooks to give your child many viewpoints of the same event.
This curriculum is parent-led and will give your family opportunities for a deep discussion of history and character.
There are many historical time periods to choose from and a few unit studies on things like horses, science, geography, and even classical music.
You can look at the Beautiful Feet Teachers Guides.
Creating your own Unit Study
You can easily pick a topic, gather books, and pull subjects out of that topic for your family.
For a complete guide to creating your own unit study and a free planning packet, check out Simple Steps to Creating Your Own Unit Study.
Have you tried one of the best unit studies for homeschooling?
Comment below and let us know your opinion to help other homeschool families.
