How It All Began!

I love creating and developing curriculum, lesson plans, and worksheets. Spending hours of research on a topic such as pirates, finding resources and developing art projects brings me great joy. Some people knit, others fish, I develop and write hands-on curriculum. You know that saying “find what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”? I love the challenge of creating new unit studies for my kids and students and making them available for others to enjoy as well- making teaching easy and learning fun with unit studies!

So, how did Discover Unit Studies begin? Once upon a frustrating day, I asked my daughter, “what DO you want to learn about then?!!!!!”  To my surprise, she said “dragons!” I let out a big sigh and said, fine.... I’ll get you dragon stuff to learn about. And that’s when it all began. I bought her a cool dragon book from Answers in Genesis, developed my first lesson plan for her and away she went, reading, writing, and doing projects related to something she was interested in. At the end of the school day I realized how wonderful unit studies could be because we could cover nearly all the subjects by studying about a topic that interests her.

I wish I could say that I never went back to textbooks but I continued to try and use them because that's what everyone else did and that's what I had on the shelf. Soon we would find ourselves in the same boat of frustration, no interest for learning and burnout. That's when I decided to throw out the traditional method of textbook lessons and end-of-the-chapter tests for good.

I bought and read every book there was about teaching methods and learning styles and fell in love. I loved the idea of learning from nature, doing copywork and reading living books from Charlotte Mason. I loved the idea of creating a stimulating learning environment from Dr. Maria Montessori. I caught the vision of the many benefits to hands-on learning and a delight-directed education from Marilyn Howshall . I also loved the idea of teaching multiple subjects under one theme. And most of all I loved that unit studies could offer all of this, or so I thought. I didn't know it at the time but that is when "my" method of unit studies was born. It was a mix of everything! The best of all the teaching methods that I loved. I was inspired with my new motto to "teach outside the textbook". I couldn't wait to find new unit study curriculum and begin teaching.

I started searching the internet and book stores for unit study curriculum but always found something to be lacking in what I bought. Some had books and resources that I didn't care for or a lack thereof.  Others offered art and hands-on projects that were not very exciting. And others just simply lacked a good lesson plan.  To my disappointment, the perfect unit study curriculum didn't exist. So, I found myself doing a lot of research to supplement the curriculum I was using or I ended up creating one from scratch. We continued full steam ahead with unit studies because we were having so much fun and my kids were begging to do school each day. They couldn't wait for the next exciting book, video or project. This is when I began asking my famous question "what do you want to learn about?". My kids would make me a list of topics they were interested in and I would get right to work pulling together a unit study for them.

Friends began asking me about the unit studies that I was putting together for my kids. I would generously loan them one of my unit study bins full of printouts, notes, books, notebooks, games, and puzzles but they didn’t get very far because my plan was stuck in my brain. They would look at my bin and think, “where the heck do I begin, this paper or that, this art project or that book?” That's when the light bulb turned on. Over time, a lot of time and struggle that I wont bore you with, I began developing hands-on unit studies with an easy-to-use teacher manual full of fun resources and activities which included a variety of learning styles and teaching methods. In 2016 I had my website up and running with numerous lesson plans, downloads and articles published. It was a long road but finally by the summer of 2017 I had published my first unit study curriculum set, Rainforests of the World. Within 4 months I published two more, USA: The 50 States and The History of Chocolate. And currently, as of editing this article, I have over 40 downloads available (for purchase and free) with more being added every month.

My unit studies offer many features that teachers and students love.

• They incorporate living books and books with real pictures of the the topic being studied and fun hands-on materials.
• A teacher manual which includes step-by-step directions for each lesson and photos for my art projects so that any teacher, whether they are artistic or not,  can easily teach an art lesson- or just skip the middle man and let your artistic child look at the manual. They include many photos, maps, links, teaching tips or information you will need for my lessons. I also include many extension activities, video links and teaching tools such as planning forms, a books and resource check list, a chart with all the academics covered for each lesson, fake money for a reward system and an evaluation worksheet.
  
• Student workbooks that are designed to keep kids engaged and incorporate a variety of worksheet activities and methods such as lapbooking and notebooking. These methods are fun but can be overwhelming if that's the only method being used. With lapbooking there can be a lot of cutting and with notebooking many parents or kids don't know what to do with a blank page. So, I include just the right amount of these methods to keep lessons fun and interactive. The student workbooks make my unit studies flexible for a variety of teaching environments. They can be used to assign homework or independent work so not every lesson needs to be taught by the teacher- this is an important feature for me.
• Creating a keepsake book is also another feature many of my unit studies offer. Instead of loose worksheets that end up in the trash, students create a book on the topic they are learning about. They do this by binding construction paper or cardstock together with string then make a front cover picture. All of their student workbook pages and art projects are glued into this creating a masterpiece they can enjoy and share with others. Its a finished product that they can be proud of which builds confidence in each student. Grading these beautiful masterpieces is easy with my Evaluation Worksheet that is in the teacher manual. Go over this before you begin a unit study so you can set a standard for their work. Its a reminder that laziness is not acceptable and it challenges them to do their best, complete all assignments, follow directions, display neatness, have an eager attitude and show creativity.evaluation_sheet.pdf
  

My goal is to leave nothing out so you have a complete unit study plan that meets your teaching needs because a prepared teacher is a successful teacher. I write my unit studies for myself, my kids and the many classes I teach outside my home which means that they are tried, tested, and approved by teachers and students.

On my website you will find ideas, resources, forms and curriculum that I have gathered, created, and developed since I began teaching in 2004. My wish is that this website will inspire and help you to be creative, organized and confident so you can teach your children how amazing this world is that God created for us. May you find that my unit studies offer a good balance of academic lessons and fun hands-on resources and that they are doable and don't overwhelm you with too many books to read which makes them approachable for even the reluctant reader.  We should be walking beside our children giving them a joy of learning, a love for exploring, and a passion for discovering. Doing this will enable them so they can use their gifts, skills and abilities to help others!

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” 1 Peter 4:10