I know what you're
wondering: Just what are lapbooks and why unit studies?
Let's begin with the second question first: Why Unit Studies? A unit
study takes a topic as a whole instead of breaking it down into separate
subjects. This really helps, particularly in a family like ours where we
are teaching students of several ages. Instead of preparing separate
lesson plans for each child, each child does the same lesson, but at the level
at which they are learning. So where my oldest child may write a research
report on a subject, such as bees, my middle daughter will narrate to me a
report based on some books we've read, my youngest daughter might just draw a
picture of a bee. Unit studies are fairly all encompassing, covering
Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies, Art, and usually Home Economics
and Physical Education. Furthermore, what I've discovered is that the
subjects we've covered using a Unit Study method have been remembered far more
readily (and with great affection) than the lessons we've broken down into
"subjects."
Now for the first question: What on earth is a
lapbook anyway? A lapbook (lap pack, flap book, fold and flap book, etc,
they comes with a lot of names), is a very handy way to keep and display the lesson that we do in a Unit Study. The links above will take you to some of the lapbooks we've done over the last few years. Look at them for inspiration, but do create your own. They are marvelously fun to show off to family and friends.
Lapbook and Unit Study Resources
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My own
original unit studies:
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