Unit Studies!

So for the first time this year I am throwing out all semblance of following a curriculum put together by someone else and I'm going to give homeschooling a try via a unique mix of unit studies and some workbook-type stuff (for the kids and topics where that works well, but in minimal amounts).

It's all very new, and I admit I'm still quite vague on what our year will look like, but last night I was able to come up with (or be divinely inspired with, still not sure which, though I have been praying hard for direction!) a very, VERY vague outline of my unit study plans for September through December.

I'm just so excited to see some sort of goals in writing that I just had to post them here. My plan is to set aside a few nights for each unit and pull appropriate books from the library, good crafts from the internet, and even throw in a field trip or two to places that will help cement the ideas we'll be learning. We'll still do math and some basic language, spelling and other fundamentals separately, and Punky will be listening to some Story of the World CD's to follow along in history at his own pace without my having to pour as much into teaching history as I have been (which is hard with so many littler ones who really can't participate in something that became the bulk of our learning). But I think that at least for this first part of the year this unit idea will be the bulk of where our time and interest are invested.

So without further ado, I give you my basic plan for what topics we'll be covering for the first 4 months of our 09/10 school year.

September:

• Study on caves, caverns, etc.
  o Possibly can lead to study of rock, sand, salt, etc formation.. just see where it takes us
  o A topic I know nothing about, so I have no idea where it could lead! Maybe even a local trip to some caves to explore?
  o Found a cool diorama idea that makes real mini stalactites. How cool is that!?
• Study on the history of WEAPONS (of all things. I must really love my sons…)
  o Boys wanted to know how boomerangs and bows & arrows worked
  o Seems a good time to learn about all things weaponish.
  o If nothing else Punky will want to do school every. single. day.
  o Hubby can cover my behind on the physics behind how they all actually work. I have no clue. ;o)
  o Make a few homemade weapons
  o Maybe a nice time to go over some of the Story of the World CD's Punky will be listening to in more detail
  o Could buy one of those little wooden siege tower or catapult kits… fun stuff!
  

October:

• Fire preparedness
  o Tour local fire dept
  o Go over the some emergency sheets in the October section of The Old Schoolhouse's planner (good ideas for home safety and preparedness)
  o Make and practice new fire escape plans with the kids
• Planet/star study
  o Good time of year with time change to get out in the dark and actually see stuff without keeping the kids up until 11pm!
  o Will need a good friend with a telescope we can borrow…
  o Lots of potential here, will need to work to pull together stuff I will really do
  
  November:
• Little House in the Big Woods unit study (Nice to follow weapons with Little House, huh? We want to be well rounded around here, after all!)
  o Using some resources from a friend with lots of Prairie Primer goodies, Little House recipes and crafts, plus even some fun folk music
  o Lots of opportunity for crafts and holiday coziness
  o Fun recipes to try
  o Make some homemade Christmas gifts for people
  o Listen to the music from the time period during craft and baking times, and for fun
  o Possibly learn some music with recorders or some other intro instrument
  
  December:
  
• Time for our annual Advent month
  o Jesse Tree again (my boys love it every year, and I’m sure Goose will want to do one this year too)
  o Crafts, cooking, all that
  o Possibly find a different theme for Advent readings… I’ve never gone "out of the box" here, so we’ll see

So that's it for now. I have done no real planning on the individual topics, but I am excited to have the ground work laid for what we'll be studying for a few months. I think that leaves me plenty of room to explore, but not so open ended that I fall into my trap of doing nothing due to the overwhelming pressure of a completely blank slate. I think the topics are perfectly age appropriate, and that my kids will really be interested in all of them, but that I can still find information to stretch them to learn outside of their complete realm of current interest. Plus, I can easily pull fun books for the little guys on the topics, so that everyone can do something topic-related.

So has anyone else out there done much in the way of homemade unit studies? Any helpful suggestions or advice on pitfalls to avoid? I'd love to hear ideas from fellow unit study families.