Schoolhouse Crew Review: Funtastic Unit Studies

One of our latest reviews has been Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers from Funtastic Unit Studies.

Susan Kilbride, a homeschool mother with a degree in Biology wrote Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers using the methods she used when teaching her own son.  The book is designed to capture students interest and encourage a love of science and learning.  It uses a hands on approach with lots of activities that use common household items.

Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers is split up into two parts.  The first 10 chapters are for children in the 4-7 year old age range while the second 10 chapters are geared for children in the 8-13 year old age range.  The units do build on each other so the author's recommendation is to teach them in the order they are listed but she also says it is not absolutely necessary that you hold to that.  Topics covered include:

Ages 4-7:
Our Senses
The Human Body
Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life
Animals
Insects and Their Kin
Fun With Magnets
Stars and Planets
Health
Beginning Plants
Animal Ecology

Ages 8-13
Insects
Microscopes and Invisible Creatures
Atoms and Molecules
Matter
Chemistry Fun
Weather
Force and Motion
Simple Machines
Light and Color
Plants II

Each section starts with a materials list.  Then the unit begins.  There are sections telling you what to tell your students and then different hands on activities for them to do.  The number of parts the lesson is split up into and the number of activities varies depending on the unit.  The units for the 8-13 year olds each have a test at the end of the unit and there is an answer key at the back of the book. Some of the units have video suggestions to go along with the unit.

I used Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers with my 4, 6, 8, and 9 year olds.  We worked on the Human Body Unit.  The Human Body unit is split up into 5 different parts:

The Digestive System
The Respiratory System
Circulatory System
Skeletal System
Nervous System

I split this study into 5 days working on one section per day.  There were two suggested videos to go along with the study that we were able to stream from Netflix.

My children love science and they love hands on activities.  I really liked the great variety of hands on activities for this unit and the others I read over.  We had to make a few adaptations to the activities because I did not have the exact supplies that were needed, but the basic idea stayed the same.  They had a good time learning about the 5 different systems were studied and watching the two recommended videos.

 There was not a whole lot of information included in the book, just a short paragraph or two for each section,  and no suggested books to go along with the study.  I did add in several  books that we had on the shelf to round it out a bit more.  Since we do have a big emphasis on science, many of the activities from the older units are ones that we have already done.  I think this book would be great for a new homeschooler, or one who really wants to do science but does not have a lot of time to get it in. It also makes a great jumping off place on a variety of interesting topics and is a great way to add in some hands on science activities.

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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