A popular method of teaching home school students is using the unit studies program. A unit study consists of four or more lessons on one subject. Each lesson is comprised of an objective, activities and a vocabulary section.
The objective should be clearly stated in one or two sentences. For example, if you are studying insects and the lesson is on butterflies the objective could read: To study the butterfly and its habitat. The activity could be to study a cocoon until it hatches and then feed it before it is released. The study would constitute taking out books on butterflies and studying what type the cocoon is (if you don't already know), what that type of butterfly eats and preparation of a butterfly cage. If this lesson is taking place during the summer a fun activity is to visit a butterfly exhibit at a local zoo or wildlife center. The vocabulary section of this lesson could include words like cocoon and thorax and as many more as you can think of using your resources.
Parents can spend as much time on each unit study as their child likes, perhaps including extra curricular activities to historical sites, museums and zoos. The more information and hands-on activities that you add to your schooling the more information that your child will retain.
