Amanda Bennett Unit Studies Review

Over the years our little homeschool has evolved with many learning styles. I think this happens to many of us. We went from needing a lot of hand holding to being able to create our own unit studies. The first time I ever saw an Amanda Bennett unit study my children weren’t quite old enough and honestly I had no idea what I was doing without a little more of that hand holding.

Then something really amazing happened in our little homeschool. A year ago I remembered I had the Amanda Bennett Ocean Unit Study. At the time our family was living and schooling within a stones throw from the ocean. We were there every day. My children would ask me what kind of shell they had found, we’d oogle over dead sharks and penguins. We’d compare seaweed types and we’d be in awe over the puffer fish we’d find. We spent countless hours rescuing sea stars {starfish}, collecting mermaid purses and scouting out shark eggs. I decided that instead of hearing my children ask what they could do all summer long we’d dig into an Ocean Filled Unit Study. And we did.

It was the beginning of a very beautiful thing for us. I learned that now my children were old enough and capable enough, these unit studies that had scared me were nothing short of amazing. We’ve since enjoyed the Christmas Unit Study and purchased the Easter unit for next year.

How I Use It:

If you read my blog you probably know that most of the time I’m a colour inside the lines kinda girl. I check off my tick-boxes, cross my t’s, & dot my i’s. So, when it comes to pre-made resources, I very often follow them exactly as they are laid out.

These unit studies are no exception – there are no detailed plans. That’s okay. There’s a Week One Day One, Week One Day Two, and so on through Week Four Day Four.

We start our day with Copywork using Today’s Quote from the unit study. Then we move on to the WOW Words {Words of Wisdom}. Often I pick and choose a few from the lower level and a few from the upper level as my children have a very large vocabulary.

Next we look up the mentioned people or places in the Interesting People & Places within the Unit Study. Again we straddle the line depending on what my children know. Then we move into the Read & Discover area where we often research something via books, internet, or videos. Often using a large mix of both.

What I Love:

• I really loved the simplicity of this unit study. The way I could pick and choose what we would study. I loved that there was an Upper and a Lower level because with children in differing grades you often need this.
• I love that there are often direct links to the information children are asked to research right there inside the unit studies. It can really cut down on wasted time when it comes to research and search engines!

• It’s also fantastic that there’s a huge list of extra resources inside the unit study. You can fill a book basket, a movie basket, and more with the ideas listed inside. With a good quality library at your fingertips you might not even need to use the internet for research!
• I love that these are all Bible-based. By that I mean that even the Ocean study we did had Bible verses and Bible characters in them that related to the theme we were studying.
• The price! I mean really, these are a fantastic price normally but I’ve purchased each and every one of mine in some kind of sale never paying more than $5 for them. That’s four weeks worth of fun and learning at just over a dollar a week!

I love that these are e-products. It means no overseas shipping! I can print them out and bind them up if I so desire or I can put them on the iPad and use them.

What I don’t love:

Sometimes, not often, there are dud links. This is expected and even explained in the beginning of the book. For someone who’s use to chasing down broken links it’s not a huge problem for me. I’m not sure this is bad, just something I should mention as it may bother some people.

Unfortunately, two of my Unit Studies were purchased many years ago when CurrClick still carried the AB Unit Studies, because of that I had no notebooking pages or lapbooking pages to go with them. They use to be sold separately. The ones purchased now come with the notebooking pages, so this isn’t a total downer. Plus, we had a lot of fun creating our own notebooks & lapbooks for the two we used. Again, this isn’t a bad thing, just something I feel I should mention.

I don’t love that there isn’t a specific schedule to follow. I know for some that doesn’t bother you. As I said earlier, I’m a bit of list maker and so sometimes I really love it when someone has taken all the thinking out of it for me, when there is a basic plan to follow for what you’re looking up or learning about each day. But how you go about it is totally left open for you to choose! Really, if I’m not going to get someone to write the schedule for me this is the most win-win situation!

 

I have a love-hate relationship with the book lists provided. The book lists are amazing, but more oft then not in my library doesn’t have any of the books listed. You can totally do these unit studies without those books, they are only listed to help enhance your study.

Bottom Line:

I love how much fun my children and I had with these studies!

More on Amanda Bennett Unit Studies here at Curriculum Choice:

• Digital Photography Unit Study Review
• More Thoughts on Unit Studies

~ written by Kendra at Aussie Pumpkin Patch