Funtastic Unit Studies - A Review

I love unit studies!  So, signing up for this review from Funtastic Unit Studies was an easy choice on my part.  Life has been hectic around here.  We've been bouncing from event to event ever since the beginning of June, and we're still going strong.  My fantasy of a calm and relaxing summer is yet to be realized after 18 solid years of homeschooling.  I'm not so sure of those pictures we always see of people lounging poolside or ankles crossed in the sand.  You know the routine; a big summer hat, sunglasses, and a tall glass of fresh lemonade.  Um...yeah...not the case around here!

Believe it or not, we pulled off our unit study during fair week.  Anyone that's ever lived and breathed 4-H fair week knows exactly what kind of feat it is to do much more than keep you kids clean and fed during fair week, but school?  Funtastic Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers is awesome like that!  Everything is laid out for you from beginning to end.  You know ahead of time what you need and what to expect.  I planned ahead, and it was awesome.

During the previous school year we studied all about human biology.  Of course, part of that study included nutrition.  That's why I was excited to do the unit on health as a follow-up.  I really love the way the table of contents are set up.  This unit study book is geared for ages 4-13, and my crew falls right in that age group.  It can be challenging having kids with such a gap.  Five years can be tough to cross sometimes, and this helps us bridge the gap perfectly.  Each unit is labeled for either ages 4-7 or 8-13.  The unit on health is geared for the 4-7 age group, but my 10 year old enjoyed it just as much as the 4 and 5 year old.

Of course, hands on activities, especially those that involve cooking, are super appealing to my brood.  This particular unit went well with our current activities as well.  There is always some sort of information about germs and health available at the fair.  The kids get their eyes checked every year for free, too.  With the concern about the avian flu there was more literature available than normal from the local extension office.

We learned about how germs spread, the different types of food pyramids (there are MANY now), healthy eating, and exercise.  We made the recipes together and had a wonderful, healthy lunch all at their hands as the kids did most all of the work.  It was exciting for them to use the hand mixer.  Everyone had to take a turn!

While we ate our yummy lunch we had the opportunity to discuss what we had learned and how it applied to life.  I am so glad we had this experience when we did.  Part of me thought I was crazy for planning a unit study smack in the middle of fair week, but I'm glad I took the chance.  What better time to learn about health?  What I thought was a touch of insanity on my part turned into perfect timing thanks to the ease of using Funtastic Unit Studies.  It was exciting to have seen the cows at the fair, "milked" the model cow, and made cheese at home.  I never knew it was so easy, and neither did the kids!  Avery enjoyed stirring the milk until it came to a boil, adding the lemon juice, and watching the curds separate from the whey.

Harmony was our master carrot shredder for makig our Healthy Carrot Spread.  Bella has to get her hands in wherever she can manage, and she's proven herself to have quite the arm.  She stirred up our dip all by herself.  We were a little short on cream cheese so we combined some sour cream with the cream cheese, added shredded carrot and shredded cheese, and some salt and herbs.  If you know me at all, you know I cannot follow a recipe to save my life.  So, I just had to add a little zing to the spread.  I'm sure you understand.

When it was all said and done, we had a wonderful week learning about all things health.  The kids take washing their hands just a little more seriously now, and we created some great memories.  Then, we shared a wonderful lunch with our Navy son who's home on leave.  The kids were super proud to serve him food they'd actually made all by themselves.  We served up the Carrot Spread on local Rye Bread, the curds (which I seasoned with a little salt and dill) on crackers, and added some yummy red grapes.  It was a perfect lunch!

Getting a taste of using Funtastic Unit Studies has us excited about what's coming up for us this next school year.  Having this new resource at our fingertips is a true blessing.  There's nothing more likely than simple planning and easy to use instructions to earn a resource a spot on my actively using shelf.  Simply click here to access two PDF unit studies, and some other fun freebies, for your family to enjoy.

Birds of a Feather - A Unit Study Review

By now you've probably figured out that I love to support small business and homeschool created ventures.  Here we are discussing another wonderful product created by a homeschool mom.  Homeschool Legacy is the brainchild of Sharon Gibson.  She's a veteran of the homeschool sort.  She's been there, done that, and through her passion for figuring out what works well she created these wonderful unit studies.

For the past month or so our family has been enjoying Birds of a Feather.  It's a fun, no-prep, four week unit study.  We already had a fascination with the birds that visit our yard, and we have an avid owl lover in the house, but working through this unit study provided us the opportunity to get to know the birds in our area a little more personally and enjoy some quality time together learning even more about birds and how they live.  Birds of a Feather is a simple unit study with everything laid out for you.  There is no real prep involved, but you will need to do a little thinking ahead.



Unfortunately, we no longer live in an area with a wonderful library system at our disposal.  (The trade off was well worth it, but when it comes to things like this we have to get a little more creative.)  Sharon did a wonderful job providing a vast list of suggested reading to accompany the activities and focus for each of the four weeks.  Despite the large selection of material to choose from I was unable to locate not one of the 12 books she recommends for the first week.  However, like any good homeschooling mom I have my own personal library right at home.  We made do with what we had, and it went quite well from there.

Each of the four weeks has a theme.  We learn about a different aspect related to birds, but the basic outline remains the same.  There are library and video choices, a supply list, daily activities, weekly activities, family devotions, and a science lesson.  Everything always leads back to the Bible and God's wonderful creation.  The activities support learning together as a family and spending time in God's word both independently and together.

The girls setting up the feeding station.

As part of our review we received the digital download version, but the unit study is also available in paperback.  Personally, I would love to own the paperback copy, but I'm a book in hand kind of girl.  I just printed off the lesson each week, got my materials together, and planned when we would do each activity.  Basically, I just plugged it into my planner.  Super simple!

With our current stage in the game, my favorite part of the unit study was family movie night.  I liked the first film the best, Fly Away Home.  It was the perfect choice for getting the family interested in learning more about birds.  The movies really do add kind of a finishing touch to each area of study within the unit.  I especially like how the study is designed (rather intentional or not) in that it appeals to all learning types.  There's writing, reading, hands on, and visual learning all wrapped into one complete and easy to implement package.  There really is something to appeal to everyone, and it's wonderful for the educator in that it's all nicely presented with very little preparation needed.  We didn't need to purchase anything, but depending on what you have on hand you may need to buy some things to complete the activities and projects.

Hanging the suet feeder.

As a side note, since we don't have anyone in the category at the moment, Sharon even provides all the information for both Boy Scouts and American Heritage Girls to earn their relevant badges.  In the future we just may take her advice and use the unit study to complete a 4-H Project Record.  This is our first year participating in the fair, and the one doing the participating is already well underway with her project.  The ideas for using the unit study for children that participate in these groups are found in a section titled Getting the Most Out of Your Once-a-Week Unit Study, and I highly recommend you read this part before you start.  There is a lot of information provided to really help you get the maximum benefit from using the study.



Homeschool Legacy is social on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.  To learn more about the Birds of a Feather unit study as well the many other unit studies available through Homeschool Legacy visit their website, or read more reviews by clicking below.