Frequently Asked Questions About The Joy of Discovery and Unit Studies
The Joy of Discovery is a guide to a multi-dimensional teaching method through which children build into their lives and character knowledge, insight, attitude, and skill. Educational requirements are met by a three-step procedure called I3 Unit Study TM–a personalized curriculum that integrates skills from various subjects while studying one topic; employs thinking skills; produces projects; and verifies achievement of learning objectives.
How do you get started? Just do it. Start, today. Write down things you might want to study, pick one and dial-a-unit.
Who writes the Unit Study? You can, your child can, or you can do it together. Do whatever you are comfortable with. Involving your child in the process triggers responsibility and excitement because he is doing what interests him.
Where do you get ideas for topics? Everywhere. Some things we used were Hewitt's monthly calendars; almanacs for what happened this day in history; seasons; holidays; important events; important people.
How do you pick a topic? Choose anything you want to learn about; have ever wondered about; or think would be interesting. The topic can be anything, it does not matter. Skills are learned through the process of completing the Unit Study.
Are some topics too difficult? If interest is there, pursue the topic. It’s like produce in a grocery store. If items are left on the shelf too long their value diminishes. If curiosity is unattended it loses vigor.
What if we miss something? There is so much to learn we will never know everything. Its been said that “He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn’t know.” That is why this teaching method imparts the ability to think and learn, so if you don’t know something you can learn it.
How do you know what subjects are being covered? Close attention to Learning Objectives guide you as you do the project. If a report is being written on whales, you know that Language Arts and Science will be involved. According to the way each child does the project other subjects may be covered as well. If the student draws pictures of whales, art is involved. If he shows a chart of different sizes of whales, math is involved.
How do you know what skills should be taught? If knowing about rhyming words makes writing a poem more effective, then that skill should be taught. Teach essential basics needed to complete the project, then expand as needed.
How do you teach spelling and vocabulary? Reading lets you “discover” new words and I followed the wisdom of Oswald Chambers. He urged his students to read and study with a dictionary at hand. “Never intend to look up a word,” he said. “Do it now.” As learning facilitator I also kept a notebook of words I noticed them having difficulty with, so at different times throughout each day and through the year I could watch for use and improvement, plus offer helpful tips for how to spell or pronounce these difficult words.
Do you have a schedule? We did not have specific time slots. I encouraged self-discipline. They knew what they were working on. School was our priority; 180 days was the lawful requirement and that essentially translated to approximately 4 hours per day, 5 days a week or 20 days a month. If they had an extracurricular thing they wanted to do, I didn’t discourage productivity if they wanted to work long and hard one day and have a short day the next. Flexibility is the key!
How do you get in 180 days of instruction? Home school and discovery learning is a lifestyle that essentially involves 365 days, but be accountable by records of individual Unit Studies which show skills and subjects covered, plus dates.
Bibliography
Beechick, Ruth. You Can Teach Your Child Successfully. Pollock Pines, Ca: Arrow Press, 1988.
Betts, George. The Autonomous Learner.
Blies, Cheryl, and Pat Farrell. What Are The Thinking Skills? Educational Support Services.
Bloom, B.S., M.D. Engelhardt, E. J. Furst, W. H. Hill, D. R. Krathwohl. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David Wekay Co., 1956.
Haycock, Ruth C. Bible Truth for School Subjects, Vol. III Science/Mathematics. Whittier, CA: Association of Christian Schools International, 1981.
Leadbeater, Patricia A. How to Write a Mini-Center. Phoenix, AZ: Engine-Uity, Lt., 1980.
Mawson, C. O. Sylvester. Roget’s Thesaurus of the English Language in Dictionary Form. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books, 1940.
Stating Behavioral Objectives for Classroom Instruction. Table I, III.
Textbooks for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1987.
Using the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Table II, IV.
Verbs and Products for Independent Study (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy). Phoenix, AZ: Engine-Uity, Ltd., 1984.
About the Author
Mix an educational background with twelve years of home schooling; add a cupful of life experiences as wife, mother, speaker and writer; stir in retail management skills; then polish this off with athletic skills in professional barrel racing and horse training and you’ve got Barb Wagner–a homeschooling advocate who is encouraging parents to try “I3 Unit StudyTM”–a well-rounded approach to education that transfers knowledge to wisdom in the context of the joy of discovery.
Testimonials
“I started using your dial-a-unit study and evaluations forms. They really seem to get my boys interested in doing a project and having a chance to think. My oldest now has his first ‘project’ picked out, which thrills my heart to see him interested in learning. I appreciate the way you made it practical and easy to ‘get started’.” Marsha, Wyoming
“We’re currently doing a unit study on Canada, my homeland, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. We have children in grades 1, 3, 5, 6, and our four-year-old is right in there with them all. When the children have all completed their individual research, then we set aside an evening for each of them to present his or her project orally for the rest of the family. Sometimes we have friends over. It’s been fun. Our third oldest wondered why wool is scratchy, so in the near future we’ll do a unit study on sheep and wool. There is so much to learn about, isn’t there?” Lorraine, Montana
“I just purchased your book. I’m excited about this marvelous aid as I am convinced this is the approach the Lord has prompted me to take as I homeschool our two girls.” Kathy, New York
