To me, one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of homeschooling is studying items that capture my family’s interest. These unit studies aren’t necessarily included in core curriculum descriptions. However, they often fit easily within that context while making our homeschooling memorable and meaningful.
Unit Study: Water Management
I had every intention of starting our year off in history with a unit on China. Then we spent a good deal of our summer camping along rivers and reservoirs, during which the subjects of water rights and management came up. Okay, I thought. We’ll start with a unit on the history of water use and management in Colorado, a homeschool unit study that’s meaningful to our family.
Over the past month though, camping and just living in Colorado have been impacted by the wildfires here in our state as well as by the smoke coming from California wildfires.
This past weekend, we camped about ten miles west of the Cameron Peak Fire. That sounds close but, because of the terrain and the wind direction, we were neither threatened with evacuation or affected much by the smoke. Over the course of three and a half days, we watched the mountain range to the east of us as the sky moved from slightly hazy to roiling clouds of smoke and back again to haze. It was simultaneously disheartening and awe-inspiring.
Unit Study: Wildfires
Sitting safely at our campsite, I wondered about fighting wildfires. Who exactly coordinates the efforts? Where does the money come from? What’s the history behind wildfire management? And thus, our first unit of study for history was changed once again.
I won’t buy any curriculum for this unit of study. I usually don’t for these small unit studies we pursue. Instead, I research online and through the library. For wildfires, I was able to find some great articles and a TED talk that explain the forests of North America prior to human habitation. Other sources document Native American, early settler, industrial, and current influences. Included are the management practices and agencies of the present and past. It’s history with some biology as well. And I may add in some writing assignments if it seems appropriate.
So, we’re starting our year with fire. Then water. Sounds rather elemental, doesn’t it? But both topics feel relevant for us – meaningful – and give us a different historical perspective on North American and Colorado history with some science on the side.
I expect these two unit studies to take four or five weeks and then we’ll switch direction and dive into the history of China and eastern civilization, an area of the world we haven’t spent much time studying in recent years. I’m still working on the scope of that unit.
Give Yourself Time
If you’re just starting to homeschool, you may feel tied to your curriculum and not comfortable at all with straying too far from the path you’ve chosen. That’s fine. Just keep in mind that it really is okay for you to take a few side trips – homeschool unit studies that are meaningful to your family. You’ll find your rhythm and encounter topics that interest you and your children – topics you want to explore further. Those side trips can make homeschooling more fun, more memorable, and, above all, a great way to learn about our world.
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