And What About. . . Unit Study Guides
by Amanda Bennett
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: And What About... Unit Study series by Amanda Bennett. Published by AABennett Books. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying Amanda Bennett's unit studies using our Christian Book Distributors link or our Amazon affiliate link.
Amanda Bennett's And What About... Series offers four-week directed studies on specific topics. While the Christmas and Thanksgiving units were provided for this review, Mrs. Bennett also offers Patriotic Holidays, Lighthouses, Sailing Ships, and others in this growing series.
The two 84-page paperback books reviewed have the same format. After a brief introduction, Mrs. Bennett describes favorite books related to the holiday and broken down by read-alouds and suitable age range. In the next section, she suggests some "hands-on" family projects that help to bring the holiday to life. A unit study journal, in which all information gathered is written, is an integral part of the program. The appendix contains historical and fictional reading material, including poetry, used during the unit study.
The step-by-step plans for the unit study come next. Each of the four weeks begins with a list of objectives. On days one through four, activities are broken first into age range (elementary and junior/senior high) and then into the following categories:
- Today's quote -- a thought provoking quote from the Bible or other sources
- WOW (Words of Wisdom) -- vocabulary words
- Interesting People and Places --one person or place to research
- Read and Discover -- several research and writing activities
- Resource -- an on-line URL to help with the activities
Day five, the "windup" day, is used for family discussion and review of everything studied during the week. A large list of additional internet sites is provided here.
Recommendation: This series of books makes studying specific topics SO easy! The step-by-step format will allow older children to do the study completely on their own with no planning on the part of the parent required. The program emphasizes writing in a non-threatening way so that even less-than-enthusiastic writers may succeed.
HomeschoolChristian.com resources related to this review:
Question and answer session with Amanda Bennett
HomeschoolChristian.com's Unit Study Discussion Board
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