- why I use unit studies/resources to teach you how to plan unit studies
- starting with resources that you own.
After gathering up all of the resources that you own that would be useful for the unit study you are planning, the next best thing is to gather up resources that are free! There are definitely lots of free educational resources on the internet and this post doesn't even begin to touch the tip of the iceberg on that topic. I am simply sharing those free resources that I have found to be very helpful when planning unit studies for our homeschool.
Homeschool Share for Free Lapbooks
Homeschool Share is an absolutely wonderful website where one can find literally hundreds of lapbooks, all planned and ready to print...for free! I was able to find a lapbook that would be useful for a unit study on Ancient Egypt:
Educational Videos from the Library
My children and I enjoy educational videos. When I am planning a unit study, I always check to see if Schlessinger Media has any videos on the topic. A complete list of Schlessinger Media DVDs can be found at the Library Video Company website. After finding the titles that I am interested in, I can usually procure them by placing a hold on the materials at our local library. We are blessed to be part of a very large library system so materials can be transferred in from other libraries in the system.
I particularly like to look for educational vidoes on the Library Video Company website because so much information is given about each title. Age recommendations are given for all videos and many videos have downloadable free teacher guides to correspond with the videos. I was able to find several DVDs that will be very useful for an Ancient Egypt unit study:
- Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Egypt
- The Fall of Great Empires, Egypt: The End of the Pharao
- The Fall of Great Empires: The Egyptian Empire
- Wonders of the Ancient World: Ancient Egypt
Educational Videos from Netflix
While not technically free, when planning a unit study, I always check Netflix to see if there are any educational videos or movies that would be useful for the study that I am planning. We have subscribed to Netflix for several years now and I find the monthly fee well worth the cost. Netflix has a wonderful selection of educational videos. With a quick search, I was able to find over 30 educational videos about Ancient Egypt! Of course, we won't be able to watch ALL of those videos! I'll have to spend some time selecting a few to watch during the unit study. I particularly enjoy educational videos from National Geographic, History Channel, and IMAX movies.
Free Clip Art
During a unit study, I sometimes use clip art for the front of mini-books. My very favorite clip art site has a wide range of clip art, all in a very cute cartoon-like format. Philip Martin offers his large collection of adorable clip art free for educational and non-profit use. Included at his site are many clip art images related to Ancient Egypt.
Books from the Library
As I am working on planning our unitstudy, I like to keep a running list of books that are recommended about the topic and place them on reserve at the library. These books are not usually my "core" books about the topic, but are useful as extra reading about the topic. I tend not to rely on the library for the "core" books in our unit study since I'm never sure when I won't be able to renew them again.
In my next post, I'll be sharing about picking the main topics for a unit study and choosing additional resources to add to the study.
Do you have any great free resources that you use or have used for unit studies? If so, I'd love for you to share your ideas with a comment!
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