"Steward Ship does a fabulous job of simplifying what could be very complicated and making it fun and manageable." -- The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

Of my many forays into various homeschool approaches, one I had never tried is the unit study method. But after reading Christine Field's book, Help for the Harried Homeschooler (see review - I wholeheartedly agree with it!), I decided to take her advice and try something new in an attempt to avoid homeschool burnout. So after listening to my neighbor rave about Steward Ship unit studies for more than a year, I finally checked out their catalog. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Steward family is the creator of The Choreganizer, a wonderful chore system I've been familiar with for years. I received two products for review: Everything You Need to Know About Homeschool Unit Studies and Everything You Need to Build a Unit Study Notebook.

The first book explains why the Stewards believe unit studies to be the best method of education and how to create your own. The two key elements of a Steward-style unit study are the read-aloud and the notebook. Read-alouds are the central focus of the unit study, and notebooks are the project that ties everything together. (Mrs. Steward recommends that each child possess his own reading book, preferably on topic, as well as his own math book.) Topics include how to fit all the subjects into a unit study, getting the most out of read-aloud time, multilevel teaching, homeschool co-op possibilities, building a home library, choosing unit study topics, homeschooling through high school, record keeping - the list goes on and on. In fact, the title really says it all - the book contains everything you need to know about homeschool unit studies! The appendix is about one-third of the book and contains many helps: sample unit studies, planning sheets, assignment sheets, record keeping sheets, book report forms, and more. Mrs. Steward's enthusiasm is contagious, and I found this to be a very helpful and encouraging resource.

The second book, Everything You Need to Build a Unit Study Notebook, dives into much more detail than the first about putting together notebooks. There are two parts to this package: an instructional guide to making notebooks with lots of neat ideas AND more than 50 reproducible masters for all sorts of assignments! You'll find section dividers, a vocabulary sheet, a biographical sketch sheet, thematic writing paper, a U.S. and world map, a notebook timeline, a wanted poster, photo and postcard templates, record sheets, plus much more. Making notebooks the Steward Ship way would be a project all of my children would love! With all the possibilities, each child's notebook becomes more than just a place to file worksheets and tests - they become an expression of each child's special gifts and interests. I am so inspired!

For those of you who prefer a prepared unit study, the Stewards have created many topical guides for grades K-8 ranging from Ancient Egypt to the Solar System. However, I encourage you to look into the two books I reviewed and try creating your own unit study. Mrs. Steward does a fabulous job of simplifying what could be very complicated and making it fun and manageable. The possibilities are endless! Visit their website at www.unitstudies.com and request a catalog.



-- Product Review by: Heather Jackowitz, Staff Writer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine