This unit study is marketed as a one week off unit study. A structured way of taking a week or more away from your normal classroom routine to learn a lot about a particular area of interest.

Most of the work is done for you. You will need to read the entire study to know which activities and questions you want to pursue. This can be done in thirty minutes or less.

You do not have to make a schedule because a suggested one is given to you. This schedule can be used for one week or extended to a month. For the one-week off unit study you are given planning, research, study/activity, field trip, and notebook days. This will take you Monday through Friday. The suggested activities are listed in summary form in your "schedule for the week" and more detailed information is given on the pages that correspond to that day. For example, in the "schedule" for Monday it says to make phone calls to schedule a field trip. The details for Monday pages have a list of suggested field trips and information on what to do and look for at each one. You would need to decide which one to do.

The students are asked to write a timed essay, read and answer thought provoking questions, make comparisons, research and detail findings and write conclusions, among many other things. There are fun activities like design your own dinosaur, plaster-casting bones, crossword puzzles and more. Vocabulary words are also provided. By the end of the week, your child would have completed a unit study notebook. Something to be kept in the big homeschool projects box.

This study can be easily used through high school. For lower grades, if your child can read for information and write well, then they should enjoy this study.

-- Product Review by: Ruth Hoskins, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2006