After earning a degree in engineering from the University of Florida, Amanda Bennett worked in engineering and professional research before returning home to raise and educate her three children. Her innovative self-styled unit studies have become extremely popular with homeschool families from coast to coast. Amanda travels around the country sharing ideas and encouragement with fellow parents and educators. Here's CBD's exclusive interview with Amanda Bennett.

CBD: As a homeschool mother of three, you decided to use the unit study approach in your homeschool. What are the advantages of this approach over a traditional curriculum? Are there any subjects that do not lend themselves to unit studies?

AB: Well, there are many advantages, but I'll try to keep this to a reasonable list!

• First of all, unit studies help us study God's creation as it exists, all tied together and connected in the most amazing manner. Everything that He put here for us is connected. There is not one thing that is "just history" or "just science" or "just biology." History and science and art and geography don't exist independently—they are all intertwined and dependent, and that's the way that you learn about them using unit studies—where we look at this world as an amazing tapestry of topics, not just isolated subjects to tolerate. Learning can be and SHOULD be a very exciting adventure, for everyone involved.

• Additionally, unit studies provide long-term retention of the materials studied. With the hands-on and connected learning involved in unit studies, the student investigates important ideas and concepts. Unit studies can provide a deep and sensible understanding that lasts, instead of strict memorization of italicized words and bolded dates in textbooks. If you are like me, your best long-term memories of your own school days are of science experiments, field trips, art projects, and other "hands-on learning" experiences. I don't have much recall of the things that I memorized so well for tests—dates of wars, where the specific countries were on foreign continents, the explanation of mitosis from biology, etc.

For example, if you look up the Revolutionary War in many textbooks, you might see a brief summary of the battles, causes and outcome of the war. You would not learn about George Washington's faith, or the courage and personal challenges of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The fight for American independence didn't occur as just a point of history—it involved people, places, ideas and ideals that we can learn about all at once with a unit study. For example, in the Patriotic Holidays unit study, we use a family study of Independence Day as the perfect opportunity to study these key ideas and vital people as an integral part of our celebration of America's freedom. We read books about George Washington, the signing of the Declaration, the battles and struggles that these young Americans experienced so that future generations would know freedom. This is the kind of learning that we could not get from a summary in a textbook.

• Unit studies provide a powerful way to develop an understanding of a topic, and test the ideas as a family. You can all enjoy the moments of learning, and celebrate the wisdom gained—a lifetime of memories and learning skills that will not fade with time.

You also asked if there are any subjects that do not lend themselves to unit studies. In my opinion, the three Rs—reading, writing, and arithmetic—must be learned separately from unit studies. These areas require the development of fundamental skills that can be practiced and improved upon with unit studies, but they are considered skill-based areas of learning and must be learned sequentially.

• The other main type of learning is called content-based learning, which includes areas like history, science, geography, and many others—where the student is studying the content, not developing specific skills. I have researched unit studies on all kinds of topics, and have found that I am only limited by the children's imagination. We have learned about sailing ships and sailing adventures, knights and castles, quilting, dogs, homes, fireworks, and many amazing topics!

CBD: What specific needs in your homeschooling experience led you to develop your own unit study guides?

AB: When first beginning homeschooling, we decided to continue using the textbook curriculum that the children had been using in private school. It was an easier choice than looking at all of the many catalogs and selecting materials that we knew nothing about. We thought we had done well enough just deciding to homeschool them!

After using the same standard textbook curriculum for a few months, I realized that my children, while progressing through their textbooks, were very bored and needed greater challenge. They were making straight As, but their retention of the material did not last beyond several weeks. They could drill, memorize and make perfect test scores, but don't dare ask them about the material next month! The answers were something like, "Oh, Mom! That was several chapters ago, I don't remember."

Something had to change. I expected more than that from my children and from myself. There had to be a way to capture their natural interests to open up the path to deeper learning and understanding, along with better retention. We also had a new baby, and needed a better way to teach different levels at the same time.

After taking the time to study "how" we learn, I was amazed with what I found. When we use memorization as our sole teaching method, we are only requiring that the students use the lowest level of thinking skills available to the human mind! I know that God has given us much more complex thinking skills, but they are never called into use with a standard textbook "drill and spill" method of instruction. Students don't learn to apply what they have learned to real life situations. They are rarely challenged along the lines of "what if &$133; " so that they can see how to apply what they've learned to other situations.

While there were several complete unit study packages available on the market, I wanted to use unit studies to explore the children's areas of interest—things like oceans, space, flight and American pioneers. I learned that unit studies were adaptive and flexible to fit family life, and what an awakening that was for all of us.

I wanted to help the children learn how to find answers—on whatever topic or problem that they might face in life. Unit study methodology provides the perfect way to teach this vitally important skill. If we teach them to think, to question, to find answers on topics that they are interested in, we've equipped them for life. Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job—to give them the tools and confidence to carry on without us.

CBD: How should parents go about preparing a unit study? What advice can you offer parents to better equip them to conduct unit studies on subjects about which they know little?

AB: That is a great question, and one that is on the minds of many homeschoolers. I've got a new book coming out, titled Unit Studies 101, which addresses these questions and more. In it, I explain the process of creating a unit study—the research methods, resources, things to include, and much more. Yes, preparing a unit study is going to take some research on the parents' part, and some of their time.

In preparing a unit study, research the new topic using library materials and online resources, developing an outline that contains the most important points to learn, as well as questions to ask. This outline serves as the basis for many people's "Lesson Plans." Take your finished outline and divide it into portions to be covered during each of the weeks that you plan to spend on the study (typically five to six weeks). My book, the Unit Study Journal, is a wonderful resource for unit study development as well as record keeping for your unit studies.

Through the unit preparation, identify a list of important reference resources that will be used for the specific information and details. Also, identify a list of reading references that involve the topic that can be read for enjoyment—typically fiction, sometimes classics. A good example would be the novel Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss when studying oceans. The books on the lists can be your teaching materials for the duration of the unit study, drawn on for use during the appropriate sections of the study outline.

After completing the outline and identifying the resources available, you are ready to begin the unit study with the children. We typically work on a unit study for five to six weeks, and then move to a new unit study. I have found that my children tend to tire of a subject after much more than six weeks, so I try to keep the material interesting over shorter periods to maintain their enthusiasm for learning.

When using unit studies, plan so that while the child is learning the basic material, he/she is also reinforcing other academic skills. Reading skills are improved with the various books studied. Writing skills are strengthened through writing assignments, copying and dictation, and journal entries. Thinking skills mature through hands-on activities and problem analysis.

For example, imagine that the parent has little knowledge of lighthouses, but that is an area of interest for the children, and the family is planning a vacation to the coast soon. What a wonderful opportunity for them to explore a lighthouse and learn about American history at the same time. The parent would need to research the basics of a lighthouse—how they work, what their purpose might be, where are they typically located, and why were they so important? This was one of the most interesting unit studies that I have researched! For example, did you know that Rudyard Kipling wrote Captains Courageous while living in a lighthouse?

There are many, many ways to prepare and use unit studies. I love research and writing, and these efforts come very easily. My published unit studies have the research complete and allow parents to use their time enjoying the study with their children, instead of doing the research and preparing lesson plans. For parents who love research and have access to great research tools and plenty of time, it can be very rewarding to develop your own unit studies. For those who don't have this time or skill or desire to do this, my prepared unit studies can be the perfect alternative to trying to create your own unit studies.

More and more homeschooling parents are turning to the unit study approach as a primary instructional method, leaving behind the piles of textbooks and workbooks for each child. Unit studies are more interesting and captivating than standard textbook/workbook curriculums. They encourage the use of imagination, creativity, and analytical thinking. Another advantage is that they can be explored as a whole family, teaching all of the children the same unit simultaneously while varying the assignments based on the child's capabilities. This saves the parent time and money, instead of having to buy, assign, teach, and check separate workbooks and text materials for each child.

CBD: Your unit studies are designed to help children develop a variety of practical skills—reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and critical thinking. However, some children may not be motivated to excel in a certain area. What advice can you offer to help parents encourage a reluctant reader or writer, for example?

AB: In my opinion, it is not as important that children "excel" in an area, as they are given every opportunity to enjoy each area and become competent in them. With reluctant readers, it is so important that they are exposed to exciting and INTERESTING books. Read to them, read to them, read to them! While a child may struggle with standard reading books for early readers, they usually begin to pay more attention if the book being read is something that THEY are interested in—dogs, tree forts, spacemen, dolls, sewing, etc. What a difference it makes when they get to choose the topic. Have a weekly "library day," and allow them to choose books that they find interesting. And yes, you might get tired of reading every book in the library on space ships with them, but eventually the topic will change, as their interests expand. Read to them—read aloud, get books on tape at the library, have them draw pictures of what they are hearing—engage them in the excitement of a good story.

The same ideas apply to reluctant writers. Have them narrate their ideas to you on whatever it is that they are interested in at the time. You can be the one that puts down their thoughts on paper or on the computer. Work with them to expand these ideas—brainstorm together over milk and cookies. Write with them, dream with them, act out their story ideas with them. You are working to engage their imagination, and make them comfortable and confident in their abilities to create and build stories on their own.

A great tool that you can use with a reluctant reader or writer is to use a prepared unit study on a topic that your child is interested in, one that has book lists and writing ideas included for your immediate use. Choose an exciting topic like sailing ships, pirates, or perhaps pioneers. These lists of resources and ideas provide an instant guide for exciting reading selections, saving you time and effort.

CBD: Most states ask that homeschool students meet certain educational requirements. In addition, most colleges require SAT scores for admission. How can parents using unit studies be sure that their child is meeting the standards appropriate to his or her grade level?

AB: My first response is that the parents can obtain a Scope and Sequence from World Book Encyclopedia (available online at their website). Broken down by grade level, this lets the parent get an idea of what a child in a certain grade "should be" learning. If you collect Scope and Sequence summaries from several textbook companies and curriculum providers, you will begin to notice that none are in exact agreement by grade as to what should be learned when. What does this mean to unit study users?

It means that there is no "standard" national order of learning things, by grade or by topic. However, you can use a Scope and Sequence to plan your unit study topics, if you would like to follow their planned learning sequence. They can be guidelines for your overall educational plan, and you can look at them throughout the year to see if there are things that you would like to add, checking off those that you have already covered through your unit studies.

For college entrance exams, I recommend several things. First, by the time your student is in the ninth or tenth grade, you probably know whether or not they will be attending college. If they are college bound, write or meet with an advisor from one or two colleges that you and your student are considering. You can find out what they expect in terms of transcript requirements, which test (ACT or SAT), and other helpful information. Then, begin to build your child's high school curriculum around those expectations, keeping the records that the college suggests. Also, I can't say this loudly enough—have your student obtain and use one of the ACT/SAT software programs available now. They help your student become familiar with the testing format, content, and test-taking strategy, as well as coaching them to improve any weak spots that the program discovers. If students can spend an hour or two a week on this type of software for a year or two, they should be ready for the college entrance tests, and very confident in their own abilities. The software helps them gain confidence, polish up their test-taking skills, and remove the "fear" associated with taking college entrance exams.