When planning unit studies it is important to consider the following: 

     Resources - What do you have available?  Think of what books, local field trips, library items, special talents or skills of family members and friends.  How much money can you spend?  It is not at all impossible to do studies with little or no money.  The key is to follow the direction of God's leading and He will supply all that you "need".  Often times there is a big difference between what we need and what we want.  If you are in God's will, trust Him, He has infinite resources.  I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful things He has in stuff for my children and I as we have traveled along this path.  Time -How much do you have?  How much time do you want to spend on a topic?  I unit study can be as short or as long as you want. 

     Children- Do your children have special needs, goals, interests, learning styles, talents,etc.?  Don't be afraid to let them pursue special interest.  We have far too many people in our society who are "jacks of all trades" and "masters of none".  Learning and Teaching 

     Styles - Understand learning and teaching styles and which ones are appropriate for your children.  Mary Pride in Schoolproof explains 20 ways to present a lesson and twenty ways to show and tell and also includes bad ways to do both of these.  Teaching Home Magazine has an issue entitled Teaching Methods Oct./Nov./Dec. 1993 which is excellent. *** It is a good idea to have flexible teaching resources in your home.  Attempt to acquire to a good reference library. 

     Lose the "grade level" mentality. I am all for allowing children to progress at their own pace. Children around the country and around the world are being taught different subjects at different grade levels.  It is not necessary to learn most topics at any certain age.  Math, reading, ARE subjects that should be taught progressively because concept builds upon concept.  These are easier taught apart from units.  But remember, units are a great way to reinforce what is being learned in these subjects. 
 

      For those of you who would feel better with a "scope and sequence" there are several easy to obtain; World Book's A Typical Course of Study has one available, also What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know by Hirsch...and all of the other grade levels. Be care of getting too caught up in the worlds model of expectations.  Seek the Lord's will for each of your children.  He has a perfect plan for each and everyone.  Use "scope and sequences" carefully.  Do not ever let them lead you or control you.

When planning a unit it is good to try to incorporate the elements of INTEREST, INFORMATION, PRACTICE, and INTERNALIZATION. 
 

Interest - This is the portion of the unit where you plan an activity or
occasion in which you can inspire the interest of your child in the topic
you are led to pursue.  What is even better than this is when you
capitalize on an interest that your child already has.  In this case there
is no need to "light the fire of interest" so to speak.  Information - This is the portion of the unit where your child is receiving information on a topic.  It is a gathering stage.  This information is gathered from books, filed trips, videos, other people, and so on. This is also the researching stage.  As a child gets older, more and more of the research will become their responsibility.  Practice - We all need a chance to practice, play with, rehash information we have received.  If it is a list a facts we need to memorize we might drill these.  If it is geographical we might color in or label a map.  Doing something, even note taking, is helpful for retention of information.  Internalizing-This is some sort of productive review. It could be aretelling of the information,  teaching it to someone else, or completing a hands-on project. Internalizing is the part of the learning processwhere the information is taken in, sorted through and made our very own.  At this point the information becomes useful to us.
 

Consider providing opportunities for each of the above as you plan your unit of study.

After prayerfully considering your goals, resources, and the elements you would like to include in your units, it is time to put your plan into some sort of order. 

     Yearly - Consider the year ahead of you.  Use a blank one year
calendar and jot in any events, trips, or special items that will effect
your time or possibly be speial unit opportunities.  Write down on the
calendar the units you have in mind to pursue.  Pencil them in where
they fit best. You can keep your eyes open for possible resources
during the year that you can collect for your study. 

     Weekly - As is comes time for each unit, you will want to break it
down into a weekly plan of some sort.  What you do each day will
depend on your own personal schedule.  Our family tries to include a
daily read aloud time and reserve activity oriented days to only a
couple of times a week. 

     Daily - As each week approach incorporate your plans into your daily activity lists.  Since there are four children in our home we have a basic schedule in the house for cleaning, meals, study, piano practice,
computer time.  We are not overly rigid but we try hard to stick to it
because it has been the only way each person can get their turn on the
computer, piano, and some one on one time with mom.  We fit other
assignment and pursuits within this framework.   Most of my children
use a daily list of some sort.  My oldest prefers a weekly view of things since it is easier to fit everything into her busy schedule. 

NOTE: When planning DO NOT BE SHORT SIGHTED!  Always have an idea where you are headed and be sure that what you are studying and how you are studying it will get you to where you  plan to be.  If it will not STOP!  Do not waste time.   ELIMINATE AND CONCENTRATE.