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Learning Adventures Unit Studies

Learning Adventures Unit Studies

See the complete review in 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum

Learning Adventures is a multi-volume unit study for grades 4 through 8. It differs from many other such studies in that it includes a substantial amount of ther read-aloud material so parents need not spend so much time hunting for other resource books. Three of five projected volumes in this series are now available. Each volume is a full-year program (180 school days) covering Bible, history/social studies, science, language arts, and fine arts. Math, P.E., cursive writing and/or keyboarding have to be covered separately. Science, social studies, and language arts occupy the bulk of study time.

The five volumes are:
A World of Adventure (Ancient Egypt through the Age of Exploration - approximately 2300 B.C. to A.D. 1600)
A New World of Adventure (1600-1800 in American History plus study of Canada)
Westward and Onward (1800-1860 in American History plus study of France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Scandinavia, and China)
A Nation Torn and Mended (1860-1900 in the U.S. plus coverage of other world regions)
Adventures in a Modern World (20th century)

Each volume comes as pre-punched packets of pages that you will insert in binders--at least two or three binders per volume. There are separate packs of student pages which you will also need for each student.

Daily lesson plans provide for a mixture of read aloud/together time and independent work, including a significant amount of writing. Even though much of the reading material is included, you will still need a few other resources. For example, the first volume requires a Bible, a hymnal, a dictionary, The Golden Goblet, Aesop's Fables, Classic Myths to Read Aloud, The Bronze Bow, Adam of the Road, The Door in the Wall, The Swiss Family Robinson, and two biographies from a suggested list. Many additional books are recommended within each section, but extensive lists offer many choices. You can borrow these from the library or purchase them.

Another way that Learning Adventures differs from most other unit studies is that it includes questions and answer keys for assessment. Note that there is also a companion game, Worlds of Adventure, for the first volume that might be used as a tool for reinforcement and review.

Daily lesson plans provide complete literature, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling lessons, although parents will need to copy some of the material (e.g., sentences to be marked for grammar, spelling lists) to a white board or some other media to present it to students.

Science lessons explain various topics in language that can be read directly from the book, then direct students to do independent reading on topics. Once in a while there are science activities or experiments, but, personally, I would like to see many more.

Fine arts lessons, likewise, provide material to be read aloud, sometimes followed by activities or reading. (unfortunately, visual examples of fine arts are missing.) Coverage of fine arts relates more to history than actual art activity, although the author recommends Barry Stebbings' art courses to round out art experience. In music, hymns are the primary focus.

The perspective throughout the study, and particularly evident in history and science lessons, is Christian (Protestant) and supports a young-earth viewpoint.

Learning Adventures a valuable entry into the unit study market, especially for parents who appreciate having much of the work done for them, but there is one major omission—an index. An index would allow parents to easily locate topics for review or reference or perhaps even to present them out of order.