Lesson 4: Thematic Springboards Part II: Topical Unit Study Ideas
4-6 Umbrella Studies
This is a label I put on a rather unusual type of unit study. The theme is not so much the material covered as it is the environment or atmosphere for studying. Our main such umbrella was called Activity Cottage. In the beginning, we combined two appliance-sized boxes to make a roomy little cottage big enough for the two of us to have school in, hang great work on a "refrigerator" painted on one wall. A couple of posterboard frames hung on the wall displayed Jen's best art work. But the best spot was a little study corner she designed herself, adding a small chair and curtained walls, declaring it her space. Add a few favorite stuffed animals and it became her place for some of her best school work. Eventually, I designed a little cottage mascot which found its way onto many activity and work sheets. Finally the little mascot graced the cover and pages of the Activity Cottage unit study books. The concept of a cottage as the meeting place for great unit studies of all kinds became part of the fabric of our education.
Another such umbrella study was our underwater ocean hideaway. This one was not tied to a specific location, like Activity Cottage, although it usually began in a blue-painted corner of the basement schoolroom decorated with sea-going props from an earlier, pre-packaged study. Posters of whales and fish added to the charm of the area. This was the home port for our Ocean Cruise umbrella study. This umbrella study took us to many different ports-of-call over the next few years. It was particularly useful for social studies. On the basement walls, we had a progression of maps for each continent and special ocean maps, the standard inserts to National Geographic Magazines, another mainstay to our resource collection. There were often studies based on articles in National Geographic issues. Sometimes we took our imaginary cruise outside the confines of the basement and traveled the seas of the house and yard to visit exotic locations like Australia (the living room) or the Galapagos Islands (the bird barns). Other subjects were often studied in the unique air of a particular port-of-call, using props that helped give the feeling of "being there". Studying in a sunsuit under the shade of a crepe paper palm tree while sipping a fruit drink served in a real pineapple can ease the pain of determining least common denominators, for example. The basic idea of an ocean cruise will be the case study we use for the step-by-step unit study of Lesson 7.
