High School & Unit Studies

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Common Questions or Statements of Misconception with High School Students and Unit Studies:

1. 1.  Common Question: I have high school students who plan to go to college!  Are unit studies as core going to be “enough?”
   2.  Common Statement: You can use unit studies, but it depends on what you want for your child and what their aspirations are (inferred meaning: only if they’re not going to college).

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The Real Answer:

It might help to share why people often ask, “Is a unit study enough?” 

•  Many people ask this question because, as far as we know, there was not much in the world of “homeschool unit studies” that really went DEEP into a topic, prior to Campfire.  Many (not all) unit studies were intentionally invested in sharing a topic overview, like skipping a rock across water.  This can be a great way to spark a child’s interest, leaving it in the parents’ hands to “go deeper” and “cook the whole meal,” so to speak.  They just weren’t robust.  Because this can be a common setup among many unit studies, it has become a normal question for parents to wonder, “Are unit studies enough?”  If such was the setup, our answer would likely be, “no.”

If such was the setup, our answer would likely be, “no.”

• The important thing to remember is that Campfire does NOT function like that.  Neither do all unit studies out there.  Each unit study program is going to be unique.  Unit studies DO NOT all function similarly, any more than textbooks or math books are all the same.  That is a flawed thought process that needs to be put out of parents’ minds. 

Unit studies DO NOT all function similarly… that is a flawed thought that needs to be put out of parents’ minds.

• Our studies are studies that teach a particular topic, but they also include cross-curricular concepts and interdisciplinary teaching.  Some units have chemistry, biology, and physics together (among numerous other topics)… mirroring how it is in real life and real careers.  For example, meteorologists need to understand how biology, physics, and chemistry intertwine. Traditional high school curricula artificially isolate these topics, but Campfire integrates them together and with other subjects, making connections clearer while leading to deeper understanding. This is something that Ivy League universities do, as well, and is considered a superior form of education, even across university standards and career fields.  You can see the following link for more on that.  It really explains it SO WELL.  Go HERE. We highly encourage it!

Ivy League universities do this, as well, and it is considered a superior form of education…

Let us try to help by giving a real-world comparison.  Below is the table of contents for a 10th grade high school science textbook that is deemed more “rigorous” by many and has a long-standing reputation in the homeschool community.  You can go ahead and skim through it and read the notes after.

10th Grade Science Textbook Table of Contents:

• Ch1: The Flowering Seed Plants [study of living things, observing seeds, etc]
• Ch2: Structure and Functions of Leaves [external structure of a leaf, photosynthesis, fall coloration and wilting]
• Ch3: Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds [Structure, development, fruits, seeds]
• Ch4: Stems & Roots [Woody stems, herbaceous stems, anchors]
• Ch5: Plant Varieties
• Ch6: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
• Ch7: Bones & Muscles
• Ch8: Nervous System [brain, neurological health, senses and sense organs]
• Ch9: Nutrition and Digestion
• Ch10: Circulation and Respiration
• Ch11: Endocrine and Reproductive Systems
• Ch12: Disease and immune system
• Ch13: Natural History & Scientific Investigation
• Ch14: Evolution vs. Science
• Ch15: Introduction to Ecology
• Ch16: Mammals
• Ch17: Birds
• Ch18: Reptiles
• Ch19: Fish
• Ch20: Arthropods
• Ch21: Invertebrates
• Ch22: Design and Function of cells
• Ch23: Heredity
• Ch24: DNR

Parents don’t often realize, but the order of chapters in a textbook largely depends on the author.  One biology textbook might go like the example provided: leaves, flowers, plants → bones, muscles, nervous system → animal science → heredity and DNA.  Another might start with anatomy, move to heredity, then animal science, and finish with plants. 

In Campfire, you merely pick your own order.  Here is the comparison:

• Ch 1 & 4 comparison
  • Campfire’s Gardening unit: root system, aeration, macronutrients, micronutrients, chelates, root hairs, respiration, fibrous roots, Casparian strips, pollinators, carbon/nitrogen, observing plant roots, yield and crops, pests, DNA extraction, preservation, observing roots and seeds, etc.
• Ch 2 comparison
  • Campfire’s Thanksgiving: fall coloration, chromatography, etc.
• Ch 5 comparison 
  • Campfire’s Gardening: different plant varieties and “companion planting” for pollination, but does not yet focus specifically on things like how fungi is formed or the development of fruit from flower ovaries.
• Ch 6 comparison
  • Campfire (numerous units)
• Ch 8 comparison
  • Campfire’s Resurrection Day unit (Core Connections)
• Ch 9 comparison
  • Campfire’s Natural Medicine has a higher focus on evidence-based studies and analyzing medical criteria and effects on different parts of body systems.
• Ch 10 comparison:
  • Campfire’s ER unit
• Ch 12 comparison:
  • Campfire’s ER, Natural Medicine, Veterinarian, and Thanksgiving
• Ch 13 comparison
  • Campfire (numerous units)
• Ch 14 comparison
  • Campfire’s Zoology
• Ch 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 comparison
  • Campfire’s Zoologist—also note that Campfire teaches on Ethology as well as many other additional topics which are NOT covered within textbooks

1. 1. As you can see, the same topics can be covered in a unit study approach as in a textbook approach.  Just like two textbooks would slightly vary but also cover similar topics in their own way, so too do Campfire unit studies and textbooks.  There are a few chapters that this science book covers that Campfire does not, yet (such as development of fungi, and human reproduction).  There are also many concepts which Campfire covers which the textbook does not.  However, each covers many of the same overlapping ideas and focuses, in their own unique way.  In Campfire, you get to pick your own order.
      

   2. Now, in certain sciences, there are topics that cannot be taught until a prior concept has been mastered, so we take this into consideration.  Think of it like math—students learn addition before multiplication.  We know this and use this opportunity within each unit to lay a foundation for newbies in earlier lessons within a unit (while using the moment for review for the experienced students).  Then, the lessons within the unit progress to mastery of the topic being taught—giving all students everything the need, not just to learn it but to also retain it.  This allows you to pick which units you do, and your child will be given all they need to succeed. This is a “spiral” approach and “mastery” approach combined.  Instead of covering a topic once (and forgetting it by senior year, such as with a traditional approach), concepts are revisited in different contexts.  This helps to build retention and shows how subjects relate to one another.  We don’t want our students to dump the information in just a few short years!  That is only wasting their time and their mind.

   3. Campfire, also, puts a higher focus on real-world application, which textbooks do not.  Instead of just reading then filling in the blanks and dumping the information, Campfire’s approach is to have the student learn the information and then actually apply it through note taking, hands-on learning extensions or activity options, and multiple learning styles where they have to put the learning into action.  This helps the student to actually retain the information for life, which is when it is most applicable and helpful to a university attendance or career.  Some other curricula makers disagree and take a different approach.  Sometimes they focus on an overabundance of terminology and memorization.  Sometimes, other curricula focuses on repetition or worksheets.  Again, ALL curricula will be different–regardless if it’s “textbook” or “unit study,” etc.
   4. Campfire also often includes many college-level concepts that are  not covered in primary or secondary school textbooks.  This is because we job shadow professionals or experts and are obtaining higher-level education and details, which we then share within the units when we write them. We also have a higher emphasis on note taking which is going to be especially beneficial to those who are college- or career-bound. 

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