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Communication & Codes Unit Study

$14.95

Let’s dig in to all the ways humans communicate, from cave paintings and cuneiform to telegrams and telephones! In this fascinating history and social sciences unit, you’ll take a journey through time following the progression of communication over thousands of years. Curious how hieroglyphics developed into the Latin alphabet? Interested in ciphers and codes? Activities, science experiments, art projects, and critical thinking conversations lead your family through a fascinating investigation of human communication. From carrier pigeons to maritime flags to the Pony Express, this unit is full of memory-making moments as a family.

Pages (unit lesson plans): 44 
Printables: 14 high-quality pages 
Program length: 4 Weeks of fully planned lessons
Multimedia links: 18 vetted links to enhance learning
Full color images to enhance learning: 22 curated images 
Recommended ages: 6 to 12 Years Old 
Subjects: Social science, physical science, geography, history, language arts, & fine arts

Authored by Susie Allison, M. Ed. & Erica Spear, BA, BS
Love this unit? Explore Dinosaurs and Art of Building.

This unit is sold as a digital PDF.
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More About Communication & Codes

Communication & Codes is a 44-page PDF. You will receive immediate access and an email with a link to your online profile with lifetime access to your purchase.

Creating an immersive learning environment helps children retain knowledge. In addition to the Communication & Codes lesson plans, you will also receive:

  • A full book list of nonfiction reference books, picture books, poetry anthologies, and a family read-aloud chapter book
  • Full color Scan-to-See support materials
  • Themed playlist, recommended board games, weekly open-ended play prompts
  • A Start-Up Guide to help you teach with confidence from the very first lesson

Sources used for the Communication & Codes unit include the British Museum, Encyclopedia Britannica, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and more.

Discover the Magic of Offshoots

Offshoots units take a unique approach to knowledge building through hands-on activities, immersive learning, cross-subject connection, and family time.

Rhythm

A simple, repeatable rhythm for your day with a guiding question, discussion, & activity

Activities

Experiments, projects, and real-world learning for elementary-aged learners

Guidance

Lightly scripted with built in prompts and background knowledge to help you teach with confidence

Knowledge

Each unit is a four-week deep dive designed to build lasting knowledge and vocabulary.

Planning

Weekly overviews, daily plans, and all the materials laid out and ready for you. Just open and go.

Connection

Build memories as a family through shared experiences and joyful moments learning together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Offshoots is a multi-age elementary curriculum built for the family to learn together, designed especially for kindergarten through 5th grade. The author of Offshoots, Susie Allison, wrote Playing Preschool for families with children age 2.5 to 5 years old.

If your oldest child is entering kindergarten, Playing Preschool Year 2 might be a better fit for their first year of homeschooling.

Offshoots is a unit study program designed for families with elementary learners. Each unit includes 4 weeks of detailed daily lesson plans, engaging printables, and vetted multimedia resources to enrich learning. There are also suggested books, board games, and a playlist for each unit. Learn more about all the features included with Offshoots here.

Offshoots is an ebook and the files are PDFs. You can find your downloadable files in the Offshoots Dashboard, which you will receive access to at checkout. The downloads for Offshoots do not expire. You are licensed to print one copy of each unit for your use.

We recommend using an online print shop. Watson Family Press is our favorite (not an affiliate, just a fan).

Yes! Of course! Please check out our samples page to see interior pages of Offshoots and a full week of the program.

Yes! Offshoots was written with homeschooling AND traditional schooling families in mind, because all children deserve access to foundational knowledge and hands-on learning. Each unit is full of skills and concepts to support children in the school system and those learning at home. Whether you choose to do a few units of Offshoots over summer break, 6-8 units during the school year as homeschoolers, or anywhere in between, this program is for you.

Offshoots focuses on the discovery subjects—science, social studies, the arts, and more. We always recommend you check your state/local homeschooling laws to ensure you are meeting those requirements. Offshoots is designed to be done as a family in addition to separate, leveled math and reading. This program does not include any explicit reading or math instruction. We recommend finding math and reading programs that work for your children in addition to learning together with Offshoots. Depending on the ages of your children, additional language arts (grammar, writing skills, and/or spelling) may also be helpful.

Offshoots is built on flexible routine and designed to take about 45-minutes to 1 hour per lesson. This will vary family-to-family and day-to-day, depending on the age of your learners, the suggested materials you use (books, games, etc.), and how many extensions or offshoots you take inside the daily lesson plans. Each lesson can be done all at once, or broken into pieces to best fit your schedule. Discuss the guiding question at the breakfast table. Listen to the unit’s chapter book as an audiobook in the car. Do a hands-on experiment after dinner. Offshoots supports all learning styles and schedules.

Offshoots is a unit study program. Units are sold individually or in bundles for a discount. They can be done as singles or consecutively for a richer learning experience. We recommend doing 6-8 units over the course of a school year for homeschooling families.

Offshoots is not aligned with Common Core standards by grade level. If you are required to, or choose to, align with Common Core standards in your homeschool, please see the skills list under each unit. You can compare those skills with the Common Core requirements for your state to determine whether or not Offshoots will be a good supplement to your other learning materials.

Offshoots is a secular home learning curriculum. It is “evergreen” and does not follow a calendar, season, religion, or hemisphere.

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