I don’t know if you do this, but I have occasionally bought a curriculum with every intention of using it to it’s maximum potential, only to shelve after a few weeks because of time and energy constraints.  Shortly after beginning to home school six years ago, we moved my in-laws up from FL, moved everyone to a new house and then proceeded to help with a church plant and have 2 more babies in the space of a few years. Needless to say, I quickly found myself in survival mode, focusing on reading, writing and math.  Other peripheral subjects like science and history fell by the wayside and were sporadic at best.  The sad thing is, I love those subjects and enjoy teaching them!  I also believe they are important and often help foster a child’s love of learning.

The Mystery of History by Linda Lacour Hobar was one of those things I bought, started and petered out on.  Not because it wasn’t great, but because I just didn’t know where to fit it in.

This year when I was trying to decide on a history curriculum, I was debating several, when I remembered MOH and thought, hmmp, why not try it again.

I needed something that was:

Cheap: check!  I already owned the book (1st edition). Even if I hadn’t, it is quite affordable for a year of curriculum.

Multi-level: check!  There are three levels which work perfectly for my 3rd, 5th and 7th graders. The levels are broken down as younger (k-3rd), middle (4th-8th), and older (high school).  You can adjust it according to your child’s abilities and interests.

Taught with a biblical worldview: check!  MOH incorporates Bible history with secular history seamlessly, while addressing a worldview, so that students are prepared for varying viewpoints they might encounter.

Linear timeline: check!  MOH starts with creation and progresses all the way to modern day over 4 volumes.  We have covered various historical periods, including a year-long unit on states and US history last year.  I really wanted the kids to get an overall view of history.

Audio CD’s for listening in the car: check! I was looking at using Story of the World’s audio CD’s to listen to in the car when we are picking up the oldest twice a week.  I was thrilled to find out MOH had added it’s own, which follows the book exactly.  It’s available for purchase of the whole year or there’s MP3 downloads for a quarter at a time, which was easier on the budget for us.

Visual time line: check!  At the end of each week, the author gives you a list of figures that you and the kids can draw and place on the time line.  We actually have most of the figures from our KONOS curriculum and we just add as needed.    Or you can purchase a set on the MOH site.  The author has a great tip for making a time line that can be hung on the wall and then folded and put away using a sewing board.  We never hung our KONOS time line because it required so much wall space, but it was something I always wanted to do because it’s such a great visual of where people fit in history.

Since MOH ticked all the boxes, it was a no-brainer.  After visiting their site to find the audio material, I stumbled on some bonuses they had added since I originally purchased mine:

Folderbook material : Available to purchase a quarter at a time is everything you need to make a fabulous folderbook (lapbook) perfect for older kids.  I had intended to use this for the 3rd and 5th graders only, but the 7th grader loves artistic activities so much, she does it as well. It’s great for reinforcing material and gives the kids a visual of all they have learned.

Coloring pages: These may sound a little young for my age groups, but these are actually beautifully drawn illustrations for each week of the curriculum.  We use these in the car and the kids color them while listening to the lessons.   Then we display them in art frames for the next week.  At the end of the year, I’ll bind them all together to make a finished book for each child.  Even the 2 and 4-year-olds join in the coloring.

Companion CD with printables: All of the maps, pretests, quizzes, etc. are available on the companion CD for easy printing.

There’s several other add-ons available in the MOH store.  You can tailor the resources to your home school’s needs and only purchase what you want.

How it works for us: Twice a week when we pick up my high-schooler from classes we listen to all three lessons for the week in the van. We keep a bag with folders, colored pencils and the current week’s picture ready for action. The lessons are only about 5-7 minutes a piece, and by listening to them twice a week, they retain more.  They color the illustrations while listening and then we talk about the material.  During the week, I put folderbook items and any worksheets in their workboxes. I also check out related books from the library and pull out books from our collection for them to read during the week.  On Friday, when we have a break from afternoon science, we’ll do any of the extra activities, like maps and timeline figures together, as well as any quizzes.   To this point, it has worked beautifully and we are all enjoying it, so it’s no mystery why I love this curriculum!

Kerri always longed for a life of adventure with the man of her dreams. What she never dreamed was that it would be with seven kids in tow! In between welcoming a new one into the world and preparing one to go out in it, she occasionally manages to string together a few complete sentences on Sonflower and also Habits for a Happy Home.

What is Considering God’s Creation?

• Universe
• Stars
• Solar System
• Earth
• Light
• Sound
• Wind
• Weather
• Clouds
• Rocks
• Plants
• Insects
• Mammals
• Reptiles
• Birds
• Fish
• Amphibians
• Food Chains
• Reproduction and Genetics
• Human
• Animal Anatomy
• Physiology

Each lesson covers:

• Preparation
• Vocabulary
• Introduction
• Song/Poem
• Hands on Activity
• Bible Reading
• Notebook
• Evolution Stumpers
• Review
• Digging Deeper

To view sample pages click HERE.

Richele is a happy wife and and grateful, Charlotte Mason addicted, history loving, eclectic homeschooling mom to four beautiful children. She believes education should foster creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity. She enjoys tailoring education to suit the needs of her children. She loves adding in touches of classical, traditional, and hands on methods to mix things up a bit. Her educational background is in philosophy and educational psychology. Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.

Have you found a curriculum you and your children absolutely love? One that is a perfect fit for everyone’s learning style? A nice match for the age range of your household? That, my friends, is how I feel about Tapestry of Grace.

I am fresh from representing Tapestry in a booth at my local homeschool convention. The three of us booth hostesses were not selling Tapestry that weekend. We were simply there to help, to answer questions and to share how we use the curriculum in our homes. Three days worth of talking Tapestry with fellow homeschoolers! So, what I am sharing here is not only my family’s years of experience with Tapestry but also what I learned were the biggest questions for newcomers to this curriculum.

Those that walked up to the booth, brand new to Tapestry or those who had never heard of it before asked this most often: What is it? Will you explain it?

Tapestry of Grace is a classical approach, Biblically-based, unit study curriculum for the whole family. Tapestry covers eight subjects. Everyone learning together – each child on their own learning and skill level. Here are the subjects Tapestry covers:

• History
• Writing
• Literature
• Geography
• Fine Arts
• Church History
• Philosophy
• Government

So you need to add: Math, Grammar and Science

Tapestry of Grace is a unit study approach. Four eras or year plans of history. Four units each year. Everyone studying the same topics. The history cycle (from the Tapestry site):

• Year 1 covers the Ancient World.
• Year 2 covers the Medieval World through the American Revolution.
• Year 3 covers the 1800′s
• Year 4 begins in 1900 and ends with current events.

Weekly plans: Kristen does a wonderful job of describing how the weekly plans are presented in her Review of Tapestry of Grace. She describes each section: the threads, reading assignments, weekly overview, writing assignments, student activity pages, teacher notes and glance into next week.

Here’s a peek at how Tapestry works in our home: When we first started with Tapestry of Grace I had a 5th, 4th and 1st grader. Plus a three-year-old and an infant. We spread one year of learning over two years. I love this pace. Especially with little ones under foot and older ones needing to concentrate on independent work. Tapestry gave us “a map for the journey.” The following words are from Marcia’s Somerville’s blog, Love the Journey, several years ago.

• This was us before Tapestry: “…using traditional homeschooling curricula, instead of preserving family unity, each child is put into his own little car and travels each day his individual roads. Mom becomes more of a traffic cop trying to keep all the bumper cars on their tracks than the driver of the family van.
• After: Using Tapestry, everyone travels together and explores the landscape of Classical Education from a Christian perspective in one family van that mom and dad really do drive.“

Everyone learning together. Really? Yes. This year, I had a 7th, 6th and 3rd grader. Plus, of course the preschoolers learning as well. One week the older two had a shared writing assignment. They were to write a radio show. Set in the early 1900s, they worked together on a story of the Wright brothers. They recruited their two younger sisters as additional characters and sound effects technicians. Sixth grader used the radio equipment that was his great-grandfather’s. (Do you see?)

Tapestry addresses all our different learning styles:

• Hands on projects: I have one child that particularly flourishes when she gets to do a book report on a display board. Woven throughout Tapestry assignments are art and activity projects for individual students as well as for the whole family. The lapbook supplements are wonderful for those that enjoy hands on learning as well.

• Auditory learners – can listen to audio books for literature and history studies. Many of these we borrow from the library.
• Independent learning – My eldest likes to load up her books and tuck herself off in a corner. There are plenty of opportunities for those that work best on their own – which is the aim for the transition from dialectic (roughly middle school) to rhetoric (high school).

Even learning for mom and dad! Marcia Somerville explains Tapestry this way: Picture your family getting in the family van and heading out on a cross-country trek. There is something on the journey for everyone. For mom, extensive, weekly teacher notes give you all you would ever need for grades K-12 all the years of your homeschooling journey. For dad, a Pop Quiz. This CD is easy to listen to on a work commute, giving an overview and highlights of the learning going on at home.

If you are new to Tapestry, their website is a wonderful place to start:

• Download a free, three-week trial of Tapestry. Explore Egypt with your family and explore Tapestry of Grace at the same time. This is what we did when considering Tapestry. It helped me, as the teacher, see how the curriculum works. And it got the children all excited!
• Marcia Somerville’s video explanation of the map of humanities. Hear directly from Tapestry creator and author about the journey of Tapestry of Grace. She regularly posts on her blog specific Tapestry information as well as general homeschool encouragement.
• Also on the Tapestry of Grace site, under the Explore Tapestry tab, you can view explanations of the cyclical plans, weekly plans. learning levels, the three big ideas. Pull up a chair and spend some time here.

Learn from fellow Tapestry users:

• An extensive online community – forum, photo gallery, find a co-op, find a friend.
• Harmony Art Mom – a friend and mom using Tapestry of Grace through high school. She shares all of her practical Tapestry tips, topics, techniques. How much I have learned from Barb! Please read her review Sonlight vs. Tapestry of Grace here on the Curriculum Choice as well as other Curriculum Choice reviews.
• More on the day to day Tapestry of Grace in our home, including preparing for a new Tapestry of Grace year, here.

But I feel overwhelmed by Tapestry of Grace. How do I make it work? Never have we ever done all of the subjects each week. Tapestry is truly a smorgasbord. When I open that week plan, I zone in on the learning levels for my children and ignore the rest. Even then, depending on the week, we may choose to only tackle the core history assignment. Other weeks, as we are wrapping up a unit, we may concentrate more on the arts and activities, doing assignments and larger projects together as a family.

We never finish up each and every assignment for the week. This curriculum serves you and your needs, matching the season of your life. There is so much to choose from! You don’t have to check it all off. Yet, that is also one of the beautiful benefits of Tapestry. You can tailor it by topic for your family, changing it to your children’s needs, matching the books you already have on your shelf. Dig deep or skim the surface. Rich learning either way.

Cost: One time investment. When you buy a year or even a unit of Tapestry of Grace you have it to use over and over again. Cycling through with each child. Your youngest ones have the chance to learn at the different levels up to four times.

How do you like your curriculum? Tapestry is available in print or digital form. Or, you can purchase both for each unit. I made the transition from print to digital last year. I found it easy to have everything on my computer to click on and reach – all in one spot. However, my two new Tapestry hostess friends both preferred having the digital version on their computers AND the print version to hold and flip through.

What about all those books? Oh the books we read! Each unit is rich with living books. Buying all the books for each unit is an option. However, I can purchase the ‘spine’ resource we will be using that year or that unit and reserve the rest at the library. Most of the books are available there. If not the first resource listed, then I usually already have the books listed on the alternate resource page in each week’s reading. Or can find them at the library. For years 3 and 4, Story of the World was listed as an alternate resource. Already had that on my shelf!

Bookshelf Central is the spot to load your cart up on books. You can select the books you need for all learning levels the entire year. Or you can fill your cart with just the books you will need for your grammar students for unit one. The online cartoon character, Grace, leads you through the Buying Guide step by step.

Optional Supplements:

• Lapbooks: available for each unit, either on disc for you to print. Or pre-printed on colored paper for you and your child to assemble. Some families purchase a lapbook for each child. In our family, we use the lapbook as a review at the end of the unit. Each child picks several topics to work on and research. Click here.

• Pop Quiz: Dad can listen on his commute to work. Supper time discussion can be about all the learning going on at home. The children and I have also used Pop Quiz CDs ourselves as an overview – in the car – going from place to place during the week. Click here for more information.
• Map Aids: all the maps you need to print for one year in one place. Available in disc form or as an add on to Tapestry DE. Click here.

• Writing Aids: A resource for all ages. One time purchase to be used as a supplement to Tapestry writing assignments or as an independent writing handbook. We turn to this guide to see what is expected in an assignment. What is a book report? How do you organize a display board? All types of writing graphs, wheels, diagrams and more to print to aid in the writing process. Click here.
• Evaluations: Tests and quizzes to see how much your children are absorbing. The Tapestry site says, “Evaluations are unique because they test in keeping with the Tapestry style–integrated and multi-sensory!” Click here.
• Government Elective: Available for rhetoric students. Key documents for further study. Click here.
• Online Classes: for dialectic and rhetoric students. Click here.

Unit Celebrations: a celebration brings closure to a unit of study. These can be extensive or simple. Children can dress as a character from the time period they’ve studied and put on a play. Invite grandparents, friends and neighbors to view display boards, reports and school work. Celebrate all you’ve learned. Here’s an example from our Year 4 studies.

Continuing Education: I feel that continuing education and encouragement for mom is important. I look forward to the sessions at homeschool convention each year. As well as just seeing the sheer number of homeschoolers that fill that convention hall! With Tapestry of Grace, I’m learning right along with my children. All the resources I need to teach them at my fingertips. Extensive teacher notes from K all the way through high school.

As one heading into our fourth year of Tapestry, let me suggest: Take a summer or holiday break to get to know Tapestry. Take your time navigating their website. Download the free, three-week trial and have fun trying it out with your children. Trying it on is how we all find out if it fits.

In summary: Tapestry brings us all together for learning. As a family we are learning history – HIS Story – beginning with creation and leading to present times. And, when we are all learning together that means less work for mom. I’m not teaching those eight subjects times my five children. I’m teaching them once. Tapestry reaches the needs of all my children and gradually builds independent learners. All it takes is a few steps into the buffet of options available each unit, and the children are off and running on their own.

This year, as I officially start one more of my children on the Tapestry road and transition another into high school, I have the confidence and tools I need. I’m looking forward to teaching my kindergartener, 4th, 7th and 8th graders all together. And I’m sure the three-year-old will be joining in often. So, yes, I’d agree with the Tapestry of Grace slogan, Love the Journey.

And, once more I strongly suggest you download a free, three-week trial of Tapestry. See how it works for your family by actually using it. Print it out and hold it in your hand. We did it that one summer and then knew it was for us.

How about you? Have you already attended or do you plan to attend a homeschool convention? What questions do you have about Tapestry of Grace?

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Several months ago a slim little volume caught my eye on the clearance rack at Half-Price Books.  Sometimes, the clearance rack leads me astray—all of those cheap books just screaming my name—but not this time!  Easy Make and Learn Projects:  Human Body by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne was perfect for our study of the human body.

Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body and the lapbook that we made

The cover proclaims that there are “easy how-to’s for making 20 models, manipulatives, and mini-books that will wow kids and teach about the incredible human body.”  I agree.  The book contains a variety of hands-on paper projects that make excellent teaching models

brain hats and nerve necklaces

Each project opens with factual information pertaining to the body system or part to which the model relates.  This information was invaluable to me, as it provided the facts that I needed to correlate the project with our studies.  Next, the book provides easy-to-follow directions and black-line masters for the project itself.  All of the parts are provided.  Simply copy, cut, and tape.  Each project also contains teaching instructions, composed of questions and directions to aid students in using the project itself.  I found them useful.

Easy Make and Learn Projects:  Human Body contains the following projects:

●A body book that outlines the body’s systems

●A cell mobile illustrates several cell types

●A magnification project which reveals what parts of the body look like up close

●A brain hat showing the parts of the brain

●A nerve necklace that illustrates how nerves operate

●A sliding eye that shows the parts of the eye

●An ear accordion that reveals how we hear

●A model of the tongue that shows taste buds

●A nose model that describes how we smell

●A model that shows how our sense of touch works

●A model of skin including the parts

●A model showing how hair grows

●A model of the skeleton

●A bone that illustrates how bones grow

●A model of muscles that shows how they move

●Two models that illustrate breathing

●A heart model that reveals how blood circulates through the heart

●A model of the body that shows how blood circulates through the body

●A large poster that reveals the path of digestion

●A model of the esophagus

We created the majority of the projects as we studied the human body.  They were very do-able for my first grader and her preschool-age brothers, though I was also very involved.  The book says that it is for 2^nd to 4^thgraders, but I think it is applicable to a wide range of students.  The projects are useful and helpful in understanding the body and its processes and the directions are helpful.  Each project could certainly be completed for individual use, but we saved our projects and put them into a lapbook.

Easy Make and Learn Projects:  Human Body is published by Scholastic but can be found in lots of places, including the occasional clearance rack.  As for me, the clearance rack wielded an excellent find in Easy Make and Learn Projects:  Human Body.  In fact, had I been aware of its potential I probably would have paid full price.

-Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a good-sized mess.  A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and the wonderful man she married to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason, with a touch of the traditional.

One of our favorite educational tools is lapbooking.  Whether we create the traditional lapbook in a file folder or put the pieces on cardstock in a notebook, we love recording the things we learn in a lapbook.  We have created our own lapbooks, found free lapbooks online, and bought lapbook files from several companies.

The newest lapbook my eight year old, Makayla, has completed is the United States Symbols Mini-Lapbook from Knowledge Box Central.  We chose this lapbook as a fun way to learn about some of our country’s symbols, and a possible jumping off point for more learning adventures.  A Mini-Lapbook fits inside one folder.

I love the way these lapbooks are laid out. The included Study Guide is laid out in nice, large font and includes all the information about each symbol in simple paragraph style.  There is a Student Instruction Guide that told my daughter which booklet to grab(they are numbered), the questions that she was to answer in the booklet, as well as how to assemble that booklet.  There is even a Layout page that shows the student one way to fit all the booklets into the file folder.

Booklets in this mini-lapbook cover the following:

• The White House
• The Pledge of Allegiance
• The U.S. Flag
• The Statue of Liberty
• The National Anthem
• The Liberty Bell
• The National Bird
• and more!

It was neat to see my daughter mentally connect things we had learned in the past, as well as bring other questions to mind to explore.  For example, after learning basic facts about Independence Hall she wanted to hear more about the Declaration of Independence and why the colonists felt they needed to write it.  She remembered a favorite Schoolhouse Rock song, No More Kings, that tells some of the story, and off we were to listen to it again.

We both really enjoyed the United States Symbols Mini-Lapbook ($7.99) from Knowledge Box Central and can’t wait to start our next lapbook!  If you want to learn more about things we have enjoyed using in our homeschool you can read my other Curriculum Choice reviews.

Written by Tristan, mom to 5 going on 6 children, homeschooling through unit studies with a side of lapbooks.  You can visit her at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

I had my eye on the Epi Kardia curriculum from the moment I heard of it. I was caught immediately by their name alone as it conveyed exactly the type of homeschooling theology in our home! Imagine my delight when I was offered a 1st grade set to review!  We couldn’t wait for it to arrive!

Epi Kardia is a “historically structured, literature-based curriculum using Charlotte Mason methods” available for grades Kindergarten through High School.  So why Epi Kardia as the curriculum name?…

(from their website) “The Greek words “Epi Kardia” mean at the heart. At Epi Kardia, we feel the heart of home education is the Christ-centered mentoring and discipleship relationship between parents and their children.”

This completely embodies our goals for our homeschool so I just had to try it out.

The day the box came in we were so excited!  I had to rip the box open and dig right in!

My kids were so excited and I was even more pleased with the packaging: eco-friendly packing peanuts!    I joyfully packaged those up for crafts at a later date! (As frugal homeschooling mom, I never miss a moment to reuse and recycle!)

I enjoy the way that the curriculum is broken down into three books so they were not cumbersome to use and their packaging was really pretty! (LOL)

I received the Epi Kardia 1st grade “Lesson Plans” set. This choice is laid out in a daily lesson plan format that outlines each subject for each day, including hands-on ideas, lapbooking suggestions, arts, crafts and more; so you can really just jump in and go!

Epi Kardia offers two different types of curriculum:

1. Complete Programs — their most cost-effective option, Complete Programs  can be used for three years each following our methodology.  Using unit overviews, history, science and music/fine arts book-lists divided by topic,  along with the suggested projects and activities, you write your own lesson plans.

2. Daily Lesson Plans — Love homeschooling (or want to homeschool) but you know you are not a planner, organized or you have a hard time following through? The Daily Lesson Plans are already-planned-in-advance and are written for specific grade levels.  They include weekly goals and objectives for each subject and daily lessons planned integrating the studies of history, science (K-8), language arts and projects.

Features of Epi Kardia Curriculum

• Based on Charlotte Mason methodologies include reading whole, living books, short lessons, oral narration, using copy work and dictation to teach grammar and composition, and more!
• All books listed in the curriculum have been read and evaluated from an evangelical Christian worldview by at least one of the authors
• Integrates the subjects of history, science, language arts (including reading, grammar, composition, phonics, poetry, literature studies, spelling) and fine arts
• Activities, books and projects recommended for each learning style
• Provided in their complete program, components are historical overviews of each time period for teachers/older students, as well as a customizable CD with teaching tools and helpful forms
• The 100+ page teacher’s manuals include abundant information about teaching covered subjects and as well as curriculum related material
• The 6th – 12th grade manual includes an extensive section regarding teaching high school writing.

Epi Kardia is a living book based curriculum, so books are an integral part of it.  In each set there is an outline of books that will be used for that quarter. Although the books are not offered as part of the curriculum purchase, I have found that most are easily found online for free, at your local library, or available used online.  (They even offer the books via links to amazon on their website, to save you time and energy).

Being the frugal family that we are, I’ve elected to procure the books from our local library and online at the free books sites (as listed in my listing of free curriculum). So far, the books have been fun and fairly easy to get. We love going to the library!

I look forward to finding new books that we may have never been exposed to! Like others in living book style curricula, I fully expect to find some books my kids will adore so much they won’t want to return them.

In my humble opinion, Epi Kardia compares nicely with other, more known curriculum such as Sonlight, My Father’s World, or Tapestry of Grace.  Of course, each of these curriculum offer their own perspective, features and lesson plans, which makes each one unique and tailored to each families personal needs.  However, I think the Sullivan family has joyfully found our core curricula of choice!

Prices for the curriculum varies according to your curriculum style choice and media. You can elect to buy the spiral bound books (like pictured above) or a CD.  Prices start at $75.00 for a full curriculum book or, you can choose to try their lesson plans, you may purchase the first unit (The Ancients–six weeks of plans) for only $25.  Epi Kardia is so sure you are going to love them, they even offer a full credit if you choose to buy the full set after purchasing the trial.

A Journey Through Learning is a fairly new lapbook company to me.  This year, I’ve completed two of their units and used a third for reference – and I have to tell you how impressed I’ve been!

Lapbooking is something I’ve been doing for quite some time, but I’ve never come across a pre-made unit organized quite so well.  This is especially helpful for those who have never used lapbooks before, but much appreciated by seasoned lapbookers alike!

I’d like to take you on a brief tour to show you just how well-designed the units are…

• A short and sweet description is given about lapbooking and supplies needed.  The instructions aren’t overwhelming and are very clear.

• A color diagram showing where all the mini-books are to be placed is followed by full-color photographs of the finalized lapbook.

• A cover page is included for your child to color and add to the front of the lapbook.

• A table of contents is supplied for mom.

• Before each lapbooking acitivity, a study guide is placed that includes all the necessary information needed to complete the mini-book.  (In other words, everything you need to complete the mini-book is placed together in the unit, so there’s no searching for pieces and parts.)

• The mini-book lapbooking activity follows directly after the study guide page(s).  What I love most, is the small diagram located at the top corner of each activity page reminding you where the mini-book should be placed in the lapbook folders.  Clear directions for completing the mini-book are included on the page as well.

• Additional pages follow at the end of the units such as a bibliography, a research organizer, narration notebooking pages, book report forms and graphic organizers.

The entire PDF file is in color, which makes for a nicely finished product if you have a color printer.  If not, the pages will print just fine on a black and white printer.  Actual photographs and professional illustrations are standard in these units and are often “built in” to the mini-books as covers.  This adds a wonderful touch to the finished product.

A decent amount of study guide information is included for each lesson.  However, depending on the age of your students, you may choose to add to the info with library books or online research.  As with any unit study, you sometimes have to beef them up a bit for older students.

The company offers many units in all subject areas and for a variety of ages.  I’ve only had experience with the PDF e-books, but CD’s, printed versions and/or pre-assembled versions are available, too.  Most units run around $14.00 for the PDF file which I feel is a very fair price.

Another book I’ve enjoyed from A Journey Through Learning is their 60 Easy-To-Assemble Lapbook Templates.  This is a super resource for do-it-yourself lapbookers who would like one handy place to go to find blank mini-book templates.  Just as I mentioned above, all the directions are very clear.  All you have to do is print and assemble -  then complete on any topic you’d like!

-Written by Cindy, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3.  You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.

We’ve been lapbooking since March 2008. When I found out about lapbooking I was thrilled since I have children that love to work with their hands while they learn. This was a perfect fit for us.

 The month of December we’ve taken a step away from our regular schooling and have solely focused on spending time together and learning more about our Lord Jesus Christ and the reason for the season.

I’ve done lapbooks before through A Journey Through Learning  but I thought it would be fitting to share about this particular one since this is the Christmas Season.

This study helps you walk through the Bible during the time of Jesus’ birth. Full of Bible scriptures already placed and ready to print for you. No need to look them up.

As we worked through this lapbook, we learned about:

•  the birth of Jesus
•  Mary and Joseph
•  Gabriel the Messenger
•  Zechariah
• Elizabeth
• the Temple
• Mary visiting Elizabeth
• John the Baptist
• Caesar Augustus
• The Birth of Jesus
• The Census and Taxing
• The Manger and Shephards
• The Magi
• King Herod
• The Gifts
• and more….

Few of the Templates

The lapbook format was easy to follow and understand. The research is already done for you. No additional prep is necessary. Print out the information you will need to do that lesson and you’re ready to go.

The information is written in a way you can just read it straight to your child and then complete the lapbook templates together.

 

 The information is written first, then follows the scripture on the next page that is typed out for you in regards to that specific lesson and then the template/s follow with step by step instructions on how to cut them out and put them together as well as what to put in each template. 

 

The templates are in color which is nice. You can choose color or black and white. There is also step by step instructions at the beginning of the book for the beginning lapbooker on how to assemble this lapbook and what you will need to put it all together.

 

If you are looking for a lapbook or hands on curriculum to teach your child about the birth of Jesus, this is a wonderful resource.

 

You can learn more about A Journey Through Learning by checking out their website here

A little over a year ago, I was in eastern Washington at a teacher store and I came across a few books called “Build-a-Skill Instant Books”. I thumbed through them and thought these would be great for both of my boys to use. What I loved about them at first glance was it reminded me a lot of lapbooking.

Grades 2-3 Language Arts Books

If you’ve done lapbooking before you might be familiar with the concept of cutting out templates or booklets and filling them in with information and pasting them into a folder, binder or scrapbook.

Grades K-1 Series of Books

I decided to purchase all of them since I live in Montana and have never seen them locally. They come in two sets of grade levels. K-1 and 2-3. The ones we are working on are all pertaining to Language Arts and are very hands on in approach. They do have Math books to use but we have not used those.

Grades K-1 come in several different areas of study for Language Arts including:

• Word Families-short vowels
• Word Families-long vowels
• Consonant Blends and Digraphs
• Color, Shape and Number Words
• Short and Long Vowels
• R-Controlled Vowels-Vowel Digraphs
• Sight Words, Part 1
• Sight Words, Part 2
• Beginning-Ending Consonant Sounds
• Synonyms and Antonyms

Math includes:

• Time and Money
• Math Facts to 20

Grades 2-3 areas of study include:

Language Arts:

• Synonyms-Antonyms
• Homophones
• Contractions
• Irregular Vowels
• Compound Words
• Prefixes-Suffixes
• Plurals
• Parts of Speech
• Verb Forms

Math includes:

• Multiplication and Division
• Time-Money
• Fractions

Short Vowel Word Family Booklets

We’ve worked on several of these books in both grade levels and my boys have learned alot.  Each book has several styled books to cut and fill out. Some to color if you choose or copy them onto colored paper. We have taken the books they’ve done and placed them like lapbooking or added them to existing lapbooks they were working on that related to the Build-a-Skill books.

Learning Sight Words Booklets

Learn N' Folder Notebook

Lapbook style learning in high school? Absolutely!

I have two very visual boys who tend to shy away from normal question and answer, fill-in-the-blanks style learning. When we started high school science with a “real” textbook, I was hesitant about using the review questions in the way they are presented.

Complex vocabulary included with flashcards the student makes himself.

After a little research, I found Live and Learn Press’ Learn N’ Folder Notebook specifically designed to follow the Apologia text Exploring Creation with Biology. I downloaded the free sample which gave me a complete unit to preview. I was impressed with the way they presented the On Your Own questions, the vocabulary, and then review questions into a lapbook sort of format and decided that we would give it a try.

The notebook uses a variety of study ideas.

I will admit that I print out the pages and do all the cutting and folding for their notebooks. I happen to enjoy that sort of work so it is not a burden to me at all. In fact, some evenings my husband and I will sit and make the notebooks together as we chat and enjoy each other’s company with our hands busy folding the various parts of the book.

The boys love all the fun graphics.

As a learning tool, I am very pleased with this product. Filling in the little books and folds with information makes it much more palatable for my sons as we work through the modules. They seem to retain the information better and reviewing the information is much more productive in using the Learn N’ Folder Notebook. They can also quiz themselves before a test using the notebook pages.

The Live and Learn Press Learn N’ Folder Notebooks are not cheap, the biology notebook is $30 for the ebook version,  but in our family they have been worth every penny we spent. Sure, they could write out their answers on lined paper with a pencil, but using the Folder Notebooks has made the learning a little easier and definitely more fun.

Makes self-quizzing easy.

I highly recommend the products from Live and Learn Press to go along with your Apologia texts. There are Folder Notebooks for the elementary level texts as well. We will be using their Chemistry Notebook next year to help us organize our study.

Helps with study techniques

For more information on our biology study, please pop over to my Biology Squidoo lens for loads of ideas and suggestions.

Squidoo: Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology

Written by Barb-Harmony Art mom.  She also blogs at http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com and her business is found at http://www.harmonyfinearts.com. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges: http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.

I was introduced to Sharon Crooks- FUNtastic Folders- J is for Japan as we continue our studies around the globe this year. We love to work with our hands during our schoolday and this mini unit study is perfect for just that.

Sample Writing Assignment J is for Japan

Filled with lapbooking, cutting, reading and writing exercises.  The studies are designed to work at your own pace so there is no specific planner for you to follow. We really enjoyed working through it this way.

Lapbooking is a huge part of our hands on approach to learning and when we found this curriculum, I was happy to try it out.

This particular study comes in Preschool and 1-3rd grade. I used both grade levels to see the difference in them. I noticed they were very similar and taught the same things but at different levels of learning.

Sample of Lesson Plans

The lesson plans were easy to follow and were designed to read outloud directly to the child which makes prep time  a minimum. A plus in our homeschool! With full colored pictures throughout the lesson plans to help draw in the student to the study and help them feel like they are really there.

The lapbooking templates were filled with art activities which was a huge hit here at our house. From drawing your own Kimono, filling your Bento Box, to making your own Kokeshi doll.. My son learned a lot at his level of learning about Japan.

Lapbook Templates

• Fall-tastic Fun
• “B” is for Boats
• “I” is for Insect
• and more

She also has another series called WisdomKids with titles including:

• Psalm 1- Be Like A Tree!
• I Know You!
• Thanks and Giving
• Jesus Is…
• The ABC’s of Being Thankful
• and more

The prices for these lessons range from $8.95-$14.95 and you can purchase them at www.currclick.com

Learn more about FUNtastic Folders by visiting her website @www.sharoncrooks.com

Our family enjoys lapbooking.  We don’t use lapbooks for every single unit we complete, but I like to find two or three really good lapbooking units to use throughout the school year.  I find my self going to Hands of a Child quite often when looking for the perfect fit for our lapbooking needs.  Their units are typically thorough, easy to implement and well organized.  I don’t usually struggle with figuring out what goes where, or how to fold the pieces – which means a lot to this busy momma!

From Hands of a Child, I’ve chosen to review the Operation: English Grammar Project Pack. It was one of our very favorites this year and has not only provided my 6th grade daughter with a wonderful review/overview of grammar, but she now has an easy to file and find resource to pull out when she needs to remember about a particular part of speech or punctuation mark.

 Operation: English Grammar

Hands of a Child is a company that develops unit studies in which the activities are completed, for the most part, using mini-books.  All of these mini-books are meant to be contained in a series of file folders that are attached to one another so that you have a neat, complete and thorough record of the unit contained in one place.   All the background information, templates for mini-projects, and directions for completing the units are included.  Color pictures are also included to show what the final project should look like. 

You may purchase either a spiral-bound printed copy, an e-book, or a CD of the PDF file.  The company also offers an e-book version that allows your child to type information into the mini-books before printing and cutting.  You may choose to buy answer keys and pre-assembled kits, as well. 

The units begin with a table of contents, followed by a research guide.  This research guide is where you or your child will find the background information needed in order to complete the activities.  There’s no need to run to the library for further research, unless you desire to add books for supplemental reading.  Depending on the ability of your child, you may choose to read the information from the research guide to them, or have them read the information themselves. 

Templates for the mini-books, graphic organizers and other activities are included with clear directions on what to do and how to put together the pieces if necessary.  Each of the activities asks your child to take something they read from the research guide and show what they learned.  They might be asked to cut out a series of cards on which to write definitions then create a pocket in which to store the cards.  They might be asked to cut out pages that will be stapled into a little book where the steps of a certain procedure are to be written.  The activity ideas are varied and almost endless.

Many of the templates include little pictures that add visual interest to the activity.  You can also often find extra clip art that your child might use for decorating their file folders.  The templates are made so that it’s very clear what is to be cut and what is to be folded so no (or few) cutting mistakes are made. 

You are expected to copy the activity templates, so a copier, printer or copy shop is necessary – unless, of course you choose to buy the pre-assembled unit.  It is suggested the copies be made on 24# weight paper or cardstock for more durability.  You’ll find having lots of colored paper on hand enhances the look of the projects, too.  Other supplies needed to complete the unit packs include file folders, coloring tools, tape, glue, a stapler and scissors. 

At the end of the book, you will find directions for putting together the folders that will house all the projects.  The units are very thorough, but you may occasionally decide you’d like to add something yourself or even take away one or more of the activities.  Just as with any unit study, these are very adaptable to whatever suits your family’s needs.

Geared for children in 3rd grade and higher, the English Grammar Pack is very unique.  The student becomes “Special Agent Art Lang” from Planet Gabgone.  He or she goes on an undercover mission to Earth in order to bring English grammar and sentence structure to Planet Gabgone.  Through the various missions, your “special agent” child will have completed such a thorough portfolio of English grammar research that Planet Gabgone will easily be able to adopt the English language.  Then the mission will be completed!

Each grammar or punctuation topic is covered in-depth.  For example, when learning about nouns, the following types of nouns will be explained:  common, proper, concrete, abstract, collective, singular, plural, compound and possessive.  In order to cover all of these types of nouns, your child will go on four separate missions.  As another example, when learning about conjunctions, the following types of conjunctions will be covered:  coordinating, subordinating, correlative and adverbial.  This is no simple jaunt through grammarland!  In 28 different missions, your child will have covered nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, verbs, conjunctions, phrases, clauses, sentences and punctuation. 

A long list of related books is included that might help cement the various parts of speech.  Personally, I believe adding at least some of these related books and some worksheets to go along with each topic is a good idea.  As much as a child will learn from the Project Pack, a bit of additional practice using each part of speech or punctuation is beneficial.

This Project Pack is recommended for 3rd grade and higher, but I feel like a 3rd grader, and maybe even a 4th grader, would need to be pretty advanced in order to completely understand everything covered.   Whenever your child is ready to tackle these topics, though, I highly recommend this Project Pack for a “whole picture” of English grammar.

If you’d like to find other Hands of a Child Project Packs, please visit their site at www.handsofachild.com.  You can even find semi-annual freebies here!

Written by Cindy, she also blogs at Our Journey Westward.

The Big Book of Books and Activities by Dinah Zike is a black and white, 128 page resource for paper crafts and minibooks. I’ve owned my copy for several years, and I still pull it down for ideas. Now that my daughter is ten, she can look up papercraft ideas herself in this easy to use book.

What I love most about this book is that it is both crystal clear and supremely practical.  There are 41 different projects, mostly minibooks or “foldables” as Zike calls them. But some of them are activity ideas such as using macaroni in crafts or making homemade sidewalk chalk. Each project includes step by step diagrams and written directions for how to make the minibooks. In addition, there are lots of photographs (black and white) and written suggestions for specific uses of the minibooks. For example, on the page showing how to make Circle Stands, Zike tells you to “use circle stands to hold labels, vocabulary words, information cards, and more.” In the layered look book section, she suggests, “Cut layered look books into sections for comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, or for recording data, as illustrated by this experiment book.” These kinds of tips are good for kick starting your own creative applications.

Zike also shares some organizational tips for your supplies (mostly geared towards classroom teachers, but still applicable to a homeschool setting) and teaches the names of the basic folds which she references throughout the book.

A Charlotte Mason purist probably would not think much of these paper projects.  They are the kind of “bells and whistles” they consider distracting from and unnecessary for real learning. But if your child is artistic or creative or prefers a more hands-on approach, making paper projects can be an excellent way to narrate what was learned. Miss Mason did recommend written narrations for children once they are able to do so. I see these paper projects as a creative style of written narration. After a reading assignment, offer your child a paper project to assemble. She can write or draw (depending on her age) her narration onto the minibook. An older child may enjoy choosing his own project from the possibilities in the book.

This book is unavailable new at Amazon, but can still be bought at Rainbow Resource, my favorite homeschool retailer.

Written by Jimmie, Charlotte Mason flavored mom of one.