As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, teaching with living literature is imperative to me. And considering that I like to package much of our history and science learning into unit studies, incorporating living literature into our current unit makes awesome connections for my children.

The History Comes Alive books written by Barbara Greenwood fit both the CM and unit study aspects of our homeschool perfectly! Written about four major eras of North American history, the books are a wonderful mix between historical fiction, factual snippets and simple hands-on activity ideas.

I’ve used these books with my children from 2nd grade on up. They’re each well over 200 pages, but are illustrated in black and white pencil drawings to keep children intrigued. It’s very easy to skip around and only read certain parts, too, if you’d rather not go through the entire book.

A Pioneer Story introduces you to Sarah and Willy Robertson, Canadian pioneer children of the 1840’s who must be hard-working members of their family in order to survive. Breaks in the story-line turn to more factual information about such things as what a typical log house would’ve looked like, how a farm might be situated, the maple sugaring process, the process of weaving and much more. Activity breaks are also included in the story which will give step-by-step instructions for making cheese, making a homemade balance scale, stenciling and many others.

There are two smaller books available by the same author on the subject of pioneers, too – A Pioneer Thanksgiving and A Pioneer Christmas. Both are written in the same style as the above book, but only have about 48 pages each.

The Last Safe House (our very favorite) is a story of the Underground Railroad. Two preteen girls, Eliza (an escaped slave) and Johanna (a daughter in the home of a safe house) become wonderful friends. Johanna is introduced to the world of slavery, escape, fear and freedom in this wonderful tale. On the factual side of the story, you learn about famous slaves, slave labor, the Underground Railroad and even a few slave songs. The activities teach how to make corn-husk dolls, tin lanterns, gingerbread cookies, and how to spin a good story.

Gold Rush Fever is set in the Klondike in 1898. Thirteen year old Tim sets off with his older brother on the dangerous journey through the Yukon territory in an attempt to get rich during the gold rush. This book not only takes you on the hunt for gold, but starts at the beginning in Seattle where you start the trip through treacherous conditions. It’s a good view of the entire sacrifice and determination on the part of those who left home in search of gold. The factual snippets teach you about gold mining equipment, boat building, mining towns, what happened when gold was found and more. The activities introduce you to a sour-dough biscuit recipe, knot tying, playing solitaire and other ideas that are particularly boy-friendly.

Factory Girl brings you face to face with the reality of children working in factories in the early 1900’s. Meet 12 year old Emily as she works long hours in a unsafe, dark, overcrowded sewing factory where she is treated poorly by her demanding and unfriendly boss. Don’t be fooled, this story isn’t just for girls. The informational sections take you on a photographic journey through all sorts of child labor conditions of the times including coal mines, housemaids, and other factories. You will learn about immigration, living in large cities in the early 1900’s, schooling, women at work, and laws that changed child labor and working safety.

Although this books is unlike the others in that it doesn’t include activity ideas, it’s still our second favorite in the series. This is an issue that’s harder to find literature about for children, so we were very excited to dive in!

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

Nature study can be so rewarding and memorable for our kids, but sometimes getting the motivation to go outside and go on nature walks can be tough.  Especially when the weather is cold and there’s lots to do inside the house.  For me, I felt like I wanted to do fun nature walks, but had no direction.  And for this list-making, plan-it-out kind of mama, I needed more direction.  So, when I found NaturExplorers over at Shining Dawn Books, I was very pleased.

The books are written by two nature-loving homeschool moms, Cindy West and Melissa Leach. Their love of nature drips from the pages of these wonderful nature guides.  Each book focuses on a different area of nature, such as:

~Fruits and Nuts
~Spiders
~Birds
~Rain
~Snow and Ice
~Butterflies
~Fungus
~Rocks
~More! (there are 19 books in the series)

What I love about these books is the flexibility and the many, many options and ideas they provide.  They are absolutely full to the brim with information and ideas.  Not only does each book include tons of information on the subject it’s based on, but it includes ideas of how to incorporate many different areas of your homeschool right into nature study.
Areas like:

• Artist Study
• Composer Study
• Art
• Bible
• Poetry

For example, when my kids and I were studying from the Fruits and Nutsbook, one suggested activity was to study the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians and gave great ideas of how to do so.  What a fabulous way to bring nature study inside and keep right on learning!

In our homeschool, we study one area of nature for about a month or two.  So, when we go on a nature walk we know what to look out for.  We read some background info that each book provides along with some of the additional reading they suggest, and away we go.   You can use these as the spine to an in-depth unit study or you can definitely pull them right off the shelf and use these books as guides as you go on your walks.  Their notebooking pages and many suggestions make it possible for any homeschool mom to use them, no matter what your teaching style.

We have enjoyed making Nut Dye, coloring in the snow, inspecting snowflakes, and gathering samples of coniferous trees.  NaturExplorers have been so helpful in our nature study.   I now feel like I can look through these, get ideas and have a plan before we go on a nature walk.  You can visit the website at Shining Dawn Books where you can read their nature blog or ask them questions.  They are great about giving advice and answering questions.

If you don’t want to just take my word that these are wonderful books, you can read Shannon’s review by clicking here. I have to say that my very favorite part about NaturExplorers is they inspire me to explore God’s awesome creation!  I hope you are encouraged to go out and do some exploring yourself!

Alicia is a homeschool mom of 3 nature-loving kids and can be found blogging at La Famille.

The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess is a delightful blend of storytelling and nature study.

Published originally in 1919, Burgess meticulously weaves the non-fiction details of bird life into the fictional account of a curious rabbit named Peter.  As Peter explores his surroundings, the Old Orchard, the Green Forest, the Green Meadows and even the banks of the Big River and its tributaries, he also pursues his longing to find out more about his feathered friends.  Their ways intrigue Peter, so he sets out to discover them, interviewing Jenny Wren and dozens of other birds commonly found in the United States.

Peter is the secret to the book’s story-telling success.  He is sometimes prideful, generally curious, and always growing.  Peter’s personality especially appeals to children, as he flits around his world encouraging his friends, meeting new birds, and generally enjoying the whole experience.  His antics and manners reflect a joy of learning and life.  In addition, he is a good role model, one who chooses to learn from his mistakes and who appreciates those around him even though they are different from him.

Peter is joined by a numerically formidable group of his feathered brethren.  Each bird—91 birds total—has a name created by Burgess that is intended to reflect the bird’s personality and characteristics.  It is combined with the commonly used name (names in some cases) of the bird.  The non-fiction nature study component for each bird includes the birds’ descriptions, male and female, and generally also discusses the bird’s diet, call, nesting practices, migration tendencies, and daily habits.  The sharing of these facts does not become tedious or mundane, however; Burgess utilizes story to maintain interest.  Each bird becomes a true character in his own right, engaging the reader and informing at the same time.

Burgess’s method works amazingly well.  My lower elementary-aged children never failed to request “one more, please” as we worked our way through the short chapters.  Though the language is not particularly difficult, it is typical for the time in which it was published and uses phrasing that is not commonly used today.  This was not an issue, even though my children are young.  In fact, they have retained information from the book, sometimes regaling me with their bird knowledge at unexpected times.

There are great possibilities for study with this book.

●Use it as a read-aloud.  Enjoy both the story and factual elements.

●Use it as the foundation of a bird unit study.  Add a field guide and some library books for an amazing nature-based science unit covering birds.

●Use it to teach the masterful combination of fiction and non-fiction in story form.  Have your student give it a try.

●Use it as independent read for an older student.  Expect a bird-centered project at the end.

●Use it to encourage bird watching and general nature appreciation for the whole family.

●Use it to painlessly learn the details of bird life in the United States.  A field guide and audios of birds singing their tunes would complement the book nicely.

●Use it for art.  Ask students to draw and color the birds from the book’s descriptions and then compare their work to photographs.  For younger kids, print coloring pages.

●As you read, use it for copywork and narration.  The short chapters lend themselves to this approach.

●Discuss character lessons drawn from Peter and the other creatures as you read.  Collect Bible verses that illustrate similar character values and virtues.

●Use it seasonally, returning to it each spring as the birds return.

For the most part, we just read the book and loved it.  It is a book that teaches without trying; a “living book” to which we will return for more in-depth study as my kids get older.

The Burgess Bird Book for Children is available for purchase from Dover for $8.95.  It can be found for free at Project Gutenberg and LibroVox.  A quick search of the internet will provide a number of useful sites, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds guide.  There are also quite a few homeschool mamas out there who have used this book and share their ideas.

The Burgess Bird Book for Children is really not just for children.  It is a book that will encourage and engage readers and listeners of all ages.  Don’t be surprised if you learn something, too!

-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 that  wonderful man she married to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason, with a touch of the traditional.

Blackbird & Company has a poetry unit study that I taught to my 12 year old son, his friend of the same age, and my 10 year old daughter.  I thoroughly enjoyed the unit, and at the end, the kids didn’t want to be done.  It was perfectly age-appropriate for these kids (who, for what it’s worth, are all reading well above grade level).

From the site description of the unit:

“Reading and writing poetry expands the boundaries of the imagination and intellect. Students who engage in writing poetry will develop confidence in their voice, strengthen their ability to communicate new ideas, and convey observations of their world.

Incorporating both analytic and creative exercises to spark the poet inside of your student, the Exploring Poetry guides:

• Introduce students to the poet’s kit of tools
• Provide creative opportunities to practice poetic expression
• Reveal connections between poetry and prose
• Develop the poet’s unique voice
• Explore the diverse potential of language”

I love the book selections.  They are both eye-catching and enjoyable to read, both for students and for me as the teacher.  In addition, they offer a wide variety of poetry examples combined with words of advice from the poets themselves, without morally objectionable material (important to me as a Christian parent).

I wish there were more hands on multi-sensory type activities.  While the writing exercises are both valuable and applicable, I wish there were experiential activities that incorporated more than fill-in-the-blank style response.  That said, I did appreciate the opportunity and exhortation to write, write, write.  That the advice came from the poets themselves was even better; this approach is not textbook-ish, but draws the student into the heart of the poet who’s just captured their interest through their writing.

The cost is $48 for the set and includes the textbook, three poetry books, a set of art cards to use for stimulating creativity, and a student journal.  While this is very reasonable for what you get, the curriculum is only written for seven weeks.  This would be quite pricey to repeat several times during the school year.  That said, the poetry books themselves are books we would keep on our library shelves for repeat pleasure reading.  We did not get The Aspiring Poet’s Journal, but upon reading the description online, I would purchase it for the next go-round.  It’s a guided journal designed to help students actively write and practice the ideas and principles addressed in this thorough and enjoyable curriculum.

You can find this and other solid literature studies at http://www.blackbirdandcompany.com.

-You can find Angela blogging at Dancing with my Father.

I have yet to meet a homeschool family that did not love books.  On my quest to find wonderful books to be read to or by my children I have read quite a few ‘books about books’.  One volume has earned a place on my personal shelf to be used often.  That book is Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson.

Read for the Heart is 384 pages full of information and ideas.  The first four chapters give the reader an in-depth look at the author’s personal view of books, a guide for becoming a reading family, as well as a chapter on the state of literacy in America today.

The next eight chapters are booklists divided into the following topics:

• Picture Books
• The Golden Age Classics
• Children’s Fiction
• Fairy Tales and Fantasy
• History and Biography
• Spiritual Reading for Children
• Poetry
• Music, Art, and Nature

Each chapter begins with a story and treatise by Miss Clarkson on the book genre at hand, giving you an even better idea of what qualities she has used to select books for that chapter. I love this part.  It makes me feel like I’ve just sat down to chat with a good friend, and she is sharing adventures she has had with books.  The lists in each chapter are generally arranged alphabetically by author, with the main exception being the history and biography section arranged by time period.  That has been a big help when I am looking for books to go along with our current history studies.  Most of the books have a review telling more about the story, awards won, general age guidelines, and any cautions if necessary.

The end of Read for the Heart has six appendices of book lists such as Newbery and Caldecott Award winners and special favorites of the author.  There are two indexes, one sorted by author and illustrator, one by title, giving a quick way to check on a specific book or to find more by an author or illustrator my children enjoy.

You can view a 32 page excerpt from Read for the Heart on the Apologia website.  The book can be purchased there or on Amazon for $17.00.  I bought mine through Amazon with some gift cards I had.

My only complaint about Read for the Heart is that she stopped at 384 pages!  Sarah Clarkson’s guide has been a huge help as I have navigated the library catalog searching for books to share with my children.  I would love if she made a second book with reviews of even more titles.

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.

It’s summer and I’m in planning mode!  Are you?

In our eclectic Charlotte Mason style homeschool, we often use the unit study approach for teaching history and science topics. Why?

• We can learn together.
• We can incorporate various learning styles, hands-on activities, real learning and learning projects easily.
• We can immerse ourselves in the time period through living literature.
• We can cover a lot of educational ground in a relatively short amount of time.

One resource I’ve used over and over again as I plan our history studies are A Kid’s Guide Books.

They are super for background information, hands-on ideas and project ideas – and have become the “spine” of my units many times. In other words, I’ve used these as my main unit planning books many times over.

As you click on the graphics below to learn more about each book, you’ll notice varying age recommendations, but each of them are very adaptable for almost any student from K-8. My library has a copy of most of them, but they’re very reasonably priced if you need to buy them.

The books I’ve used and recommend…

The same company that publishes these hands-on history books (Chicago Review Press) offers science, geography and drama selections using the same format. You can check out all those books here.

What are some of your favorite unit study planning resources?

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

I have recently had the pleasure to read the first e-book by Kris, the widely read author of the blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.  The book, in true WUSH fashion, features games, projects, learning centers, and presentations all with a focus on hands on learning.

Get Your Hands on Learning! has four main sections, as well as an appendix full of even more information.  The sections include:

• Projects: Papier-mache Model, Salt Dough Map, Cookie Dough Map, Ongoing Studies
• Games: Bingo, Memory/Matching, Go Fish, Board Games
• Learning Centers: Writing Center, Preschool Learning Centers, Mini-Offices
• Presentations: Around the World Day, Night at the Museum Party, The Castle Presentation Board, Knights Shields and Swords
• Appendix: Helpful Websites, Basic Papier-mache Paste Recipe, Basic Salt Dough Recipe, Fifty State Friday Resources, Blank Bingo Card, Reading Bingo Card, Learning Center Resources, Hands-on Activities to Enhance Any Study, Narration, Paper Bag Report

What I Liked:

• Great Variety – There is a great variety of activities in this e-book, which can appeal to both the families that don’t mind mess, as well as the families that avoid it like the plague.  It’s a nice reminder that hand-on doesn’t have to mean messy, but it can.
• Step-by-Step Directions – Things like the word “papier-mache” give me hives.  However, with Kris’ easy to understand, step-by-step instructions, it makes me a little less nervous.  The layout, in general, makes it easy to read and follow.
• Lots of Full Color Photographs – Because I am a visual learning, the combination of photographs with the step-by-step directions are exactly what I would need to execute these projects.  It’s also always nice to see what a finished project should look like.
• Length of Book – At 50 pages, this is a book that I felt comfortable sitting down and reading in one sitting.  Not that I can’t read a book that will take me many sessions over several days (because of other commitments), but it’s nice when I can sit down and just finish a book.
• Well Organized – I enjoyed that the activities are each in their own section, so that when I want to implement an idea, I don’t have to skim back through the whole book to find what I was looking for.
• Reasonably Priced – At only $7.95 for an immediate download, this e-book is competitively priced compared to other e-books that I have purchased.

What I Would Change:

• It’s Just What I Was Looking For – This e-book was exactly what I anticipated it would be, so I couldn’t really think of anything that I would have changed.

Get Your Hands on Learning! is available for immediate download for $7.95 at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Disclosures: I received this e-book for free in order to review it, although I had planned to buy it before receiving it for free.  Although I have been a fan of Kris’ blog for several years, in interest of full disclosure — I am the founder/editor of The Homeschool Classroom where Kris is a writer.

Angie is a university trained elementary and special ed teacher turned eclectic homeschooler.  She can be found working at Many Little Blessings, The Homeschool Classroom, and Catholic Mothers Online.  It is also very likely that if you find her, she will be tired.

When I began looking into a history program to use, one name kept popping up again and again: The Story of the World series by Susan Wise Bauer.

The Story of the World series follows the classical education scope and sequence for history, dividing it into four cycles, beginning with ancient history and progressing to modern times.  I am reviewing the first volume of The Story of the World:  Ancient Times.  It begins with an introduction to history and archaeology and the earliest nomads and proceeds chronologically until the fall of the Roman Empire.

It truly does feel like one is reading a story, not a textbook, when reading Story of the World.  The narrative style is very appealing, especially for younger students.  I also invested in the accompanying audio CDs, which not only make learning portable, but are very well presented.  We sometimes even relisten to chapters we’ve already covered simply because we enjoy listening to them.  The suggested age for this book is grades  1 through 4, but students as old as middle school would find it appealing and meaningful.

The Activity Book is an absolute gem.  I can’t imagine going through this book without it.  For each chapter there are review questions, narration exercises, encyclopedia cross-references, literature suggestions, map work pages, coloring pages, and project ideas such as crafts, recipes, models, and games.  The recommended literature lists alone make this resource worthwhile for me.  I’m always looking for living books to read in tandem with the text.  The literature is marked as RA (read aloud) or IR (independent reading), and the IR books often have a grade level suggestion as well.  These notations make it very easy for me to narrow down which books I will look for or request at my local library.

Other features of the Activity Book are a pronunciation guide (which I really should refer to more often) and review cards at the back.  I only recently discovered the review cards myself, so don’t forget to look for them!  These will be great for wrapping up the school year and for when we pick up again in the fall.

In using this curriculum, I have discovered a few drawbacks.  Because the book is chronological, it often jumps from continent to continent and then back a few chapters later.  For older students I don’t think this would be much of a problem, but for students on the younger end of the spectrum it can be a bit confusing.  This can be remedied by going through the book out of order.  It takes a bit of planning, but is very doable.  My other problem is that this book has 42 chapters, even though the traditional school year has 36 weeks.  Each chapter is so full I found that covering more than one in a week proved to be too daunting.  I know that many homeschoolers educate year-round, but it would make my own planning so much easier is Story of the World could manage to squeeze all of ancient history into 36 chapters!

When all is said and done however I, who am not much of a history buff, am really enjoying teaching history, and my daughter proclaims that history is her favorite subject.  Actually she says Story of the World is her favorite subject.  What better endorsement is there than that?

You can get to know Beth by visiting her blog at Apples and Jammies.

I can’t even describe how excited I am about a new curriculum I’ve been pouring through for next year!  Normally, I wouldn’t post about products that aren’t tried and true, but this is an amazing exception.  I couldn’t write curriculum that is more “me”!  And just what is “me” and what does this curriculum offer that’s has me so giddy?

• It’s project-based
• Fits with the first year of my four-year history cycle (ancient history)
• Has a Biblically-based, creation-based worldview
• Includes living literature book lists and listening CD’s
• Offers my children choices in their studies
• Can be used with both of my older children at their own levels
• Provides in-depth learning for the real student
• Offers an activity book for younger children which helps with my upcoming 5th grader when other lessons might be too tough
• Incorporates research, writing, timelines, vocabulary, art, mapping, science projects, music, cooking, drama, and MORE!
• Gives ideas specifically for various learning styles
• Provides me with a teacher’s guide and my children with a workbook

So, just what product has me so excited?

Ancient Civilizations and the Bible: A Biblical World History Curriculum from Creation to Jesus Christ by Diana Waring

Wow!  That’s really the best word to describe what I think every time I open the box of curriculum and start thinking about next year’s history.  In fact, I’m thinking I’ll be able to tick off way more than just history in my lesson planner by implementing this curriculum.

I’m going to back up and go through each part of the curriculum that’s available.  I’ll have to be brief because there’s way more to this box than I can talk about in a review.  I’ll also give you my opinion about whether or not each part is necessary.

Sample page from the Student Manual

1. Student Manual – Absolutely necessary and best to have one per student.  This is the book your child will use for just about everything they do.  Text readings, what-to-do lists, digging deeper lists, student record keeping charts, project choices and directions, vocabulary lists, maps and a few other things are found in this 312 page softcover workbook/textbook.   (*I use the word text loosely, because it isn’t a dry, boring text like many books.)
2. Teacher’s Guide – I suppose it isn’t absolutely necessary, but I wouldn’t skip it.  It offers you clear and helpful notes for further discussion with your children – often helping you give Biblically scientific explanations.  It also offers you big-picture planning, ideas for helping your children choose projects that fit their learning styles, additional project ideas, answer keys, and solid explanations about how the curriculum works.
3. Test Kit – Not absolutely necessary, but offers good test taking practice.  This is a booklet that offers you two-page tests with answer keys for each of the nine units.  The tests require written answers with supporting points and vocabulary matching.
4. Elementary Activity Book – Not necessary at all, but very helpful if you have children younger than 5th or 6th grade that will be learning alongside older children.  It offers coloring and puzzle pages, simpler discussion questions, age appropriate additional reading lists, song lyrics, easier hands-on project ideas, and other games/activities that meet the needs of various learning styles.
5. What in the World? CD set – Not necessary, but awesome.  This set of four CD’s includes Diana Waring telling more about the Bible, archaeology, and other scientific evidences that have shaped history.  These stories, ranging from 3-12 minutes, go along with the text as “added bonus” information.  They add a wonderful dimension to the program.
6. True Tales CD set – Not necessary, but awesome.  Diana Waring is a wonderful story-teller and adds to the text info with stories about people, events and more.
7. Digging Deeper CD set - Not necessary, but awesome.  Just as the name describes, Diana Waring goes into more detail about the topics of Noah’s Ark, the first Christmas and the Seven Wonders of the World.  (*Each track on the 3 CD sets is referred to in the teacher’s guide and student manual, so you know what to listen to when.)

*I’m editing this just a bit after reading several comments by experienced users about how wonderful the CD’s are.  I, too, think the CD’s are super and would highly recommend purchasing them if you are able.  However, if you only want/can afford the bare minimum, the CD’s are not necessary to the completion of the program.  If at all able, though, don’t miss out on them!

Sample page from the Teacher's Guide

I’m going to wrap this super-long review up with a quick overview of the nine units.  Each of the nine units is meant to take four weeks to complete.  During each unit, week one is dedicated to reading and discussing.  The student dives in and learns all he or she can about the unit topic.  Week two is dedicated to researching a topic of the student’s choice and presenting findings, as well as completing a timeline and the vocabulary.  Week three allows the student to complete hands-on projects in art, music, science, cooking and/or mapping.  And during week four, the unit culminates with a final project(s) of the student’s choice.

Unit topics include:

• Creation and the Flood
• The Rise of Civilizations
• Egypt and the Exodus
• The Children of Israel
• Assyria & Babylon
• The Persians & Medes
• Greece & the Hellenists
• The Rise of Rome
• Jesus Christ, Immanuel

I truly have never seen a curriculum like this before, especially for the 6th grade and above crowd.  Hands down, it tops my list of all-time favorites!

Prolific children’s non-fiction author, Seymour Simon has teamed with HarperCollins Publishers and the Smithsonian Institution to produce a series of books about the natural world.  Tucked into the prolific and still-growing library of scientific information produced by Simon and the Smithsonian is a sub-series about the human body.  The books in the human body series provide a treat for the eyes and a feast for the brain.

At present there are eight books in the series.

●The Human Body

●Eyes and Ears

●The Brain:  Our Nervous System

●The Lungs:  Your Respiratory System

●The Heart:  Our Circulatory System

●Guts:  Our Digestive System

●Bones:  Our Skeletal System

●Muscles:  Our Muscular System

The Human Body,  provides an overview of the twelve major body systems.

It discusses the following topics:

●cells

●the integumentary system (skin, hair, and bones)

●the skeletal system

●the muscular system

●the circulatory system and blood

●the respiratory system

●the digestive system

●the nervous system

●the immune and lymphatic systems

●the urinary and excretory systems

●the endocrine system

●the reproductive system

●the five senses

The remaining books discuss the body system of their title using correct anatomical terms, detailed descriptions of body processes, and a depth of information that is accessible to elementary-age students but applicable for older students.  The books make use of technological advances in the medical field by incorporating computer-colored x-rays, MRI scans, and incredible inside photos of the body, along with applicable diagrams.

The impressive, real-life illustrations combine with a detailed, systematic approach to the human body’s inner workings to produce a useful product that is a delight to peruse.

I chose these books as the spine for our human body study.  I could not be more pleased with them.  They were easily found at the library, detailed enough to provide food for thought for my children, and used the correct terms for body parts and processes.  Since my kids are lower elementary and preschool-age, there were a couple of times that I skipped a page or two that contained more detail than we needed.  In those cases, we checked out the pictures and continued on to the next subject.

My children learned a lot about how our bodies work, and enjoyed learning what we look like on the inside.  Personally, I found the books to be fascinating.  Each volume contributed to our understanding of the human body.  My children were especially delighted with the book about the digestive system, Guts, as it let them in on all of the nitty gritty details of how the body extracts the good stuff from food and then passes the rest out of the body.  Ask my six-year old about passing gas.  She will fill you in on the how and why.  She will also giggle with abandon.

Keep these in mind when you study the human body.  They provide scientific information without sucking all of the fun out of it!

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 that  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 decided to end out our school year with a unit on plants.  I thought we could make our little garden into an even more educational experience this year by learning more about what’s going on underneath that dirt.  We’ll take the next couple of weeks to learn about seeds, the parts of plants, and what they need to thrive.  Then when it’s warm enough, we’ll put our knowledge to work and plant (hopefully) our best garden yet!  If you are planning on doing a unit on plants, I found a great post over at The Homeschool Classroom.  Melissa posts her lesson plan in detail, giving great ideas on projects and resources.

Over the years I’ve come across many great books on gardening with kids but I wanted to share with you two of them that I love.

{Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots}

This book by gardening guru, Sharon Lovejoy, is a great addition to your library!  Besides the her beautiful illustrations, Sharon gives numerous project ideas, tips, and lists for the rookie or advanced gardener.  Some of her projects include:

• The Pizza Garden
• Buckets, Boxes, & Boots: Container Gardens
• Moon-Garden
• Snacking & Sipping Garden

One of my favorites is her idea for a Pizza Garden.  In the book, she shows how to plant this type of garden in a circular shape and section it off with rocks or pavers so it looks like a sliced pizza.  Each section includes vegetables that you’d find on a pizza, such as:

• Tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Bell Peppers
• Oregano
• Basil
• Onions

She gives tons of great tips for gardening with kids, like all the tools you’ll need and a list of the Top 20 Plants for Kids.  The thing I love most about Sharon Lovejoy is her absolute love for nature.  Her love exudes from the pages of this book and it makes you want to spend more time outside.   I’m totally in love with this book!  If you’re looking for supplements to add to your plant units this Spring or just want a great book, I totally recommend it.

{Gardening with Kids}

This great gardening book written by Catherine Woram & Marlyn Cox is also a terrific addition to any mom’s library.  This book includes over 30 projects you can do with your kids.  Everything from growing cactus planters to playing games with water.  Again, the introduction includes tips on equipment, maintaining a garden, and everything else you need to know.  Gardening with Kids has a lot of information about the plants themselves and how choose the best ones for your climate.  They provide lists of what to grow and what you should avoid.

There are 35 projects in this book to be exact, and we’ve completed many of them.
Here’s an idea of the projects you’ll find when you check out Gardening with Kids:

• Herb Garden
• Butterfly Baskets
• Crystallizing Pansies
• Terrarium in a Jar
• Pressing Flowers
• Nesting Box
• Flower Chains

• Burlap Tote Bag

  Again, I highly recommend both of these fabulous books.  I can say that both of them provide hours of fun for you and your kids…now go get your hands dirty!

Alicia can be found either blogging at La Famille or out in her garden

Have you ever read to your children a book that explains an old fashioned way of doing things?

Maybe a book about a family that makes their own maple syrup, goats milk cheese, raises cows or sews quilts?

Have you ever wanted a resource book that will help you learn more about living a simple life?

Maybe you want to grow organic tomatoes or make bread without preservatives?

Back to Basics is a practical book I’ve used over and over again in our unit studies to help my children and I

experience and learn about skills and handicrafts our grand parents practiced.

I used Back to Basics with our February read aloud Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen.

On pages 242 –243 in Back to Basics, we learned about how three maple trees, the Sugar Maple, the Black Maple and the

Norway Maple tree produce the most syrup. We also read about the tools and techniques for tapping and how to turn sap into syrup.

Did you know goats milk makes a mild cheese and can develop an ammonia taste if stored to long?

Or that mozzarella cheese is made from the milk of the water buffalo?

Learn about how to make cream cheese, build a simple cheese press and make cheddar cheese on pp. 236-237.

Reader’s Digest Back to Basics How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills is

published by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York /Montreal.

It’s 450 pages and is divided into six parts.

Part One Land: Buying It- Building on It includes:

• Buying Country Property
• Planning Your Home
• Preparing the Site
• Converting Trees Into Lumber
• Building a Log Cabin
• Building with Adobe
• Building a Stone House
• Raising a Barn
• Developing a Water Supply
• Saunas and Hot Tubs
• Sanitation
• Fireplace Construction and Design
• Stone Walls and Brick Pavements
• Fences

Part Two: Energy From Wood, Water, Wind and Sun includes:

• Making Your House Energy Efficient
• Wood as a fuel
• Heating With Wood
• Water Power
• Wind Power
• Solar Energy
• Other Energy Sources

Part Three: Raising Your Own Vegetables, Fruit, And Livestock includes:

• The Kitchen Garden
• Gardening in Limited Space
• Herb Gardens
• Fruits and Nuts
• Pest Control
• Grains and Grasses
• Beekeeping
• Fish Farming
• Raising Livestock

Part Four: Enjoying Your Harvest The Year Round includes:

• Preserving Produce
• Preserving Meat and Fish
• Making Your Own Dairy Products
• Maple Sugaring
• Homemade Beverages
• Baking Bread
• Regional Cooking
• Cooking With Wood

Part Five: Skills and Crafts for House and Homestead includes:

• Natural Dyes
• Spinning
• Weaving
• Hooked Rugs
• Braided Rugs
• Patchwork Quilting
• Rope and Twine
• Tanning and Leatherwork
• Woodworking
• Broom making
• Scrimshaw
• Household Recipes
• Metalworking
• Stenciling
• Flower Drying and Pressed Flowers
• Gourd Craft
• Soap making
• Candle making
• Basketry

Part Six: Recreation at Home And in the Wild includes:

• Old-time Good Times
• Crafting a Mountain Dulcimer
• Celebrating Holidays
• Canoeing And Kayaking
• Wilderness Camping
• Outdoors in Winter
• Fishing
• Living With Nature

Also included is a Appendix that lists organized Assistance: The Extension Services and Other Groups and an Index.

I thought you would enjoy seeing the quilt pages from Back to Basics.

And these are the quilt blocks my nine year old daughter made.

Back to Basics can be purchased from a bookstore or borrowed from the library.

Have we ever had fun with this Science Sleuths mini-unit!  My children love a good mystery, so I knew this science-related study would be just up their alley.

Written for grades 6-9, Science Sleuths includes three detailed cases for your children to solve based on clues and evidence that slowly trickle in over the course of a few days time.

Using critical thinking, inquiry skills and the scientific method, your child will crack the case by examining such evidence as

• fingerprints
• DNA gels (not real, but data provided)
• suspect charts
• crime files
• crime scene sketches
• interrogation transcripts
• lab reports
• data from video surveillance
• maps of the scene

The reports and other evidence are given to your children over the course of a few days and kept in a crime file.  This allows them to examine the evidence and make conclusions daily based on the current information.  As the investigation comes to a close, they should have gathered and processed all the information thoroughly enough to make final conclusions in the case.

Very good documentation (ie. crime file) and data pages (ie. suspect charts) are included in the book!!  These pages helped my children feel like their crime files were quite realistic.  Charts are also included for fingerprint typing, and reading DNA gels.  There are even three full-color, pull-out posters included that act as the bulletin board of information relating to each case.

Final products from your student will include a suspect chart, crime log, hypothesis about the crime and a re-creation of the crime essay.  A rubric is supplied to help you place a grade on your children’s work if you like.

The book was originally written for use in a classroom, but they suggest cracking the cases either as individuals or in small groups.  This works perfectly for the homeschool setting.  My ten year old son completed the cases along with his 13 year old sister.  But because of the pretty in-depth critical thinking involved and the subject matter, I wouldn’t try to use this with a child younger than about 5th grade.

Just in case your wondering, the topics of each of the three cases are:

1. The Great Art Heist – Your children must determine who stole several paintings from and art gallery.
2. Dead and Breakfast – A man dies after and estate auction and your children must determine if there was foul play.
3. Fatal Error – A man is found strangled by a mouse cord while he is working on a groundbreaking new computer program.

(See, I told you the subject matter is probably not appropriate for younger children.  And some of you may find that it isn’t even appropriate for your older children.  But, I found the cases to be no more grizzly than a good game of Clue.  In fact, it may just spur one of your children into the field of crime fighting!)

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

Not everything has to become a formal lesson at our house, but I love being able to sneak in some learning with a helping of fun.  I have seen in my own life that songs I have learned as a child I can still remember to this day.  While this has many applications to homeschooling I only want to talk about one today, called Schoolhouse Rock.

Schoolhouse Rock is series of short musical cartoons that aired originally before I was born during the Saturday morning cartoons beginning in 1973.  Topics covered in the original series include songs for multiplication, grammar, science, American history and lawmaking, and computers.  Later offerings from the makers of Schoolhouse Rock include songs about money and taking care of our earth.

In August of 2002 Disney released a 30^th Anniversary DVD set of over 40 Schoolhouse Rock songs.  A few years later we bought the set for our family.  I said it was for homeschool and my husband said it was just for fun.  We were both right! Our children enjoy watching different sections of the DVD.  Each has a favorite song or two.  My 8 year old daughter’s current favorites are:

1. No More Kings – A song about the beginnings of our country and the Revolutionary War.
2. I’m Just a Bill – A song that boils the legislative process down so that even a child can understand how our countries laws are made.  Here it is on You Tube to watch.  (Like everything else on YouTube, the comments below the video may not be appropriate.  We like to click the handy arrow beside the comment section to close it, or watch the video in full screen.)

I love that my children are easily learning many educational topics without a formal lesson.  The DVDs spark my childrens’ interest in topics like conjunctions, multiplcation facts, money and debt, and the branches of the US Government.  We may watch a few songs while waiting for dinner to finish cooking, or have a sing-along as a family for fun.  There are many ways to use the Schoolhouse Rock DVDs.  I am sure we will just happen to pull it out when a child has trouble learning those pesky times tables for another way to reinforce math facts.

The internet abounds with free resources.  Here are a few related to Schoolhouse Rock:

• The lyrics to many of the songs.
• Ideas from educators of lessons that use Schoolhouse Rock songs.
• Many of the songs are available on YouTube with a simple search.  (Remember to close the comments section or watch the videos on full screen to avoid inappropriate material.)

I would love to hear if you have a favorite Schoolhouse Rock song, or any fun ways you can see incorporating Schoolhouse Rock into homeschooling, so please leave a comment!  If you want to learn about some other things we have used in our homeschool read my other Curriculum Choice reviews HERE or visit my blog.

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

I like using notebooking as a form of narration in our Charlotte Mason styled homeschool. My preference is to use blank notebooking pages or to make our own, but I also enjoy History Scribe retail notebooking pages.

Why do I like History Scribe? My daughter is creative and loves to sketch. If I give her a notebooking page with graphics on it, she generally feels disappointed. After all, in her mind, the funnest part is already done. Blank pages are what she prefers because she has room to draw and to write. (And I’m in hearty agreement with blank pages. After all, the more she completes herself, the more learning she is demonstrating and reinforcing.)

History Scribe fits her perfectly.

This is the anatomy of a History Scribe notebooking page:

1. Heading — including a title and a short introductory blurb
2. Top half – space for drawing, affixing images
3. Another section for a second heading or caption to the image.
4. Bottom half, lined for writing 9 lines

Biography pages are a bit different. Each has the person’s name for a heading at the top. The bottom half is lined for writing. The top half has empty space for creative expression plus an oval area and a small box called Fact File with some basic data to fill in.

If you have a highschooler, be sure to consider the History Scholar pages which have smaller lines and more detailed areas to fill in. You can see samples here.

Each set comes with some blank pages without any text at all. These are great for topics that aren’t included in the set.

So what if your child doesn’t like drawing? Actually, you can still use the blank space for affixing maps or images printed from other sources.

You may be wondering why you would want to buy a basically blank notebooking set. Three good reasons:

1. If you plan your own unit studies, you may find the history scribe notebooking sets helpful for identifying key topics.
2. Independent work. The top blurb gives enough introductory information for a student to get started on his own research and complete the notebooking page.
3. If you use project based learning, you could give a student the table of contents and ask for a set number of pages to be completed as part of a unit of study. The student could choose his own preferred topics from the available pages.

Tips for using
Print the table of contents page for each set you buy. Keep that page with your planning notes so that you don’t forget what you have available.
Inject some variety.  Print notebooking pages on colored paper or print 2 per page or 4 per page for making themed minibooks.

Examples of History Scribe pages in action:

• photos at Jimmie’s Collage (my blog)
• photo at Virtuous Foundations Home Education (a biography page)
• Smooth Stones Academy has a list correlating SOTW1 with History Scribe pages.

Where can you buy History Scribe notebooking pages? I buy them from Currclick where I can immediately download the files and begin printing them out. (There are frequent 50% to 75% off sales.)

If you prefer a CD instead of a PDF instant download, visit the Westvon Publishing homepage or History Scribe.

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.

The Young Scientist Club is a hands-on, build-able science curriculum that is geared for ages from 5 through 12.  The units can be used as a whole science curriculum, as an enhancement to your existing curriculum, or as an individual unit study. Here is their current listing of scientific themes they have available:

Young Scientist club kits

The kids were so excited when our first kit was shipped!  Each kit comes in a water-tight, bubble package with a cute science-themed label so the kids know when a new theme has come in the mail.  Upon getting into the kit, I was thrilled to find that this so much FUN!  From the moment we started using it, I knew this would remain our science curriculum until we finish all of their kits.

Each kit is fully inclusive; offering a full instruction guide and nearly the entire package of resources needed to perform the guide’s experiments.  Each instruction guide provides theme related experiments as well as questions and areas for observations or to record scientific data.

In addition, you can elect to incorporate library books to make each a true, fully inclusive, learning experience.  We love to go to the library when we get our new kits!  I try to get living books, (per Charlotte Mason) but also reference books. I then weave the living books with the reference books, any printouts I get from the internet, Biblical integration (IE: plants to creation)  and the kits experiments into an amazing, fun learning adventure!  Young Scientists Club meets perfectly with our eclectic, Christian homeschool!

As a subscriber, you get to choose if you want to start the kits from the first listed theme, or as you choose.  You can also elect to have a themed kit shipped once per month or twice a month. We choose to select our themes and to have them shipped monthly. (If you choose to add additional books to the kits as we do, you may find that each kit can last for a couple months!).  The curriculum is available at Young Scientist Club and runs $11.99 plus shipping and handling ($4.95) per kit.

For some of us the idea of doing hands-on projects with our children can be daunting. I am neither crafty nor artistic, and I don’t enjoy making and cleaning up messes during the course of our school day. However, I have come to the conclusion that with a little bit of forethought and planning, including hands-on activities in our history lessons can be painless and fun.

Most importantly, the right project can bring a historical topic or time period to life for children. I am always amazed when one of my children brings up a project we completed several months ago and is still able to associate it with the concept about which we were learning.

Today I thought I would share with you a couple of my favorite resources for user-friendly, hands-on history projects. Most of these books can be found at your local library or an online bookseller.

• American Kids in History by David C. King – There are several volumes in this series that cover different time periods. We have only used Colonial Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes and Revolutionary War Days: Discover the Past with Exciting Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes.   Some of our favorite projects from these include quill writing, making and playing traditional colonial games, and dipping candles.

• More Than Moccasins: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life (A Kid’s Guide series) is just one of many Activity Guides that Laurie Carlson has written for different periods in history. From this book we enjoyed several Native American projects including making and trading wampum (clay beads), making and wearing paper bag vests, making and playing with spinning tops, and playing Shinny, an early form of hockey.

Most of the games, crafts, recipes, and other projects that we have done in these books were moderate to easy for my 6 and 8 year old to complete, along with a little bit of help and guidance from me. The time required to complete each project was anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. (O.K., except for the candle-dipping. That one required a lot of help from me and took a long time to complete, but the kids have not forgotten it!)

For most of these projects, we used supplies we already had on hand or recycled household items. Some of the projects do require materials that you would probably have to purchase, for example, the paraffin wax for the candles.

I hope that you’ll check out these resources and find them helpful in spicing up your history studies with some hands-on fun.

Written by Shannon, who is a history-buff at heart and enjoys blogging about her family’s homeschooling adventures at Song of My Heart.

There are so many interesting animals to learn about.  Our favorite family field trip is to the local zoo.  We have been going since our oldest was an infant and still enjoy it 8 years later with five children.  It will come as no surprise to you, then, to find that we love studying animals in homeschool.  Being a unit study family, we have made many units on our own.  This past year we found a textbook that is perfectly adapted to unit studies.

Exploring Creation with Land Animals of the Sixth Day is the third in a series of Zoology books offered by Apologia Science.  We looked at each of the zoology book’s topics, samples, and table of contents before my oldest chose to begin with Zoology 3 because so many of her favorite animals from the zoo are covered in this book.

Things we love:

• Written in an easy conversational style directed at the student - this makes it a perfect read aloud for our family.
• Beautiful photography - who is not inspired by amazing photographs of animals?
• Christian Perspective - a book that openly celebrates God’s creative powers and his amazing designs.
• Experiments that work - directions lay out each step, a materials list is in the front of the book, and experiments really apply to the topics in each chapter.

With 14 chapters packed full of information this book can fill an entire academic year.  We use it a little differently, picking it up when we want to do a unit study about a specific animal family, then putting it away again until we’re ready for more animal adventures.  That means we have only finished a little over 1/3 of the book this year.  My eight year old loves the book so much that she has read it nearly cover to cover already on her own.  She takes it to her room and reads during quiet time.  Many times this year she has come to tell me all about the things she has learned, or to ask a question the reading has brought up.

While we do not have many textbooks in our home, I have found the Exploring Creation series to be a wonderful fit for our unit study family.  We will be investing in the rest of the series in the coming years.

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

{Disclaimer because the FTC says I have to:  I bought this book with my own money, and yes, we really use it.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Elephant image courtesy of Tim Seed / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I bet many of you are familiar with Considering God’s Creation by Susan Mortimer as a science curriculum, but have you also heard of her history curricula, Remembering God’s Awesome Acts and Remembering God’s Chosen Children?

Of the two history books, I’ve only used Remembering God’s Awesome Acts, so it’s the one I’ll review here.  But, as much as I liked it, I won’t hesitate to recommend Remembering God’s Chosen Children, too!

Remembering God’s Awesome Acts is a history and Bible curriculum in one that covers ancient history from Creation to Moses.  In unit study style, the activities include much more than just history and Bible!  Art (including detailed drawing lessons), writing, poetry, drama, culture studies, languages, anthropology, archaeology and much more make this study very exciting and interesting from day to day.

Important topics such as evolution vs. creation are tackled, as well as world religions and missions.  Many of the ancient history topics are brought home through lessons on current culture and people who make a difference as Christians today.

The curriculum is broken down into eight units:

• Unit 1 – Who is God?
• Unit 2 – Who is Man?
• Unit 3 – The Fall of Man
• Unit 4 – God Saves Noah
• Unit 5 – Dispersion of Man
• Unit 6 – The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
• Unit 7 – Joseph in Egypt
• Unit 8 – Moses Leads the Israelites Out of Egypt

A teacher’s guide leads the teacher through the unit with suggestions on how to introduce each section, short read alouds, and directions on what workbook pages to use when.  Bible verse references are always included with each new topic within the unit.  Sample work, answer keys, hieroglyphic flashcards and a small list of recommended supplements are included, too.

A “Create-A-Notebook” is provided for your student.  (You will need one of these for each child.)  Within the notebook are more than 270 pages front and back of activities for your student to complete.  I have been so impressed with these sheets!  Once the curriculum is complete, your child truly has a wonderful notebook documenting the entire unit, Genesis through Exodus 12.  I can’t possibly describe all 270 pages, but here are some of the activities your child will complete:

• maps
• charts
• visual organizers
• to scale drawings
• country studies
• language studies
• outlines
• writing assignments
• review sheets from lessons learned
• games and puzzles
• logic and math sheets
• an much more!

Another positive…the study can be used with any child from 5th grade to 12th grade, so all of your older children can work through it at once!  As with most unit study style curriculum, it’s hard to put a time frame on how long it will take.  For most families, I can easily see it lasting most of a year.  Families who have a little more scoot in their boots might be able to complete it in a semester.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve used either of these history books from Susan Mortimer!  What did you think?

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

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question most children love to answer. Those answers change many times through the years.  When I came across a sale for the Wanna Be series from The Old Schoolhouse, which are unit studies about different careers, I grabbed my debit card and ordered.  We love unit studies and I had nothing for careers in yet.  The series covers the following ten careers:

• Firefighter
• Veterinarian
• Chef
• Military
• Doctor
• Police Officer
• Missionary
• Farmer
• Artist (upcoming release)
• Pilot (upcoming release)

While these units are written for ages 4 – 10, even my husband and I learned a lot as we used our first two units.  I love that these units are written from a Christian homeschool perspective. I love reading how families make these careers work in their life.  The information for high school homeschoolers is wonderful, giving them direction on how to prepare for that career, while the end of unit activities have fun games and activities for younger kids.

What’s inside a unit?

• Information pages about the career, with information for preschoolers through high schoolers.
• Crossword puzzles
• Coloring pages
• Handwriting Practice
• Vocabulary
• Copywork
• Applied math problems – relating to the career.
• Word Search
• Creative Writing Prompts
• Quiz
• Fill in the Story
• Experiments
• End of Unit Activities – games, memory verses, and ideas for great themed parties.
• Great resource lists that are internet linked.

Our first adventure centered around a police officer’s job as peace keeper and law enforcer with When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Police Officer. Each day we read a few pages from the e-book as a family and did activities.  I used the library list to gather books for our unit study basket, which we explored throughout the week.  You can find the ones we chose HERE.  We found out the tools of the trade, training needed for the job, and even some of the science behind fingerprinting.

My oldest wrote a story called The Jewelry Thief (read it HERE ) in response to one of the writing prompts in the unit.  She really enjoyed learning about how police use clues to solve a crime.  We finished up our unit with a trip to our local police department.

Our next Wanna Be adventure took two weeks using When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Firefighter. We were able to compare many things we had learned about becoming a police officer with the path to becoming a firefighter.  Again, the library list and end of unit activities gave me plenty of ways to include my younger children.  Our second field trip in a month led us to Fire Station 3, where we saw up close and personal many of the things we had learned about during the unit.

The Wanna Be series is a great fit for our unit study family. Each title is a complete unit study.  I do not have to find books at the library unless I want to.  Many creative ideas are included for some themed games and activities perfect for my younger crowd, while the information is meaty enough that we will reuse these when the kids are older.  My children are already debating which career we will learn about next – I hope they choose chef!

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

{Disclaimer because the FTC says I have to:  I bought these books with my own money, and yes, we really used them.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

While I am a unit study mom, I do not feel the need to turn every topic into an elaborate unit for my family.  This year I wanted to encourage my 8 year old to work independently of me for one subject.  The topic we chose?  Geography of the United States.  She was interested in knowing where the states were thanks to dear cousins who move often as a part of being a military family, as well having as other family members scattered across the country.  We had set goals for her geography study:

1. Learn where the states are on the map.
2. Learn the capital of each state.
3. Learn the postal abbreviation for each state.
4. Read some fun stories along the way.

Knowing I wanted this to be independent, I looked for a simple, repetitive format to hold her hand.  I discovered The Star-Spangled State Book ($18.95)from Knowledge Quest.  The book itself under 100 pages.  Each state has it’s own page packed with facts and stories in a matching format.  The stories were fun and interesting, they would hold her attention.  As a matter of fact she usually tracked me down to tell me the stories later.  The Star-Spangled Workbook($29.95)was what really sold me though.  It has 259 pages broken down into two semesters, 36 weeks total, and includes a reproducible CD so I can use this curriculum for each of my children in future years.  Each week is laid out in a 4 day format.  In Semester 1 on days 1-3 you learn about 3 states.  The two sided workbook page for each day on the front is the same as the regular book in grayscale, but information is missing.  The student has to remember and finish the information.  Then there is a map of the US for the student to find the state and color it in.

On the back of the worksheet at the top is a simple question, “What do you remember about (insert state name)?”  My daughter could write a short answer of what was the most memorable to her.  This was one of her favorite parts, telling what she knew.  Underneath that section are two vocabulary words to define (she learned dictionary skills!).  Last is a set of 4 boxes where the student draws the state, connects 3 state outlines with their names, finds the state on a portion of map, and unscrambles words related to that state’s information.  I will be honest, my daughter hated the word unscrambles, so I let her skip them.

Day 4 in each week of semester 1 is a short map quiz that has the student labeling states on a US map.  Short, easy, and helpful in meeting one of our goals.

We finished semester 1 this month and decided to take the end of the book exam because we are not moving on the the second semester of the book right now.  It was 5 pages covering labeling all 50 states on the map, matching capitals to states, writing postal abbreviations, and finding a mystery state that shares a border with a list of states.  Makayla did great, taking a week to complete the exam.  After she labeled the blank map with all 50 states I let her use it to find the mystery states, because we had not worried about learning border states in our semester 1 studies.

When we pick the Star-Spangled States Workbook back up to do semester 2 later on it will take us through fun geoquizzes flipping through the book itself to strengthen her recall of the facts as well as the stories.  She will also focus on borders, learning which states border each other, increasing her map skills, and reviewing capitals and other facts.

Knowledge Quest also sells the Star-Spangled States book and workbook together at a discount, for $39.95.  You can see sample pages for both the book and workbook HERE.

I am so glad I discovered The Star-Spangled States book and workbook.  It has been just right to introduce Makayla to our country while encouraging her to develop her independence.  I will definitely be using it with each of my younger children when they are ready.

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

{Disclaimer because the FTC says I have to:  I bought these books with my own money, and yes, we really used them.  I am not affiliated with Knowledge Quest books in any way, though I really like many of their products.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Winter isn’t a season we get much enjoyment out of in my part of the country.  It doesn’t snow much here.  It’s just cold and windy!  However, I was able to dive into winter with this fabulous unit study.  This downloadable e-book is chock full of wonderful information about the winter season.  We read many wonderful books, viewed video clips, and went on nature walks as we worked our way through this incredible unit study.

During this unit, Emma and I talked about the first day of winter and plotted it on our calendar.  We watched videos of it snowing in places like Boston and Maine.  We learned how plants and animals prepare for the winter.  We made bird feeders to feed our fine feathered friends – and the occasional squirrel!  As science is a big part of learning about the seasons, we talked about snowflakes and icicles.  Emma did some winter art work and a few science experiments as well. Nature walks were a huge hit as we looked for signs of winter and even the upcoming spring (in the buds on the trees).

Though the unit is designed to be completed in one week, we took two weeks to complete it.  There is a lot of information to cover especially if you view all of the links. This unit is over 70 pages long and complete with lapbooking and notebooking activities.  Also included are craft and cooking ideas, a library list, nature walk journaling pages, and more.

This unit is available for purchase from The Old Schoolhouse.  You can also purchase more “download n go” units at the same site.  A few of the other units available include George Washington, Whale Tales, Expedition Australia, and Sea Shells.  You can buy subscriptions to these units, as well.  (This is what I did.)  You can buy a one month subscription, a semester subscription, or a year-long subscription.  If you purchase a subscription, you will also receive one or two free unit studies (depending upon the level of your subscription.  The prices of the units are very reasonable at less than $10 per unit.  I highly recommend these unit studies to anyone looking for a unit study that is very informational and fun to do!

Written by Tara, who is homeschooling two with a little bit of everything. You can find her blogging at Mom Teaches 2.