A Net in Time

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Nature

Interactive unit studies

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Being who I am I love to find things that will be helpful to others.  Years ago someone turned me on to the dragonlady (who no longer exists) who did these AMAZING unit studies.  They had printable templates for doing great builds of pyramids, or lizards or just whatever have you.  Fantastic units that thoroughly engaged the student (and their teacher) in learning.  I thought they were fantastic and since then have looked for other interactive unit studies. 

Interactive Unit Studies

Through the Homeschool Review Crew I discovered  Home School in the Woods … which has some interesting builds such as this World War 2 game.  And we’ll be using them as a spine for our WW2 Study.  They do some simply amazing unit studies. My search continues for the immersive experience. I have found some more that intrigue me. 

home school in the woods

First off Why Unit Studies?

Well.. why NOT unit studies.   Look at the benefits of a unit study.

  • Focused attention.
  • Incorporates more than one field of study
  • Hands on elements
  • Involves more of the senses 
  • Caters to a variety of learning styles
  • Leads to rabbit trails which increases the learning potential
  • Fun and enjoyable.
John Lubbock quote

Totally Online interactive unit studies

Techie Homeschool Mom has wonderful online unit studies.  Beth has pulled together some great unit studies.  I (and my lad) have worked through a couple of them.   Good questions, interesting facts, with no need to print things out.   History, people, holidays, and more.  Prices for individual units run from $8-24, she also does some group deals.  I first ran into her units through the Homeschool Giveaways site, and then again through a conference I think…. Anyways, I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by their thoroughness, I suspect you will be too. 

Oh.. what grade are they good for?  I’d say grades 3-8. 

interactive unit studies

You get questions, projects (like the one below), videos, thought-provoking discussions, and more.  Give them a boo won’t you?

techie homeschool mom

Kristin Moon makes unit studies for older students.  I’ve looked at some of them for my rising 9th grader. 

From Kristin: The courses contain videos, hands-on activities, instructions for experiments, online quizzes, and links to sites for more information. The content is geared for upper middle school and high school. While I do plan to offer courses for middle school, it’s been my experience that moms can start feeling frightened about teaching science at the higher levels. In fact, that’s typically one reason why folks put their kids back in school in high school. My goal in creating these courses is to provide quality science resources for families who wish to continue to homeschool throughout high school.

Kristen Moon Science

Kristin currently has five online courses

  • Science of Autumn Leaves
  • Microbiology
  • Genetics and Heredity
  • Prokaryotes
  • DNA basics….
kristin moon science

Lisa Marie Fletcher of The Canadian Homeschooler has her mostly online Canadian History course.   The Canadian Time Capsule is rather neat series for up through middle school.   This is predominately done on-line with hands-on elements, reports to right, activities to do etc. 

canadian time capsule

Every month you get a new historical event to work through.  The capsules don’t come in chronological order.  Good books are suggested for various age ranges.   You should check them out if you have any interest in Canadian History (trust me, it’s WAY more interesting than you may think).

Canadian time capsule

Print off unit studies

Of course, you can follow the more traditional method of unit studies.   Down load them, print them off, and have a lovely book that you can show off to others.  Some of these unit studies will have hands on activities, and others will basically be workbooks. 

I was introduced recently to Love at Home Education which is looking to created multi-age unit studies for K-12.   In reviewing Natural Disasters I found them excellent for K-8.    You can learn about presidents of the United States, Penguins, Polar Bears and so much more. Have your whole family learn about the same thing together. 

Natural Disasters

Then of course there are Amanda Bennett’s unit studies.  I used to review these unit studies and we thoroughly enjoyed them.  We learned so much!   They aren’t geared for high school, bring primarily for elementary school.  You could do them as a family and supplement the material to make it suitable for your middle and high school students. 

Just so you know they’ll be having some sales this month if you are at all interested.

For August 12 – Animal Science DNG bundle 30% off the reduced bundle price
And August 19 – American History DNG bundle 30% off the reduced bundle price
August 26 – Kitchen Science DNG bundle 30% off the reduced bundle price
unit study

I know if you search on-line you can find lapbooks (which are like mini unit studies with visual elements) for free, and a whole host of small unit studies.  You can use them as a basis for a large study. 

Other Options

I was told to check out Google Classroom and that if I had trouble figuring out what to do, to watch pocketful of primary on YouTube. She apparently has posted a walk through of the basics on her channel for google classroom.  So that might be an option for doing up your own unit study, appropriate to your student. 

Interactive Unit Studies

In Conclusion

Finding interactive unit studies for high school students is harder then finding them for elementary students or middle school.  It is possible.  They tend to be more focused.  Give a look, use what you can, and help your students learn. 

The Truth about Hawks

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You may remember I wrote about The Truth of Crocodiles last week?  Today I have The Truth about Hawks to share with you.  Maxwell Eaton has again created a fascinating, humour-filled book. 

the truth about hawks

What I am Reviewing

The Truth About Hawks.
Maxwell Eaton III (author and illustrator)
Roaring Brook Press.
40 pages, ages 4-8, grades 1-2.
Picture book, hawks, birds, humour, children,
Series: The Truth about Your Favourite Animals.
Book Six.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Maxwell Eaton III’s The Truth About Hawks is part of his illustrated nonfiction series continuing to enlighten and delight readers. Filled with useful facts about hawks that will make you laugh so hard you won’t even realize you’re learning something!
Did you know that hawks can see four to eight times better than a human?
How about that some hawks even eat other types of birds?
Did you know that hawks use ultra-violet light to find their prey?
Discover these facts and more in this new addition to the popular series that combines raucous amounts of humor with a surprising amount of information on beloved animal friends.

the truth about hawks

The Details

Bright colourful images fill the pages of this picture book.   The natural colours of these magnificent birds are brought into sharp relief. 

the truth about hawks

Scattered throughout the pages is humour.  When we are told that golden eagles knock Dall sheep off mountain tops, and then we see Dall sheep taking parachutes off the cliff with looks and expressions of glee.   It’s funny!  (at least I know it would be for kids right?)  🙂

the truth about hawks

We are introduced to a variety of raptors some of which are golden eagle, vultures, snail kites, bald eagles, and red-tailed hawks.  We learn about mating habits, child rearing, food requirements, migration and threats to their existence.   Mr. Eaton lightly touches on all these areas and more. 

My Thoughts

As much as I like this book I am bothered by eagles, owls etc being called hawks.  They are birds of prey, and given the birds discussed in the book a better title would be “The Truth about Raptors”.   Even with littles, being more accurate is better than being less accurate. 

That said… would I want people to read this book?  YES!  Learning about these magnificent birds is important.  Helping to conserve them means learning about who they are, where they live, what threats they face and everything we can.   Maxwell Eaton does a marvellous job of doing that with a sense of style and well-played humour. 

disclosure

The Truth About Crocodiles

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The Truth about Crocodiles is a whirl-wind tour of all things crocodilian. Learn about their cousins, their lifestyle and how to stay safe.  With humour and excellent illustrations, Maxwell Eaton helps children learn about this amazing class of animals. 

The truth about Crocodiles

What I am Reviewing

The Truth About Crocodiles: Seriously Funny Facts about your Favorite Animals.
Maxwell Eaton III (author and illustrator)
Roaring Brook Press
4-8 years
Softcover picture book
Non-fiction, animals, nature study, crocodiles,

From writer/illustrator Maxwell Eaton III, The Truth About Crocodiles is the fifth installment in his hilarous series offering another lighthearted look filled with useful facts about crocodiles that will make you laugh so hard, you won’t even realize you’re learning something!
Did you know that crocs often keep rocks in their stomachs in order to stay underwater longer?
Did you know that baby crocs make sounds similar to kittens when they hatch?
Did you know that crocs have a lot of teeth, but don’t actually chew their food?
Discover these facts and more in this addition to the popular series that combines raucous amounts of humor with a surprising amount of information on beloved animal friends.

The truth about Crocodiles

The Details

As you can see, the fun starts from the time you open the book.   Bold illustrations bring excellent into play as you learn about a large, armoured predator, zipping through life with large teeth.

The truth about Crocodiles

We learn about the types of crocodilians, the food they eat, nesting habits, where they live and what threatens them.  We also learn how to stay safe when around them. 

The truth about Crocodiles

I love the brilliance in the illustrations, the humour… even though this book is geared to younger kids, made me laugh.   Like really… a coon with kitchen utensils coming to feast on crocodile eggs being threatened by mama.. turns away muttering “who put these in my hands?”   I snorted.

Should you Get it?

The truth about Crocodiles is a fun little book.  Full of quips and interesting facts about crocodilians.  If you are doing a study on crocodiles and want to meet their cousins this book will surely help.  The bright images and the humour contained within, while providing good facts… makes this book a winner.

Crocodilians live in a wide variety of locations, you might find this unit study to be a perfect go-along.

If you want to know more about Crocodiles and their cousins.  SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a course called the world of animals and one of their units focuses on this remarkable part of the animal kingdom. 

disclosure

Review: Creation Illustrated

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Three weeks ago I received the Pine Trees Unit Study ebook from Creation Illustrated. Since we have pine trees around our house I thought it would make for a nice little “time out from the normal” study with my lad. My thinking proved correct as my lad worked happily on the pine tree study rather than doing his normal course work, it’s good to have a break before Easter you know?  🙂  The Pine Trees study is part of the Creation Unit Studies that fit well with their magazine articles. 

Pine Trees by Creation Illustrated, a review

Who is Creation Illustrated?

Creation Illustrated is a company that focuses on showing God’s truth through nature.  They do this via a magazine format. They have chosen to help students expand their knowledge of a topic in their magazine using a unit study.   The unit study contains a link to the magazine.  So not only do you get to read the article that corresponds to the unit study, you also get a chance to see what a great job they do with the rest of the magazine. This magazine is for all ages. Below is the cover to the spring edition.

What do you get?

I received two unit studies, Pine Trees and Snow, though my son only worked through Pine Trees.  I thought though you would like to know if the unit studies are similar at all and they are!  They at not identical in their set up, as in subjects are in a different order, some sections are longer or shorter and such like.

Some of the units you will encounter are: 

  • List of resources
    Brief introduction to topic
    Vocabulary/Definitions/Spelling
    Bible study
    Geography/Science
    Hands on lesson
    Math
    Art Aspect
    Wordsearch

As you can see they do their best to make their unit studies well rounded.  Teacher answer key provided.

How did we use it?

Before starting the unit study the lad and I went for a walk looking for pine trees.  We found a variety in town, and a few on a favourite walk around the dam. I figured it would be a good thing to actually see the trees before we started so he’d already be able to spot differences in the trees before we started. 🙂   It was interesting to see the colour variations… some were light green, others dark, still others with a bluish tinge.  The needles didn’t all feel the same either and noting the differences in the bark texture surprised my lad. Pine Trees by Creation Illustrated

Each study encompasses several worksheets that the student fills out after reading and watching various resources provided.  My son commented that some of the line spacing is too small.  He’s still improving his cursive and struggles yet to make his writing fit narrow spacing.Pine Trees by Creation Illustrated, sample pagesOne issue we ran across in the Pine Trees study was the some of the bible verses provided didn’t seem to make any mention of Pine or fir Trees.  We didn’t find that to be a big deal as it was more fun to go out and measure a pine tree using a pencil!  🙂 But to alleviate this concern for other parents, it would be VERY easy to just include the bible verses in print form.  This unit study fit in well with the Fall 2017 Copy of the Creation Illustrated Magazine.  The unit study about snow goes along with the Winter 2018 magazine.   In that study you will, in part, learn how snowflakes are categorized and make some crystals. 

Anyways, back to our study, after we did our nature walk we worked on the worksheets of the ebook.  First I had my lad go through and see what he already knew.  Then we looked through the various resources in order to answer the questions.  My son choose to do all the easy worksheets one day and then write his essay the next. 

Pine Trees by Creation Illustrated, essayAll in all it took three days to complete the unit study.  We could have stretched it out over a week doing a little every day, or used the questions as a stepping stone to dig deeper.  Instead we enjoyed ourselves with a walk, took a partial day to learn about pine trees, and then worked on the finer details of writing an essay.  It fit into our week well and the lad found it helpful. 

Pine Trees by Creation Illustrated, cover page

Pine Trees
Creation Illustrated
Pricing: currently 30% off for the unit studies.
Series: Creation Unit Studies.
Unit studies are geared to grades 5-8.
New subscriptions to yearly membership to magazine are 25% off. 
Creation Illustrated. 
Creation, Nature, Magazine, Unit Study, all ages, faith based

60 families from the Homeschool Review Crew have reviewed The Snow and Pine Tree unit studies distributed by Creation Illustrated. Please check out their reviews here.

creation illustrated - sample pages of Pine tree unit
You can find Creation Illustrated on the following social media Platforms.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CreationIllustrated/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/creation_illustrated/ 
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/creationnature/pins/ 
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CreationMag 

The other unit reviewed was the Intricacies of Snow.

Creation Illustrated unit studies snow

Review: Animal Camouflage

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Every once in a while you get a book in your hands for reviewing and you just fall in love.  As soon as I saw this beautiful book “Animal Camouflage” I was like “Son, look at this book”, and talking to other people about it.  I just really, really like this book and thought it a very clever design. 

Now I have to admit that my 12 year wasn’t quite an enamoured as his mother was, but he thought it was pretty interesting, and had fun flipping through the pages and finding the more difficult animals to spot.  I am also concerned that I won’t be able to show you well the beauty and wonder that is contained within this book.

I’m trying to figure out just what I like so much about it.

First: It’s an unusual rendition of a camouflage book. It’s not animals hiding in their areas, with their colours and stripes and stops within a multi-coloured background.  It’s white with dark lines, so the animals are right there and can be seen, some easier than others.  But no colours to look for, just shapes and outlines, hidden with all the white and lines.  

Second: the information is presented in a clear format.  Do you see how each area has a colour?  That colour is used for the four pages it takes for each area.  This makes it easy to differentiate between areas.

Third: It’s a lovely book to hold.  Feels good in the hand.  It’s pretty to look at and to exclaim over.  I showed it to a friend and she agreed it was a nice book to hold in your hand, and loved the ways the animals/scenery was represented.  “It’s very clean”.

Fourth: It’s educational.  The text is brief, but more animals are covered than just a couple for each area.  I do wish that they talked about the TYPE of camouflage that each animal possessed, like the gazelle with a stripe down it’s belly.  The spots of a giraffe helping it blend into the browns of the savannah, and the brown pelt of the cottontail helping it hide in the underbrush. 

Fifth: I think that it’s perhaps less about the camouflage of animals, but more how they create a fun camouflage search and find to help children want to learn more about the different animals represented.    Honestly… it’s a FUN book to look through, to find the four reindeer or the 10ish wolves or can you find the anaconda slithering along the ground?

If you get stuck, or your child needs help, the answers are in back of the book.

Animal Camouflage: Search and find
Sarah Dennis & Sam Hutchinson
Princeton Architectural Press
Hardcover, ages 6-9
Animal, elementary, nature

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where can you Find it?   Amazon Link.

Review: The Animal Book

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When I was young I loved looking at pictures of animals, and I devoured books that told me about them. Today I have a book that my son devoured that I wanted to share with you called “The Animal Book”. 

animal nature conservation

 This is a a really neat book, just packed full with information about animals, telling us where they live, what they eat, endangered status (or not), more.  We learn about a variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and invertebrates.   Some of the animals we are very familiar with (like the horse), others are common (like the lion) and yet others are new like the indian pangolin, cat flea and the desert locust.

 Most pages are single pages, but the some animals are given a two page spread.   There is always an artistic drawing of the animals, combined with images of actual animals, and various facts about them. 

Each animal has a key facts section.  As you can see we learn pertinent facts, diet, name, and their status from a conservation aspect.

The facts in the Animal book at so interesting, did you know the brown bears can eat 40,000 moths for dinner, or that rattle snakes are born live, that pigeons can be trained to find cancer cells, or that scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?   Astounding isn’t it?

What else can I tell you about The Animal Book.  It covers 118 animals and contains a clearly laid out table of contents where the animals are divided into areas of the world. 

Each section opens with a map, giving a brief geography lesson.  A small map shows where in the world each area is found, and we learn such things as natural landmarks, general land qualities and such like.   It’s a brief look.

The book closes with the question “what happens next?”  Asking questions about the animals learned about and helping the reader ponder, what do we do now?   Included are some steps we can take to help take care of these animals that share the world with us.

The Animal Book
Author: Ruth Martin
Illustrator: Dawn Cooper
Lonely Planet Kids
164 pages
hardcover
Ages 8-12 years
Type: Geography, science, nature
 
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books. 

My thoughts:
 I like this book. 🙂  It is a fascinating look at a good selection of animals from all over the world, covering all the different animal groups (other than the microscopic).  Toss in some geography lessons, and some social studies.  This book could easily be start of a unit study on animals from around the world, added to a continent study or part of a presentation on taking care of the animals on this planet.
 
Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: The Animal Book.
Amazon.com:  The Animal Book.

Raincoast is on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

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Reviewing our week: Dec 9

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 This week

We managed to keep ourselves busy.  I had big plans for the week since I’m feeling much better than I have been.. .but learned that I still peter out of energy quickly and therefore lose focus and will to push onwards.

Independent learning

The Eastern Chipmunk:

Why we can’t ship Nuclear Waste to the Sun.

Monday:

  • Daily smarts, Veritas History and Bible, and Teaching Textbooks.
  • Weekly visit with Gramma
  • 1/2 hour reading 
  • continued our reading of Cat of Bubastes.

 Tuesday: 

  • Daily smarts, Veritas History and Bible, and Teaching Textbooks.
  • 1/2 hour reading 
  • Out to buy two shelves, and then to find room for them in his room.
  • Organized lego
  • Made decision to sell his meccano and lego action figures as well as a few other toys
  • Look what we made today! (recipe coming next week)
  •  

 Wednesday

  • Foodbank
  •  Daily smarts.
  • 1/2 hour reading 
  • Cleaning and organizing the lad’s room (did all on his own)

Thursday

  •  Daily smarts, Veritas History and Bible, and Teaching Textbooks.
  • 1/2 hour reading 
  • Working on his story.   
  • Deciding there was more things in his room that needed cleaning and removing.

Friday

  • Plans were to have an art class…but snow hit.
  • So we started putting up my Christmas village.  We didn’t get finished, but we got it started at least.  🙂
  • And we had fun watching the birds.
  •   

Word Prompt Posts.

Peace.
List.
White. 
Joy.  

Reviews:

Santa Based Christmas Books.
The Art of Beatrix Potter.
The Storybook Knight.
Art Series: Designing with Pixar.

Life and Faith:

Sunday Sermon: John: A Call to Repent
Hymn Study: Thou Didst Leave thy Throne
Do Not forget the Lord God. Continued study in Ezekiel 23
Recipe: My Pineapple Ham.   A family favourite
Ezekiel is a sign.  Continue study in Ezekiel 24
The Lad’s delight in tidyness.  My lad requested I put up this post. 🙂
Field Trip: Kitchener Symphony. 

Linking up the following places:

 

Homeschool Coffee Break
Weird unsocialized homeschoolers
homeschool show and tell