Category Archives: Unit Studies and Lapbooks

Signs of Spring

I love taking nature walks.  I was noticing on my walks lately how many beautiful signs of spring had appeared.  In addition to making observations, sometimes I enjoy gathering a few safe wild edibles for making teas and other nutritious foods too.  Spring is the perfect time of the year to start hunting and gathering.

It is amazing to think about how the pioneers survived on many of these wild edibles, and they must have been so happy when spring appeared with new growth and wild foods to sustain them after the cold winter.

My kids are currently working on a Pioneer Unit Study about Davy Crockett and they just finished a unit study on Pine Trees.  This was great timing for our spring nature walk and their unit studies to coincide together and enhance their learning experience.

Dandelion is beautiful, edible, and medicinal.  

We love dandelion lemonade and dandelion tea.  Dandelion has edible flowers, leaves, and roots.   Every spring and early summer I gather as much fresh young dandelion leaves as I can to make fresh salads and stir fries and flower heads to make tea and lemonade.

Dandelion is a great substitution for cooked spinach.  I like to chop up a handful and added into recipes that call for spinach.  My grandparents ate dandelion leaves several times a week for their lunch and called it wilted lettuce.  They used a source of fat like bacon in a skillet and when it was cooked they added the dandelion greens and cooked them until they were wilted.  Grandpa always had fresh greens and garden produce all spring summer and fall.

In addition to using dandelion for tea, lemonade, and as a spinach substitute, we have made dandelion jelly and dandelion cookies in the past.  I have never harvested the roots for coffee myself, but I have purchased pre-made dandelion coffee before and it tastes similar to coffee.  I also personally use dandelion supplements in a capsule as needed to keep my kidneys and bladder in good working condition.  The dandelion can help the body release excess water and stimulate urination.  There is a time of the month when women’s bodies tend to store additional fluids and they feel bloated and the dandelion is an excellent resource for using a few days of the month for helping to reduce the extra water.

This year my goal is to make a dandelion syrup for multiple uses.  I plan to can it and then keep an opened jar in the fridge for use by the spoonful as needed.  It will be a great healthy addition to salad dressings, drinks, smoothies, pancakes, and more.

Violets are beautiful, edible, and medicinal. 

Violet flowers are delicious and fragrant in salads, teas, and the leaves can be used as a substitute for cooked spinach and used in stir-fry.  The flowers are often used as a fragrance and in soothing aroma baths.  The roots are also used as medicine.

Wild onions, chives, and garlic plants.  

The entire plant of wild onion, chives and garlic are used the same ways domesticated varieties are used both as a food and medicinal.

Pine buds, pine pollen, and pine needles.

Pine needles make a delicious citrus flavor tea full of vitamins, especially vitamin C.  Pine buds and pine pollen are full of protein and an array of amino acids.

Sometimes I take these nature walks by myself, but most of the time, one or more of my kids want to go for a walk with me.  We really enjoy these walks.

Walking around today, with the mindset thinking what the pioneers might of looked for and gathered for food and medicine made this walk even more exciting.

We also found beautiful butterflies flying above our head already. The weather was still too cool for much flight for them and they landed often to rest.  We followed this one for quite a ways in the yard, bushes, and trees.  It often stopped to rest.

Wild Roses

The roses are leafing out and starting to bud.  They also still have a few rose hips left from last season and we nibbled on these.  They are a great source of vitamins and antioxidants, especially vitamin C.

Wild grape

The grapes had fully leafed out and bloomed fragrant yellow flowers before most of the other trees even had leaves or buds.

My daughter enjoyed collecting the fragrant flowers from the wild grapes that had already fallen to the ground.

Potentilla 

Potentilla are also called cinquefoil and the leaves and flowers look similar to wild strawberries, but they have a yellow flower instead of a white flower.  They have red fruit that looks like a strawberry, but they are flavorless.  I would describe eating their fruit like eating a lovely red strawberry that tastes like water, no flavor and no aroma.  The flowers, fruit, and leaves are edible in salads and the roots are used as medicine.

There were so many beautiful treasures to find.  Some were so tiny you had to look very closely to see.

Wild Clover

Beautiful patches of red and white wild clover has popped up everywhere.  There are no blooms yet so I can’t tell which is the red and which ones are the white, but there are several varieties of leaf patterns in these plants.  Some are more solid green with a lighter green veragation.

Other clover patches have leaves that are veragated with green and white.

Another patch has a yellow and green verragated pattern.  So pretty!

Even in areas that seems dead or barely growing, little signs of spring flowers have appeared.

Now that it is spring, we need to start working on our gardens.

Today we removed weeds from the gardens and applied rich compost we made.

Spring surprise!  A lovely patch of volunteer lettuce!  This is going to be delicious in a salad!

Mint has returned too and is doing well.

We also found some carrots returning from last year.  We harvested one and it was nearly 5 inches long already!

Barrel planters filled with pansies have made it through the late frosts.  The flowers are stunning!

Enjoy the bounty and blessings of spring!

Please share.

Creation Illustrated Unit Studies Review

Have you heard about Creation Illustrated?  They are a magazine and curriculum publisher.  The photography in their publications is amazing and some of the best I have ever seen. Creation Illustrated has been called “the Christian answer to National Geographic” because of the amazing photography in their magazines, their focus on Father God our Creator, and the faith filled stories they publish.  I am sure you will be encouraged and inspired when you read Creation Illustrated.

Creation Illustrated is expanding and creating a new line of digital products and we have been asked to review two of their digital Creation Unit Studies.  Creation Unit Studies are fun hands on learning opportunities that expand on stories that have been published in the Creation Illustrated magazines.

Creation Unit Studies cover a variety of subjects, are filled with fascinating information that points the student a better understanding of Father God our Creator, and they are affordable.  They are easy to do and will help spice up the learning in your homeschool.  They are currently on sale for $6.95.  They have eight unit studies listed for sale at this time, and have plans for several more. The current list includes:

  • Badgers – The World of Badgers
  • Black Bears – Bear Essentials
  • Dragonflies – Dragons of Paradise
  • Fragrance
  • Joshua Tree National Park
  • Mellow Manatees
  • Pine Trees
  • Snow – Intricacies of Snow

We were sent Intricacies of Snow Unit Study and Pine Trees Unit Study from the Creation Unit Studies collection, and they are filled with fascinating information we want to share with you.

Creation Illustrated: Intricacies of Snow Unit Study

Intricacies of Snow

Creation Unit Study

Digital Curriculum

Downloadable PDF

17 Full Color Illustrated Pages

Teacher’s Answer Key

Grades 5-8

Primarily for grades 5-8, but younger grades can use with assistance or modified.

Lessons and Contents:

  • Reading Resources (page 3)
  • Educational Videos (page 3)
  • Writing & Penmanship (page 4)
  • Vocabulary & Spelling (page 4-5)
  • Bible Study (page 6-7)
  • Science (page 8-9)
  • Math (page 10)
  • Geography (page 11)
  • Art (page 12)
  • Puzzle (page 13)
  • Teacher Answer Keys (page 14-17)
  • and Other Fun Facts.

Example of Student Worksheet:

Example of Teacher’s Answer Key:

Creation Illustrated Magazine Winter ’18 Edition:

Winter ’18 Digital Edition of Creation Illustrated contains articles and beautiful photographs that correspond with the Intricacy of Snow Unit Study.

In addition to reading through the unit study and magazine articles, the unit study also contains a lot of suggested reading and research links and suggested videos to watch. When students finish this unit study about snow, they will have a better understanding and appreciation of snow and a better understanding of Father God and his creation.

Creation Illustrated: Pine Trees Unit Study

Pine Trees

Creation Unit Study

Digital Curriculum

Downloadable PDF

16 Full Color Illustrated Pages

Teacher’s Answer Key

Grades 5-8

Primarily for grades 5-8, but younger grades can use with assistance or modified.

Lessons and Contents:

  • Reading Resources (page 3)
  • Educational Videos (page 3)
  • Vocabulary & Spelling (page 4-5)
  • Bible Study (page 6)
  • Geography (page 7)
  • Science (page 8-9)
  • Math (page 10)
  • Writing & Penmanship (page 11)
  • Art (page 12)
  • Puzzle (page 13)
  • Teacher Answer Keys (page 14-16)
  • and Other Fun Facts

Example of Student Worksheet:

Creation Illustrated Magazine Fall ’17 Edition:

Creation Illustrated Fall ’17 Digital Edition contains articles and beautiful photographs that correspond with the Pine Trees Unit Study.

In addition to reading through the magazine articles, and unit study worksheets, there are also suggested reading and research links, and suggested videos to watch.  There is also an identification worksheet in the study that is great to use for taking a field trip, or a hike into nature to see the trees up close and identify them.  When students complete the Pine Tree Unit Study, they will have a better appreciation for these trees and how they have impacted our lives, and a better understanding about Father God and his creation.

Our Experience

We were sent the digital Intricacies of Snow and Pine Trees unit studies and the corresponding digital magazine editions, Winter ’18 and Fall ’17, of Creation Illustrated.

We have completed the Pine Trees Unit Study, and have started the Intricacies of Snow Unit Study.   We focused on the Pine Trees Unit Study for the purpose of this review.

We have experienced the end of winter and beginning of spring while doing this unit study.  You can see the snow on the pine trees in the two pictures posted above. Though the winter was cold where we live, we got very little snow, and it was usually gone within a day of falling.  In hindsight, I wish I would have focused on the snow study before the pine study as it would have been nice to have had snow actually on the ground that we could experience while studying it.  I will post how our snow study went soon.

Here are some pictures of our nature walk we took to identify pine trees in the forest.  We saw a variety of trees and lots of wildlife too.

We found pine buds full of pollen as well as fully intact pine cones on the same trees.

We harvested some of the young pine buds and pine needles for making recipes and several pine cones for crafts.

My kids enjoyed participating in this study, and the older kids did all of the worksheets, and the younger kids did a few of the worksheets.

We found an insect hiding in this pine tree.  We also found  bird nests, and lots of spiders (not pictured) that like living in pine trees.  We saw several squirrels check for food in the pine trees and jump from tree to tree playing tag with each other and shaking their tails.

We investigated pine cones, pine buds, pine needles, and tree bark up close.

We also found some wild grape vines that had climbed some of the tall pine trees in the forest and were starting to bloom with bright yellow flowers. The winding vines and yellow blooms were beautiful and smelled amazing, and were such a contrast to the tall pine.

Here are some examples of my kids worksheets and activities from this unit study:

Further The Learning:

Though we have finished the Pine Trees Unit Study, I plan to stretch this learning out further over the next several weeks this spring and into the summer.  I plan to add in a couple of building projects for the older three boys using pine lumber from the local lumberyard.

They have been learning woodworking skills using pine over the past year or so and they are getting better and better with their creations.  They helped make a workbench table from pine lumber during this unit study. You can see the frame of the table in this picture.  They have completed it since I took the picture and use it for a workbench for making handcrafts.  They are enjoying it very much.  They have been making lots of woodworking and leather projects on it.

They also helped make loft beds from pine lumber for their rooms last summer.  They love their beds and they had a lot of fun learning to work with wood.

They are also learning bushcrafting skills.  They are familiar with looking for dead pine trees in the forest, and they cut and chop these dead trees into smaller pieces for firewood.  We plan to learn to make “fat wood” with pine for fire starting and make several primitive traps too.  We have several templates and kits ready to make.

All of my kids enjoy whittling.  They usually just work on a stick and whittle away at the bark and usually focus on getting one end to a point.  The younger kids sit with daddy outside, and enjoy passing the time whittling.   The bigger boys have developed their skills and whittle when ever they want and don’t require being supervised like the younger kids.  The younger kids are only allowed to have their pocket knife while being supervised for safety.

One of my older sons has really taken a liking to whittling.  He enjoys sitting outside by himself, whittleing, with the quiet sounds of nature.  Sometimes he sits on the back porch and sometimes he sits on a bench he made in the forest.  He cut several pine branches to size, about 24 inches, and using cordage to attach the cut pieces to a tree that has two trunks with a gap between them, he created a bench seat with a ladder back that goes up the tree.  He can climb up to have a look around if he wants too.  He loves to sit in nature and whittle.  He has progressed into carving with pine, cedar, and birch trees.  He requested some chisels and has made some lovely wooden spoons.  He has made about six different spoons of different sizes and different purposes, and he has made walking sticks, and made a lovely walking cane with a handle.  He has whittled, chiseled, shaped, and sanded several projects by hand with the wood he collected from the forest.

All of the kids really enjoy working with their hands, learning life skills, practicing those skills, and learning to make different projects they find interesting.

To further the learning even more, I am planning to do several additional art, cooking, and science projects with all of the kids, lap booking pages about pine trees, and a “Pp” letter of the week project for my youngest son to reinforce what he has learned about pine trees and pine cones too.

I also plan to use the knowledge we gained in this unit study about pine trees and apply it to an American History unit study we are also working on about a fronteir man named Davy Crocket.  Learning about pine trees and their special place in history, and use as a food and medicine and building materials, as well as the impact on economics of the pine tree lumber industry on the people, will go well with the American History study we are doing.

Final Thoughts:

My kids have enjoyed this unit study.  I appreciate the biblical worldview of the curriculum and the beautiful photography and stories in the magazine.

I definitely recommend Creation Illustrated magazines and Creation Unit Studies for homeschool families. It is easy to download the digital PDF files and put them in a binder, read the magazine articles online and click through the related links and watch a few videos, grab your bible, and complete the worksheets. Older students can do these studies independently and younger students can do the studies with help from parents and older siblings.

We have had subscriptions to Creation Illustrated in the past, and had it for several years.  It was a regular part of our homeschool learning.  We have also reviewed their magazine for our readers several years ago, way back in 2012.   I regret that I let our subscription expire when we moved a couple of years ago.  I have been so inspired again by the magazine while doing this review that I plan to purchase a new subscription, and purchase more of these unit studies, and I would like to order several back copies of the magazine too.  These make wonderful reading for my family, and inspire us in our faith.  These make lovely gifts for extended family and friends and church libraries too.  These would be wonderful to benefit communities and leave as reading material in offices around town too.

I would recommend Creation Unit Studies and the Creation Illustrated magazines to everyone!

Latest Eddition:

The latest edition Creation Illustrated Spring ’18 has just been published.

Current Spring 2018 Edition

NEW Ad-Free Keepsake Edition

Features include:

  • ​Creation Up Close: Nature’s First Responders –by Evelyn Sayler
  • Creatures Near and Dear to Us: Butterfly Birth –by Rosanne Pallini-Veriezza
  • Re-Creation Outdoor Adventure: Trekking Through Myanmar –by Janae Bowman
  • Creation Day 4 of the Creation Story: Sun, Moon, and Stars –by Nikolas Grosfield
  • Creation Highlights and Creation Stewardship news briefs
  • My Walk with God: Redeeming the Desert –by Shirley Conley
  • Gardens from Eden: A Season of New Beginnings –by Joanne Taylor
  • Genesis Cuisine: Korean Treats Recipes –Korean 3-Radish Noodle Salad, Korean Mung Bean Vegie Pancakes, Korean Sweet Rice Cakes.
  • Children’s Story: Bumblebee Rescue –by Tatiana Claudy
  • Creation Character Building Lesson: Service and Ministry –by Terry & Jean McComb
  • New Coloring & Photo Contests for all ages
  • Photo and Coloring Contest winners
  • Study Guide, Spring Family Fun Activities
  • Poetry: All Creation Sings –by Bret Suarez
  • And more!

Video:

I found this 2015 video interview of Tom and Jennifer Ish. They are homeschool parents who began publishing Creation Illustrated in 1993.  That is over 25 years!  What an accomplishment for the kingdom of God!  Only God knows how many people, perhaps millions, have been inspired to draw near to him because of this ministry.  This interview is filled with fantastic information about the mission of Creation Illustrated and it’s worldwide outreach.

Try before you buy:

If you would like to try it out before you buy, Creation Illustrated offers a FREE digital edition of their magazine, and a FREE unit study on Fragrance which includes the corresponding digital magazine too.  Be sure to check those out.

Social Media

Keep in touch and up to date on all the latest news and products through the Creation Illustrated social media links.

Facebook
Twitter

Homeschool Review Crew

Be sure to check out what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew had to say about using products from Creation Illustrated.

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Noah and the Lego Ark

Got building blocks, Legos, or craft supplies?

Then get your kids busy reading, building, and re-telling bible stories!  Check out The Beginner’s Bible, or another youth bible you have on hand, for an easy to use resource for kids.  This is a great way to build family time together and a great way to incorporate daily devotions into your kids learning.  Your kids will have so much fun interacting with the bible stories and building props and seeing the stories come to life!

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Noah’s Ark is a great story to retell with Lego’s because just like your child building with blocks of different sizes, Noah was also a builder and he built a big boat with different sizes of wooden boards.  In addition to building the largest boat ever created, called an Ark, Noah was also a husband, a father, and the “ultimate prepper” and “homesteader” and he had to store feed and safely house and care for a huge amount of animals as well as his whole family for an entire year on the floating zoo-boat /house-boat called the ark.  The story of Noah and the ark can be found in Genesis 6, 7, and 8.    As they read the bible, kids will learn about the man called Noah, his faith in God, and also about righteousness, judgement of sin, and God’s plan to save a pure remnant of the human race that were willing to put their faith in him.

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God told Noah it was going to rain, and it would become a flood that would wipe out every living thing on the earth.  Noah was instructed to build a big ark (boat) and he was given the blueprints with detailed instructions to create it.  He built different size pens inside the ark and he was given instructions to save two pairs of every wild animal, three pairs of every “clean” animal,  seven pairs of animals that were to be sacrificed, and to also save his family including his wife, three sons, and their wives, by loading them all onto the ark before the start of the worldwide flood.

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God told Noah that people had become evil and violent and he must cleanse the earth and wipe them out with the flood.  He could no longer stand to live with mankind and watch their evil deeds.   God caused the earth and sky to give forth water for 40 days and nights to flood the earth.  But God promised to protect Noah’s family and anyone righteous who had faith to believe in God.  God gave Noah the plan.  He gave him the specific dimensions, told him what wood to use, and how to build it and save his family and the animals.  His sons helped him build the ark, but the rest of the world mocked him as he worked and preached and did not help him.

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Noah preached and preached to the people about God and the coming flood, but no one believed him and they did not turn from their wickedness and did not worship God. They had never seen rain or a flood before.   They did not care about doing right.  They did not turn away and repent of their wicked sins.  They did not want to trust that Noah had heard the truth from God.  They thought Noah was out of his mind to believe a God they could not see, and believe in a flood and rain that had never happened before, and work so hard to obey God and build a big boat.

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If you don’t have Lego’s on hand, make your boat with paper, or other recycled materials you have on hand, or use other toys your kids might have in their collections.  Besides building a boat, they might have mini characters, and animals, trees, etc. they can also use.  Perhaps they can also create items to represent the weather changes, the flood, and make a rainbow too.   You can use as many props as you want to add to the effect of retelling the story.

Another wonderful way to use this learning opportunity is Language Arts (have the kids read, re-write the story), Science (weather, engineering, physics), Arts and Crafts (create Noah’s Ark themed art and craft projects), Math (how many legos?,  build to scale, use grid paper and draw their own blueprints to scale, etc), Geography (draw or color a map of where Noah was from and where the ark landed), Movie Making (use props and make stop motion animation), Unit Study and LapBook, and have the kids Share their project with Grandparents, Neighbors, and Sunday School class too.  There are lots of ways this method of learning can be used and incorporated into your curriculum.

Your kids will really enjoy this activity.  In addition to building up their faith as they read the bible, kids can relate in a hands on way as they put the story in action and retell the story with their own mini-size boat.

Here are a few Noah and the Ark themed videos we found:

Noah and the Ark Bible Story Animated by Beginner’s Bible

Noah’s Ark Lego Movie Trailer

Arts and Crafts

Noah Preschool Paper Plate Craft and Story

 

Online Bible

If you don’t have a printed copy of the bible, check out Bible Gateway for a digital online version.  You can read it from your computer and your phone and digital reading devices.

You can choose from several languages and several versions to use.   They also offer free bible studies and a free verse of the day they will email you if you desire.

Lapbook and Unit Study

will update more soon.

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Sam The Minuteman Study Guide Review

What is a Minuteman?  That is a very good question, and it has a lot to do with American History.

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We recently reviewed Sam The Minuteman Study Guide by Progeny Press to learn more about these important people and their role in American History.

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A Minuteman is an American Citizen who is ready to defend his/her person, family, property, neighbors, town, state, and country with just a “minute’s notice”.    There is an interesting fictional story that helps kids learn about these defenders and their role in history called  Sam The Minuteman.  This story is about a boy who’s dad was a Minuteman when the colonies were still occupied by Britain.   This study guide helps you dig deeper into the lives of people, their character, family and community dynamics, and their faith as well as the battle they fought for independence from Britain.

Sam The Minuteman Study Guide

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Sam The Minuteman Study Guide

For Elementary 1st – 3rd Grades

42 pages

e-Book PDF download

Retails $11.99

Table Of Contents

  • Note To Instructor
  • Synopsis
  • Background Information
  • About the Author
  • Before You Read Activities
  • Vocabulary
  • Cause and Effect
  • Word Pictures
  • How the Author Creates Mood
  • Looking At The Story
  • Important Words to Remember
  • Thinking About the American Revolution
  • After You Read Activities
  • Additional Resources
  • Answer Key

How We Used The Sam The Minuteman Study Guide

We received a PDF download of Sam The Minuteman Study Guide to review in our home.  I printed the study guide and put it into a three ring binder.   This study guide was a great addition to our study of American History this fall.

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To complete this study guide, you will need a computer, an email address, and printer, as well as the book Sam The Minuteman.  The book is easy to find at local libraries or for purchase through book stores, or even easier is to find it as a read aloud on youtube where you can listen, watch, and read along with the word in the story.

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When you purchase the study guide, you can either print off the whole study guide and put into a three ring binder, or have it bound, or you can just read it from the computer screen and print off what pages you need as you go along in the study.  This is so flexible and will fit with just about everyone’s needs.

 Activities We Did In The Sam The Minuteman Study Guide

  • Make Homemade Butter  (in the story they ate homemade bread and butter).  Recipe for making butter provided in the study guide.   We purchased cream, put it into the stand mixer (because shaking it in a jar takes to long) and made our own homemade butter.   We used to do this every week when we had our own fresh milk from our cows.   We also made homemade bread, and made biscuits on another day, to eat the butter on.
  • Historical Timeline (dates and headings provided in the study guide)
  • Crossword Puzzle
  • Worksheets: Vocabulary Words
  • Worksheets: Several “Question and Answer” worksheets throughout the study guide.
  • Bible Study:  Several scriptures and question and answer were listed and encourage character and understanding of the Christian faith.
  • Worksheets: Coloring Page of the Liberty Bell
  • We used several online resources to complete the study guide through Progeny Press, and also to learn more about this period in American History.
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Crossword puzzle and worksheets from Progeny Press Sam The Minuteman Study Guide

About the story:  Sam The Minuteman

The story book is historical fiction.   The characters are made up, but are based on historical facts so it is a great addition to any American History study.   Reading this story will help kids understand and relate to people who lived at this period in American History and America’s fight for independence and birth as a nation.

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screenshot of Sam The Minuteman read aloud on youtube

We have a copy of the book, but we also found the book as a free read a loud on youtube (read by Stories with Sarah), and this was a perfect option for us.  The kids had fun hearing another child read the story aloud and following along.  This is a great option for those folks who don’t own their own copy, don’t want to go buy one, or who have kids who are fascinated with everything on digital media like my kids.

The read aloud is only a 10 minutes long and the kids can read right along with Sarah as she reads the book on the video.  In addition to the book, we added in watching several other videos about Minutemen and read through the wikipedia explanation, did coloring pages, made a lapbook, and more too.  These activities really helped the kids appreciate the learning material and activities, and deepen their understanding in the Study Guide even more.

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screenshot of Sam The Minuteman on youtube

The main character in the story is a boy named Sam Brown who lives with his mother and father on a farm in Lexington, Massachusetts.   America has not become a nation yet and is still a British colony, but has formed it’s own local governing proclamations. The people living in the colonies are upset because of the increased taxation and trade regulations placed on them by Britain, and the increased presence of British soldiers and governors the King has sent to enforce the new regulations.

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screenshot of read a loud book on youtube

During the story, Sam experiences the beginning of the war.  He sees British soldiers from Boston pass through his town as they trying to keep orders for the King, and he feels the frustrations of his father and neighbors.   Then one night, the church bells ring and wake Sam and his family and this is the signal to his father that it is time to go and defend his freedom.

They meet with other men and learn that the British soldiers are marching to Concord where the colonists have hidden weapons.  Then Sam goes with his father and the other minutemen to try to hold back the British and give the Americans time to defend their supplies and hidden weapons.  One of Sam’s friends gets shot, but survives.  Eventually the Minutemen Militias grow stronger in their fighting skills and are able to drive off the British soldiers.

Additional Resources We Used To Further The Learning:

We love turning everything into an expanded unit study.   That is what I love about study guides, they spark your curiosity and invite you to dig deeper.    We expanded our learning with several additional fun activities including videos, reading, Legos, cooking, life skills, and more to learn about this fascinating period in American History.   We would like to take a field trip too. Several years ago, we went to see some Revolutionary War History in Charelston SC,  another trip to Kings Mountain where the Mountainmen (Mountain Minutemen) fought a battle with the Brittish Soldiers, and another trip we went to a Revolutionary War Museum and State Park with a Ford (where the militia crossed the river).  We are also creating a lapbook to hold our completed the Sam The Minuteman Study Guide activities, and additional projects we did while learning about Minutemen Militia.

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Minuteman received notice (image source)

Legos:  I have 6 kids and 5 of them are boys.  We love building with Legos and it just makes learning fun!   We recreated and retold the story and the events we learned in the study guide with Legos.  The kids set up a village and a house for Sam’s family, and showed him and his dad riding a horse out to meet the other Minutemen to fight with the British soldiers coming down the road.

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Sam and his dad are in the Minutemen Militia. Story retold with Legos.

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Coloring Page Paul Revere (notified the Minutemen the British were coming and then rode out to the army to notify them the British were coming to take away their weapons and subdue them).

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Coloring Paul Revere as he rode out from Boston on his horse to warn the Minutemen the British were coming.

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Who were the Minutemen?  Wikipedia

Geography Map

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Geography and History video:  The American Revolution in 9 minutes.  This was our absolute favorite “quick” video that explains the history and geography of the war, and best of all it is told with stick figure animation.  This is much more fun for kids to watch than other history videos.   The kids also have fun watching a grade school class retell the events in a video they made called American Revolution.

History of the part time militia known as Minutemen 

History video: the Force Of Citizens

History video: Minutemen Militia from “History of the US Constitution”.

Visit the Minutemen Historic National Park

Volunteer with Friends of the Minutemen

American Revolution Lapbooking Pages

It is amazing what you can learn from history and how it applies today.  A Minuteman is a person who is ready to handle trouble at any minute.   Formed in 1645, these homegrown militia men were to be ready within 30 minutes of being warned and carry with them three days provisions of food, shoes for both snow and regular weather, and weapons.  They played important roles in history from 1645, 1750, 1774-1776, through the Civil War (mountain men), and beyond.    The government passed the Militia Acts of 1792 by Congress requiring all citizens to arm themselves with a musket, a bayonet, and no less than 24 bullets.   The Militia Acts of 1903 passed by Congress states that 1) the organized Minutemen Militia will become the basis of the National Guard and 2) a provision that states able bodied citizens ages 17 to 45 are to take up arms to defend themselves and the country.

American Minutemen (image source)

American Minutemen (image source)

We actually learned there are Minutemen Militia (also known as Watchmen Militia and Family Protection Group, etc) today all across this great nation we live in that are ready on a moment’s notice.   The Discovery Channel produced a documentary about them.  They meet together in groups and are trained to use weapons, and secure resources such as food, water, and have supplies on hand to last from several weeks to several months. These groups are made up of people from all races and from all walks of life from mechanics to librarians to students, etc. The documentary followed men and women from across the USA who get together and practice drills in Florida, Indiana, and Arizona for combat in the event the government cannot protect or help it’s citizens.  That kind of circumstance could happen when mobs breakout in the cities, such as when natural disasters happen (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods) and folks are without resources, nuclear meltdowns or if there is an EMP or asteroid that takes out communications and infrastructure, and during racial tensions in inner cities and mobs breakout, as well as illegal drug smugglers coming across the borders, and with mass shootings and terrorists attacks.

Just like they were through out American History, these modern day Minutemen Militia are ready at any minute to handle any trouble that arises to defend our towns and people from threats of danger.   Approximately 30% to 70% of Americans are legally armed depending on what part of the country you live in.   The nationwide average is about 80 million gun owners who own at least one registered gun, (there are between 280-310 million guns), or approximately 1 out of 3 households are armed.  These registered gun owners are willing to protect their homes, family, friends, and neighbors from attack from those who would attempt to cause harm to life, liberty, and the pursuit of freedom in our country.

Progeny Press has created a great study guide to get young people interested in American History using a simple story with characters they can relate too.  Would you like to learn more about the Minutemen Militia and the American Revolution?  Then you might want to go on this learning adventure, and check out this great study guide from Progeny Press, and perhaps your family will be inspired to be a part of the Minutemen in your local area and will gain a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices so many have made for the freedoms we enjoy today.

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You can follow Progeny Press on their social media sites for all the latest news and product updates.

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Progeny Press Review

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Heroes Of History: Billy Graham Review

Are you hungry for true stories about real heroes?  Then you and your children might like the Heroes of History book series and Unit Study Curriculum Guides by YWAM Publishing.

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The Heroes of History series contains approximately 20 volumes of fascinating history of real life heroes. Some of the great men and women covered in these books includes the lives of: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Ben Carson, Laura Ingles Wilder, etc.

Heroes Of History

Heroes of History are ordinary men and women (many who faced poverty and disadvantages in their youth), who over came challenging circumstances and changed the course of American History.

Heroes Of History

Billy Graham

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Paperback Book

208 pages

Ages 10+

Retails for $9.99 and is on sale for $7.50

This book covers the story of Billy Grahams Life including his youth, his acceptance of Christ as his savior, his family, and life long ministry as a world wide evangelist.

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Unit Study Guide Cover

Unit Study Curriculum Guide

PDF e-Book

Retails for $9.99 and on sale for $7.49

This unit study guide corresponds with the paperback book.  It provides structured questions, vocabulary words, and activities for each chapter to help the student dig deeper into the story. It also contains the answer key and a few printables such as maps, a timeline, and a fact sheet about his life.

Unit Study Table of Contents

Unit Study Table of Contents

How We Used This Product In Our Home

We were sent the Heroes Of History paperback book and the corresponding Unit Study Curriculum Guide to review in our home.  This curriculum is filled with fascinating stories about Billy Graham’s life.  He is considered “America’s Pastor” and is loved by millions of people in America and around the world.

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Billy Graham (source Unit Study Guide)

There are so many details from his life that you just have to read the book for yourself to grasp the big picture, but I think this sums up this amazing journey: Billy grew up on a dairy farm in North Carolina.  God took him on a life long journey from those humble beginnings to become an evangelist who has preached in 185 countries reaching over 200 million people with the message about Jesus Christ and eternal salvation.  It is amazing how God used a farm boy in an amazing way to expand his Kingdom.

My children are enjoying learning about Billy Graham’s adventures growing up and his life working for the Kingdom.  The story starts our when he is about 12 years of age and goes through many of his memories growing up and my son was hooked to read about his boyhood.

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The unit study guide contained about 5 printables (located in section 2) and the rest was of the guide (section 1) was structured questions about each chapter in the book and a few activity ideas.  We liked a couple of activity ideas in the guide such as creating an itinerary for Billy Graham’s Travels and computing costs for airfare and travel etc.  And an idea to watch one of his speeches from the 1960’s and compare it to a speech from the 1990’s for example and see any changes in his presentation of his message.  Also an idea to learn one of his speeches and then repeat it yourself as a speech was a cool idea.  But otherwise, the guide really needs some tweaking and some fun activities added for kids.  So my suggestion to other families would be to come up with your own activity ideas to make this part of the learning fun.

Fact sheet from unit study guide.

Fact sheet from unit study guide.

My Personal Experience with Billy Graham

When I was about 13 years old, I went to a Billy Graham crusade in Kansas City, KS.  It was life changing for me.  I dedicated my whole heart to Jesus that night.  I sat on the edge of my seat in a huge stadium filled with people and knew Mr. Graham was speaking just to me.  I had given my heart to the Lord when I was 8 and was baptized with water at the Open Door Baptist Church.  When I was about 11, my father’s church felt I needed re-baptized “into” their church, the Church of Christ.  Not much changed for me at that time, other than earnestly seeking God as my home life was not so great.   But when I was 13, and sincerely seeking God for answers in my life, I met a man who had the answers.  His name was Billy Graham.  He had a confidence and an assurance of who God is that I had never seen or heard in any man.  That night I went forward at the Billy Graham Crusade and dedicated my whole heart to the Lord, I was filled with a fire for God.  A passion.   It was life changing for me and I never doubted my salvation or God’s love and his hand on my life ever since.  He has guided me and held me close and watched over me and I love him more than life itself.

I know there are millions of people like myself that God placed Billy Graham in our path.  He has been a blessing to me.  When we lived in North Carolina, we lived about 40 minutes from Mr. Graham’s campus near Asheville, NC.    If you are ever in the area, I encourage you to go and visit the museum and campus.  His son carries on the ministry’s vision today and runs a world wide outreach that is the hands and feet of Jesus meeting the real needs of people called Samaritans Purse.   If you are looking for a ministry to pray for, financially support, or volunteer with, please put this one at the top of your list!

Thank you Mr. Graham for your obedience and dedication to obey Jesus and share the message of the Kingdom of God with me.

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Hewitt Homeschooling Review

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Hewitt Homeschooling has some great products for homeschool families. We are reviewing My First Reports: Bugs and Worms by Hewitt Homeschooling, and we are learning lots of great information and having fun at the same time.  If you are in the process of putting your curriculum choices together, I would encourage you to add products from Hewitt Homeschooling to the list.

pic of homeschool help

 

My First Reports

One unique product Hewitt Homeschooling offers is a curriculum supplement called My First Reports.  My first reports uses a step by step approach to help elementary age children learn about a subject they are interested in and write a report about it.

Skills used in My First Reports include:

Research
Organizing
Sorting
Writing
Penmanship
Vocabulary
Reading
Critical Thinking

There are several My First Reports to choose from and they are geared for different ages, but all are flexible and can be used for grades 1 – 8 depending on the skill level of your student.

My First Report: Music
My First Report: Transportation
My First Report: Weather
My First Report: Me
My First Report: Famous People
My First Report: Wild Animals / Large Mammals
My First Report: Wild Animals / Small Mammals
My First Report: Pets/Farm Animals
My First Report: Bugs and Worms
My First Report: Birds
My First Report: Reptiles/Amphibians
My First Report: Plants
My First Report: Solar System
My First Report: Marine Life
My First Report: Olympics
My First Report: Outdoor Activities
My First Report: Sports
My First Report: My State
My First Report: Eastern United States
My First Report: Western United States
My First Report: Middle United States
My First Report: Southern United States
My First Report: Lewis and Clark Expedition
My First Report: Focus On The World

You can purchase My First Reports individually for $8.95 , or buy 14 titles as a bundle for $69.95 and save nearly 40% off retail.

 

Our Experience:

Bugs and Worms

We chose My First Reports: Bugs and Worms for this review.  It is designed for kids in 3rd – 4th grades, but can be used for younger students in 1st-2nd grades or older students in 5th-8th grades too.  My First Reports: Bugs and Worms contains 52 pages including reproducible forms, worksheets, suggested reading and resources, and a unit study.

When we received the packet from Hewitt Homeschooling, I placed the pages into a binder.   The pages come already hole punched so you can put it into a three ring binder for convenience, or into your students completed notebook if you desire.  I am a unit study “collector”, or perhaps a unit study nerd might describe me better.   I guess and I love being able to insert them into a binder and keep them for future use.  If someday I pass along our schoolroom to my own grown kids, or to another family, hopefully all the unit studies we have acquired or created over the years will be easy to just grab and go because they are arranged neatly in their own binders.  You could fill a whole book shelf with them.  Ooohhh Awwhhhh.  Yep, I am a unit study nerd!

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We were very excited about this curriculum.  This package covers information about 12 different bugs and worms:

Grasshoppers
Flies
Ants
Bees
Fireflies
Crickets
Ladybugs
Spiders
Caterpillars
Butterflies / Moths
Dragonflies
Worms

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Unit Study Approach

This set is designed to used for 12 weeks, in a unit study method, covering one bug or worm and corresponding worksheets and suggested activities per week.  Being a unit study, many different ages of kids can enjoy it, and it is cross curricular for many different subjects and covers:

Math
Reading
Social Studies
Music
Art
Language
History
Science
Health
P.E.
Bible
Suggested Field Trips

DSC01754 (Picture my son took of hundreds of new born baby spiders emerging from their nest on a tiger lily).

During the process of learning about a bug or worm you will also do many activities mentioned in the accompanying unit study.  For example, various activities to choose from might include:  geography you will take a map of your state or a region and list bugs found there.  Younger students might cut out pictures and paste them on the map and older students would likely create a map and write a list of various insects identifying  them and their locations or to add in an art aspect, they might sketch them too.  In the bible they would learn about insects mentioned in various verses.  For reading and literature they would read various books, magazines, news articles, and poems about bugs.   For Language you would learn insect vocabulary words and spelling of each insect, as well as answer the report questions on the worksheets. You might create word puzzles and give an oral report too.  For Math, you put the insects in order based on a category such as length or color or weight ect.  Perhaps you could make a graph for comparisons.  You might calculate speeds and distance traveled or the amount of food they eat.  For Science you will make comparison graphs for body characteristics, learn about habitats and how to classify, catch-observe-release different insects when you are studying each one, etc.  One suggestion is to build a wormery when you study the worms section.  For art and science you might make a kite and then for P.E. you would go outside and fly it.  Also for P.E. you would take a hike through your neighborhood or a park to look for insects and study where they are found, what they sound like, etc.  For music you might study and recreate the sound of various insects, sing songs about insects and songs about creation including songs and praises to God.  Art has so many suggestions like making a spider web, visiting an art museum, making collages or mosaics, sculptures, and various crafts.  Field tips ideas include hikes or nature walks in various locations like parks, nature preserves, zoos, museums, the insect section of the library, a honey farm, or other farms where insects are used in some way, nature store, etc.

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While learning about each “critter”, my 3rd grader completed a worksheet for each bug we learned about.  The worksheet includes a picture of the bug, its class and scientific order, vocabulary words, and several questions to research further.   He is encouraged to write complete sentences when answering the questions.  When the week of learning about the insect is complete, and he has answered all the questions, he can transfer that information into a finished report by using his answers to help create paragraphs for a report about the insect he is writing about.

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I have always loved the hands on aspect of Field Trips.  My kids love the adventure and learning outside the classroom / house.  We took a field trip two weeks ago to the Creation Museum to learn more about the history of insects and see various species in their collections.

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This is a great curriculum resource and I would encourage other homeschool families to work it into their learning adventures this school year.  My First Reports would also be a great adventure for summer school, Sunday School, or afterschool learning adventures too.

Social Media Links:

You can follow Hewitt Homeschooling on their social media to keep up with all the latest news and updates.

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HewittHomeschooling

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https://twitter.com/HewittOnline

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Hewitt Blog
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Little House In The Big Woods Study Guide Review

For the past several weeks my kids have been learning about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder through the Little House In The Big Woods Study Guide by Progeny Press.  I was thrilled to learn that TOS was going to review a unit study based on Little House In The Big Woods.  I knew this was just the guidance we needed to maximize this learning experience.   
 

Little House In The Big Woods Study Guide
For Upper Elementary or Grades 3-5
Downloadable Interactive PDF Study Guide
Retails for $15.99
This is an interactive 56 page study guide.  You can fill in the blank on the computer, and save your work, or print it out and fill in the blanks and activities on paper.  It also comes with an answer key in a separate downloadable file.
Have you heard of Laura Ingalls Wilder?  Almost everyone has.  Little House In The Big Woods is on the library shelves of most homeschool families I know.  It is a mainstay in homeschooling, a right of passage so to speak for every homeschooler to read.  Last year we acquired our own copy of this wonderful book and I had big plans to use it for a unit study with our homeschool park group.  Then life happened, and we packed everything up and moved out of state. So our study on Little House In The Big Woods had to wait.
 
Laura lived from 1867 to 1957 and she wrote a series of stories about her life, and these stories were published in a series of nine books.  Her father was a pioneer and she moved several times as a child in the process of her dad securing food, areas to hunt, local work, or land to farm, until they eventually settled on a homestead.  Her stories have been compiled into books, a tv series, and movie.  There are several historical museums that honor her life in the towns where she lived.  I visited one of her childhood homes turned museum when I was growing up in Kansas.  She is an American icon.
This story shares the ups and downs of her family’s life on the frontier.  All of us can identify with growing up, and with relationship issues with family, friends, and neighbors.  But that is where much of the similarities end and a whole new adventure begins.  Laura grew up learning how to raise and hunt for food, trade and barter for things, bake, fish, travel by horse and buggy, and a one room schoolhouse, and other things most kids these days don’t experience on a day to day basis unless you are Amish.  
 
You can pick up a copy of her books at your local library, or find them online.  You might find them in used books stores too.  When writing this review I came across an audio rendition the book too.  If you have an audio learner, or just want to add another dimension to this learning experience by listening to the book being read outloud, here is a link to the audio of the first chapter. http://youtu.be/Svby9kpiWto and additional chapters are available too.
 
 
For the purpose of this review, I had both my 11 and 13 year olds read the book and study guide.  Sometimes the younger children would sit on their lap or nearby and listen to them read too.  Though this study guide is for grades 3-5, it is very adaptable for other ages too.   However, I was not as organized as I wanted to be to work with the younger kids on this project so I just let the older two work on it with assistance from me when needed.
 

 
In the 1980’s a TV series was also made based on the stories of Laura’s life called Little House On The Prairie.  This was one of my favorite TV shows growing up.  I am sure it has been the favorite show for many Americans, especially from my generation. I am so excited it is still around and my kids can enjoy it too.  This year is the 40 year anniversary of this program and there was a recent news broadcast of the cast reunion and new high definition blue ray technology that has improved the entertainment experience.  I sure would like to get a hold of the new dvd’s and be able to watch episodes with no commercials.  This is going to enhance the experience a lot when we re-do this learning adventure and include these too.


 
There are so many fun activities listed in the Interactive Study Guide to make this learning adventure lots of fun in a hands on way.  Besides reading the book, listening to the book, and watching the hit TV show or a movie, they have listed lots of great activities through out the guide.
 

 
The Interactive Study Guide corresponds to the chapters in the book.  It has summaries, questions, bible verses, vocabulary, word puzzles, writing prompts, and suggestions for activities.  It suggests field trips such as visit a local cheese factory, maple syrup farm, chicken farm and see eggs processed,
 

 
carve soap, visit a museum, make homemade butter, make pancakes and johnny cakes, graph the weather, make a seasons collage calendar, visit a beekeeping farm and also eat some fresh honey, give a speech, write a report, etc.  
 

 
Some of the fun activities we did similar to Laura’s childhood experiences included gathering eggs from chickens, 
 

 
hunted for animal tracks in the back field and found dear, racoon, squirrel, rabbit, dog, and bird tracks.  We found Indiana crawfish holes in the mud, and in the picture above we also found a 3ft long snake.   
 
We went out several times and hunted for wild food and found asparagus, dandelion greens, and wild strawberries, but we did not find any mushrooms.  The wild mulberry trees have green fruit that will soon be ripe and ready to harvest too.
 
 
My boys love to whittle, and the study guide suggested whittling or carving soap with a dull knife, but my boys just wanted to carve lots of sticks with their pocket knives.  We did several cooking projects and made butter in a jar from cream, ground oats into flour, made pancakes (we used the blender because we don’t have an old fashion grain grinder), and ate local honey on fresh homemade biscuits.   I really wanted to tap the maple trees in the front yard a few months ago too, but we could not locate the equipment to borrow in time.  We heard from several folks who tap that it was not a good year for maple sap this year due to the long winter weather we had and it messed up the season’s harvest.

 
I think this study guide is adaptable and you could easily add a lot more fun hands on options to help kids relate to Laura’s childhood.  I plan to do this study again with my younger kids and do things like: read the bible or other book by candle light or lantern, grow a historical garden or a kitchen spice mini garden, make beef jerky, preserve food for winter, listen to someone play the fiddle or try to play one yourself, go fishing and cook your fish for dinner, visit a horse farm and watch them shoe horses and care for them, take a horse and buggy ride, visit a dairy farm and milk a cow or goat, harvest and grind corn or wheat or rye (get some grain still on the stock or cob, thresh the grain and remove corn from cob, grind it into flour and make something with it), dye yarn or cloth and weave it or make something like a rug or scarf, sew an apron, set up a barter with a neighbor (trade tomatoes or something you grew in exchange for eggs or sugar or flour, or trade your labor or the scarf you made for sugar or flour), butcher a chicken and cook it for dinner, render lard or beef tallow, split and stack firewood, visit a living history farm and learn how things were done in the 1800’s, and make a scrap book or lapbook to record all the fun activities and store the worksheets and questions you answered in the study guide, etc
The study guide has lots of character building opportunities through in depth questions about the story and characters.  It also has bible study in a section called Dig Deeper.  I really liked how it related scriptures, dilemmas in the story, and real life for my kids to tie it all together with their faith.  Here is an example of the dig deeper sections of the study guide.  This one is dealing with the character trait of envy, jealousy, revenge, and choosing what is right to do :
 
This is a great hands on Interactive Study Guide that helps bring the book Little House In The Big Woods to life and I definitely think it is a great addition to our homeschool learning.  I plan for our family to redo this study this fall with all the kids all together, and either read it to them or have them listen to the audio of the book and then I will read the study questions to them and we can discuss as a family.  I hope to spread out some of the activities and begin them this summer so that they can relate more to Laura’s character in the book.  I want the younger children to have the opportunity to benefit from this learning experience and we will repeat many of the activities in the study guide.  We will also set aside a regular time each week to watch the reruns of the hit TV program to enhance our learning experience.  I am very excited and I am sure the kids will be too.  
 

 
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Super Bowl XLVII

 
Are you planning to watch the SUPER BOWL with your family on

Sunday, February 3rd, 2013? 



Whether you know a lot or a little about the Super Bowl, would you like to learn more?

Why not turn your your learning into a mini unit study with your kids?

Here is a great FREE resource!
 
Super Bowl XLVII  Mini Helper

It is 13 pages packed with information, internet links, and fun activities.

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Post Office Unit Study


We have been having a great time learning about the US Postal Service.   I thought it would be fun to create a Post Office Unit Study to go along with our International Postcard Exchange learning adventure.  We have joined up with over 300 preschools and homeschools to do a postcard exchange around the world and it has been a great learning adventure for us.

Be sure to check out all of our stories in this series with lots of leaning suggestions and links to resources:
Postcard Exchange
P Is For Postcard (and post office, and postman)
Postcard Geography Notebook and Bulletin Board
Post Office Unit Study

Below I have listed resources for you to enjoy a fun Post Office learning adventure with your kids.  I have a few more stories in this series to post and link up yet.  I hope to post a few additional worksheets and printables too.   But there are lots of links to printables below and feel free to make your own if you need more.  If you have some to share, be sure to leave a link to them in the comment section below.

                                                     

               Post Office Unit Study

If you would like to learn more about the United States Postal Service, then why not do a unit study and lapbook or notebook to further the learning?  I have listed several resources below as a Post Office Unit Study to help you further the post office adventure. 

Books & DVD’s

Visit your local library or an online source to pick up a few books and DVD’s that center on the theme of the post office, mail delivery, pony express, or writing letters.

Some suggestions include:


In addition to reading, I have to highly recommend a movie we also watched called “Letters To God”.  Letters To God is a movie / DVD about a boy with cancer who writes letters to God about the needs of his local community and how it changes a mailman’s heart and he learns about God’s mercy and grace through the life and mail of this boy.  It is truly an amazing and inspiring story.  It is a true story!  My kids love this movie!

BIBLE (Writing, Copywork, Reading, Faith):

Find “Letters” in the Bible.
Write a letter (prayer) to God.
Read a portion of God’s letter (God’s word, the bible) he gave to you.
Copy a passage of the bible that speaks to your heart.

Videos (Social Studies, History, Geography):

Video: A Day In The Life Of A Mail Carrier

Video: Mailman on Horse Back in Appalachia

Video: Owney The Postal Dog

Video: Liberty’s Kids Postmaster General Franklin (part 1)

Video: Liberty’s Kids Postmaster General Franklin (part 2)

Video: How Stamps Are Made

Video: How Envelopes Are Made

Video: The Story Of The Pony Express

Video: Postman Pat (cartoon series).

More Postman Pat videos on you tube.  Do a search on you tube for Postman Pat, PostmanPat and you should find a large variety of shows to watch.  Postman Pat has been teaching kids about the postal service, community, friendship, and problem solving for over 27 years.


Lesson Plans and Printables (Language Arts, and All Subject Areas):

Letter Carrier Lesson Plans from First School

Letter Writing Skills Lesson Plans

Post Office Theme Unit From Ed Helper

Mail Carrier Unit From Confessions Of A Homeschooler

Mailman Unit from Lawteedah

The Pony Express History

Westward Ho From Homeschool Share
(lesson plans, unit studies, and lapbook resources about The Pony Express and the Westward Expansion of our nation).

Oweny The Postal Dog

Wikipedia US Postal Service

Wikipedia Pony Express

Wikipedia Postcard

The Postal System

Currclick The Pony Express The Mail Must Go Through

Lapbooks and Notebooks (Writing, and All Subject Areas):

Princess Correspondence Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons

Prince Correspondence Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons

Mini Office Lapbook from Homeschool Creations

The Pony Express Lapbook Pages

Mailing May from Homeschool Share
(some of these pages are perfect for a post office lapbook even if you don’t use the suggested book).

Diagram about the flow of mail: How the mail is collected, sorted, and delivered. This would be great to print out and include in a lapbook or notebook about the postal system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:USPS_mail_flow_through_national_infrastructure.svg&page=1

Vocabulary and Spelling Words:

Post Office
Mail
Mail Carrier
Postman
Mail Truck
Envelope
Stamp
Postcard
Package
Box
Post Office Box
Airmail
E-mail
Letter
Weight
Scale
Mailbox
Drop box
Mail Bag
Address
Return Address
Sender
Pony Express

Word Puzzle Using The Above Spelling Words

Writing:

Younger students practice writing the letter P and p .

Younger students practice writing the letter M and m .

In addition to copy work, and spelling words, try some of these additional writing activities.

    Write a short story using at least 10 of the vocabulary words, or write a paragraph using 
    at least three of the vocabulary words.

    Write a postcard to someone.(We wrote 18 postcards to kids around the world).

    Write a letter to someone. (We wrote a letter and made thank you cards for Postmaster 
    John, and a letter to Grandma).

Create your own stationary to write a letter on.

Literacy Ideas For Mail Carrier from Making Learning Fun


Geography:

Draw a map or use a map and draw the path of a letter from your house to your local post office to a mail distribution center and then on to Grandma.  Try mapping a letter to the President, to the Queen, to a consulate or US Embassy in a foreign country.  What other special addresses can you find to map?

Map the trail and expansion of the Pony Express.
 
Find your location and the location of a person you are sending a letter to on a globe.

Find your location and the location of a person your are sending a letter to on google maps.  How many miles, approximately, will your letter travel?

Create a geography notebook of places you send or receive mail from.  Include details about the various locations in your notebook.  Ideas might be a map, coloring pages of the shape of the country or state.  The flag, bird, flower, tree or other symbols related to

Create a bulletin board or poster board with a map for learning about places you send or receive mail from.

50 States Coloring Pages  Just choose the states you need for your learning adventures.

Countries Coloring Pages 

Print out a map. Or use tape to make a road on a flat surface.  Use a small truck or car to represent the mail carriers vehicle.  Have the child pretend to be in the car and travel the map or road to deliver the mail at various destinations.  You can make this as involved as you wish.  You could create buildings with small boxes to make a town for the mail carrier to deliver mail and packages to.  You can place matching numbers or letters on the buildings for mail to be delivered.  You can practice your own address with this.  You can also practice directions of left, right, north, south, east, west.  You could also create a map with coordinates and your mail carrier would need to read the map to find the destination.  This could be a really fun geography adventure!
 


Math Activities:

Count change to buy a postage stamp for a postcard.

Count change to buy a postage stamp for a envelope.

Count change to buy a postcard and pay for a postage stamp to mail the postcard to Australia.

Find out how much per ounce it costs to mail a package local vs. overseas.

Graph how much it costs to send a 15lb package to Alaska, Hawaii, Germany, Spain, England,

France, Australia, South Africa, India, your neighbor, etc.

Find out how much money a postal worker makes in a month and add or multiply to find out their salary for a year.

Find out how many miles your letter would travel from your house to your grandparent’s house, from your house to your aunt’s house, and from your house to the White House.

John bought a page of stamps that were 4 stamps across and 6 stamps down.  Calculate how many stamps are on the page.

Find the total area of a stamp.

Find the total area of an envelope.

Calculate postage for a large envelope being sent from New York to California.

Math Ideas For Mail Carrier from Making Learning Fun

Online Games and Quizzes:

Online Mail Delivery Game at Apples For The Teacher

Braving The Elements

Help The Tiger Mail The Valentine

Quiz About the Postal System

Postmaster Challenge (Trivia Game)

Decode The Barcode (Mathematical Reasoning Game)

Rail, Sail, and Overland Mail

Coloring Pages:

Mailman carrying the mail.

Mailman delivering the mail.

Postman Pat online coloring pages.

Mailman

The Pony Express Coloring Page

The Pony Express Nebraska History Coloring Page

Video: How To Draw Postman Pat

Mail Carrier Puppet With A Toilet Paper Tube

Mail Bag Craft With A Paper Sack

Mail Drop Box and Mail Bag

Mail Drop Box

Other Activities and Arts and Crafts:

Write A Letter

Printable Postcard

Create A Postcard

Address Practice Craft

Design A Stamp

Learn About Stamp Collecting

Create A History Timeline about the post office.

Dora and Diego Postcard

 


Toys & Games:

We played a fun role play game of “Postman Delivers Postcards”.

We cut out rectangles from cereal boxes.  We also made some rectangles with construction paper.  We wrote our address on one side and drew a stamp.  The picture from the cereal box was already on the other side, but we added our own pictures to the construction paper rectangles.  We placed the postcards into a shoulder bag. 

One person was the postman.  The postman wore the shoulder bag and delivered the mail. The other kids waited for their mail. They also sent mail to each other. 

We have a toy mailbox and the mail was delivered to the mail box.  We also made additional mailboxes out of pop tart boxes turned on their side. 

For additional fun, you can ad numbers to the boxes for the address and have the kids match the mail to the box numbers if you want to ad more challenge to the play.

There are several board games about the postal service and stamps available.  Check out these post office versions of monopoly.

  
 

Take A Field Trip:

Nothing beats a “hands on” trip to the post office.  It doesn’t have to be a formal field trip.  Just get the kids and go buy some stamps, or mail an envelope to your classroom, or to grandma, etc.  It can be that simple!  Be sure to check out our field trips to the post office in the other stories in this series.


Virtual Field Trip:

If you can’t take a trip to the post office, check out these virtual field trip resources.

Video: Field Trip To The Post Office In Knoxville, TN.

Video: Field Trip To The Post Office



Video: How Mail Is Sorted

Video: Animated Visit To The Post Office

Check out more post office ideas on our pinterest board.

 
Read More Stories In Our Postcard Exchange Series

Be sure to check out our other stories and more links to further the Post Office Unit Study learning adventure:

Postcard Exchange
P Is For Postcard
Postcard Geography Notebooks and Bulletin Board
Post Office Unit Study

This story will be linked up with
Raising Homemakers
Sharing Time

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