Did you know that the first robot was invented in 1921? Did you know first knitting machine was invented in 1589, and the first golf balls were invented in 1400? Or did you know that the first computer game was invented in 1962, and the first artificial heart and liver was invented in 2001, or that the first DVD’s were invented in 1995? Can you believe the world-wide web was invented in 1990, or the iPhone was invented in 2007? I was really surprised to learn the actual dates of many inventions of everyday things we take for granted. They are so much a part of our everyday lives that we kind of forget the bigger picture that some where in time, someone invented them. That is some of the cool stuff my son is learning in his Moving Beyond The Page Language Arts and Science curriculum.
With Moving Beyond The Page you can order a complete age range curriculum for the whole year (ten Language Arts, ten Science, and ten Social Studies), or for a semester (five courses each in LA, Science, and Social Studies), or individual courses.
Individual courses are made up of about 10 to 12 lessons and a final project, and each individual course takes about three to four weeks to complete if you work on them three or four days a week.
Though the word “curriculum” is used, Moving Beyond The Page has a unique approach to education. They use RESEARCH-based educational STRATEGIES to CONNECT various subjects together through a common theme using literature, like a unit study approach, and connect information with real life, hands on, experience.
In my opinion, the cross curricular unit study approach is a wonderful method of learning, teaching, and retaining information. I think every family can benefit from this method, because it makes these connections between information and real life, and helps a person be well rounded in their understanding. It is not just a bunch of knowledge to be remembered, it is knowledge that manifests into real experience.
How Will Using Moving Beyond The Page Benefit Your Homeschool?
- Help your child see connections in life. Woven in the unit study approach are connections that your student will make between subjects of science and engineering, social and cultural studies, history, geography, language arts, and more.
- The goal of this approach to education is to turn each child into a problem solver, an innovator, and challenge them through activities that involve critical and creative thinking.
- The curriculum encourages real-world applications. It uses project-based instruction, and empowers each child in a way that meets his or her needs.
- It supports various different learning styles, ages, and different skill levels.
- It bridges and closes the gaps in each students learning as they meet and exceed state and national standards at each learning level.
We were sent 2 INDIVIDUAL COURSES from Moving Beyond The Page:
Science Package:Technological Design for ages 11-13 and retails for $31.94 This course contains a physical spiral bound consumable workbook, and a softcover textbook. There are online options for the consumable workbook too, be sure you have a high-speed internet, Adobe reader software, and a printer if choosing the online version. Check the web site for pricing options:
This course covers:
- What Is Technology?
- Technological Innovator
- Meaningful Technological Designs
- Necessity vs. Luxury
- Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
- Da Vinci’s Inventions
- Contemporary Design Approaches
- Engineering
- Modeling an Idea
- Final Project: Final Exam and Model Bridge
Language Arts Package: Einstein Adds A New Dimension for ages 12-14 and retails for $39.98 This course contains an online printable workbook, and a large physical hardback cover textbook. Be sure you have a high-speed internet, Adobe reader software, and a printer if choosing the online version. There is also a spiral bound softcover physical workbook option too, check out the web site for pricing options.
This course covers the life of a famous scientist, Albert Einstein, and his contributions to science and the world through a Language Arts curriculum. In this course, the student covers:
- Expository Writing
- Descriptive Writing
- The Curies’ Discoveries
- Process Writing
- Envisioning Fission
- Cause and Effect Writing
- Relativity
- Comparison and Contrast Writing
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Problem and Solution Writing
- Citing Sources
- Final Project: Research Paper
- Engineering
- Modeling an Idea
- Final Project: Final Exam and Model Bridge
How We Used This Curriculum
These courses are one part of a larger package of curriculum and are expected to take a student three to four weeks to complete. The suggested syllabus has the student working in each subject area about an hour a day.
I found the Einstein Adds A New Dimension curriculum to be so fascinating! The text-book is a 465 page full color textbook jam-packed with information and photos. It is a learning buffet! I have never seen a text-book quite like it before, except in college. It is like Science 101 in college, and takes you on a journey of how science came to be, how it has changed, what is theory, what is proven, and how Albert Einstein had a significant role in science and our understanding of everything. I can easily see this text being used in a science 101 course.
My son was so interested in the textbook, he hardly ever sat it down. Every time I turned around he was deep into the reading. The workbook created by Moving Beyond The Page to correlate with the text, takes an informational text about science and scientists, and gives it a whole new twist in looking at it from a Language Arts perspective and learing hands on about writing, research, science, and engineering. It challenges you to see the difference in theory and fact, and how to build a convincing argument in favor or against different scientific research. This course receives a high score from my 13 year old!
My son loved the Technological Design course and learning about inventions made by Leonardo Da Vinci.
He is fascinated with science and design. He wants to learn how things work and then build on that knowledge to go even further. He is a true engineer at heart.
He found it fascinating that Leonardo Da Vinci was passionate about a wide variety of things including arts, theater and plays, engineering, inventions, practical jokes with family and friends, and so much more.
He made masks out of milk jugs. He changed things a little bit from the manual to fit the supplies we had on hand and also his interests. His sister also asked him to make a mask for her so he enlisted the help of his brother and they made a special butterfly mask per the colors she requested. He planed to turn his mask into a black cat. He went outside and drew several cat faces using our kittens as his model and they all looked great. He cut out his mask from a milk jug and then covered it in black paper and completed the eyes and ears, but got stumped at one point on making the mouth and decided to turn it into a Knight’s face mask instead.
Both the Textbook and Workbook are hands on manuals filled with projects to do. There are so many different projects to choose from your child will always look forward to their studies.
I think my son’s favorite chapter about Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions was Leonardo’s War Inventions. He took old ideas and tweaked them. He problem solved. He figured out a way to save lives on the “home team” and cause more devastation to the opposing team by reducing the human risk of injury, and making many weapons automated, or mechanized, or robotic if you will. Leonardo “re-invented” many weapons of war. He is most famous for the Trebuchet (automated catapult), the Armored Tank, a portable Safety Bridge, and his version of a Cannon. The final project in the curriculum is to design and build a model bridge out of craft sticks that can support 5 lbs and this represents a full size bridge that can be positioned over a ravine for safe crossing and make a presentation about it describing the technological process involved. He has not made it to the end of the curriculum yet, but I am sure he will as excited as his is about each project he makes.
He plans to build the Trebuchet project from the book later this week. He built a Trebuchet from a pre-designed kit two years ago and loved playing with it and shooting clay balls all around the house. For his birthday he bought a Leonardo De Vinci Catapult kit and decided to pare it up with this curriculum. My son had a blast building this from the kit and likes it even better than the Trebuchet kit he built-in the past, because it is made from good quality wood and is large and sturdy. Here is a picture of him with his Leonardo Da Vinci Catapult project. He sanded each piece smooth before cutting to length, assembling, gluing pegs (wooden nails), etc. the various parts together. This project has more power and shoots a lot further than his previous Trebuchet and he loves it!
I definitely recommend Moving Beyond The Page curriculum. There are tons of cross curricular subjects and they are all fascinating and hands on. I am putting the whole year curriculum on my homeschool wish list! I hope you will check them out and see how they can meet the needs of your family and homeschool.
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