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.
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.
