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.
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:
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!
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
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
(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.
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.
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.
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.
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