Our family is very blessed as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew Review Team to be given wonderful reviewing opportunities of homeschool curriculum.  It is exciting to share our experiences and honest opinions about these curriculum products with you. 

We recently received Hewitt Homeschooling’s My First Report Solar System and My First Report Transportation to review.  My First Reports are wonderful packets filled with worksheets to help your child express what they have learned about a given subject.



It is a unit study in a packet. It guides your child in researching a given subject or topic and helps them express in writing what they have found out. It contains question/ answer research worksheets, as well as essay worksheets that your child can illustrate with a picture too. There are word puzzles, coloring pages, and other fun worksheets.



Each packet contains at least 12 topics on a specific subject, plus reproducible report forms and additional unit study activities. If you chose to do one topic a week, a packet of My First Reports would last for 12 weeks. If you wanted to complete it faster, you could do it 3 times a week and accomplish it in 4 weeks or however you decide works best for your family.

For example, in the My First Report Solar System, the packet contained 57 pages.  
The subject is the solar system, and there are worksheets for the topics of:
    Sun, 
    Mercury, 
    Venus, 
    Earth, 
    Moon, 
    Mars, 
    Jupiter, 
    Saturn, 
    Uranus, 
    Neptune, 
    Pluto, 
    Asteroids-Comets-Meteors.

In addition to the topic worksheets, there is also an in-depth unit study covering:
    Bible Scriptures and in-depth questions
    History
    Geography    
    Social Studies
    Reading
    Language
    Math
    Science
    Health   
    Physical Education
    Music
    Art
    Field Trips
    Resource Lists
    Library Books and suggested reading
    Places for more information with addresses and websites
    Vocabulary words and definitions
    
Additional items in this packet are:
    Word Find Puzzle
    Graph Paper
    Solar System Map
    Star / Sky Map
   Star Identification Page
    Planet Facts Table
    Copy-work Pages
    Report Forms
    Instructions for teacher

I loved this product.  We will definitely be using this more in-depth in our fall homeschool learning.  The unit study is very well done and though we only had a few weeks to review it, it is definitely something my kids will continue to enjoy doing.  If you ask my opinion, this unit study can definitely last 3 months or if you include all the fun in the unit study you could do a whole school year of learning.  There is way more to do than just a few simple worksheets. 

I also love that fact that this product encourages my children in their faith.  It has scriptures and in-depth bible study with thoughtful insights and questions to develop and encourage their walk with God.

I love science too, so as you can guess, my favorite part of the My First Report Solar System is the science section of the unit study.  WOW!  It contained 15 science experiments that are fun and engaging.  We completed 3 of the experiments, so we have plenty yet to do. There are also 10 art projects,  and there is an endless list of field trips and other activities. 

A few things we did over the past few weeks to learn about our solar system:
    Take a walk after dark and observe the sky.
    Sit outside at night and observe the moon and stars.  
    Take a picture of the moon.

            

    Take several pictures of the moon over the course of an hour or so and
     observe how it changed positions in the night sky.
    Make a solar oven with a pizza box and record the temperature over the course of a
     couple of hours. (our own experiment, and we converted degrees in celsius to fahrenheit.)

             

     We even did a Sun Science program in the local park with lots of kids and helped them
     learn to make solar ovens to make smores and nachos, and cook sun tea, did several
     science experiments including using a solar panel to power a motor and run a fan.  A
     story is coming soon to share more about this fun learning adventure.

            

    Use a balloon and observe how a rocket travels in space.

        
   &
nbsp;        
    Draw a space ship.
    Visit a planetarium (we have visited the planetarium at Roper Mountain Science Center and
    we are headed back to RMSC this coming week and looking forward to learning more).


But there is so much more to do.  I can’t wait to build the astrolab, a telescope, a planetarium on our ceiling, and visit the ocean again to observe the tides, make a paper mache earth, make a solar system mobil and more.  There is just way to many cool things in this packet to mention here.

All of the pages in the packets come three hole punched to easily insert them into your notebook, binder, or folder.  They are also reproducible for home use.  In my case, with 6 kids to homeschool, having reproducible is great!  Just buy one and all the kids can use it.

My First Reports will encourage your children to share their knowledge about a subject by encouraging them in language, penmanship, and reporting skills.  It will guide them to investigate a given topic using the library, encyclopedia, and dictionary.  They will also draw a picture and illustrate what they know.  It will take them on a learning journey about a fun subject with lots of topics to investigate, explore, experiment, create, and write about.

My First Report retail for $8.95
Click on the above link to read about each one.  They are available in various subjects including: