Moving Beyond the Page Curriculum Review

One of the many blessings of the TOS Crew is that I frequently get introduced to great products we have not used before, and then share them with you all. {smile} Prior to this review I had never heard of Moving Beyond the Page.

Moving Beyond the Page (MBtP) is a complete homeschooling curriculum that offers Language Arts, Science, History and Math for children aged 4-14. 

MBtP is a literature rich, hands on, project based learning program.  They have created a curriculum that is also concept based, which is designed to allow children to see the big picture of a subject.  Their material encourages children to creatively think outside of the box, while building their critical thinking skills. 

We received two Moving Beyond the Page Units for this review, along with the books and hands on material that accompany the units. 

The first unit we received was the Lincoln Language Arts Literature Unit for ages 9-11. This unit is available in online or as a spiral book.  We received the online format for this unit, along with the following books:

• A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass by David A. Adler
• Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman 

I felt that the lessons were well laid out, and the instructions were easy to understand. As I mentioned, this unit was an online unit.  That meant that the actual lessons could be viewed online, and the student activities printed out separately to be put into a notebook.  MBtP online units are available for 90 days from the date of activation.

The lessons included in this unit are:

• Lesson 1: Who Was He?
• Lesson 2: Childhood
• Lesson 3: A Lawyer and Politician
• Lesson 4: Slavery
• Lesson 5: Emancipation (2 Days)
• Lesson 6: Civil War (2 Days)
• Lesson 7: Assassination
• Lesson 8: Words and Memories
• Final Project: Lincoln Showcase

The activities in this unit engage the student and really get them thinking. Activities included a Lincoln Time Line, writing a speech and a Bio Poem about Frederick Douglas.  Students get to work on comparison charts, writing a newspaper report and as a final project a Lincoln Showcase. 

I had my oldest, who is 12, use this unit independently.  I know that the age range is up to 11 years old, but because of her writing level and LOVE of President Lincoln I felt it would be a good fit.

She enjoyed the reading.  She read some of Lincoln: A Photobiography out loud to me, I also enjoyed it and felt like it was a good book choice.  The Lil' Chef came across several things about Lincoln that she did not know prior to her reading.  This was a shocker to me, because this girl knows her Lincoln stuff.  She also learned a bit more about President Lincoln's relationship with Frederick Douglas.

I felt that the follow up questions for the Lincoln: A Photobiography book were very good questions, you know, the kind that get the wheels turning.  They help to show reading comprehension, while still allowing students to express their opinions. 

The Lincoln Language Arts Literature Unit that we received is available for $30.83.

The second unit we received was the Rocks and Minerals Science Unit.  This unit is designed for children ages 8-10.  We received the hard copy of this unit (spiral book), the following books and hands on kits that accompany it:

• Geology Rocks: 50 Hands-On Activities To Explore the Earth by Cindy Blobaum
• Dig A Dino T-Rex Kit
• Set 3: Minerals, Crystals, and Fossils Science Kit

MBtP is designed for more of a one-on-one or independent study, based on the age of the child.  Here at the LSG House we do a lot of multilevel teaching, so I planned on trying to use this unit with all the kids (ages 4-12), but with a back up plan of using it just with my 9 year old. I felt that this particular unit works very well with different aged children, the younger kids do need more help though.

Here are the lessons included for Rocks and Minerals:

• Lesson 1: Mineral Madness (2 Days)
• Lesson 2: Rocks Rock! (3 Days)
• Lesson 3: Fun with Rocks
• Lesson 4: Crystals (2 Days)
• Lesson 5: Volcanoes and Earthquakes (2 Days)
• Lesson 6: Fun with Fossils (2 Days)
• Final Project: Paleontologist RAFT

This unit included several hands on projects, which my kids love!  With Rocks and Minerals, kids learn new vocabulary, sketch and describe rocks, test rocks and make a mini earth model.  The kits that come along with the Rocks and Minerals Unit allow the student to pretend as though they are archaeologists digging for dinosaur bones! How cool is that!!

The Rocks and Minerals Unit is a really fun unit!  The activities included in this unit are the kind that get kids excited about learning.  This is not your average drill and kill kind of learning, it is hands on and exciting! You know, the way kids like to learn

The Rocks and Minerals Science Unit is available for $64.89.

In conclusion, I really liked Moving Beyond the Page.  I felt that they had a little bit of everything, hands on, good literature and writing activities. 

For us, I think it would work best to use individual units when we want to did a bit deeper on a subject or a particular book.

I do think this curriculum, as a core curriculum, would work very well for a family that is homeschooling one or two children.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew for more reviews of Moving Beyond the Page.