Showing posts with label Unit Studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unit Studies. Show all posts

Monday, September 24, 2012

Homeschool Legacy

 
 
 
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Over the years I have really come to love unit studies.  I like taking a topic and totally immersing ourselves in it, covering most if not all of our subjects.  So getting the opportunity to try a new unit study definitely appealed to me.  

The TOS Crew introduced our family to Homeschool Legacy, a company that currently offers over 10 Once-A-Week Unit Studies based mostly on history and nature.  The Once-A-Week Unit Studies were created by Sharon, a veteran homeschool mom of 16 years.  Her desire was to create easy to use unit studies that were not only educational and fun, but helped parents build a strong, Godly, family legacy while educating their children.


Since we love all things nature over here in the LSG home, when I was asked which of the Once-A-Week Unit Studies we would be interested in doing, it was a simple decision.  We choose Birds of a Feather.  Each of the unit studies range from 4 to 8 weeks, Birds of a Feather lasted 4 weeks. 


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 The Once-A-Week Unit Study is designed to go along with your regular daily studies.  You simply add in reading each day and one day of activities, which also includes a family devotional.  Family movies and field trip suggestion are also listed each week. 

I really liked the feel of the Once-A-Week Unit Study.  It is jam packed with book, movie and field trip ideas and yet it did not feel overwhelming to me at all.  There were many activities in this study that we were able to pick and choose from.  I loved having everything at my fingertips, all the work was done for me, all I had to do was choose what our books, movies and the fun activities we were going to do. 

The Once-A-Week Unit Studies cover:

family devotionals, quality library reading selections, family read-alouds, history, science, geography, language, life skills, research, art, crafts, music, classic literature, documentaries, field trip suggestions, family game and movie nights, and even some fun "Stump Your Dad Trivia."
 

Let me give you all a sampling from the first week of our Birds of a Feather study. 
  • The book selections were great. My suggestions were favorites like Are You My Mother, The Story About Ping and The Little Red Hen, as well as some new ones like If You Were A Parrot and The Luckiest One of All.
  • Our Family Devotional took us to Genesis chapter 1.  In reading the suggested portions of scripture, the kids are reminded that birds are part of God's marvelous creation.  We also got to talk about what the birds need to in order to survive.     
  • Two of the neat, yet simple, activities from Bird's of a Feather is to set up a bird feeding station and a simple birdbath.  I did not feel like I had to run out and buy a ton of supplies for these activities.  I felt that Sharon did a great job at keeping homeschoolers in mind, the items were mostly simple things from around the house.   
  • For family movie night she suggested the movie Fly Away Home, which is a really good movie BTW!   
  • Another thing that I thought was pretty cool was that she includes a little section called Stump Your Dad Trivia.  I thought it was a great way to include dad and let him know what they are learning about.   
If you are anything like me, there are so many things that you want to study with the kids.  So many topics, so little time {smile}.  For me, I feel like the Once-A-Week Unit Study is a great way to a incorporate a topic of interest with out overwhelming my regularly scheduled program.  It adds that fun learning element with out too much planning and effort on my part. 

The Once-A-Week Unit Studies range in price from $15.95 to $19.95.  Each of the studies are suitable for students in grades 2-12.  We The People, being the only exception, is recommended for grades 4-12.   As I mentioned, there are currently over 10 Once-A-Week Unit studies available
I like and would recommend the Once-A-Week Unit Studies.  I think they are great for a unit study veteran as well as a newbie! 

In the near future I am hoping to do the We the People: Getting to Know Your Constitution study to go along with our American History studies. 

  
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Disclaimer: We were given a copy of the Bird's of a Feather Once-A-Week Unit Study free of charge  in exchange for an honest review. 


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

TOS Crew: Yesterday's Classics

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We love to read here in the LSG house.  I think I have even said a time or two that I am a collector of books : ) I love to have great books available for our reading pleasure or for topics we are studying.  So, when I was asked if we wanted to review Yesterday's Classics for the TOS Crew, my answer was "You bet we do!"

Yesterday's Classics is a company that republishes classic literature for children.  They have taken books from the golden age of children's literature, 1880-1920, and republished them into easy to read paperback and e-book formats.   Many of the books that they have republished were otherwise out of print.  Children's literature from this time period is generally wholesome, educational and very enjoyable. These stories are like little lost treasures that have been found!

Yesterday's Classics offer a large variety of books, 225 different books to be exact.  Topics include:
  • History Books - from different time periods, such as Ancient Civilization, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and the Middle Ages, and American History
  • Poems
  • Literature
  • Faith and Bible Stories
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Nature Studies
  • Hero Tales
  • Children from Around the World
We were blessed with all 225 Titles from Yesterday's Classics in the ebook format to review. (You can see the complete list of titles available on Yesterday's Classics website)  While we were not able to read and view them all, here are some of our favorites:

READING-LITERATURE: The Primer 
by Harriette Taylor Treadwell
This reading primer includes classic stories like The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man and Chicken Little.  I love the fun and simplicity of these classic stories for the little ones. 

 



A Child's Own Book of Verse, Book One
by Ada Skinner
There are actually 3 volumes in this collection.  Each volume is filled with poems, lullaby's, rhymes and lyrics for the children to enjoy.  Wonderful for memory work!



 

The Natural History Story Book
by Ethel Talbot 
This is a fabulous collection of stories about some of the most interesting animals in the world.  Children will read about man's encounters with elephants, ostriches, ant eaters, wild boars and many more from the nineteenth century.




The Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thorton Burgess
Here you will read about a variety of birds, as seen through the eyes of Peter Rabbit.  Learn about different birds, their nesting habits and food preferences. 
You will meet new friends such as Jenny Wren, Scrapper the King-bird, Redwing the Blackbird, and many more.


 
Saints and Heroes Since the Middle Ages
by George Hodges 
In Saints and Heroes you will read stories about great Christian men such as Calvin, Luther, Knox and Bunyan.  We will be studying the Middle Ages next year and I am looking forward to getting in this book more.

 




If you have have ever tried to build a home library with good children's literature, then you are well aware that it is not cheap to do so. Tracking down great books at bargin prices (online, yard sales and book sales) is not always an easy task, either.  From May 1st to May 31st Yesterday’s Classics is offering the 225 Book Collection in either Kindle and EPUB format for the sale price of $99.95.

I think it is a great deal to purchase the whole collection for several reasons:
  • The price is phenomenal!!  If you purchase all 225 books for $99.95, that is like $.44 per book! 
  • You will have a wonderful selection of books, mostly living books, that are great for independent reading, read a louds, memory work, and studies in history and science.
  • I love that they are in e-book format.  Not sure about you, but if I were to purchase 225 paperback books I would have to go but a new bookcase or two!  I like how the e-book version take up now space in my home. 
If you would like to order Yesterday's Classics 225 Titles you may purchase them on sale, here.

You can also read what other TOS Crew Members have to say about Yesterday's Classics.


Please note that we received the 225 Ebook Collection from Yesterday's Classics at no charge, for review purposes only.  The opinions expressed here are mine, and I was not influenced by the company or the free product.

(Please excuse the spacing on my post, Blogger is acting up and after 30+ minutes of trying to fix it I threw in the towel.0

Monday, April 5, 2010

When I Grow Up I Want to be a Firefighter!

We had the privilege of doing a product review from the WannaBe Series by This Old Schoolhouse called When I Grow Up I Want to be a Firefighter. Let me just first say, we had a great time!   Even my 3 year old was right up in the middle of everything.

The WannaBe Series is very simple to use... just download and print!  I liked how everything was laid out for the teacher/mom.  The study was a good fit for my kids (ages 3, 6 & 9).  It is extremely affordable at only $8.95 for the week long study.  It is very easy to adapt this study into your schedule.  We do not school on Friday and I will die the day I have too! and although this study was set for 5 days I chose to combine days 4 and 5, without any trouble.



We learned a great deal about firefighters. We learned how the first firefighters put out fires, vs. how it is done today.  Ever heard of a bucket brigade? I tell you what, Praise the Lord for fire trucks!  We learned about firefighting equipment and what it takes to be a firefighter.  We learned about fire trucks and how much water they hold.  We also studied the different ranks of a firefighter and what they do.  We praciticed stoping, dropping and rolling!  We practiced STOP, DROP and ROLL.  We also practiced dropping to the floor and crawling to the nearest safe exit.

Our favorite part of the study was when a firefighter was actually explaining what they do all day.  They aren't sitting around watching tv all day that is for sure!  They are constantly learning, training, diligently taking care of their equipment, and cleaning the fire house.

We enjoyed reading about firefighters so much that we got some wonderful books & videos at the library to go along with our theme.  Best of all we actually went to the fire house and got a grand tour!  The kids got to get in the trucks and see all the different equipment that the firefighters use.   One of the firefighters even got all of his gear on to show the kids that there was nothing to be afraid of if a firefighter was coming to help you during a fire.  They explained each part of their gear and even turned on the oxygen tank so the kids would get used to the funny little noises that they make. 


My son brought along his own firefighter uniform.  All the firefighters just loved this!


Cheezin' in the fire truck!


The Fire Chief explained to me that he'd rather not let the kids into the ambulance because of germs (didn't have to tell me twice, LOL!), so they brought the stretcher out for the kids to see.  They were SO good to us!



Getting all dressed up in his fire proof suit.


Explaining the suit to my son so he would not be afraid of a firefighter if he ever had to be rescued from a fire. 




These are some of the book we got from Library:
A Firefighter's Thanksgiving
I am Fire
Dot the Fire Dog
Firefighters to the Rescue
Fire Engine
It's Time to Call 911
Fire Fighters (In My Neighborhood Series)



The videos we watched:
Fire Safety Hits
Fire Station (My Community Series)
Safety Smart Science with Bill Nye the Science Guy: Fire Classroom Edition


As you can see we had a great time!  Needless to say, I highly recommend this study, and ending your week with a visit to your local firehouse is a must!  If you would like to do the When I Grow Up I Want to be a Firefighter unit study, or one of the 9 other interesteing studies to choose from, they are available thru The Old School House.  You can purcahse them individually for $8.95 or the whole series of 10 When I Grow Up I WannaBe a ..... for $89.50.



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