When I was given the opportunity to try The Curiosity Files™- Blue Diamond from The Old Schoolhouse Store with the kids, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. We are the type of family that values sitting down with a physical book. Because of this, we had never ventured into the e-book arena.
When I opened the e-book, I was amazed at how much was in it!
- Bible study and memory verses
- Math, history, and geography investigations
- Literature and suggested book list
- Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
- Beautiful copywork pages (manuscript and cursive)
- Science observations, projects, & experiments
- Discussion questions
- Art, crafts, drawing, and coloring pages
- Lapbook/notebook pages and helpful lapbooking links
- Special needs, hands-on discoveries
- Internet resource and video links
- Complete answer key
We all really enjoyed this program. The kids liked that they were learning the subject together while working at their own level. I liked being able to teach them the same thing at the same time with minimal one-on-one. The kids also liked all the hands-on work.
One of the “assignments” was to take a poll of 15 people, asking them what their favorite gem is. DD11 absolutely loved this assignment! While her brother was in his Occupational Therapy session, her Physical Therapist took her all over the department so that she would get her 15 people asked. She actually went over 15, but she had a grand time doing it. We did our bar graph on the chalkboard, so it would be easier for all of us to see.
Another “assignment” was to make “blue diamond” rings from pipe cleaners. I was even allowed to make one! When all three of us had our rings made, DS8 proclaimed that he was going to wear his to his marriage when he gets older.
What I liked most about this unit study was that there were several activities aimed at getting the point of the lesson across to special needs students. These activities helped give a physical picture to concepts that are more difficult to understand, like how pressure and heat create sedimentary rocks.
I really didn’t see many negatives to this unit study. The most obvious is that it is hard to work with if the computer is not in the schoolroom. We got around this by printing out the book (which also made it easier to review). The other negative that I can think of is really just a personal preference. I found myself explaining things in the course of reading the lesson part of this unit study that would have been unnecessary if the vocabulary came first.
Honestly, my kids have already asked me to purchase more of The Curiosity Files™. I feel that the $6.95 charge for this unit study is well worth the price because it works with a wide age range (8-13). The Old Schoolhouse Store has several other The Curiosity Files™ here. Most of them are $6.95, but there are a few on sale right now for $1.00.
Disclosure: I received “The Curiosity Files™- Blue Diamond” as a free download for the purpose of review. The opinions are mine and those of my children.
Leave a Reply