National Park in the City

When I think of National Parks, I always think of places like Zion’s or Mount Rainier, or Yosemite. I never thought that a small building in the middle of the city would be a National Park… but I found one. Thanks to a project that Tiger needed to do for WI, Pumpkin Pie, Tiger, and I ventured into downtown Seattle to the Klondike Gold Rush museum. Inside, there are artifacts and displays about the Klondike Gold Rush and its impact on Seattle.

We learned about what goods were needed, how people lived, biographies of several gold rush individuals and families, including the founder of Nordstrom’s, and how they mined the gold. At various locations within the museum, there were places to take rubbings and emboss a “passport”. Pumpkin Pie enjoyed that.

I don’t consider myself a shoe person, but in the area that talked about the aftermath of the Gold Rush, there was a display about the beginnings of Nordstrom’s. Apparently, it started out as a shoe store that went national and eventually became a department store. No wonder they always have a great variety of shoes! The display of shoes was beautiful. I think I want those green boots! Pumpkin Pie loved the shoes. 

Just around the corner from the Klondike Gold Rush museum, is the Waterfall Park in the city. It is a small corner of a building with a waterfall, little tables and chairs, and beautiful garden. It has a sign that says that this park was built to commemorate the 100 year anniversary or the founding of UPS in that very spot. I had no idea that UPS was started in Seattle!

To end our field trip into the city, Tiger, Pumpkin Pie and I partook of some yummy chocolate.

Touring the Turner Joy

  On our way home from camp, we decided to take the ferry home. Since we missed the ferry by a few minutes, we decided to explore the town we were in and tour the Turner Joy.

 

The Turner Joy is 90% open to visitors. Tours are self-guided with yellow signs with information throughout.

Co-op Adventures

In our co-op, we just finished up the first 6 weeks of classes. Tiger and Butterfly took a class about King Tut so they would be familiar with the items in the King Tut exhibit we plan to see in December. The children all dressed up like pharaohs. They thought that serious faces would make them look more powerful :) They all made their crooks, flails, and jewelry during class.

 

Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie also took an adventures in fairy tales book club. Each week they dressed like princesses and talked about different versions of the fairy tale of the week and made crafts and had activities related to the book. for the final day, they had a tea party. Butterfly served as hostess.

Now on to the next term- Little House on the Prairie book club and Detective Book club and Cooking classes!

Pioneer Farm and Native American Village Tours

There is a neat museum about an hour and a half from our house that is hands on. Half is a Pioneer Farm and the other half is the 4 seasons of the local Native American tribes. What did their homes look like? What chores did the children do? What were clothes or toys made of? We got a chance to go a few days ago. It was well worth the drive to get there. As it happened, we got there on their founder’s day celebration tour day so we didn’t have to pay admission to either tour. Tiger got to use a forge and bend horseshoes in the blacksmith’s shop, Butterfly got to pet animals, and Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie got to milk a cow. Strawberry banged drums, kneaded bread dough, and saw some baby animals. Even though it was a bit wet and we got sprinkled on a few times, it was a great day.

   

Dayspring Academy Pilgrim Story

Dayspring Christian Academy is a Christian school in Pennsylvania. Dayspring Christian Academy utilizes the Principle Approach to education to teach children about the biblical Christian values which shaped this nation and to train them to be great citizens and leaders with Christian values. They have several programs including an on-campus K-12 school, support for homeschoolers, and online classes. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review one of their three online self-paced courses. The course we reviewed is The Pilgrim Story. Purchasing The Pilgrim Story for $99.00 allows the family access to the program for six months. Classes don’t meet at any specific time because they are always ready and available and are self-paced.

The Pilgrim Story is geared for grades 3-6 and focuses on telling the true story of the pilgrims using primary sources where possible. The  course was written by Mary Stauffer, a third grade teacher at the Dayspring Academy. The class consists of five units, each with three to four lessons and a test. Following the five units there is a virtual field trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Each lesson is an interactive slide show with various activities, notes to take, quotes to add to a notebook, and reflection questions which are often focused on Christian character. Each lesson begins with a review of the previous lesson in a multiple choice interactive quiz and then continues where the previous lesson left off. The units start with the establishment of the Church of England, Geneva Bible, and the splintering groups who wanted to return to more biblical teachings than those of the Anglican church. It then progresses through emigration to Holland and the trials faced there, eventual emigration to the New World, Mayflower compact, and trials and experiences the first three years.  Before beginning a lesson, the student is instructed to download and print pages with quotes, vocabulary, note taking guides, and other resources needed for the activities. They are full color but we printed them in black and white without any problems.

One of my frustrations with modern accounts of the pilgrims has been the politically correct tendencies to paint the pilgrims as evil. While I will freely admit there were many atrocities committed by various people who settled in the New World, there were also many atrocities committed by the natives. The truth is that people came from Europe seeking a better life with freedom of religion, freedom from classes, and freedom from tyranny. They did not set out on an errand of oppression. I feel it is important to teach my children the truth- that there was providential assistance in the settling of America and the people who came here in the early 1600s suffered much, worked hard, and had incredible faith.  The Pilgrim Story teaches not only the story of the pilgrims, but also the incredible faith and Christian character they exhibited as they settled in the colonies.

I have been using The Pilgrim Story with all of my children. We gather around the computer with the two littler ones on my lap and work through each lesson as a family. Tiger is in 5/6 or whatever grade he is in, Butterfly would be in 3rd this year, Pumpkin Pie would be in 1st, and of course my preschooler Strawberry. Although each lesson is designed to take 30-45 minutes, my children and I found it took much longer. As a result, we are crawling along at a snails pace. Each time we sit down to study, we are at the computer for at least an hour and might not finish the lesson. This is probably due to the fact that we pause often and talk, clarify meanings, discuss the story, or gain consensus from all children before answering a question.  (You will have to imagine me sitting under the girls in the desk chair and Butterfly on the other side of Pumpkin Pie like below.)

Butterfly, almost 9, found it difficult to write the sentences and listen at the same time on the note sheet. Allowing enough time for Butterfly to write the fill-in words resulted in spending twice as much time on the lessons. After about three lessons like this, we decided to skip the note taking guides and do a narration at the end. She still wanted to record all her notes though so she went back through and recorded notes later during individual work time. Tiger greatly disliked the notes and was happy to give them up for a narration.

Overall I think that The Pilgrim Story is a quality course. I appreciated that when complex ideas are being taught, like the difference between union and unity, the explanation is given in a way that it is relative to the child. As as a result, it is very detailed yet understandable enough that even my 1st grader understood what was being taught. For an adult, at times it seemed to repeat points multiple times, but the children thrive on the repetition and really begin to understand not only what happened but why it happened. Because The Pilgrim Story started with King Henry VIII, the children were able to see why the pilgrims were seeking a different life in order to worship according to what they read in the Bible.

At times The Pilgrim Story did seem a little dry. Most of the activities that we encountered were writing assignments or reflection questions. While there were some interactive aspects to the program, like unscrambling the order of events, I would have liked to see a little more hands-on activities off the computer. I did look ahead at the downloadable and printable resources and saw that there is at least one craft in one of the later units which we haven’t gotten to yet.

We are grateful for the opportunity to review The Pilgrim Story and for the chance to dig deep into the topic. I have never done an online course with my children, but I am glad we are doing this one and wholly recommend it. Many other crewmembers also got the chance to use The Pilgrim Story with their children. Be sure to check out what they thought by clicking the banner below.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Pearl Harbor Box of I.D.E.A.S.- Schoolhouse Review

Box of I.D.E.As. are a collection of modules which can be completed in any order, although ones like Pearl Harbor are better completed in order. Each module contains a page of information, a game, web links for further research, and suggestions for extension activities. Each Box of I.D.E.As. is intended to be used as an enrichment activity to go along with current studies or as a break from the regular routine. At the end of all the modules, students should complete a notebook or portfolio of their projects to showcase their learning. Box of I.D.E.As. has boxes covering topics like salt, quilts, laundry, and the number 11 which are not typically considered academic subjects as well as others like World War Two-Pearl Harbor which is obviously history. Each box is designed to be used with students ages 9-16 and are intended to be easily portable. Pearl Harbor costs $49 for the pdf download and $79 for the physical box.

I received the pdf download of the Pearl Harbor unit which contained all 10 modules to review. Each module includes a paragraph or two about the topic, a couple of extension activity suggestions which are designed to help a student dig deeper into the topic, a couple of website suggestions, notebooking pages,  instructions for games, and game cards to be printed in color on cardstock, cut out, and assembled. Many of the extension activities included researching a topic and writing about it. The unit starts before Pearl Harbor becomes a base and gives a brief overview of the significance of Pearl Harbor. It then  chronicles the history of Pearl Harbor through the days leading up to the attack  through a decade after the attack. The unit also includes a timed multiple choice and essay test following all the modules as well.

Tiger was really excited to receive the Pearl Harbor unit when it arrived. His interest quickly waned as he began the modules. He struggled to understand the big picture as he progressed through them, probably due to the rather small amount of information presented in each module and his lack of previous knowledge about the time period. He also struggled to understand how some of the card games were related to the informational paragraph presented. For example, the second module is about becoming a base. It talks about why the US felt a need to have a Naval presence in the area. The activity had to do with products made from whaling and Maury maps. While the primary reason for becoming a base involved whaling, there was no mention of Maury maps in the reading. The lack of mention of Maury maps as well as his  lack of a point of reference for items like panniers and corsets made the game difficult to play. Maybe if I had known to skip the first couple of modules, he would have maintained his enthusiasm. Even so, he still tells me he wants to work on Pearl Harbor.

I liked the illustrations in each module. They were beautiful, vibrant, and often included historical pictures. I felt that the breadth of information was well conceived and the games were mostly fun to play. Some of the games were easy enough for Tiger to play with his younger sisters while remaining relevant to the topic. Tiger is 10.5 now and found some of the games to be very simple (like matching, a variation of Go Fish, memory, questions and answers, and puzzles). I wonder how a 15 or 16 year old would feel about the games. Also, each game is a card game. It would have been nice to do some different activities besides a card game with each module.

For the cost I was a little disappointed in the depth of some of the materials. Some of the modules had less than three-quarters of a page of information. Some of the modules never touched on the information needed to appreciate the games except if a website suggestion to explore. This aspect made the Pearl Harbor unit a little less than portable as we needed a computer with internet access to be able to utilize it fully. The websites listed did add significantly to the modules, but not all of them were age appropriate for the entire span of recommended ages. For example, in the Before the Base module, there is a scholarly study citing the historical and present status of pearl oysters near the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Although Tiger tends to be advanced in many subjects, his eyes glazed over just looking at the page and he wanted nothing to do with reading the article. In truth, I, with a college degree, who loves history and am interested in the history of the pearl oysters, had a hard time wanting to read the article.  Other websites, like one in the module on the Day of Infamy, were interactive and a great resource for all ages. Similarly, some of the notebook pages seemed rather simplistic and others seemed much more well thought out. For example the notebook page for Before Becoming a Base involved measuring the sizes of pearls in pictures. Tiger didn’t really see the point in the exercise. The notebook page for Day of Infamy required the student to read the speech given by President Roosevelt and then answer a series of thoughtful questions.

I really really wanted to recommend this product without any reservations. I think Box of IDEAs has an excellent idea and I find the topics available from the company intriguing. However, I think Pearl Harbor needs a little bit more work to make the product worth the price. I did not feel it really was very portable as advertised because, as I mentioned, in order to really get much out of the unit, we needed a computer and internet connection. I also don’t think it really was “filled with interesting topic-focused activity based learning” either. A better description would be “full of ideas for extension activities for learning.” While the games did teach more than was presented in the introductory paragraphs, the majority of activity-based learning came from  research, the computer, and occasionally from some of the extra enrichment ideas presented. For the cost, I had expected a more comprehensive unit study with more engaging activities and information.

I think what was provided in Pearl Harbor is really well done for what it is- a supplement to pull out and do along side a unit study on a given topic. While it wasn’t ideal for my family, it would be great for a family already immersed in the 1890s through 1950s. I think it might also be better suited for children who are a little older than 10 and who enjoy researching and writing about a given topic. I might also suggest that given the need to print all games out in color on cardstock, it might be worth purchasing the physical box rather than the pdf. Color printing can get very expensive.

Be sure to check out what other schoolhouse crew members thought by clicking the banner below. While this product didn’t really work for my family, it may have worked for others differently and every crew members has their opinion.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Early Settlers Once a Week Unit Study- Schoolhouse Review

 

I have met many people who do unit studies and they do an amazing job pulling together lots of materials, keeping it interesting, following rabbit trails and really exploring the subject. Their kids have been well prepared for college and life after living at home. Many of them have encouraged me to try unit studies over the years. In theory I really like them and I really like working on one topic for a while, but I don’t seem to be very good at working in too many cross-curricular projects. I keep trying unit studies though because I have found that they can be a great tool to teach a topic and my kids get excited about them.

I recently had the opportunity to use the Early Settlers in America unit study from Homeschool Legacy. Unlike most unit studies, Homeschool Legacy unit studies are meant to be Once-A-Week studies. They are meant to get the family away from textbooks and bring the family together for learning time. Each unit study available from Homeschool Legacy lasts between 4-7 weeks and is meant for the whole family of children grades 2-12. As an added bonus, the author, Sharon Gibson, has worked very hard to incorporate Boy Scouts and American Heritage Girls merit badge requirements into each unit study. This does not mean that you must be a Boy Scout or an American Heritage Girl to utilize these unit studies though! They just enable the scout or AHG to work towards their achievements while doing their schoolwork with their family.

“Each well-rounded unit study fully immerses you and your family in a particular topic while incorporating as wide a range of subjects as possible: 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."

Once-a-Week Unit Studies have done all the work for you. Even the included library lists provide you with alphabetically and numerically ordered Dewey decimal numbers to aid you in making your trip to the library quick and painless.”

The last 6 pages is a section on “Getting the Most out of your Once-a-Week Unit Study.” Included is a suggestion to have an inexpensive set of encyclopedias for research which we don’t currently have. I  do recommend reading this section before beginning the unit studies because it will help you get more out of your study. Early Settlers is designed to last 6 weeks and costs $17.95.

Over the summer we entered the time of the Early Settlers in North America so I was really excited to try this unit study. I am notorious for not following a curriculum as outlined an sometimes wonder if I make my life more difficult by doing this. This time, since I have had so much going on, I decided to give it a go and attempt a once-a-week schedule since I try to do one major thing each day as a group before turning the children lose for their individual work. I tried not to look ahead in the unit too much because it is meant to be open-and-go and I wanted to see how that would work. I did look ahead to reserve library books though. Even though activity materials are mostly common materials, I found that I didn’t always have the materials on hand so we weren’t able to complete all the activities. Having a page at the beginning of the book listing all the materials for each week would have been very helpful.

We checked out many of the books listed in the weekly units. Although having the Dewey decimal numbers didn’t help me find my books because I typically search the library catalog online and then put all my books on hold, having those numbers would have been helpful if I went and browsed the shelves or if I couldn’t find the suggested materials. I found that all the suggested books and videos we used were of high quality. Some of them will be revisited again for future projects. One of those it the video segment we watched for unit one on the Lost Colony.

Although the Boy Scout requirements listed are for Boy Scouts and not necessarily Cub Scouts, some can be applied to the Webelos program and possibly a couple to Bears or Wolves. My son had already completed most of the Webelos requirements that could have been passed off using this unit, but he would have done several for Communicator, Artist,  as well as possibly one from Traveler. For Boy Scouts, this unit covers the Reading merit badge.

We really enjoyed the Stump Your Dad trivia as well. I would usually read the question to the children before we began so they could be thinking about the question and find the answer themselves as we studied. This created a great ah-ha moment for my son as we watched our video about the Lost Colony.

I would have liked to see the chapter on how to get the most out of the unit study at the beginning of the book instead of the end and I felt some activities could have used a little more guidance or research on my part before presenting them because they didn’t lend themselves to open-and-go as easily as others.  Despite the few negatives, overall we really enjoyed the Once-a-Week Unit study. I thought the family devotionals were well done and I really liked the tie-in to scouts. The flow of topics made sense to me and helped guide the unit forward. The activities were relevant to each unit and there were many options from discussions to a research paper. This unit study truly could be adapted to all ages.  The book suggestions were of high quality and we enjoyed the family read aloud and movie suggestions as well. It was one of the better laid-out and thoughtful unit studies that I have seen and I look forward to using more of Homeschool Legacy’s Once-A-Week unit studies as they lend themselves to our studies.

Be sure to see what other Crew Members had to say about Once-A-Week Unit studies from A Homeschool Legacy. The Crew reviewed a total of 10 different unit studies. 

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Ten Girls from History- Schoolhouse Review

When I select literature and historical books to read to my children, I always keep in mind what values are being taught in the works. I also like to keep in mind that great stories have the power to inspire people to strive to be better. Most of history concerns the wars and politics of men and until recent history, the deeds of women are not as commonly written about. I have three daughters and I want my girls to grow up knowing that there have been women throughout history who have stood up for what they believe in and accomplished great things. I am always on the lookout for stories of great women who made a difference in the world not because they were screaming and yelling or crying foul but because they got up and worked hard and had strong moral character. When I was presented the opportunity to review Ten Girls from History from Golden Prairie Press, I was thrilled. What could be better than a book about women of strong conviction who made a difference?

Ten Girls from History is a collection of short dramatizations of the lives of the following historical figures:
Louisa May Alcott: Author of Little Women
Clara Barton: The Angel of the Battlefield
Molly Pitcher: The Brave Gunner of the Battle of Monmouth
Cofachiqui: An Indian Princess
Madeleine De Vercheres: The Heroine of Castle Dangerous
Dorothy Quincy: A Girl of the American Revolution
Ida Lewis: The Heroine of Lime Rock Lighthouse
Elizabeth Van Lew: The Girl who Risked all for the Union
Virginia Reed: Midnight Heroine of the Plains
Clara Morris: The Girl who Won Fame as an Actress

Originally published in 1912 by Kate Dickinson Sweetser, Amy Puetz has edited out some of the sensuality and and romance from the original work and has republished this work for girls ages 10 and up. Ten Girls from History is available in pdf, epub, mobi, audiobook, and paperback book. The printed book and pdf version contain pictures while the epub and mobi versions do not.

I have really enjoyed reading these stories to myself. I have found that some of the stories are very inspiring, like the story of Molly Pitcher or Elizabeth Van Lew.  Others, like Cofachiqui were not as exciting and inspiring to me. Some showed amazing courage, effort, and bravery and others were just ok. I planned to read this out loud to my children, but I found that many of the stories were a little advanced for them, even as a read aloud. They were advanced because they are meaty in the history of the time.  We have not yet covered most of the time periods covered in these stories so they would not have made very much sense to my children. As a result, I think these stories will be a really great supplement to pull out when we reach the various eras of history in the stories.

I did read the story of Cofachiqui to the children and all of them enjoyed the story. The story of Cofachiqui was new to all of us, so after I read the story, I had to go on my computer to pull up the pdf version to show a picture. I wish the epub and mobi versions contained pictures of the characters as well. With historical characters, I think seeing a picture of the person helps to cement who the person is in the mind of the reader (or listener) and further brings her to life.

Ten Girls from History is available for $15 for the ebook or $25 for the audiobook or paperback book. Through the end of August, all versions are on sale for 20% off ($12 for ebook, $20 for paperback or audiobooks).

I found Ten Girls from History to be valuable for my own education and I look forward to sharing more of the stories with my children as we approach the revolutionary war, civil war, and other time periods these girls lived in.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed several books published by Golden Prairie Press so be sure to click the banner to read more reviews of Ten Girls from History as well as reviews on the other books like Heroines of the Past Bible study, Costumes with Character, and Uncover Exciting History.
 
Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Stockholders Exploring America Game

Yesterday we played a fun game that I found in the Story of the World Activity Guide. In order for explorer ships to set sail there had to be money backing each ship. Sometimes a ship would run aground or sometimes it would find nothing of worth to return with. Other times it would find wealth and return for the benefit of the stockholders. To simulate this, I put out 4 "ships" and covered them with a cloth napkin so the contents couldn't be seen. I then hid almonds and chocolate chips inside the "ships." 2 children played at a time. They were each given an equal amount of money to spend on their ventures. I made comments about the ships like, "I hear that the captain takes many risks," or "That is a fast ship." They decided how much to spend per ship. Each ship had to have the minimum/maximum to sail and once all ships were funded we revealed which ships held the most treasures and divided the spoils  based on who put in more money into the ship. The kids had a blast. After we played a few times (sharing the some of the spoils with those who didn't play the round), the girls continued playing with play money. They got to do lots of math ;)