Cross Seven Ventures: Homeschool Musical Memory Tool (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

*This post contains affiliate links, see disclosure below for more information*

Sometime when I choose to review a product I have a pretty good idea what to expect and how we are going to like it, but Cross Seven Ventures – Homeschool Musical Memory Tool from Cross Seven was a bit different.

When looking over the program, I was unsure if my children were going to really love it or hate it. I decided to give it a try to see if it would help us to be more diligent in our scripture memory work.

Cross Seven Ventures – Homeschool Musical Memory Tool is a huge collection of memory work that covers nine different content areas and is broken up into four cycles. They include scripture, hymns, mathematics, science, history, grammar, Latin, geography, and a timeline. There are four cycles of work for each of those categories.

Getting Started

When we first received access to this content, I had the whole family join me in the living room one evening to check it out. Even my husband decided to listen and see what he thought.

We started with the hymns section because we love hymns and I knew that we would probably enjoy using that section. The voices were lovely and I was well pleased with the selection of hymns. My husband was impressed with the quality of the singing.

Next, we listened to some of the scripture memory work. This was an area that I knew I needed to spend more time on and I loved how easy it made it. The cycle 1 (which we chose because of our history studies) section had three scriptures to choose from. We picked Philippians 2: 1-11 as the scripture that we wanted to memorize together.

After scripture we decided to try the history since it would go along with our regular history curriculum. I started in the middle of cycle 1 with the history lesson that we had completed that week.

The history videos were a bit different from the scripture and hymns and had more of rap or chant style compared to the flowing scripture and hymns. My oldest son really disliked it but my seven year old loved it. He thought it was great and wanted me to add it to his morning work.

We listened to a few selections from the math and grammar sections as well, but decided that starting with the three areas of hymns, scripture, and history would be the best fit for us right now.

Hymns

We started with the Doxology and then added in Great is Thy Faithfulness a few weeks later. The Doxology was a perfect way to start because it is shorter and easy to memorize. I already knew the song because we sang it every week at the church where I grew up.

Great is They Faithfulness is a longer song and broken up into weeks. We have been working our way through that song and enjoy the time spent together singing each morning.

Scripture

I loved that they were done in bigger passages and not just random verses. I feel like you get so much more context.

I appreciated that the words were displayed on the screen to help as we worked on memorization. I also liked that we could listen to the whole passage, but they had it broken down into weekly sections to make it more manageable.

History

I only used the history with my thirteen and seven year-olds because they are covering the same history material. I was not sure how it would go, but they really enjoyed it. They would walk around singing the weeks memory work, especially the seven-year-old. I even found my three year old singing parts of it.

I really appreciated that it tied in so well with our history curriculum and felt like it was a great way to help the information from the curriculum ‘stick’ a little better in their minds.

Other Resources

In addition to the videos, the program contained extra videos with hand motions to help with the memorization. There were also quizzes that you could use to see how well students were memorizing their work. Since we had decided to use this program together as a family a few minutes each morning we did not use the quizzes. However, I think they would have been very beneficial if I was having them work independently.

There were also some fun history videos for kids that were included about some of the different topics. The website said that they were still making new videos and adding to the list.

Conclusions and Opinions

Overall, I was well pleased with Cross Seven Ventures – Homeschool Musical Memory Tool. I loved how easy it made it for me as the parent. I simply logged in each morning and clicked on the right videos. I was so much more consistent with our morning time because it was simple (and the seven year old would not let me forget about it).

If you are wanting an easy way to add in memory work or keep morning time simple, this is a great product. I love that I can pick and choose which subject we will use and that we can do it all at our own pace.

You can see how other Review Crew families used this program by clicking on the graphic below.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Thomas Nelson, Everybody Always for Kids (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

If you have been reading this blog for very long, it is no secret that we love books and reading. My personal motto is “never too many books, only too few bookshelves.” So, when the opportunity came to review Everybody, Always for Kids by Bob Goff and Lindsey Goff Viducich I was happy to accept.

I was not familiar with the author but I was familiar with other books from Tommy Nelson Publishing and was excited to give this one a try. The book was recommended for ages 6-10 and I planned to use it with my seven year old son.

A New Book!

When the book arrived in the mail, I let my son open the package. He was immediately drawn to the bright colors of the cover art. The book has a very cheerful cover that entices the reader.

While he was most drawn to the cover, I could not help but notice the sturdiness of the hard cover book. It seemed well made, with thick glossy pages and even a ribbon attached as a bookmark.

Rather than being one long story, the book is a collection of forty different stories. The goal of the book is to help children understand that they should love “everybody, always”.

Each story is an example of how the author was able to show love to someone through his actions.

How We Used the Book

While, I planned to use this primarily with my seven year old, my three year old would most often come join us while I read. He loves to curl up in the recliner with me reading.

I did not really think that he would understand most of it, but welcomed him joining us for reading. However, he quite surprised me when he started talking about the stories.

In one of the earlier stories the author jokingly talks about swimming with sharks. After we finished that story, my three year old looked at me and said, “Mommy, we not swim with the sharks, they might eat us.”

I am quite sure that was not the point the author was trying to get across, it certainly proved to me that he was paying attention.

My seven year old loved the book and would ask me to read each night and try to get me to read two or three stories at a time, instead of the one that I promised.

I appreciated the opportunity to talk with him about showing love and kindness to others in a variety of ways.

Bonus!

In addition to the book, we were given a five day lesson plan set with questions and hands-on ideas to go along with five of the stories from the book. These lesson plans included fun hands-on activities as well as discussion questions. They are available as a free bonus download on the website.

Thoughts and Conclusions

Overall, we really enjoyed Everybody, Always for Kids and felt like it was a great way to start conversations about different ways that we can show love to those around us. While I think the target age of 6-10 is probably the ideal age for this book, I do think that younger children can get something from the book and that it could still be a great jumping off point for conversations with older children.

Be sure to click on the graphic below and see what the other Review Crew families thought and how they used this book in their homes!

A Few Thoughts on Standardized Testing

I know testing can be a hot button topic and everyone has a different opinion and situation. In our state, home school students must take a standardized test every year beginning at age seven.

I have experience with standardized testing as a student, teacher, administrator, and now as a home school mom.

Some folks love them and other people despise them. I happen to fall somewhere in the middle. I believe that there are pros and cons to standardized testing and that a huge part of their usefulness is determined by how the results are used.

Concerns

In a public school setting, the tests are what they call ‘high stakes’. The results can determine if a student passes or fails, if a teacher keeps her job, funding, and so much more. Everyone involves feels the pressure and stress.

I have watched gifted students cry because they couldn’t figure out an answer and other students feel like failures because they did not pass that one test. Sometimes those students had made huge gains and other times they just did not perform well under pressure.

In our own home, the tests are not high stakes. My children know that I expect them to do their best but the results are designed to show me what we need to focus on in the year ahead. One of my sons turned seven in April and this was his first year testing. He struggled on several parts because it was above his reading abilities and the testing situation was new.

Limitations

It would have been really easy for him to give up and cry or for me to get upset because he was struggling. I could have waited until his results came back and been upset with him or myself if they were not on ‘grade-level’.

However, I reminded him that I just wanted him to do his best and that we would celebrate completion with ice cream!

Then I took the time to remember that while those test scores can help us to see certain areas of strength and weakness, they don’t tell the whole story.

That test will not tell me that my son loves doing art lessons and is getting better every day. It did not measure the fact that he knows more about raising chickens and pigs than most adults I know. It will not tell you how much he knows about NASA and the space program.

Benefits

Standardized tests can be helpful for giving you an overview of certain skills. One year, it helped me realize that while my older children were several years ahead in reading, I needed to spend more time on punctuation and capitalization.

However, we cannot make them more important than they are. They do not measure everything and should only be one tool that we use to help us guide our instruction and understanding.

If you choose to test or live in a state where testing is required, use the test to help you but make sure that your students know that it does not measure their success or failure. They are so much more than a standardized test.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

FREE Month of Kindle Unlimited: I have been using this for my own pleasure reading as well as books for my son and daughter and really enjoying it.

Up to 75% off Science and STEM from Evan Moor!

Feeding the Hobbits or Homeschool Snacks

The Review Crew is talking about homeschool snacks this week and I wanted to share a few of our favorite healthy snack ideas. I don’t know if we read too much Tolkien or if it is just being at home all day, but my children eat like hobbits.

They want three meals and lots of snacks. So it is important to me to have easy, healthy, and inexpensive options available.

*Some links are affiliate links, see disclosure below for more information*

Healthy Homeschool Snacks

I have learned that if I keep the healthy homeschool snacks easily available and the treats not as easily accessible it is easier to make sure that we are eating a healthy diet. We all enjoy the occasional cookie or brownie but I try to mostly make those homemade so that they aren’t always around.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruit and Vegetables tend to make great healthy snacks but can sometimes be expensive. I have found that I can keep it inexpensive by choosing fruit that is currently in season, growing some of our own, or using vegetables like carrot sticks that are almost always inexpensive at our local grocery store.

Right now we are enjoying all of the fresh strawberries! Our local u-pick has them for only $1.35 a pound. They are so sweet and tasty, but also full of vitamins.

If you want to make vegetables more exciting you can add a dip or make them into shapes. We sometimes give them a variety and they can make their own creations before eating them.

Protein

When children are growing, they can often need extra protein and it is a great way to keep them full a little longer. My children love beef jerky and it is great for being easy and nutritious but it can get expensive.

For cheaper high protein options, we like boiled eggs, peanut butter balls, cheese sticks, or mixed nuts. I have also found that by using Ibotta, I can often get really good deals on protein bars.

For those days when they are extra hungry between meals, these tuna kits are a great snack. They are more that what we would often eat for a snack, but packed with protein.

Salty Snacks

Buying chips and snacks in bulk packaging is often the cheapest way to go. We especially love buying big bags of popcorn kernels that the children can pop in the air popper.

However, I have found that if I buy the individual serving sizes it makes portion control a lot easier. It also makes it easier to bring snacks on the go. To get a better deal on snacks like Veggie Chips, Apple Straws, and popcorn bags, I like to use Amazon Subscribe and Save.

The newest favorite in our house are these Simply Cheetos! We love that they don’t have dyes and are healthier than the regular version but very tasty!

Tell Us More!

Do your children seem to always want a snack? What are your favorite snacks?

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Fit2B is having a great Mother’s Day sale! I highly recommend them as an excellent fitness program and they are tummy safe!

Up to 75% off Science and STEM from Evan Moor!

FREE Month of Kindle Unlimited: I have been using this for my own pleasure reading as well as books for my son and daughter and really enjoying it.

YWAM Heroes of History: Thomas Edison (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

When the opportunity to review a book from the Heroes of History series by YWAM Publishing arose, the only question was which title we would choose. We love the YWAM Publishing biographies and were excited about the chance to review a new title!

We have used titles from these series as read-alouds, pleasure reading, and as part of literature study for my older students. There are so many great options.

For this review, I decided to let my daughter choose the book and use it as part of her literature studies. After looking over the various titles, she chose to read the book about Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison: Inspiration and Hard Work was written by Janet and Geoff Benge. It is a paperback chapter book that is recommended for ages 10+. They are written from a Christian worldview.

We think they are ideal for upper elementary and middle grades. However, they are interesting enough to still make good pleasure reading for my high school student. They also work great for younger students as read alouds.

In addition to the paperback book, YWAM Publishing also graciously provided us with the coordinating unit study. The unit study is over 80 pages of ideas, projects, worksheets, and maps to use with the book.

The first section of the unit study is key quotes that go along with the study. Some are quotes by the Thomas Edison and others are quotes that relate to his work and character.

Next, there are ideas for building a display corner. This is an area in your home that your student can put things that are relevant to Thomas Edison. This might be maps of where he lived, pictures, models, diagrams, examples of his inventions. This can make a great visual to help students remember more from what they read.

Third, there are about six comprehension questions for each chapter of the book. You could have your student do all of the questions, but I chose to have my daughter answer just the ones that I selected.

Next is the part my children enjoy most, the activities! There are a variety of suggested activities to choose from in various categories ranging from hands-on projects to essays to audio/visual projects. There are also art and craft project options.

My daughter chose to complete the hands-on project of writing and sending a message in Morse code. She enjoyed writing it and hearing how it sounded. She also shared it with her brother.

The next section of the unit study is community links. These are suggested field trips or people that could be interviewed to increase your knowledge of either the person you read about or his field of expertise.

For example, some of the suggestions given in the Thomas Edison study were interviewing a draftsman to talk about blueprints or going to a power plant/power plant museum.

In the social studies section, there are mapping projects, vocabulary terms, geographical characteristics, and questions to ponder. My daughter did the mapping projects and I felt that it really helped her to understand where the events took place.

Finally, the unit study includes a culminating event and a books and resources section. The culminating event is a fun party style event to close out the end of the study and the books and resources section provides ideas for additional study.

My daughter said, “I enjoyed the way they talked about his life and his inventions and how they were made.” When asked about the unit study portion she said, “I really liked the link they gave for a program where you could type a message in and it would give you the Morse code translation.”

She recommends it for middle schoolers and anyone who was interested in history and inventions. The only thing she would have changed was making the map larger for the geography activity because there were a lot of places to include on the small map.

Whether you want a fun read-aloud, a new pleasure book, or an in-depth unit study, I absolutely love these books. The unit studies are great because there are so many options, the books are very educational and they are written from a Christian worldview.

I love that it is so easy to pick and choose what components we want to complete to make it as short or in-depth of a unit study as we would like to do.

You can check out my reviews of Benjamin Franklin, Orville Wright, or Alan Shepard. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to see which books other Crew Members reviewed and how they choose to use them in their homes.

Figures in Motion: Famous Figures of Ancient Times (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

*some links are affiliate links, see disclosure below*

We love history in our home and always enjoy finding new ways to make history come to life and be more hands-on. When the opportunity to review Famous Figures of Ancient Times from Figures In Motion, I was happy to give it a try.

As I looked over the Figures In Motion website, I was excited to see that the Famous Figures of Ancient Times coordinated with Story of the World. We are currently using Story of the World, and so I was glad to be able to add the famous figures to our current history routine.

How it Works

My daughter, seventh-grade, and my son, first-grade, are currently going through ancient history together. I had them work together to complete the Famous Figures of Ancient Times. The book focused on 21 historical figures from ancient history.

For each figure, there were two different paper dolls that could be cut out and put together, the first was full color, and the other was an outline that the students could color themselves.

Once the components were cut out, the student put the dolls together using a hole-punch and metal brads. The hole punch and brads could be purchased from Figures In Motion if you do not have any.

Since the dolls were put together, they were articulated (the legs and arms could move). This made them great fun for my first grader to play with and turn into puppets.

Creative Ideas

My son always wants to create puppets and make up stories to go along with them. With these, he could make the puppets and then use them to retell what he learned in his history lesson for the week.

You could also put them onto popsicle sticks if you wanted a puppet that you could maneuver in that way.

In addition to the paper figures, there were a couple of paragraphs of historical information about each person included in the book. There was also a suggested reading list of read-aloud books to cover those figures.

This would be a great way to expand on what you were learning or to make the book stand a bit more on its own and not as supplementary material.

Thoughts and Conclusions

Overall, we enjoyed these figures, and my son will continue to use them as we finish up our year in history. My daughter thought they were cute but a little too ‘young’ for her.

I think they would be great for elementary-age students, especially those who love puppets. Some middle school students may also enjoy them or enjoy creating with them.

We would not use this as a stand-alone history, but it paired very well with Story of the World as a low prep hands-on activity. The author also mentions that it aligns well with Sonlight Curriculum, Classical Conversations, and Mystery of History.

If you want to add a little hands-on learning to your history or have a child that loves puppets, check out Famous Figures of Ancient Times or one of the other books by Figures In Motion that covers a different time period. You can also find them on Amazon.

Also, be sure to click on the graphic below and see what the other Crew families thought about this product and which era in history they were covering.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you updated on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Homestead Homeschool: Sheep and Surprise Chicks

If you have chickens, then you are probably familiar with the term ‘chicken math’. If you do not, you might be envisioning math worksheets where students count chickens. However, the phrase ‘chicken math’ comes from the fact that people tend to start with just a few chickens and say that is all they need.

For most people, it does not take long before that number grows. They see cute chicks at the feed store; they decide they want different colored eggs, or a cute new breed of chicken.

We have fallen ‘victim’ to all of those means of chicken math, but a couple weeks ago we added to our numbers in a way we never had. One of our chickens had hidden under our deck, laid a nice clutch of eggs, and hatched out 13 baby chicks.

A sneak peak at Patches our new barn cat, mama hen and her chicks, and the new hay shelter my son built.

Baby Chicks

I walked outside one afternoon to help my seven-year-old in the garden before heading out of town for the weekend, and there was this hen with her little chicks just pecking the grass.

Once I got over my shock, I had to figure out what to do with them all. My oldest son, who normally cares for our chickens, was at his grandparents and unable to help.

In the past, we have gotten chicks from hatcheries and kept them inside until they feathered. Since these chicks had their mama to keep them warm, we moved them all to a chicken tractor to protect them from predators.

Once in the tractor we provided food and water and let the mama hen do her job.

Not all hens are good mamas but this hen is doing a great job caring for her chicks. If you go out early enough in the morning you can see them all sleeping under her wings. They will peek their heads out as they hear noises. It is adorable!

One chick was born with some problems and did not make it, but the other twelve are doing great.

In addition to the surprise chicks, we have also added two sheep to the homestead. We would love to raise our own beef, but just do not have the land to do so. Instead, my son decided he wanted to try sheep which can provide similar meat on much less land.

Sheep

The sheep are grazing with the goats and being supplemented with hay bales. My son and his friend also added a new electric fence to part of our back yard to increase the pasture area for them.

We are looking forward to learning more about sheep as we care for these sheep and my son is excited to be able to provide more for the family table. He is also planning to get his meat handlers certification so that he can possibly start selling some of the meat if we have extra.

I love that he is learning more about where his food comes from, animal husbandry, and business skills. He is also really improving on his carpentry skills and he builds shelters, barns, and such for his animals.

It even led to having a slightly awkward conversation about where the chicks ‘came’ from with my younger son. Whether he goes into a farming career or not, I believe these skills will serve him well in the years to come.

Garden Updates

Finally, a little update on the gardens. My older son’s garden is planted and seems to be doing well. He is trying a few new things including using a plastic row cover on part of it. This should help with weed control.

My seven-year-old and I planted in the raised beds. We had a bit of a problem with chickens that had gotten loose, but with those now contained it seems to be doing better and we are excited about fresh produce in a few weeks.

Do you have any questions about the animals or gardens that we could answer? Are you doing any homesteading projects in your homeschool? I would love to have you share in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Up to 75% off Science and STEM from Evan Moor!

FREE Month of Kindle Unlimited: I have been using this for my own pleasure reading as well as books for my son and daughter and really enjoying it.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 (Review)

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

When my children were young, I loved teaching math. We would pull out all of the manipulatives and have a great time learning. Somewhere around fifth grade, math started not being nearly as much fun and became a more stressful part of our homeschool day. I am always looking for math programs that will work well for my children and make math less of a struggle. My daughter was ready for pre-algebra this year and wanted to try pre-algebra Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 from Teaching Textbooks.

Program Overview

Teaching Textbooks is a computerized math program. Once a student account is set up, the student can log in and complete lessons at their own pace. The lessons include instructional videos, practice problems, and tests.

The problems and tests are automatically graded by the computer. After watching the videos the student had five practice problems that did not count towards their grade.

Next, they did a practice exercise with 20-24 problems for their daily work. When a student gets a practice problem incorrect, they could get a hint and a second chance to fix the problem. If they missed it a third time, it was counted incorrect and they were given an explanation of the correct answer. The tests gave two chances but no hints.

Differences Between 3.0 and 4.0

When we started using the program in the spring we were using version 3.0. That version was web-based and required my daughter to be connected to the Wi-Fi. The new 4.0 version is app-based and while it connects to Wi-Fi, it also downloads lessons so that they can be completed without Wi-Fi.

This was a great perk when we were traveling. We went on a long road trip while she was doing this program and she was able to complete lessons while we were riding.

They also made some changes to the answer entry that made it quicker and updated it so that you could see a current average in the grade section. My daughter really likes to keep track of how she is doing and appreciated this feature.

Opinions and Conclusions

As a busy mom, I loved that this was one subject that I didn’t have to teach or really manage. I could easily log in and see how much she had done, her scores, and any other information. I was also able to reset lessons if needed.

It was simple to set up and manage. I also appreciated that the tests encompassed work from previous lessons so that she is getting some review as the year progresses.

Elizabeth’s Opinion

“I really enjoyed this program it has made pre-algebra easy. Some pros with the new version are that I can use my number pad or keyboard to type in answers. When I was first in the program, I had to use the one on the app and that made it so it took longer, They give you an overall average in the 4.0 version which is really nice, and one other really nice thing is that I can do math offline with the 4.0 version so that allows me to do math in the car. Some cons are that there was a lot of review in the beginning, which I did not like. The other thing is while you are online you have to remember to download the lessons in order to do them offline, it would have been nice if they were all downloaded when you got the app. ” Elizabeth, Age 13

While I have not decided on our plans for next year, my daughter has asked to continue with Teaching Textbooks for Algebra 1. In my opinion that is a big endorsement.

Find Out More

If you are looking for a computer-based math program, I recommend checking out Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0. Make sure to click on the graphic below to check out how other Crew Members used it in their homes.

Hands-On Insect Unit Study Early Elementary

A couple of years ago, I purchased a butterfly growing kit for my son. It was a huge success and he has been talking about it ever since. He wanted to do another one this year, but we decided to try a Ladybug Habitat instead. He loved that kit just as much and is even considering using part of his birthday money to buy more ladybug larvae.

The Ladybug Habitat sparked an deeper interest in insects and so we decided to dig a little deeper and do an entire unit on insects during our science time together. There are hundreds of great resources on insects for young children, but I pulled together some of our favorite. I tried to make sure to include a variety of materials that would be of interest to different learning styles and ages.

Hands-On Insect Projects

We have been collecting bugs in jars to study for a little bit before releasing them. Years ago, I purchased the book, Pets in a Jar. This book has been a wonderful resource for knowing how to care for the various insects that we collect.

Next, we combined our insect study with our art lessons! We use You Are An Artist Chalk Pastels for our art lessons and Nana has several great insect lessons. Benjamin especially enjoyed the Ladybug lesson in the Garden Nature course!

Reading and Lessons

Our local library had a good variety of both fiction and non-fiction books about insects that we are using in our read-aloud time. We also enjoyed reading and coloring the Insects Mini-book from My Teaching Library.

We will be continuing our study by using some of the lessons from the Charlotte Mason Style Insect Lessons (Unit 4) and Lessons 1-2 of All About Animals (Grades 1-2) from SchoolhouseTeachers.com. There are some great hands-on activities and even some that my three year old can join.

They even have insect themed poetry with some of the lessons. I love that there is a combination of reading/worksheet type learning and hands-on activities. They also have some courses for older students if you are doing this as a family study.

My son had a birthday as we were working through this unit and decided to use a bug theme, so we included multiple bug themed snacks at the party. Those snacks could also be a great way to start or finish your study of insects.

Since my son is still showing so much interest, we plan to study ants as the next component of our insect study. He is considering using a bit of his birthday money to purchase this ant farm, so that he can watch how the ants dig and tunnel underground.

Resources

I have included a variety of wonderful insect resources below that can help you put together a unit study for your family. While I focused on resources for early elementary school, many of the resources can be used with older students or in a family environment.

Schoolhouse Teachers Lessons:

Wonderful World of Bugs (4 week class for grades 2-7)

Charlotte Mason Style Insect Lessons (Unit 4)

Lessons 1-2 of All About Animals (Grades 1-2)

Insect and Bug Word Maker Worksheet

My Teaching Library Resources

Insect Coloring Pages

Insects Mini-book

Ants Hands-On Science

Chalk Pastel Lessons

Backyard Nature (Lightning Bug, Ant)
Garden Nature (Ladybug, Garden Caterpillar, Garden Honeybees)
Pond Nature (Dragonfly, Water Strider)

Fun Snacks

Hands-On Resources

Ladybug Habitat

Butterfly Garden

Books and Movies

Magic School Bus Rot Squad and Ants in Its Pants

Peterson’s First Guide to Insects of North America

Peterson’s First Guide to Butterflies and Moths

Pets in a Jar

What are your favorite resources for learning about insects? We would love to know what your children enjoy. Tell us in the comments!

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Journey Homeschool Academy 15% off through 4/22

Up to 75% off Science and STEM from Evan Moor!

FREE Month of Kindle Unlimited: I have been using this for my own pleasure reading as well as books for my son and daughter and really enjoying it.

Free ABC Mouse Trial: Looking for a little summer education for your children when it is too hot to play outside? ABC Mouse is offering a FREE 30 day trial. This is a great way to give it a try and see if it works for your child.

Easy Earth Day Activity Ideas

April 22nd is set aside as Earth day. This can mean many things to different people and has gotten a bit politicized over the years. However, in our home, we use it as a day to remember that God gave us stewardship over the earth and a responsibility to care for it. Ultimately God is in control, but we want to show ourselves to be good stewards by doing what we can to care for the earth and its creatures.

There are many ways that we can help our children understand the importance of taking care of this earth on earth day and in our daily lives.

Service Projects

Service is always a great way to help the earth and to help children understand their responsibility for caring for the earth. This could be as simple as taking a walk down your road and picking up the trash that you find, or maybe getting together with a group and picking up trash at a local park.

You could also contact local non-profit agencies such as wildlife rehabilitation centers, community gardens, or state parks to see what volunteer opportunities they have available.

For older students, you could turn it into a bigger school project and have them research an environmental issue and come up with a plan that they can implement to have a positive impact. They could organize a campaign or project to work towards fixing the problem.

Perhaps they coordinate a beach clean-up day, fund raise to help out a local organization, or create a publicity campaign to bring awareness to an endangered animal.

Nature Study

Nature study can be a great way to help children begin to develop an awareness and appreciation for God’s creation. As children spend time studying plants and animals, walking through the woods, and exploring beaches, they begin to appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature. This appreciation can help develop a desire to be a good steward of the earth.

If you are new to nature study, remember that you can start small and it does not have to be elaborate. Simply go for a walk and see what you observe, or take out binoculars and look for birds in your yard.

If you want a few more simple ideas to get started, check out the posts below.

How to Get More Out of Your Nature Walks

Nature Study: Birds

Field Trips

Field trips are always one of our favorite ways to learn about any topic and there are lots of options for earth day. First, check with local places and see if anyone is doing a special earth day celebration.

Even if no one is doing a special celebration, going to your local zoo, aquarium, wildlife rehabilitation center, state or national park, or environmental center can be a great way to celebrate earth day.

They can bring awareness to the many wonderful plants and animals in your environment and possibly to some of the challenges faced by those animals.

Activities

Finding simple hands-on activities that you can do at home can be a great way to celebrate and learn. One of the easiest activities is to build a pine cone bird feeder. If you don’t have pine cones there are also fun options with orange peels.

If you have a little more time, planting a garden, creating a space that is friendly to pollinators, or building a birdhouse are great ways to be good stewards.

Conclusions

This is by no means an exhaustive list of things that you can do to celebrate Earth day, but just a few ideas to get you started and help you think about ways you can encourage your children to be good stewards of the Earth.

I would love to hear about how you celebrate and any ideas that you have. Be sure to share your ideas and thoughts in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is now offering a lifetime option! They are a great place for a one stop shop curriculum or a way to have a lot of options to fill in different electives and courses into what you have already chosen.

FREE zoo scavenger hunt from Journey Homeschool Academy

The Homeschool Curriculum Summit is coming soon! Grab your free ticket now!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

FREE Month of Kindle Unlimited: I have been using this for my own pleasure reading as well as books for my son and daughter and really enjoying it.

Not Consumed has a new Pre-K and Kindergarten Curriculum for sale!