From time to time I like to work on unit studies with the kids, as I can work on many different subjects at one time. We recently had the change to review some Creation based unit studies from Creation Illustrated. The unit studies are geared for children in grades 3 – 8. Along with receiving the unit studies, we also got to preview a couple of the digital magazines to Creation Illustrated. In case your not familiar with Creation Illustrated it focuses on creation in nature, in scripting, and living. It really does blend the three nicely. The graphics in these magazines are stunning! There is something for the whole family in them. We received a digital copy of the Snow Unit Study and Pine Trees Unit Study, along with the two editions of Creation Illustrated Digital Magazine for this review.
We spent a lot of time on the Snow Unit Study and reading the Winter ’18 Digital Edition magazine. This particular unit study really takes you on a lesson to understand snow. You learn how it is formed and how it looks, but you also get a look at it from a Creation side as well. This unit study had many different subjects in corporate into it, and that is one thing I really liked about it. We could take a few days to really spend working on it. We extended it some what and did a little extra reading and video watching. There was different sites to read about snow, along with the article in the digital magazine. There was comprehension questions that went with the article and some extra questions to think about as well. There was some links to the different videos to watch about snow. We happened to watch a few more that were not in the study. There is a bible study that is incorporated into this study where it talks about snow in the bible. You had writing, vocabulary, and spelling. I had my son write about some memories he had in the snow. There was some hands on science projects, as well as some art projects. There is a cross word puzzle and other fun activities.
I used this with my older son, he has autism and a cognitive disability so this was actually perfect for him to learn about. However, I didn’t have him make snow flakes as I was afraid that for him it might be to kiddish. Although I think they are so neat to make and I am adult and love the endless possibilities. We didn’t do the science experiment to make the crystals as we did do that in the past and know what it looks like. We were blessed though today with a snow storm, and we put a black sock in the freezer. One it was cold we took it outside to collect snowflakes. I don’t think the pictures turned out so well of what the snow flakes looked like as they were kinda small. It is a wet and heavy snow we are getting. Now had he been up the other day and we had put the sock in the freezer we probably would have gotten great pictures of the big snowflakes that were falling. If we had a lot of snow we would have definitely tried to build an igloo. My kids love snow forts. The purpose of the igloo was to notice the temperature difference inside the igloo and outside. Snow acts as an insulator so it would have been really neat to see the difference inside and outside. We really haven’t had much snow this winter.
I have to say that I really liked the variety of the contents in the unit study. There was something from almost every subject in it. You could do most of this study in one day. We took a few days to really dive into it, and we did some extended learning. I also like that it is creation based. It really gives you something to think about. Life is so busy I think we forget to stop and admire God’s beauty all around.
We just started the Pine Trees Unit Study. We also started reading and looking through the Fall ’17 Digital Edition magazine as well. This unit study is set up pretty much along the same set up as the Snow Unit Study. One thing that I really like so far is the fact that you are learning about the different pine trees and the different regions they are found in. We have a couple different pine trees on our property We have several along the side of the house and then we have three great big ones that have really long needles. We have needles falling all year round along with pine cones. It’s kinda fascinating in spring as the melting is going on, you can hear the pine cones crackling. I did notice that there is a hands on activity with some observation, drawing, and identifying. I would add in a few more hands on activities to extend our learning some more on this.
The Creation Illustrated Spring 2018 issue has just come out recently. The one thing that caught my eye about this issue was the article Creations Near and Dear To Us: Butterfly Birth Story. Butterflies are near and dear to me. They are so very interesting to watch from Caterpillar to Monarch…I haven’t seen any of the eggs yet on the Milk Weed but I didn’t look. The cocoons they spin are just beautiful. They have a speck of gold in them to that makes them even prettier. It happens so quick once it starts. We were lucky to be able to raise some caterpillars to butterflies and release them.
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