homeschool

The Captain Sun Adventures – Review

September 17, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

My Little Man has recently become fascinated with superheroes and all things related to graphic novels. He loves the action, the fast pace, and the conflicts – and that’s why I’m super excited to be sharing the first of the Captain Sun Adventures with him as we review it, Book 1, Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith.

The Captain Sun Adventures are part comic, part devotional. The book contains a story in comic book form, complete with the bright colors, fast-paced action, and bold fonts for which comics are known. About every two pages of story, however, there’s a break in the story for a devotional.

Each devotional is slightly less than a single page. They fit the comic theme perfectly and compare superhero themes to gospel Truth. The devotionals have titles like “The Origin Story” and “Your Secret Identity” that explain important elements of classic superhero stories but which show how those same pieces are true of Jesus’ life. These devotions are simple in style but very clear, making them understandable by young superhero fans. Since these books seem to be meant to be read independently, I’d say they target young- to middle- elementary aged kids. With the combination of devotion and classic comic story, they would be great read together as a family, as well.

There are other great elements of these stories. Each devotion includes a question about the comic book story itself and a scripture verse that relates to the theme of the devotional. Also, in the back of the book, there are additional questions for each chapter and devotional.

The Captain Sun website has some really great information, too. The ‘About Us’ page has biographies for Bryce Morgan, the author, and about both illustrators. (Morgan also has a secret identity as a pastor – so you know that there’s another level of expertise behind the writing of these books – that of theology!) The ‘Buy’ page has information about how to get your own copy of each of these three books, but also where to find the best deal. The ‘Fun Stuff’ page is just that – with printable coloring pages, a sheet to customize to create your own superhero, and a link to the Captain Sun Zazzle store, where you can purchase your own official merchandise. One of my personal favorites is the ‘VBS’ page, though. You can download a VBS Primer Pack with the basic ideas you’d need to run your own VBS with a Captain Sun theme. As popular as superheroes are right now, I’m sure that would be a big hit! Even better, it’s available for FREE! Further down the page is a place to link up your own ideas for crafts, games decorations, and more related to this theme, should you decide to hold your own Captain Sun VBS. I’m not seeing many ideas linked up yet, but it’s a great idea.

My Little Man really enjoyed reading Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith. He’s eleven now and a super fast reader, so he read it in a single sitting in a very short period of time. He enjoyed the story and liked the comparisons between superheroes and faith.

I’ve only read the first Captain Sun Adventure, Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith, but the way that the devotions show Jesus’ awesomeness and walk young superhero fans through the Gospel message is most impressive. My Little Man grabbed the book immediately when he found it on the table and devoured the whole thing, and I’m sure that other fans would do the same. These would be fantastic additions to Sunday School rooms, church libraries, in youth group rooms, or to a kids’ program in general. Give them a try – I bet your kids will love them!

Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith {The Captain Sun Adventures Reviews}

Bible Biographies with Kingdom Files – Review

September 12, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

For the past few years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to help my kids learn more about the Bible. Not just how to read and study the Bible for themselves, but how to teach them that and more – like how to piece together information, how to use those great pages at the front of books, etc. Those pieces are great, but they can also be hard to use and to understand.

That’s why I was really excited to review two Kingdom Files books, Who Was Jonah? and Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? Produced by Barbour Publishing, these books are easy-to-read biographies written for kids in the eight-to-twelve years’ range. The font features clean lines and the pages have simple graphics and clipart that add visual interest, breaking up large sections of text and making the book very kid friendly. They really remind me a lot of the popular Who Was? series.

Kingdome Files Who Was Mary Mother of Jesus

The books are formatted very specifically. The first section is called the Fact File. It has a timeline, key facts, and summarizes the most important information about the title person.

The next section is the Action File. This part makes up the majority of the book. It is written in small, simple chapters, walking the reader through the life of the title figure. Scripture is referenced so that the reader can look it up, and extra special information is pulled out into special boxes titled “Clues.” This draws attention to key information. This section also includes simple maps and black-and-white illustrations. The Action File isn’t strictly fact-based, as the author also explains what scripture means and puts it into context in this section. For example, in Mary’s book, he fills in missing information by sharing what may have happened based on what we know about the culture and society, or things like distances and travel times, such as how long it may have taken Mary and Joseph to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

The final section in each book is the Power File. This contains a series of Power Ups, each with a memory verse. The Power Ups are small devotions, key points about each person that you can apply to your own life.

I really like these books. I love how they share really important information about key Biblical figures and how they go beyond the single-story format. They’re great for kids in the older elementary grades, but if you have strong readers, they could easily be read and understood by younger kids, too. They are excellent resources for families, homeschools, or church libraries, and at only $4.99 per book, they’re very affordable.

Who Was Jonah? shares a great deal of information about why Jonah didn’t want to visit Nineveh as God instructed. The author does a great job of telling readers about Jonah’s world and the way that people would have interacted.

Who Was Mary, Mother of Jesus? was my favorite, though. I really enjoyed the way that the author told the story of Mary, not drawing only from one Gospel book, but from the entire story. It walks the reader through what is known about Mary’s life carefully, explaining her actions against the backdrop of culture and history.

I’ve been looking for great resources for the youth program I work with, and these Kingdom Files books definitely fit the bill. If you work with kids, check these out. I think you’ll like them.

Kingdom Files {Barbour Publishing Reviews}

NEW! “The Honest Truth” Resources

August 20, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

I get really, really excited when I find a book that is overflowing with exciting learning possibilities, and that’s why I can’t wait to share Dan Gemeinhart’s debut book The Honest Truth with you. The main character Mark is a twelve-year-old boy dealing with a return of the cancer he’s fought most of his life, and the story is that of his journey as he deals with this news. It’s full of friendship and contemplation and, yes, poetry; ultimately, this story asks: what’s really important in life? How should we look at it?

Despite the difficulties he faces, Mark’s story ends triumphantly – and I love that I can hand this complex story over to my middle school kids without worry about it being too grown up for them.

It’s never too late for the adventure of a lifetime.

In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He’s got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day.

But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.

So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan. A plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier. Even if it’s the last thing he ever does.

The Honest Truth is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and one incredible journey.

I love the questions that Mark asks in this book and the answers that he finds. I love the way that Gemeinhart makes Mark’s journey relatable to so many – all while on a fast-paced adventure story, and I think your kids will like it, too.

The Honest Truth is perfect for a book club, over-the-dinner-table, with a pen pal, or literature circle discussion. That’s why I’ve created Discussion Questions and Creative Writing Projects. You’ll find questions sorted by chapter that have no right or wrong answer, but instead ask your students to compare, contrast and critique the characters and the choices they make. Writing projects take a variety of forms, both opinion, essay, and other creative projects.

Gemeinhart includes haiku as one of Mark’s hobbies, but his own writing includes many quote-able passages. These quotes would make great writing prompts on their own, but they’re also wonderful for hanging up and pondering – that’s why I created FREE printables for you. They’re ready to print and go.

I’m looking forward to our book club event featuring this book in a few months. We’re heading outdoors to hike in the cold weather the way that Mark did – and there are lots of other outside possibilities, too. I’ve created a Book Club Activities pack to make it easy for you to use this with your book club. It includes ideas for taking your book clubbers outside, for food from the book, for costumes and clothing, and also printable research projects – and, of course, it comes with discussion questions.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your copy of The Honest Truth and let the fun begin!

You can find these and other creative, time-saving resources for your home or classroom at my TpT Store A Nest in the Rocks.

What are your kids reading right now?

Our Book Club Reading List for 2018-2019

August 6, 2018 by Amy 1 Comment

If you’ve been following along here for any length of time, you probably know that I love book club. I love searching for great new books for my kids and their friends. I love digging into those books and looking for the perfect threads I can pull for great literature, history, home ec, science, and other fun learning projects.

I’ve been reading and reading and reading for months to pick the perfect books for this coming school year, and I’ve finally made my decisions! This was a really tough year for a lot of reasons – both kids are now in middle school, they’re ready for harder and more complex stories and characters, and because we’ve been doing this for six years now. Some of the books I found were great, but the things I wanted to do with them were things that we’ve already done – and so while I’d definitely recommend reading those books, they weren’t what I was looking for in this case.

Each year, I try to find a good blend of classics, realistic contemporary, sci fi, fantasy, and historical fiction. While we’re a bit lighter on the historical fiction this year than I wanted, that ended up being mainly because the books that tied most perfectly to our planned history topics are ones my kids have already read. While we’ll still be reading that genre, we’ll just be reading less of it as a club.

Altogether, I am SO EXCITED about what we’ll be doing this year! It was easier to find clean, complex, exciting books than ever – it was only difficult to choose which ones we’d read. I love them so much that I’m creating a variety of educational resources to accompany them, and you’ll see the releasing here as each is completed. In the meantime, if you’re looking for great reads for your kids this year, look up these books.

Want your own, printable, colorful, book club list? Click here!

Printable Book Club Reading List 2018-2019

If you’ve enjoyed reading about our book club selections, I’d appreciate it if you shared, pinned, or liked this post in some way – and stay tuned to find out what we do with each of these fantastic books!

NEW! Resources for Gordon Korman’s “WhatsHisFace”

August 4, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

I’m always super excited when I find fun books that have great learning connections, and Gordon Korman’s latest book WhatsHisFace fits the bill perfectly! It’s a hoot, too – I found myself laughing out loud often while reading it. It makes the perfect addition to a unit about Shakespeare.

When 12-year-old Cooper Vega moves for the third time in five years, he receives a state-of-the-art smartphone to help him stay in touch with old friends. He’s had phones before, but this one is buggy and unpredictable. When a boy named Roderick Northrop communicates with him through the phone, Cooper realizes that his phone isn’t buggy at all; the thing is haunted!

I couldn’t leave this book alone – there were too many opportunities to transform the laughs in the book into fun learning adventures! That’s why I created resources to go with WhatsHisFace. They’re designed to make the most of the learning opportunities within the book while still enjoying every single funny bit of it.

First, Roderick is a hoot. He’s forever saying things that are wise and true, but he gets the modern vernacular a bit mixed up. I’ve created some printables featuring his quotes. You could use these strictly for decoration, but they would also make great discussion or writing prompts. You can download this resource is FREE at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Of course, I think you can always glean more from a story when you talk it over with at least one other someone, and so I’ve created a packet of open-ended Discussion Questions and Creative Writing Prompts. These do not have strict right-or-wrong answers but are intended for students to share their thoughts and opinions and to back those up with evidence from the book.

Gordon Korman’s outdone himself with the historical connections in this book! From discussion the clothing, speech, science, and printing methods of Shakespeare’s day, there is much to learn here. I’ve created hands-on projects examining each of these areas in a variety of learning styles and linked them up to text, articles, and videos where your students can go to learn more. Everything is ready for you to print and use immediately in this linked unit study.

You can find these and other resources all at my Teachers Pay Teachers store here.

What books will your students be reading this year?

If you’re interested in this book or any of these resources, I’d appreciate it if you’d pin or share this post. Thanks!

Project Passport World History Studies by Home School in the Woods – Review

July 31, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

I remember loving the study of Greek mythology when I was in middle school. My teacher was tough but let us do fun projects, and the stories were fascinating. I’ve been looking forward to teaching my own kids about Ancient Greece and including those myths and projects.

Unfortunately, when I sat down to do some planning, I realized that I remembered much about the myths, but we never learned about Ancient Greece – and I only remember one of those projects, and so I’d have to start from scratch – if it weren’t for Home School in the Woods‘ Project Passport World History Studies unit about Ancient Greece.

I was immediately drawn in to the depth and thoroughness of this unit. It has everything – maps, lapbooks, timelines, printables, cooking projects, building projects, mythology, famous people, government, clothing, geography, and much more. With this unit, I won’t have to do any additional planning.

It’s set up in a really neat way – as if you are going on a trip throughout Greece. Everything is referenced according to that ‘journey’ – you’ll pack, make a printable ‘suitcase’ to hold certain items you’ll want to keep and reference over and over, each day’s lessons are a ‘stop,’ etc.

Each day’s plans are laid out for you, though I must admit that it took me a bit of time to find that document in my download. Until I did, I felt quite frazzled – because all that awesome information feels overwhelming when you don’t know how to use it. Be smarter than I was, though, and open the document called “start” first. It will tell you what you need to know, and it’s even hyperlinked for you to open the related projects and printables to make navigation even easier.

If you plan to make use of everything in this unit, plan to do a lot of printing. Again, that’s because of that wonderful thoroughness – there’s a really cool lapbook, timeline info complete with little people, a passport to print and use with all of the Home School in the Woods’ related projects, and printables to accompany other projects, too. The up side to all of that printing? The directions are very precise, so you’ll know exactly how to do it to make the projects work as planned. The down side? Well, it’s a lot of printing – and each page is saved in as a separate document, not each project – so plan to open a lot of windows on your computer. When I have a lot to print, I often send it out to the local print shop, where we get a discount through our local homeschool group. These separate files mean that I can send them exactly the ones I want printed, so while it may take a bit more work on my part at the front end, it will be easier for the printers to follow my directions and not print pages I don’t want.

One of the first projects involves maps. My kids both love maps, and they were excited to work on this one. They knew nothing at all about the geography of Greece, and so they spent a bit of time studying a picture of the completed map. While they colored, I read the accompanying text, and since that was short, I moved on to another story that we’re reading together.

What makes this map so great is that it’s more interactive than your standard color-and-label map. The labels are available to print, cut, and glue on, and since that was different for us, the kids were excited to do it. They didn’t have to worry about coloring over their labels. The font and font size also differs a little bit for labels of different types of things, and so it makes the map more interesting to look at.

While My Big Helper was very precise in the coloring and labeling of her map, My Little Man went wild with his. He enjoyed studying the map carefully to pick out all the islands from the seas and then using a variety of bright colors to denote that land.

Unusual? Yes. It made him happy, though, and he did label the map accurately and study it thoroughly, so … I’m picking my battles. 😉

At another stop, we began to learn about the famous people of Greece. We printed postcards that already had messages from one Greek person to another – and that was so cool! I’ve had my kids make their own letters from one person to another, which is a great review activity; but by having the message already written, it became a starting point for research and a great critical thinking and analytical activity.

My Big Helper was careful to study each word on the postcard, trying to infer as much as possible from it. She got a kick out of trying to add subtle jokes to the picture she drew on the back of the postcard to illustrate the text, and I could see from her drawing that she really understood the message. It was a fun project!

While we haven’t completed this study yet, we’ve studied it carefully and have plans for much more of it. We’re going to have our own Greek dinner soon, and we’re taking a batch of the spiced wine to a homeschool Ancient Greek event. My Big Helper is going to sew her own outfit, and she can’t wait to build a model of the Parthenon. My Little Man loves Archimedes and Aesop’s Fables, and I can’t wait to see what he writes when he writes his own fable.

Want just the facts? There are 25 lessons, or stops, in this unit. They can be spread out over 8 – 12 weeks and are recommended for use with Grades 3 – 8. It is available as either a digital download or on a CD. Supplies are not included.

There are a wealth of lesson plans and projects in Home School in the Woods‘ Project Passport World History Studies unit about Ancient Greece. It’s all well organized, easy to use, and very thorough. If you have a world history unit coming up, I highly recommend giving Home School in the Woods a try!

Home School in the Woods has five units available in the Project Passport World History series, and they all look just as wonderful as the Ancient Greek one! They’ve just released Ancient Rome, so if you’ve been wanting resources for that, go here and check it out! Home School in the Woods is a hands-on history company with other lines, too, besides just world history. See what they have to offer.

Hands-on-History, Project Passport, À La Carte Timelines and Time Travelers {Home School in the Woods Reviews}

New! Discussion & Writing Packet for Gordon Korman’s “Masterminds”

July 6, 2018 by Amy 1 Comment

Some books lend themselves really well to discussion and debate, and Gordon Korman’s Masterminds is one of them. Full of sci-fi topics and fast-paced action, kids will fly through it, but there’s the potential for fun learning, too.

We used Masterminds for book club (recommended for upper-elementary or middle school) and My Little Man sat with his glass of lemonade and talked about the related issues in the book for two hours! We had a great time with it – and again, later, when we met with friends, we had another great discussion.

That’s why I created this packet – to save you the time and effort and to provide thought-provoking questions for each chapter. They’re organized in chart form, so that you can easily discuss each chapter as it’s read, or, you could cut up the ones you need, put them in a bag, and let the students draw out questions to ask each other.

Great discussion questions usually make great writing prompts, too – and I’ve added writing pages that will ask your students to think deep and explain their reasoning. Use any of these materials for literature analysis as you go or for assessment purposes when you end your Masterminds study.

So go here to get your own Masterminds Discussion Questions & Writing Prompts or here to find other great educational products from my TpT store.

Enjoy!

NEW! Literary Analysis by Quote Packet

June 28, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

Recently, for one of My Big Helper’s book club events, I asked the girls to bring their favorite quote from the book. I had a craft project planned out and expected to see the girls each bring a quote or two; boy, did they surprise me!

Especially My Big Helper. Not knowing what the quote was needed for, but knowing that I might have some sort of creative purpose in mind, she had filled a stack of notecards with all kinds of quotes from the book. A few of the ones she picked out are rather famous as coming from that book, but many were not, and she was eager to share them with me and to explain her reason for choosing each one.

That made me think: what if we searched novels, as we were reading them, for specific things? What if we were looking for a specific literary device or writing element as we were reading? Often, during our read-alouds, I’ll stop and ask the kids questions about a specific thing that we just heard; but what if we did this with more intention – with the purpose of analyzing literature and studying the craft of writing, all through quotations?

That’s why I created this packet. Each page is designed with a different literary element or writing device in mind so that you can choose a piece relevant to your current read, whether it be an independent work, short story or novel, or a class read-aloud, and your students can be searching for that element as they read.

I’ve tried to choose a range of elements here, from basic things like identifying plot elements to identifying mood and theme to considering the author’s purpose. For most pages, you’ll need only your book, a pen, and the printable, but for a few outside research is helpful.

These pages can be used for study guides, discussion guides, to supplement lesson plans, or as assessments.

I hope you enjoy this Literary Analysis by Quote product! For more fun and creative teaching ideas, visit my TpT store.

Thinking Critically with The Critical Thinking Co. – Review

June 4, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

It’s not every day that most kids have the opportunity to solve crimes, but that’s exactly what we’ve been doing each time we crack open Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.™.

This is a book full of mysteries to which the reader becomes the detective, and unlike most workbooks, there’s a mystery to solve on each page, with clues, pictures, and advice from the police.

I love these kinds of puzzles, and I was excited to find that The Critical Thinking Co.™ makes these. They’re not the kind of puzzles where you fit pieces together mathematically, but the kind where you need to examine each statement carefully to see how it might align or contradict other statements, thereby allowing you to use the process of elimination to find the thief in each case.

This book is recommended for students in grades 4-12, but if they haven’t worked through this type of puzzle before, they may need a bit of help for the first few. My kids have done puzzles that require similar logic in the past, and they were excited to try these.

They were so excited, however, that they couldn’t decide which one would use the book. Neither wanted the other to write in it because then they could see the answers and not get to solve certain puzzles; so, for the most part, they would read the puzzles and clues on their own, and think through their answers, then come and tell me. I would do the same, and then we would check the answers in the back together. I’d repeat that with the other one later. My Big Helper occasionally chose to write her answers out on other paper so that she could process it as she wrote and still leave the book clear so that her brother could use it.

We could, of course, have done it all together, and I think it would be fun to do that as a family over lunch or dinner, but we’re in a busy season of baseball and competitions, and so I just haven’t quite gotten things together that much – because we would need to be prepared to pass the book around so we could study the pictures as those provide clues for most puzzles. I’ve enjoyed the one-on-one time with both kids, though, and they’re more excited than ever about the mysteries.

The book is also quite affordable at only $8.99, and it would definitely be possible simply to have a book for each of them; however, again, in the busy season we’re in, we just didn’t get that far.

There's a great deal happening now - check it out! — There’s a great deal happening now – check it out!

Critical Thinking Detective Book 1 has 32 pages, and each two-page spread features a new mystery, complete with color pictures, clues, and space to write out your logic in determining your answer. Sometimes, the mysteries include witness statements, which add a bit more complication – and fun – to the process.

I’ve really enjoyed the pictures. Things like the height of people and possible color of clothing can be considered from the perspective of witnesses through the availability of the pictures, and that adds another layer of fun to the stories. Some of the graphics are really wacky, too, and I enjoy seeing what the creators have chosen for each person.

One of my children has solved most of the mysteries correctly. She is fairly good at setting aside her preconceived notions about what has happened and relying only on the clues.

The other one, not so much. It is more difficult for him to read that the alleged thief was wearing red or orange and consider the peachy shirt on one person as a possibility, but he has taken this as a personal challenge. He’s really enjoying the challenge of it, even though it’s a bit harder for him, and his logic is always solid, even if his perspective is a bit different than his sister’s.

I personally love the way that The Critical Thinking Co.™ makes logical thinking fun. By working through these puzzles, the kids are learning to separate fact from opinion, to use the process of elimination, and to think step-by-step. These are all great skills to have in life, for sure, but they will also come in handy as they begin studying higher-level math and need to solve more complicated equations and other real-life problems.

I’m happy to share that this is not the only book in the series; there’s a sequel, but there are also similar books for specific subjects like vocabulary and history. We’ll definitely be checking those out, as well!

Critical Thinking, Understanding Math & Vocabulary {The Critical Thinking Co.™ Reviews}

Book Club: “Stealing Air” by Trent Reedy

May 23, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

Yesterday we held our last book club event for this school year. We read a Stealing Air – a book that I debated about but ultimately chose because I love the reality and the outrageous fun and daring of the characters. They don’t always make the best choices, but they are real ones. It gave us a great deal to talk about, and their adventures provided much fodder for our own.

When his dad announced they were moving to Iowa, Brian looked forward to making some new friends. But on his first day there he makes an enemy instead — Frankie Heller, the meanest kid in town. Brian needs to hang out with someone cool to get back on track. . . .

Alex has always been the coolest guy around, and good with money, just like his dad. But now the family is struggling, and he needs to make some cash to keep up appearances. Then an opportunity falls in his lap . . . .

Max is a scientific genius, but his parents are always busy with their own work. Building an actual plane should get their attention — if only he wasn’t scared of heights . . .

The answer to all three boys’ problems starts with Max’s secret flyer. But Frankie and the laws of popularity and physics stand in their way. Can they work together in time to get their plan AND their plane off the ground?

We started out our Stealing Air adventure with a pizza-eating contest. In the book, Brian enters a contest to eat a Big Porker, a one-pound barbecue sandwich with a mountain of curly fries. To simplify things, we stuck with pizza. It was fun, though, to see which kids wanted to participate and how they went about trying to finish their slice first. The most serious used Brian’s tricks from the book!

After talking about the book and choosing scripture to match key characters, we headed outside. We played a trivia game to see which team knew the book details the best, and then that team got first choice of materials.

The kids used their materials to try to build a people-mover that would roll. The idea was to build a contraption, like Brian and his friends, that they could ride down a hill. The first team to the bottom won. Because we had much more wood than wheels, we determined that it had only to roll, and so the kids got creative with that rule.

The kids were really creative and used great problem-solving skills.

They shared their tools and supplies.

When several of their wheels broke, this team built a wheelbarrow-like contraption that would allow them to roll, technically, down the hill, but with the help of their teammates.

The other team built a triangular base with three small wheels on the bottom and a seat on top.

When the time came, they lined up at the top of a very gradual hill and raced to the bottom. The wheelbarrow team won!

We had a lot of fun with Trent Reedy’s Stealing Air. If you like realistic fiction, give it a read!