Friday, February 11, 2011

The Curiosity Files: The Blue Diamond

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Have you had the pleasure of meeting Professor Ana Lyze? She is on a mission to share some of the more unique aspects of God's creation with curious kids between the ages of 8 and 13 (actually we found it useful for both older and younger audiences). We had the opportunity to meet the Professor as we explored The Blue Diamond study--just one of the nine studies currently available in The Curiosity Files line.

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While the unit studies can be purchased individually, the best deal is to purchase the nine bundle set via download for $46 or on CD for $49. Each study covers one of the following topics:
  • Blue Diamond
  • Puffer Fish
  • Zombie Fire Ants
  • Dung Beetle
  • Red Tide
  • Cicada Killing Wasp
  • Blue-footed Booby
  • MRSA
  • Quicksand
You can read specifics about each study at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Store. While there, you'll notice that each study comes complete with:
  • Bible study and memory verses
  • Math, history, and geography investigations
  • Literature and suggested book list
  • Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
  • Beautiful copywork pages (manuscript and cursive)
  • Science observations, projects, and experiments
  • Discussion questions
  • Art, crafts, drawing, and coloring pages
  • Lapbook and notebook pages
  • Internet resources and video links
  • Complete answer key

  • What we Loved:
    I worked through the study with my 6 and 8 year olds. I read the information aloud and we discussed the answers. I really liked the flexibility of only printing off the pages we needed (we read some on our computer and I printed the activities for younger students). I was amazed at how much history my son remembered from the study. One of the activities was sort of a dot-to-dot of various diamond shapes and students were instructed to draw the shape and then decorate them. My son turned his into Superhero Diamonds and featured a different hero on each one.

    My 8 year old really enjoyed learning the historical aspects of the famous Hope Diamond. Having online links to view were especially helpful. The suggestions for a science experiment and crafty activities were wonderful! My younger daughter is always game for making things with jewels! There were so many activities to choose from that we haven't done them all yet--there's more fun we can still try later.

    It was a huge time-saver having age-appropriate activities and related links at my fingertips (parents are encouraged to preview links before kids explore on their own). You can use it all at once or spread out the learning over several weeks. These would make great studies to take along on an extended vacation, for learning over the summer, or for anytime you want a change of pace from your normal studies. The best part is having material the whole family can explore together.

    Look at some of The Blue Diamond sample pages and see for yourself how informative and eye-catching these studies are! Overall we rate this study 5 out of 5.

    If you'd like to hear what other reviewers thought of The Curiosity Files, hop on over to the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog. And stop by on Facebook to learn even more about this fascinating line of unit studies!


    Disclaimer: I received a free copy of The Blue Diamond study for the purpose of reviewing and sharing our experience. No other compensation was received.

    2 comments:

    Unknown said...

    I just ordered my first one Red Tide as we will be studying the ocean in a month or two.

    Jill Stanish said...

    Thanks for stopping! Hope you really enjoy the Red Tide study--should be a great complement to your ocean studies.

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