Dolphin Tale 2 Curriculum Review and Prize Pack Giveaway!!

Dolphin Tale is one of our favorite movies.  If you haven't seen it, you should and not just because it has homeschoolers in it.  It is just a great family friendly movie with a wonderful message of perseverance and hope.  Even more exciting is that they made a sequel!  Dolphin Tale 2, Winter Has Hope is hitting the theaters tomorrow September 12.

Group Resource Website: http://www.homeschoolmovieclub.com/homeschool_day

Official Movie Website: http://www.dolphintale2.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dolphintalemovie

Twitter: @dolphintale

Watch and share the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMDymk_gx3A

"It has been several years since young Sawyer Nelson and the dedicated team at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, headed by Dr. Clay Haskett, rescued Winter. With the help of Dr. Cameron McCarthy, who developed a unique prosthetic tail for the injured dolphin, they were able to save her life. Yet their fight is not over. Winter's surrogate mother has passed away, leaving Winter without the only poolmate she has ever known. However, the loss of Panama may have even greater repercussions for Winter, who, according to USDA regulations, cannot be housed alone, as dolphins' social behavior requires them to be paired with other dolphins. The team must find a companion for her before Clearwater loses their beloved Winter to another aquarium."

One of the great things about homeschooling is being able to teach about things your children are interested in.  There is a completely free curriculum available for you to use to go along with Dolphin Tale 2 written by Sherri Seligson author of Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Marine Biology. You can download it here.


There are 5 different lessons in the curriculum:


Lesson 1: Get to Know Dolphins Anatomy and Physical Science
Lesson 2: A Day in the Life of Dolphins
Lesson 3: Dolphins in the Ocean
Lesson 4: Aquarium Life
Lesson 5: Dolphins and Us

All of the lessons contain activities for elementary to high school aged children.  The dolphin symbol within the lesson shows the activity is for elementary aged children and the sea turtle for middle and high school aged children.  Each lesson has a short video and then several activities related to the topic.  Students are encouraged to keep their completed paperwork in a notebook as a record and a way to review the material before and after the movie.  There is a variety of activities in each lesson that will appeal to many different types of learning styles.


In celebration for the opening of the movie tomorrow, I am giving away a prize pack with a pair of Dolphin Tale 2 sunglasses and a Dolphin Tale 2 T-shirt.  Leave me a comment (with an email address) to enter.  Giveaway will end on September 18th.

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

 Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

I cannot wait to see this movie!

Don't forget to download your free curriculum!

Tweet

September Grandview Program and Art Co-op

Our weekly art classes ended last November.  Then we did a few art co-ops at my church for April and May.  There were several people that wanted to participate in an art co-op, but figuring out a day and time plus a location proved to be a bit of a challenge.  So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.  We were already going to Grandview for our once a month hands on science program, so we were able to organize it so we could have our Grandview program in the morning, bring a sack lunch, and have our art class in the Grandview classroom after lunch.

Today was our first program for the new school year.  Each of our programs has had a short program, a hands on activity, and a lapbook to take home and complete.  We are continuing on with our animal classification series.  Last year we did mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.  Today we learned about birds.  We had 48 children attend this mornings program!

Our hands on activity was to paint a gourd bird house and I have to tell you there was some very creative painters out there today!

After we painted our bird houses, it was time for lunch.

The we moved on to the art portion of today's co-op.  My plan is to cover a different artist each month.  We will learn a bit about the artist, make a notebooking page about the artist, and then try to recreate one of their works or make a piece of art work using their technique.  I am trying to use a variety of different media with the children so they will do something different every time.  Since the Grandview program was on birds today, the artist I chose was John James Audubon.  We learned some fun and fascinating facts about him, made a notebooking page, and then did a drawing of any bird/birds the children chose and painted the drawings using water color paints.  We had 29 children stay for art ranging in age from 2-14.  They did a great job with their artwork!

I will have to update with pictures of the lapbook at a later date.  We had a great day at Grandview!  Next month we will be doing Fish and our artist will be Georges Seurat.

Tweet

Review: Game Changer by Kirk Cousins

Book Description Record-setting quarterback for Michigan State University and draft pick of the NFL's Washington Redskins, Kirk Cousins pens an accessible and compelling collection of life principles for readers young and old. With engaging stories from his award-winning career, Cousins illustrates core biblical concepts while encouraging good choices, and, in the process, readers get an inside look at high-stakes football as well as the personal and highly motivating reflections of a much-respected athlete. Now in softcover, Game Changer is a great pick for parents, coaches, athletes, camps, FCA groups, and family explorations. It is not a self-glorifying biography or a sterile collection of dos and don'ts, but rather a dispatch from a real Christian life-with all its ups and downs-lived under the bright lights of college and professional football.

Featuring:

Personal stories and struggles of a competitive Christian athlete

Truthful discussion of media hype and modern sports culture

 Reflections on honesty, humility, hard work, and privilege

Game Changer is not my usual type of review book.  But, I have a son who LOVES football and it can be challenging to find the good role models in the game.  We are a book loving family so I thought this would make a good read for him and I was right.  This book is so much more than a book about a football player.  It is a book about life.  It is a story of faith and trust and focusing on things that are important like making good decisions.  He talks a lot about his faith and the importance of not just reading the Bible but living it as well.  There is a great chapter on school work and why it is important to do your best that I think will resonate with those who are reading it.  He also talks about the importance of choosing friends who will influence you to be a better person, and making sure that the things you are storing in your mind and heart are of good value.  He talks about having a vision of who you want to be, no one succeeding on their own, and the importance in trusting in God's plan.  Game Changer is an excellent book for the pre-teen, teen age, or young adult sports fan in your life.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations. 

Tweet

Homeschool Wrap Up Week 3

This week was of course Labor Day and the beginning of our county fair.  Monday we had to go up to the fair and deliver rabbits and set up our fair booth.  They also allowed those who had livestock to check in their other exhibits a day early since we had to be up there anyway, so we loaded al of that stuff up there too.  It was hot!  But honestly not as hot as other years.  While we were there, the children got to hold and feed a baby squirrel which is not something you get to do every day.

Tuesday morning we headed back to town.  We had several other errands to run as well as going back to the fair to take care of rabbits and make a few adjustments to the fair booth.  We also made a trip to the library while we were there.  We got home in time for lunch and even got some school done!  Wednesday we stayed home!  Thursday we were back at the fair and had two soccer practices.  I also squeezed in some grocery shopping while Art sat at the field with the boys.  Friday we got to stay home and Chelsea had many photographs of herself taken for a portrait a gentleman from our church wants to do of her.  Saturday we were back at the fair for clean up.

So what did we do in school?

This week we added in spelling so we are up to a full afternoon school schedule.  I was very glad that the boys remembered so many of the rules they learned last year!

In literature we read Umbrella which we had never heard of before.  We liked it ok but not as well as some others.  The paper Christian wrote was supposed to be a story you wanted a younger sibling to remember.  He write about hatching chicks.

Even moved ahead one lesson in Math U See.  Nick and Alex moved on to the next lesson in their IEW Medieval History writing adding in some more stylistic techniques.  Having Nick and Alex using two different grammar programs adds more to my day, so I am thinking that Alex will just start using IEW Fix It along with Nick and stop using the Junior Analytical Grammar just to make things easier.

Lily is still working through Creation in My Father's World.  She has gone through Day 5.  I really wanted to have her work on it all weekend, just to get it done, but I do not want to rush through it. We are not in a race with anyone, and I want her to enjoy it and move at our own pace.

We also built some Lego robots.  This week we did Drumming Monkeys and a Hungry Alligator.

Next week we are up to a full schedule and we also have a gymnastics class, soccer practices, science and art co-op, and  shop class.

I hope you had a great week in your homeschool!

Tweet

Schoolhouse Crew Review: Heirloom Audio Productions

 We recently had an opportunity to review Under Drake's Flag  from Heirloom Audio Productions. Under Drake's Flag is a 2 CD set containing 2 hours worth of audio drama suitable for ages 6 to adult.  My 3 and 5 year olds listened as well and had no problems with it at all, but it is rated for ages 6 and up because there are a few scenes that some may consider intense.  Under Drake's Flag was adapted from the book Under Drake's Flag by G.A. Henty and is a story about Ned Hawkshaw's and his friend Gerald's amazing adventures sailing under one of history's great heroes, Sir Francis Drake.  Ned is just an ordinary boy dreaming of adventure when an act of bravery witnessed by Sir Francis Drake gives Ned the chance of a lifetime.  On his adventure Ned faces being adrift at sea, dealing with nasty crew, fierce battles on land and sea, being shipwrecked, and even facing the Spanish Inquisition.  Through it all Ned grows from a boy to a man developing his faith and character under the amazing influence of Sir Francis Drake.
In addition to the audio CD, you will also receive a study guide to go along with Under Drake's Flag. In the study guide each of the 19 sections of the story has three sets of questions.  The Listening Well section asks your child questions about what they heard in the story.  The Thinking Further asks questions that dig a little deeper and may require some investigation or drawing conclusions about the characters actions or intentions.  The defining words section gives a list of vocabulary words used in that part of the story for your child to look up and define.  There are also three Bible study sections in the study guide on Godly Character, True Manhood, and Confessing Christ.  You will also find a list of resources at the end of the study guide to learn more about Sir Francis Drake.
There are a few different options for purchase.  You can buy Under Drake's Flag as an mp3 download for $20 and with it you will receive the downloadable study guide and a printable copy of Drake's Prayer.  Or you can purchase a physical 2 CD  set for $29.95 and with it you receive the mp3 download, study guide, soundtrack mp3 download, and the printable copy of Drake's Prayer.  There is even an option to purchase a "family four pack" of physical CDs for $99.97 and with it you receive an e book copy of Echoes of the Dragon's Drums, mp3 soundtrack, Under Drake's Flag e book, mp3 lecture titled  "The Real Francis Drake," Under Drake's Flag study guide, printable Drake's Prayer, Behind the Scenes of Drake's Flag documentary, and unlimited access to the Under Drake's Flag membership website.  There is also a group 10 pack option. Go to this page to purchase.
We live in the country and have to drive every where we go.  Audio books are a great way to spend that time in the car and keep boredom at bay.  We were heading on a trip to a science museum one day so I brought along the copy of Under Drake's Flag.  It was an hour drive one way which was just perfect.  W could finish the story by the time we arrived back home.  6 of the children were with me ages 3,5,7,9,10, and 12 (4 boys, 2 girls.)  My boys especially love adventure and my 7 and 9 year olds have been especially fascinated with pirate and treasure stories lately.  I can honestly say that Under Drake's Flag was the best audio drama we have listened to in a long time!  The story itself was fantastic.  It is jam packed with one exciting adventure followed by another.  It is constantly moving which kept the children (and myself) on the edge of our seats waiting to find out what would happen next.  You do not have to worry about any of the content in this story.  It is a story with strong moral values and a positive Christian message.  The main characters are great role models for the children listening to the story.  As I mentioned above, there are a few intense scenes, but quite honestly are very tame compared to what many people consider acceptable entertainment these days and there was nothing in the story that bothered even my youngest two.  The sound effects and the music are amazing!  It is so much more than an audio book it is audio drama and very well done.
The study guide is a great bonus to go along with the CD. We used the study guide after we listened the first time.  We answered the questions as a group orally and went over some of the definitions of the words.  Older children could complete this study guide independently if that is something your prefer but we usually like to do those type of activities together.
My only complaint is that it was over too quickly!  But, I hear that Heirloom Audio Productions will be releasing a new audio drama soon and we will look forward to that!
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click on the banner below.

Tweet

2014 County Fair

The children put several things in the county fair this year.  I usually limit them to 5 things, plus their animal, and jam and jelly that we made at the work shop.  This year though, Christian entered more than 5 things since he packed his own box and Chelsea was handling the entries while I was putting up the booth.


For the first time ever one of my children earned a Best of Show ribbon for their animal.  Christian won Best of Show for the junior rabbit division with Elsa, our female New Zealand.

Our male New Zealand, Snow got first place.

Our other rabbit, Olaf, who is a mixed breed also won first place.

Chelsea entered her dress and some canned goods.  She got first place on all of those.

Several of the children entered similar things and they were beside each other so I didn't take more than one photo but here is what they entered:

Nick: peach jam 1st , blackberry jelly 2nd , puzzle 3rd, lego sets 1st and 2nd, airplane 2nd, bat house 1st.

Alex: peach jam 1st, blackberry jelly 2nd, puzzle 2nd, lego sets both 1st, airplane 2nd, model car 1st

Christian: peach jam 1st, blackberry jelly 2nd, lego set 1st, prayer pail 1st, monster game 2nd, snowman 2nd, 2 fossils 3rd, necklace 2nd, picture frame 1st

Lily: peach jam 1st, blackberry jelly 2nd, bird house 1st, necklace 2nd, prayer pail 1st, picture frame 1st, napkins 1st, sun catcher 2nd

Anthony: monster game 2nd, bird house 2nd, lego set 1st, picture frame1st, eggplant photo 1st, dinosaur model 1st

Emelia: necklace 2nd, picture frame 1st, sun catcher 2nd

And the Nature Seeker's Fair Booth won 1st.

Very proud of my children and all of their hard work!

Tweet

Mystery of History and All About Reading September Sales

*post contains affiliate links

Do you use Mystery of History?  For the month of September you can get 25% off of digital download supplements from Bright Ideas Press for Mystery of History by using code ancient.


Each volumes I-III of MOH now has a Super Supplemental Collection which includes: coloring pages, challenge cards, notebooking pages, and folderbooks.
Volume I
Volume II
Volume III

Or you can purchase the download version coloring pages, challenge cards, notebooking pages, and folderbooks separately as well.

Did you know there was a cookbook to compliment Mystery of History Volume 2? Check it out here.

The download version of the Companion Guide to Vol III is also eligible for the 25%off sale.  We will be using it this year in our homeschool along with the Vol III Coloring Pages.

All About Learning Press is releasing their newest level of All About Reading!  All About Reading Level 4 Soar with Reading will be available this week!  To celebrate it will be on sale for $20 off! To see a placement guide and check out samples of this brand new level go to this page and scroll down to the bottom.


*links in this post are my affiliate links.  I only form affiliate relationships with complanies whose products I actually use and can recommend!

Tweet