TOS Review : The Curiosity Files- Puffer Fish

I was recently sent The Curiosity Files Puffer Fish E-book Unit Study, from The Old Schoolhouse to review. This was my first experience with The Curiosity Files, and I cannot wait to start our next unit!

This is such a FUN unit study for kids ages 8–13 (but totally adaptable.... my preschool class is made up of 3 &4 year olds)... The idea behind the subjects in this series is to really delve into areas that the kids would not usually be learning about...(genius!)

Each unit includes :

• Bible study and memory verses
• Math, history, and geography investigations
• Literature and suggested book list
• Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
• Beautiful copy work 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
  

Here are some of the activities that we enjoyed this week....(some were slightly adapted to make them more preschool friendly)

The girls had a great time using the puffer fish pages to make patterns.... I cut the pages in half so they could lay the puffer fish out 6 in a row...

The unit included a measuring lesson... although the girls have started measuring this year, they only do to the nearest inch...(so we had them just do the exercise to the nearest inch... only slight adaptation needed)...Here Ryleigh is copying a bible verse...an excellent way to practice her handwriting....The girls practicing their ordinal numbers....We ended our week by making Puffer Fish... who doesn't love a good art project?

I really liked that the unit included so many subjects and activities... it made my planning and prepping much easier! The only downfall that I found was that we wished it had more preschool activities... the girls had so much fun with the ones that were included.

Currently there are 10 different titles in the series:

Blue Diamond
Dung Beetle
MRSA
Puffer Fish
Red Tide
Zombie Fire Ants
Blue-footed Booby
Cicada Killing Wasp
Quicksand
Platypus

(You can view samples of each from Here)

To check out for yourself The Curiosity Files, (and you really should!) visit The Old Schoolhouse, the E-books range in price from $1.00 (they are on sale right now!) t0 $6.95. (And you can get a discount if you purchase a bundle).

*Please note- although I was not paid for my review, I did receive a free copy of the E-book (and so glad that I did!)... These are the honest opinions I had while reviewing this product....

Wordless Wednesday....maybe a little stressful...

The Radiator in an upstairs bedroom broke...and leaked all through the basement...as in it was raining in the basement...no more ceiling or wall in that area...Good Times.....
The Upside.... a brand new classroom for the fall....

stART- puffer fish

A Story + Art = A great stART!!

This week we read Rainbow Fish Hide and Seek- Ryleigh loves this book because she likes to try and identify the fish before they are found... one of the fish is a puffer fish...which went right along with our curriculum for last week (more on that in a later post this week).... so I had the girls make Puffer Fish out of paper plates and paint....and googly eyes of course!

I attached some "fins" to the plates (with other plates)...and had the girls sponge on some blue paint...the sponging gave the fish a great texture...

Using some gray accents to give the fish some dimension....

The finished Puffers.... even more cute in person!

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out My Delicious Ambiguity , ABC and 123... Red Ted Art and JDaniel4's Mom

School Daze... we have made it to Zz!

Ryleigh is 47 Months and Braeden is 20 Months

This week both classes dyed Easter Eggs... here are some other highlights from the week:

Last weekend we bought a second hand train table...which came with some tracks and a few Thomas trains...best.investment.ever..... kids of all ages love this table...and Braeden and Ryleigh play with it for hours every day...(granted it is still "new" to them)...
I had the kids color their eggs with crayons before dipping them in the dye...to create some fun designs... surprisingly...there were NO incidents with this project...(in either class)...

Braeden....wondering why I want him to draw on an egg... he spent the rest of the day trying to get into the refrigerator to color more...

TSB finished eggs...so pretty!!!

The girls took turns finding the alphabet bean bags in order....

....and creating an alphabet train with them...

With white crayon, I drew Easter pictures on cardstock...then had the girls use watercolors to uncover the "message"...

Ryleigh was so diligent in painting the whole page...she loves when we do these types of projects...and finding out what the "secret" message is...

Ryleigh working on her alpha book...

This week we listened to the Easter story while using resurrection eggs....

The girls loved opening the eggs to see what was inside...

I made these color by number flower printables...(and the April Showers one too)

The girls worked on some graphing while their eggs colored....

Ryleigh's finished egg....I love these bunny egg spoon things...they totally cut down on the mess...and make it much easier for the kids to use...

More train table fun.... hopefully this table holds its appeal on week 2.... because week 1 has been amazing!

We did "z" is for zoo! ....

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
To see more Zz activities check out The Attached Mama.

April Showers Bring May Flowers....hopefully! (Color by Number Printables)

Here are some Color By Number Print-ables that I made for the girls this week....

For more fun projects check out My Delicious Ambiguity , ABC and 123 and Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations...

School daze...catching up with j and m....

Ryleigh is 47 Months and Braeden is 19 Months

Next week in Preschool we are doing letter "z"... but we had two letter of the week crafts to catch up on...so we did them this week.... other than that... I have stopped taking pictures of the worksheet items that they do (for the most part)...because really... it is the same picture over and over again ... just insert different worksheet :-)

Here are some of the highlights from this week... (to see messy fun check out my wordless Wednesday post...)

The new sensory bin for April....Easter themed...Braeden and one of his friends with the sensory bin...I am pretty sure they were having a conversation about how much they liked the new bin...but were slightly disappointed that it was harder to create a mess with...

Some play-dough fun....

Braeden working on his shapes and colors.... he matches nicely...

I had the little ones paint their Easter Egg Cut outs with Popsicle sticks to create fun swirls.... they all did really well...

Braeden....at the table during preschool science time...lately he has been ignoring his naps...perhaps I should move back his bed time from 6:30.....

Working on sorting fruits and vegetables from the garden pack at Homeschool Creations...

Lacing some animal shapes...

Ryleigh talking to her Bubbe (Grandmother) on the phone...I believe she was describing our yard to her...and had the phone up so she could see....

I found these cute bunny egg dippers at the grocery store (so a got a few for class)...great for transfer activities!

We used Easter egg erasers to make and complete patterns....

For "j" I cut up a picture of jelly beans in a jig saw shape...so the girls had to put them together before they were glued to the paper... love the multi-tasking...The finished "m" is for map... (there is a map of NY state behind the "m")

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
To see more J and M activities check out The Attached Mama.

Wordless Wednesday.... YIKES!!!!

Hmmm.... I seem to have gotten a little yogurt on my hands.... I guess that's what happens when I splash in my tray when Mommy is filling my drink cup...It is so much fun to make Ryleigh laugh while being naughty...especially when I sing "naughty" over and over again while doing it.... hmmmm....Mommy thinks I am funny too.....

stART - painting with straws

A Story + Art = a great stART!!!

We read Pooh's Easter Basket...which Ryleigh has had since she was Braeden's age... anything Winnie the Pooh is great with her... she still loves carrying around this book...anyway..the book is about identifying what color Easter Egg is on the Page... I have started asking Ryleigh to say the colors in Spanish...since we have done them in school...to make the book a little more thought provoking for her.... :-)

For our project this week, I had the girls use straws to decorate Easter Eggs (that I cut out of Poster Board)... they used the straws to blow paint around on their eggs... I added a tiny amount of water to the paint to make for easier movement...

Opening their straws (I cut them in half for easier use)...
they were not quite sure what they would be doing yet....

They had a lot of fun...and giggles with this project...

The girls' finished eggs...

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out My Delicious Ambiguity , ABC and 123... Red Ted Art and JDaniel4's Mom