Water and Life in First Grade: Rivers and Oceans

Rivers and Oceans

Young Discoverers series

by Barbara Taylor

(also part of The Earth: The Geography of our World)

This is the book recommended for Mater Amabilis™ Level 1B (first grade) Earth Studies. I've now used it four times with four different children along with the excellent schedule of lessons as recommended by Mater Amabilis™, which we follow almost exactly.

In this little book are the very basics of understanding water on earth: the water cycle, underground water, rivers, lakes, oceans, waves, and water pollution. The topics are mainly covered in one or two main paragraphs and lots of full-color illustrations and diagrams. There are many suggestions for little demonstrations you can do at home with materials you probably have on hand, most of which are included in the Mater Amabilis™schedule for you.

In addition, Mater Amabilis™ recommends regular visits (six or seven) to a local water environment. We've been lucky for the last few years to have access to a friend's bit of river which we visited regularly during our nature study time; it's easily the favorite place of the children. Over time, we've seen the river running high, overflowing its banks, and running drastically low. We've seen prints of deer, raccoons, and dogs in the sand near the river, frogs leaping from the edge, and surprises like an armadillo and a bald eagle. The children tried building bridges of sand and crossing rivulets with logs...which I tell myself must be educational somehow. Visiting some other local water environments encouraged comparisons and allowed us to see other phenomena, like the ice forming on top of the water of a little pond and only at the edges (when ice never formed on the river). It can be difficult to find an appropriate place or to make the effort to go where children are likely to get sandy and wet, but the fruits are worth it.

Years ago, I collected a few picture book titles from the library that match up with the topics in the Rivers and Oceans study. In the beginning, I put these in a picture book basket. We don't have a picture book basket anymore (pause for no-more-preschoolers-sigh). For Second Son, I sometimes read them aloud, sometimes gave them to him to read, and sometimes just let them sit on the library book shelf.

On the water cycle:

Water Is Water by Miranda Paul (on the blog here, library copy)

Rivers of Sunlight by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm - This book is a little busy in its illustrations for my taste, but it shows how water moves, changes, and flows throughout the world. It's much more than the water cycle. (library copy)

On freshwater life:

A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison - on the blog here. (library copy)

Pond by Gordon Morrison - This book follows the life of a pond through the seasons of a year. It's a lovely picture book of the natural world. (library copy)

On great rivers of the world:

Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin - Lewin is a masterful illustrator and world traveler who treats subjects around the world with respect and grace. (purchased at a library book sale)

Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steven Jenkins - This book covers more than just water around the world, but Jenkins provides illustrations that place geographical features in perspective in his excellent style. (library copy)

On municipal water:

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen - a typical Magic School Bus book with good descriptions and illustrations of how cities clean and manage water. (library copy)


Just for fun:

Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Meilo So - The poems are enjoyable, but the illustrations are perfect. (library copy)

Wave by Suzy Lee - a wordless picture book of a girl and a wave, surprisingly wonderful. (used copy from PaperBackSwap.com)

The Big Big Sea by Martin Waddell (on the blog here, used copy from PaperBackSwap.com)


I purchased Rivers and Oceans long long ago, used, from somewhere. This review is my own opinion and I did not receive anything for it. Links to Amazon and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.)

Second Daughter's Masterpieces: Early Elementary Artistic Pursuits

Artistic Pursuits

Early Elementary K-3, Book One

An Introduction to the Visual Arts

This book is not recommended in the Mater Amabilis™ curriculum but some others in the series are. After using one of the later books with First Son and First Daughter, I decided to try this one to make sure I was getting art time with Second Daughter and to provider her with an opportunity to use something besides crayons and markers.

I have 2013 edition. This is just a book. There is a new edition that includes a book and a DVD illustrating artistic techniques. See the new edition and video lessons here. I can see how the DVD might be nice, but Second Daughter didn't have any trouble trying out the techniques in her book and it's nice not to have to be always going over to the TV to watch something.

This book provided lots of opportunities for Second Daughter to focus on artistic skills with materials unfamiliar to me (water-soluble wax pastels) or ones I might have anticipated as too daunting on my own (like the sculpture). Every lesson provides some background and a connection to real artists and their work, including artists lost in antiquity whose work remains in archeological digs, and an example of student work that encouraged my daughter in an attempt that might not match what she sees in her mind's eye.

Each lesson follows a similar pattern:

• A page on how and why artists make art,
• A page showing a piece of art with a few guided discussion questions,
• And a project page with a project for the student and a very few simple descriptions of artistic techniques or instructions for a new kind of media.

I read the pages with Second Daughter and then set her up for her art project. I think by the end of third grade, she probably could have read and worked without me.

There are 36 lessons in the book, enough for one lesson every week, but rarely have I done a full 36 weeks for a K-3 student. Plus, it's nice to have more flexibility with younger students to skip lessons during Advent or Lent, for example. So I spread Book One over two years for Second Daughter (second and third grade). We both enjoyed it so much, though, that I did purchase Book Two in the hopes that Second Son will be able to do even more. I probably wouldn't bother with a formal study like this in kindergarten, but it might be fun to start it in first grade as long as a student didn't get frustrated.

Second Son will use this book next year, in second grade. Second Daughter is going to move on to Elementary 4-5 Book One. First Daughter has completed the Elementary 4-5 book and we liked it, but I haven't written a full review on the blog.

This is an example of art produced by Second Daughter in lesson 5, when she was early in her second grade year. She was supposed to paint a picture from a photograph and chose a kangaroo rat.

Near the end of the book, Second Daughter (nearing the end of third grade) was able to create a handful of sculptures.

Above, we have Kansas Dad. Below is her rendition of her bearded dragon. (I nicked a bit of his tail off, but Kansas Dad fixed it later.)

The picture at the beginning of the post shows Second Son's art box almost ready for school. I bought four boxes like this, one for each student, and they work beautifully. Everything they need is right in the box (excluding things like water or newspaper, etc.) and they can carry it to the table or even outside. I labeled the sides with different washi tape to make it easy to see which one they need.

Here's the list of supplies with my notes:

• ebony pencil - I bought this box of ebony pencils about three years ago and we've been using them ever since. The kids each have one in their art boxes and most of us have them in our nature study bags. They've held up really well and I still have extras in our art supplies.
• vinyl eraser - We use this kind of eraser for everything. I've always bought them when back to school shopping in the fall at our local super-store. They each have one in their art boxes and in their pencil boxes and I keep one with my supplies.
• set of soft pastels - I bought this set on Amazon. We've had success with this brand in the past. It is easy for pastels to get broken and smushed together so the colors are mussed, but this box stayed safely in Second Daughter's art box and survived the study quite well. (We have a larger communal set that's always with our art supplies for "whenever" use.) She used about a third of the black, but the others are all still nice and long, definitely plenty for another child or two. I'm just moving this set to Second Son's box.
• sketch or drawing paper pad - I generally buy a few of these when they're on sale at our local Hobby Lobby. While the kids do most of their drawing on cheap printer paper, I like to have some nicer paper if they want to make a serious drawing or make a gift. Second Daughter didn't use her whole pad for this study, but she absconded with it for her own person use, so Second Son will need a new one.
• a set of watercolor crayons - I bought this set of water-soluble wax pastels and they are fantastic. The colors are bright and blend well. After the course, they have barely any use so there is lots of life left in them for Second Son.
• #8 round watercolor brush - I had trouble finding one at our local hobby store, so I bought this one on Amazon. I'm no expert on paintbrushes, but it seems nice. All three older kids have one and they have used them for the past two years on various projects; they just live in their art boxes.
• watercolor paper pad - I bought this one, though at our local hobby store during a sale. Second Daughter used exactly 15 of the 30 pages, so I anticipate Second Son having enough paper for the study. However...these are such great pages for all watercolor work, I might get an extra one so they can make more than the minimum paintings.
• heavyweight construction paper - I bought a assorted package at our local hobby store and have plenty left for Second Son. (I kept this stash separate for our "everyday" cheap construction paper.)
• assorted tissue paper - I bought a package at our local super-store, which was kept with our gift wrap and had to be frequently replaced. If I had kept it separate, one package would probably have been sufficient for both Second Daughter and Second Son.
• a pair of scissors - We have lots of these roaming around.
• 4 or 5 lb of gray self-hardening clay - I bought this at our local hobby store, but I think it was the same as this one on Amazon. You could probably stretch this for two children if they were doing the study at the same time, and were satisfied with small sculptures. Second Daughter used it all and would happily have used more.
• cotton cloth - The project for lesson 33 is an oil pastel painting on cotton cloth. We skipped this one because a piece of cotton cloth is the only supply I didn't buy and stock at the beginning of the study. It happens in the lesson talking about embroidery and I decided it was alright to skip it since Second Daughter does actual embroidery. I may try to figure something out for Second Son.
• glue stick - This isn't listed with the official supplies, but there are a few lesson activities that require some kind of adhesive.
• binding materials - The last activity is the making of a book that requires some kind of binding: stapler, hole punch, etc. I would imagine most homeschooling families would have something appropriate available.

I noticed a lot of art supplies go on sale during Amazon's Prime Day last summer (in 2017), so it might be worth checking to see if that happens in the future.

I purchased Artistic Pursuits Early Elementary K-3 Book One new and have received nothing in exchange for writing this post. All opinions are my own. Any links to Amazon are affiliate links. Links to the Artistic Pursuits site are not affiliate links.

Games of Math: Counting and Number Bonds and Addition and Subtraction

Math You Can Play Combo: Number Games for Young Learners

by Denise Gaskins 

I reviewed Let's Play Math by Denise Gaskins in February 2016. At the time, I think I'd already been using these two books for half a school year, but I haven't take the time to review them. On Facebook and in person, I highly recommend Let's Play Math to just about any homeschooling family struggling with math. I also think it's just about the best thing a new homeschooling mother or father could read. No matter what curriculum you choose for math, Let's Play Math can help you understand it and implement it for your children and help you create an environment of mathematical curiosity that can benefit any student. I know my family would have been much better off if I'd read it earlier!

So now that you know I want you to read that first, let's talk about Math You Can Play Combo. This book includes two books: Counting and Number Bonds and Addition and Subtraction.

This book (or rather, these two together) constitute the spine of our math curriculum for prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. I begin with Counting and Number Bonds and we just work through the books playing one game a week (sometimes multiple times) through the whole book. If I had started really young, I may have repeated Counting and Number Bonds, but with the two who started this way, I moved right on to Addition and Subtraction.

In addition, sometimes I read math stories out loud to the whole family as a read-aloud. Let's Play Math has a large list of such books as does the author's website. We also play games from our well-stocked game shelves during math time. I specifically schedule those games through first grade, so Second Son is currently the only one who gets to pick a game once a week. We don't start "formal" math until second grade with the Life of Fred books and Khan Academy. I do let Second Son use Khan Academy, because he felt left out, but only for a short time a few times a week.

I almost can't say enough fantastic things about the Let's Play Math game books. My youngest two children, Second Daughter and Second Son, are the ones who benefited from them. Of course, we changed up a lot between the older two and these two because that's when we switched away from Saxon over to Life of Fred, so it's hard to say if any particular change made all the difference, but our whole attitude toward math is dramatically improved with the younger two.

They love playing these games. In fact, it's not uncommon for Second Daughter to insist she's done with her independent work so she can play with Second Son during his game time. Or she'll ask to play some of the games outside of school time. (Snugglenumber is a particular favorite; she's even taught a friend to play it with her.) The great benefit here is that interest in the game encourages repetition of the math facts and skills. More practice with the basic counting, grouping, addition, and subtraction in these games leads to consistent success and, eventually, the ability to focus instead on more complex math.

The games almost all use cards you already own. (There are a few boards you can make and lots of printables included with purchase of the book if you don't want to make your own.) For the most part, I open the book and we play the game without any preparation. Along with the games are brief explanations of the math behind the games and strategies for guiding children through the math involved.

Some of the games seem like they'll be too challenging for the child, but we always give them a try. Over and over again, I see them succeed when I might have neglected to even give them the opportunity.

Though First Son and First Daughter seemed to do well with the mental math exercises when we were using Saxon, both Second Daughter and Second Son seem to do mental gymnastics without even realizing it's a skill. Sometimes when Second Son tries to walk me through his mental process to come up with a math answer, I can hardly follow him, but it works!

I have the Kindle version of the game books and they work great. The pictures are clear. The text is well-formatted and easy to navigate from the contents. Still, if I could go back, I'd invest a little more money to get the paperback versions. It's a hassle to pull out my Kindle during school time and then switching around within the two ebooks to find where I am with different children as we work through them. I also think the kids might play some of the games on their own if they had access to the paperback. (I don't let them use my Kindle.) If you use a e-reader more regularly during school time, have only one child, or combine children for math games, that's not as much of an issue.

Because we had such a good experience with these books, I purchased the Kindle version of Multiplication and Fractions. First Daughter (age 11, in 5th grade) and Second Daughter (age 9, in 3rd grade) each play with me once a week.

I purchased this books separately for the Kindle (rather than the combo book) and received a discounted price. I can't remember if they were discounted for everyone or if I received a discount from the author. Either way, this post gives my honest opinion. Links above to the books are Amazon affiliate links.

Homeschool Review: Maps, Charts and Graphs G

Maps, Charts and Graphs G: The World

from Modern Curriculum Press

We've been using these maps book since First Son's first year and they continue to be useful and fun for the children.

This is the seventh grade book. The exercises are more complicated than ones in previous books; the maps are smaller and more detailed. First Son didn't complain, but there were times I considered using a magnifying glass!

There are 42 lessons, so First Son did a couple of these a week. They usually took only 10-15 minutes and gave him just a little practice in reading and understanding maps but also deciphering multiple choice questions. Like the previous books in the series, these workbooks are in color, which my children appreciate.

Some of the map topics at this level include:

• general map skills (directions, scales, keys, grids, etc.)
• climate maps
• contour maps
• elevation maps
• highway maps and atlases
• political maps
• historical maps
• temperature maps
• population maps
• city maps

In addition, the book covers charts and graphs. These are less important to me than the map skills because we cover these in math as well. These topics include:

• tables
• circle graphs
• bar graphs
• line graphs
• using a map and graph together
• time lines
• diagrams

Finally, there are two lessons on editorial cartoons. Frankly, I never really understood why they put these sorts of things in the mapping workbook, but sometimes they lead to interesting discussions.

It would be nice if these sorts of exercises naturally rose up out of our other studies, but they don't always. These workbooks are an easy way to make sure the kids see these types of maps and questions and they never complain about them.

Homeschool Review: Time

Time from Teacher Created Resources

Second Daughter was struggling a bit with learning how to read a clock. It's not that she couldn't do it; she just didn't want to make the effort. I picked up this book at a going out of business sale and it was just enough to get her going. She liked lining up the stickers on the reward chart in the front as she completed exercises in the book.

Each page had just a few problems, so she could practice without getting overwhelmed. They increased in difficulty so while in the beginning she was choosing from multiple choice options of what a clock said, later she was drawing in the hands herself for a specified time. Exercises at the end of the book included time word problems and comparing clocks to determine the change in time. There were a few pages of calendar problems at the end of the book as well.

This was a nice little inexpensive book on practicing telling time.

Adventuring Through the Orient: Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels (Level 3 Year 2)

Mater Amabilis™Level 3 recommends Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels, spread over the two years of the level, the Occident in Year 1 (sixth grade) and the Orient in Year 2 (seventh grade). I wrote about the Occident and how much I loved it last year. The Orient was just as riveting. In it, Halliburton continues his travels with a group of young people through Europe and Asia.

In the second chapter, exploring Halicarnassus, Halliburton writes:

How sad, how cruel, that this world should have been so completely destroyed; for was it not, perhaps, a better world than ours? We have radios and airplanes and motorcars, but Demetrius and Diomede, like most Greeks of that Golden Age in history, had the time and the desire to love beauty, and to understand beauty, and to live for beauty.

In the chapter on Timbuktu, the author describes how he purchased slaves on a previous visit. He cared for them well and, in the end, paid the slave dealer to take them back. I'm not sure what would have been better and perhaps it wasn't possible, but it seems like he should have at least explained why he didn't set them free. The story is quite funny as the slaves act like the children they are and frequently take off their few clothes.

The chapter on Victoria Falls is particularly beautiful, as befits the Wonder.

Before us and below us screams a hurricane of bursting water. We are on the downstream rim of the chasm, the rim which faces the falls. The curtain of water, opposite, is only 250 feet away, but we can not see it. For in this narrow abyss in front of us, and for half a mile on either side, the Zambezi seems rather to explode than fall. The violent blasts of wind shoot the clouds of smoke far up into the sky. These clouds condense and fall again and rise again, in perpetual motion and never-ending fury. They beat upon us and blind us. The shock of so much power dashing downward at our feet is physically painful. We are half-drowned in spray. 

The book ends on the peak of Mount Fuji in Japan as the sun rises.

Lifted up into this holy realm, on the white crown of the magic peak, we too stand there, as moved, as lost in rapture, as the kneeling, praying pilgrims. And as we watch the miracle of the morning unfold, each of us, after his own fashion, gives thanks to the Master Hand that made the beauty and the wonder of the world. 

[UPDATE June 2020; I wrote a kind of master lesson plan for The Geography Coloring that better avoids assigning the same map in multiple years than I did with my original plans, which were rather haphazard. I will leave First Son's assignments below, but here are the updated plans for the Orient.

Chapter 1 - Turkey on p. 28
Chapter 2 - Mark where Halicarnassus would have been on the map on p. 30
Chapter 3 - Island of Rhodes on p. 30
Chapter 4 - visible parts of Egypt on p. 28
Chapter 7 - part of Crete shown on p. 30
Chapter 8 - Find or add Timbuktu on p. 37
Chapter 9 - Mark Victoria Falls on p. 37
Chapter 10 - Saudi Arabia on p. 28
Chapter 11 - Jordan on p. 28
Chapter 12 - Israel on p. 28
Chapter 13 - Cyprus on p. 28
Chapter 14 - Lebanon on p. 28
Chapter 15 - Syria on p. 28
Chapter 17 - Iraq on p. 28
Chapter 18 - Kuwait on p. 28
Chapter 19 - Iran on p. 28
Chapter 20 - India on p. 28
Chapter 21 - Pakistan on p. 28
Chapter 22 - Afghanistan on p. 28
Chapter 23 - Bhutan on p. 28
Chapter 24 - Nepal on p. 28 (Optional: The Top of the World by Steven Jenkins)
Chapter 25 - China on p. 28
Chapter 26 - Mongolia on p. 28
Chapter 27 - Sri Lanka on p. 28
Chapter 28 - Cambodia on p. 28
Chapter 29 - North and South Korea on p. 28
Chapter 30 - Japan on p. 28

END UPDATE]

As last year, I assigned some mapwork in his Geography Coloring Book as it was appropriate. I bought this book a few years ago and we use it over and over again, coloring in new pages as we work through geography and other lessons.

Chapter 1 - Color Turkey and Greece on p 18.

Chapter 2 - Mark where Halicarnassus would have been on the map on p 30.

Chapter 3 - Color the island of Rhodes on p 30.

Chapter 4 - Color what you can of Egypt on p 30.

Chapter 5 - Nothing this week.

Chapter 6 - Nothing this week.

Chapter 7 - Color the part of Crete shown on p 30.

Chapter 8 - Mark Tibuctoo on p 37.

Chapter 9 - Mark Victoria Falls on p 37.

Chapter 10 - Color Saudi Arabia on p 31.

Chapter 11 - Color Jordan on p 30.

Chapter 12 - Color Israel on p 30.

Chapter 13 - Color Cyprus on p 30.

Chapter 14 - Color Lebanon on p 30.

Chapter 15 - Color Syria on p 30.

Chapter 16 - Nothing this week.
Chapter 17 - Color Iraq on p 31.

Chapter 18 - Color Kuwait on p 31
Chapter 19 - Color Iran on p 31.
Chapter 20 - Color India on p 32.

Chapter 21 - Color Pakistan on p 32.
Chapter 22 - Color Afghanistan on p 32.

Chapter 23 - Color Bhutan on p 32.
Chapter 24 - Color Nepal on p. 32. Also read The Top of the World by Steve Jenkins.
Chapter 25 - Color China on p 33.
Chapter 26 - Color Mongolia on p 33. 

Chapter 27 - Color Sri Lanka on p 32.
Chapter 28 - Color Cambodia on p 34.

Chapter 29 - Color North and South Korea on p 33.
Chapter 30 - Color Japan on p 33.

First Son's copy of the Geography Coloring Book is an older one, but First Daughter has the third edition and I checked that the page numbers are still accurate.

The Book of Marvels remains my favorite book of Level 3.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links.

Virtue in Small Bites: Education in Virtue's Virtue Cards

We've had Education in Virtue's set of small virtue cards for two years. The first year, I asked First Son and First Daughter to choose one card a week to read, but I felt like we should be able to get a greater benefit from them. This past year, I started reading one card aloud at breakfast each day, as I mentioned in an earlier post. A few people asked about the cards, so I thought I'd write a bit about what they are and how we use them.

The cards are divided into four main categories: Loving with Justice, Acting with Prudence, Contending with Fortitude, and Mastering with Temperance. For each of these four categories is a folded card with an explanation of the symbol for the category, a Scripture verse, the meaning (of justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance), a gift of the Holy Spirit for the exercise of the virtue, a list of related virtues, a prayer, and four saints that exemplified the virtue.

A varied number of cards were then created for each of the related virtues within the four main categories. For example, the related virtues for Master with Temperance are honesty, humility, meekness, moderation, modesty, orderliness, and self-control. Then, for honesty, there are seven double-sided cards. Each shows a child's drawing on the front displaying the virtue with text describing what honesty "looks like" and what it "sounds like." The "sounds like" statement is one a child might say when practicing the virtue. On the back is a prayer (the same one repeats for every card on a related virtue), a Scripture reference (sometimes repeated), and a description of one of the four saints that exemplified the virtue. Because there are seven cards for honesty, three of the saints appear twice.

The cards are 5.5" tall and 4.25" wide. They are printed in full-color and laminated for durability.

Each morning, I read one card aloud to the children. Depending on the morning, we may talk about what it means and how it might be applied in our own lives. Sometimes I just read the card and the prayer. We haven't looked up the Scripture references though it would not add much time to our study.

The descriptions and examples are generally perfect for elementary-aged children, especially first to fifth grades. My oldest (in sixth grade this year) was able to participate as well. Though some of the examples or definitions were imperfect, most were excellent and made the virtues accessible to children.

I found these cards an excellent way to make virtue study a part of every day with only a few minutes of time. They complement well all the books we read in which characters display growth of virtue (or the lack of it). I find it useful to have this small bit of time to make our discussion of virtues explicit and related to our lives.

The italic print: I purchased these cards at full price and receive nothing if you choose to purchase them or anything else from Education in Virtue.

Solid, Dependable, and Never Needing Qualifying: Following Christ, Faith and Life book 6

Following Christ (Faith and Life book 6) from Ignatius Press

We've been using the Faith and Life series for years and I continue to find it solid and dependable. We don't use the activity book. First Son would read one chapter about once a week then narrate it to me. We have the second edition, without the changes due to the Missal's revision. The helpful people at Ignatius provided a document listing all the changes to I could adjust the text myself.

This book has 31 chapters plus two additional chapters devoted to Advent and Christmas to schedule at the appropriate time (found at the end of the book). There's also an appendix on liturgical colors and vestments.

The first sixteen chapters focus on The Ten Commandments. They include examples of saints appropriate for each commandment. There are also examples of sins against each of the commandments that might be committed by a late elementary or early middle school aged child. Chapter 13 covers adultery and coveting. Though there is nothing explicit in the chapter, it won't make much sense or will lead to questions if the subject of marital intimacy and conception have not been discussed or explained. St. Maria Goretti is mentioned in this chapter, which frustrates me a little. I prefer her example as one of forgiveness rather than purity as I worry a young girl who is overpowered and attacked may erroneously blame herself.

There is also a small paragraph on secrets in chapter 15 that's not exactly bad, but I wish it had specified not keeping secrets about someone being hurt or hurting someone else. It might also have mentioned that discussing something uncomfortable or distressing with a priest can be helpful. The Confessional is protected by a vow of silence and the priest can help discern if someone else should be told.

The remaining chapters address the Mass, walking the student through each part of the liturgy. The Mass is placed in relationship to the Old Testament sacrifices.

The lamb was slaughtered to offer it up. But this was not all. To complete the religious ritual or celebration of the sacrifice, the people would eat the lamb. The gift that they offered was received back as a gift.

Mass is even greater sacrifice, but the ritual is not complete without receiving the Eucharist.

We join the priest in offering Jesus to the Father; the Father accepts our gift and gives it back to us to eat....Holy Communion is normally meant to be received in the communal religious service which is the Mass. We are to go forward as God's family--not alone but in company.

Later, in chapter 20, the discussion of the Mass continues.

Those who feed on his Body and Blood have life in him--Christ's life, which does not destroy our personality, but perfects, enriches, and preserves it to life everlasting.

First Son reads well but not particularly quickly and he was usually able to read a chapter in ten to fifteen minutes followed by a few minutes of narration. We participate in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and CCD classes at our parish, but I believe the  Faith and Life books complement those classes with excellent material presented clearly in a small amount of time. Every time I consider dropping them, I decide to continue.

The italic print: I received this book for free from our parish when they purchased the third edition for each of the classes. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). Every little bit helps - thanks!

Life in the Tide Pools for People who Live in Kansas: Pagoo

Pagoo by Holling Clancy Holling

Pagoo is recommended in Level 1B of Mater Amabilis along with Nature Study. I read it aloud years ago, when First Son was in first grade. I remember enjoying it myself but the children were not as interested. That year, we read one chapter a week for twenty weeks. I think I skipped it the year First Daughter was in first grade. This year, Second Daughter was in first grade, and we were hoping to visit a state that actually has tide pools, so I knew I wanted to read it again. I decided, however, to make it a family read-aloud. We read about a chapter a day (sometimes twice a day) over a few weeks and did not narrate it.

Little Pagurus--"Pagoo" for short--floated at the surface of the sea. Pagurus (Pa-gu-rus) would grow into a two-fisted Hermit Crab--if he could make it.

The book follows Pagoo from a hatchling to an adult hermit crab, introducing all sorts of marine biology and fascinating creatures. Holling is a master story-teller and illustrator. One full page color illustration appears for each chapter, but the other pages usually contain black and white sketches in all the margins.

Pagoo delighted Second Daughter (age 7), the book and the hermit crab. She loved listening to his adventures, looking at the pictures, and talking about what was happening in the story. The older children (First Son at ate 12 and First Daughter at age 9) loved the book as well, much more than they did the last time we read it.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll see an actual hermit crab when we visit the ocean!

Reading Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth and Enjoying Geology

Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth: A First Book About Geology
by Herman and Nina Schneider, with illustrations be Edwin Herron

A fellow member of the Mater Amabilis facebook page mentioned this book coming back into print last summer and I immediately asked our library to purchase it. They did! When I skimmed it, I knew I wanted First Daughter to read it in the coming year (in third grade) because we were planning a trip out West and this book would be a wonderful introduction to the landscapes that would soon surround her. She's an avid reader who loves more subjects to check off her list, so I just added it to Mater Amabilis Level 1A Year 2. She was already scheduled to read Mountains and Volcanoes. I wrote about our plan for Mountains and Volcanoes before First Son completed it here. I simplified it for First Daughter since she was also reading this book, but thought they complemented each other well and left both in her lesson schedule.

First Daughter read a handful of pages from this book once a week. She would verbally narrate to me and often did activities suggested in the text. Most of the activities were straightforward and easy to complete with materials we had in the house or in the dirt outside, though a few would have been improved with a trip to the garden section for a few things.

This book delightfully explains geological themes such as the water cycle, erosion, underground water, minerals, mountains, coastal areas, oceans, earthquakes, volcanoes, precious stones, and metals. Through it all is the idea that the earth is ever-changing as tiny particles are slowly or, more rarely, dramatically broken down and incorporated anew.

Over and over again, water keeps making its journey from the clouds. The water you used to wash your hands this morning is millions of years old, and it has made millions of journeys to and from the clouds, and has traveled millions of miles. Perhaps, long ago, it turned a water will in a mill in Vermont, or it was churned into white foam by Columbus' flagship, or floated off the coast of Greenland, part of a huge iceberg, or shone as dew on a lilac leaf. It may have pushed a few grains of sand on to the banks of the Nile River in Egypt, or dripped off Abraham Lincoln's hat as he walked alone in the rain. You might have rolled it into a snowball or seen it steam out of a pot of soup. It might have been in the mud puddle your dog played in last week. But each time, the warm sun lifted it, and made it pure, and sent it up into the clouds, ready to fall again, clear and fresh, upon the earth.

The text and illustrations clearly explain and show the geological concepts. My daughter narrated the pages well and was able to identify some of the ideas at a visit to a local water center at the end of the school year.

As I mentioned, First Daughter read this book in third grade, but I think it would be appropriate at a range of levels. Second Daughter (age 7 and in first grade) would have understood the book if I had read it aloud to her. First Son (back when he was in third grade) probably would have needed me to read it aloud to him. I would be comfortable assigning this book through fifth grade, and perhaps even some sixth graders would benefit from it. (I often wondered if First Son would have struggled a bit less with A Doorway of Amethyst this year if he had read Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth first.)

You are part of the earth's story. In your blood is iron from plants that drew it out of the soil. Your teeth and bones were once coral of the sea and tiny, beautiful sea animals. The water you drink has been in clouds high over the highest mountains of Asia and in lovely, misty waterfalls in Africa. The air you breathe has blown and swirled through places of the earth that no one has ever seen. Every bit of you is a bit of the earth, and has been on many strange and wonderful journeys over countless millions of years.

We enjoyed this book in addition to Mountains and Volcanoes. I will probably include both for Second Daughter when she is in third grade, but if I could only choose one, it would be Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth.

For those that might be interested in using this book, here are the page breakdowns we used. There are assignments for 25 weeks because we took Advent off. If you live in areas allowing for outside exploration to complement the studies (you know, by a mountain or a coast, etc.), those weeks might also be used for field trips. We visited a local spring one week (as part of our nature study) where the water table was visible, for example.

Part One: The Land Torn Down
3-10
10-15
16-22
23-28
29-34
35-40
41-47
49-55
55-59
61-66
67-73
73-80
81-84
85-91

Part Two: The Sea Filled In
95-101
102-106

Part Three: The Land Built Up
109-116
116-122
123-134
135-141
142-147
148-154
155-161
161-166

Part Four: Man and the Earth
169-171

Homeschool Review: Maps, Charts, and Graphs E: United States and Its Neighbors

Maps, Charts, and Graphs Level E: United States and Its Neighbors

First Son completed this workbook last year, in fifth grade. These little books continue to be a favorite with all the children.

This book has 32 lessons covering maps, keys, finding directions, map grids, latitude and longitude, scale, landform and relief maps, contour lines, elevation maps, comparing maps (average yearly precipitation vs. Canadian agriculture), highway maps, and using an atlas. It also discusses different map projections and their best uses and special purpose maps (time zones, rainfall, center of population, earthquake zones).

I appreciate all the map work as these are skills we don't cover systematically in any other way. (We use lots of maps in history, but they tend to be mainly geographical in nature rather than maps used to answer questions and derive information.) First Son, probably not unlike most 11 year olds, needed a bit of help when using maps to find driving directions. With the advent of GPS devices and mapping software, this may be a dying skill, but it's one I hope he eventually masters.

The last few lessons cover graphs, tables, charts, and diagrams. These are less necessary for us as they tend to be covered well in our math lessons but it's nice for the children to see how those skills can appear in other ways.

There was a rather odd lesson on analyzing pictures in which the student was asked to study historical pictures and then answer questions based on them. Much of this lesson was subjective so we mainly talked through it together. In addition, there was a lesson on political cartoons and their interpretation and time lines.

Reviews of Previous Books in the Series
Level A: The Places Around Me
Level B: Neighborhoods
Level C: Communities
Level D: States and Regions

I've linked to Amazon above, with my affiliate link, but when I'm buying these workbooks, I always purchase them from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts which has good prices and excellent service. I don't receive anything from them if you order, but I hope you do.

World Travels with Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels: The Occident (Level 3 Year 1)

Mater Amabilis™Level 3 recommends Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels, spread over the two years of the level, the Occident in Year 1 (sixth grade) and the Orient in Year 2 (seventh grade). I debated about finding an alternate title as it seemed expensive, but everywhere I looked online the homeschool voices resounded with praises for this book and lamentations that nothing else was comparable. I found Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels at the bargain price of about $28 including shipping using BookFinder.com. It may be cheaper to buy the two copies separately, but I like having it all in one book. (When I checked earlier this spring, it looked like the complete book was more reasonably priced than each volume separately.) I did talk seriously with First Son about our copy, explaining it was an older book that would require gentle handing.

[UPDATE June 2020: Halliburton's Book of Marvels has been reprinted by Living Book Press.]

Today I'd like to add my voice to the others singing the praises of The Complete Book of Marvels. This is by far my favorite Level 3 book!

Richard Halliburton writes as if he is traveling with a group of young people beginning in California, traveling east across the United States and then through Europe, ending in Istanbul. Written in the 1930s, the descriptions and stories are, of course, missing a few decades of history, but it's simple to supplement with some searches online if necessary. Each chapter swirls from geography to history to inspiring descriptions to travel adventures. There are ample photographs in the book, some from the author's own travels. His stunts like swimming the Panama Canal and thrusting a stick into the a smoking crack of Vesuvius thrill the reader and are perfect for reading rather than doing.

The descriptions astound and delight. Reading about places I'd been, I yearned to return. Reading about new and exotic places, I suddenly felt a wanderlust, a desire to venture out into the wide world. Halliburton invites the reader to venture to the edge of volcanoes, the pinnacle of mountains, and the dungeons of castles. In the chapter on the Iguazu Falls, he writes:

Then, abruptly, we reach the edge of a terrific mile-wide abyss, and stand before what seems, at the moment, to be all the beauty in the world changed into mist and moonlight, floating out from among the stars, and falling and fading into a bottomless fissure in the earth.

There are also exquisite descriptions of the wondrous, like the Blue Grotto:

Magic has been worked on everything. About us hang the draperies of an azure fairyland. The rock of the cavern walls has been changed to a curtain of soft sapphires ashine with silver spangles. And the water we float on is no longer water. It's a bottomless sky shot full of unearthly blue light. Blue--blue--blue--silvery, shimmering, fairy blue dances on the ceiling, electrifies the quivering lake and touches the very air with supernatural radiance, overwhelming us with its blue beauty.

[UPDATE in June 2020. I'm going to leave First Son's schedule below, but I want to share an updated one here from a Master Lesson Plan that allows a student to use the Geography Coloring Book over five years while avoiding duplicate assignments as much as possible. Pick the one that works best for you.

Chapter 1 - California on p. 3
Chapter 3 - Washington on p. 3
Chapter 4 - Arizona on p. 3
Chapter 5 - Nevada on p. 3
Chapter 6 - New York on p. 3
Chapter 8 - Washington, D.C. on p. 3
Chapter 9 - Florida on p. 3
Chapter 10 - Mexico on p. 3
Chapter 12 - Haiti on p. 3
Chapter 13 - Panama on p. 3
Chapter 14 - Peru on p. 14 (or p. 17)
Chapter 15 - Argentina on p. 14 (or p. 17)
Chapter 16 - Brazil on p. 14 (or p. 16)
Chapter 17 - Spain on p. 18
Chapter 18 - France on p. 18
Chapter 21 - Switzerland on p. 18
Chapter 23 - Italy on p. 18
Chapter 27 - Greece on p. 18
Chapter 29 - Russian Federation on p. 18 (may be colored from earlier study)
Chapter 30 - Turkey on p. 18

END UPDATE]

First Son read one chapter each week, narrating it orally. I also assigned him mapwork in his Geography Coloring Book as it was appropriate. I bought this book a few years ago and we use it over and over again, coloring in new pages as we work through geography and other lessons.

Chapter 1 - color California on p 11
Chapter 3 - color Washington on p 11
Chapter 4 - color Arizona on p 11
Chapter 5 - color Nevada on p 11
Chapter 6 - color New York on p 7
Chapter 8 - color Washington, D.C. on p 7
Chapter 9 - color Florida on p 8
Chapter 10 - color Mexico on p 12
Chapter 12 - color Haiti on p 13
Chapter 13 - color Panama on p 12
Chapter 14 - color Peru on p 17
Chapter 15 - color Argentina on p 17
Chapter 16 - color Brazil on p 16
Chapter 17 - color Spain on p 21
Chapter 18 - color France on p 21
Chapter 21 - color Switzerland on p 22
Chapter 23 - color Italy on p 23
Chapter 27 - color Greece on p 23
Chapter 29 - color European Russia and Asian Russia on p 26
Chapter 30 - color Turkey on p 30

First Son's copy of the Geography Coloring Book is an older one, but First Daughter has the third edition and I checked that the page numbers are still accurate.

I am eagerly anticipating the second half of this book as we venture into the Orient!

Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I have received nothing in exchange for this post.

Physics with Fred

Life of Fred: Elementary Physics

It is now called Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics but the content has remained the same. I believe I purchased my copy from CBD. You can find a placement test there.

I wrote last year about how we started using Life of Fred and how First Son managed with Fractions and Decimals and Percents. He finished Decimals and Percents at the beginning of this year without problems, working steadily.

The Physics book contains forty chapters. At the end of each chapter are a few questions under Your Turn to Play. The answers appear on the following page (unlike the previous and ensuing books in which the answers appear immediately after the questions. While a student could avoid looking at the answers, I find it difficult myself to avoid accidentally seeing them.) Every six chapters or so, there's a "Bridge" of ten questions including recent and review material. The Bridge answers are in the back of the book. It's recommended students can answer at least nine questions correctly before moving on to the next chapter. With that in mind, there are five Bridges provided each time so the student has multiple chances to pass. In the beginning of the book, the author writes that some students complete multiple Bridges merely for additional practice and we did that a few times as well. If First Son seemed just a little shaky on something even if he had passed, I encouraged him to do a second Bridge and he usually did.

This is the last book for which the student is not supposed to use a calculator, and there's plenty of multiplication and division to practice those skills.

Because I didn't remember much of my high school physics, I read the chapters and answered the questions as well. I included it with my other preparation over the weekend for the upcoming week. He rarely needed help, but I was glad I was ready the few times he did. 

First Son loved placing mathematical problems and concepts within the framework of physics. Rather than replacing the physics he was doing for science, I found this book a nice complement, bringing in additional information and providing greater practice with the concepts introduced in his other books. (The physics books he read this year focused much more on the development of thought in physics and the theorems than practice problems with actual numbers.) Some of the topics covered include: friction, the meter, Mu, measuring force, Hooke's law, energy, work, transfer and storage of energy, the metric system, measuring mass, pressure, density, buoyancy, vacuums, volts, amperes, ohms, Ohm's Law, parallel circuits, and the history of physics.
 
Along the way, there's plenty of math, including review from Fractions and Decimals and Percents.

The Life of Fred books excel at revealing a greater world of mathematics and all of creation:

Fred asked a question that stopped Kitty: "What makes you think that human beings with their three-pound brains should be able to understand everything? There are mysteries in physics. There are mysteries in mathematics. There are mysteries in religion. Only lunatics and God say that they know all the secrets of the universe."

The last few chapters of this book are a condensed history of physics without any math problems to work.

The more we discover, the less we pretend to understand.

First Son spent fifteen weeks, four days a week, working through this book, including repeating a few of the Bridges. He continued with xtramath until he mastered division again and is also completing the sixth grade module on Khan Academy. He's nearly finished with that and then we'll set it aside until next year as well. (I didn't do as well keeping up with him on Khan Academy as I did with the physics!)

He has already eagerly started Pre-Algebra 1 With Biology, though he'll need to set it aside at the end of the year and finish it next school year. We continue to be pleased and encouraged by Fred here on the Range.

March 2016 Book Reports

More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls by Caryll Houselander - link to post. (purchased copy)

Everything Must Change: When the World's Biggest Problems and Jesus' Good News Collide by Brian D. McLaren - link to post. (Kansas Dad's copy)

Mrs. Pepperpot's Outing by Alf Proysen - I thought I found a Pepperpot book on Mater Amabilis's prep level page (preschool and kindergarten), but it's not there so now I'm not sure. Wherever it was, I requested this one from PaperBackSwap because our library didn't have any of the Pepperpot stories. In this quirky books, Mrs. Pepperpot shrinks to the size of a mouse and hilarity ensues. I intend to read this aloud next year, mostly for the benefit of my youngest who will be six and just starting kindergarten. I imagine they'll all enjoy it. (received through PaperBackSwap.com)

Hickory by Palmer Brown - I found this on a list of summer or spring read-alouds and thought the cover looked lovely. In fact, the entire book is physically lovely. The binding and slightly thicker pages are of excellent quality. The illustrations are delightful. The story, though, is a little ambivalent. Hickory is a mouse who leaves the farmhouse to make his home in the meadow where he befriends a grasshopper. In the fall, when the grasshopper expects to die, they decide to journey south where it's always warm. And that's how the book ends, with them wandering southward. I plan to leave it out with the library books so the kids can read it if they like, but I'm not going to read it aloud. (library copy)

Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfield (purchased copy) - This book is recommended by our history curriculum for Roman times (find it here). It's a mystery that mixes a few historical people and actual events with an imagined group of young boys that find themselves in the thick of things. The author shows every-day life in ancient Rome without "teaching" and the story is enjoyable. I read this one aloud, but the older two read the first book in the series, Detectives in Togas, on their own. That one is recommended as a read aloud for the unit before but I didn't have time to read it aloud. (received through PaperBackSwap.com)

The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit - Six children find their family in financial difficulty after their mother dies and attempt various methods to procure riches - rescuing rich men in distress, wielding a diving rod, digging for treasure in the garden, selling poetry...they all have idea. Their naivety and generous natures win many friends, inspiring them to see the world anew. I stumbled once while reading it when I encountered one particularly unacceptable word. (I wonder how Librivox readers deal with such things; I suppose they read it. I skipped it, the whole sentence in fact.) It's not my favorite E. Nesbit novel, but it was worth reading aloud and my children enjoyed it. (library copy)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - link to my post. (library copy)


Books in Progress (and date started)

• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (February 2015)
• Towards A Philosophy of Education (Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series) by Charlotte Mason (May 2015, with my Start Here book club)
• Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen (November 2015)
• City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II's Kraków by George Weigel (February 2016)
• A Triumph for Flavius by Caroline Dale Snedeker (March 2016)

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). 

Links to RC History and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.

Other links (like those to Bethlehem Books) are not affiliate links.

These reports are my honest opinions.

Inspiration and Adventure: More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls

More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls by Caryll Houselander

I wrote briefly about this book when First Son read it three years ago (recommended by Mater Amabilis for Level 1A Year 2, third grade) but I didn't write a proper review. (I wrote more on Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls which is read in Level 1A Year 1). I recall the spring First Son read this book was a hectic and frazzled one for me and I often did not read the story at all.

This year, I am making a concerted effort to read everything before the children do (though not entirely succeeding), but I was inspired anew to thankfulness for such uplifting and inspiring stories for my children to read. These two books would be wonderful First Communion or Easter gifts. First Daughter read these easily independently in second and third grade, though some second graders may enjoy the stories more if they are able to listen rather than read themselves.

In Montague Runs Away, a young boy, inspired by a missionary sermon and dismayed when his guardian aunt tells him the gypsies are heathens, bravely (but foolishly) abandons his aunt and chases after the caravan to tell them of Jesus and his love for them. Surprisingly, a gypsy boy his own age confesses his desire to stay in the towns they visit to preach the love of God.

"You see, it's like this," he went on. "They know how there is a God, and they know how He gets angry if they do wrong. But they don't know what God's like one bit. They don't know how He loves funny things. Why, if you'd seen some of the little frogs and field mice and spiders that I've seen, you'd know God likes to laugh, or else He wouldn't make those things. Of course, He's serious, too, and He makes stars shine right down in the wells and the streams. And then there's the way He does things. I've seen the fields all the year round; I've seen 'em when the seed goes in and when it starts to come up, and when it's all shining like gold for the harvest." He stopped as if he felt he couldn't explain any more.

Sadly, he admits he is unable to fulfill his dream because he hasn't had the opportunity to learn all the reading, writing, and Latin necessary to be a priest. His aunt, "always a surprising person," fetches Montague home but promises they will travel all summer with the circus, establishing a little school for them in which she will teach.

"Don't interrupt, please. You were naughty to run away, but I was naughty to think circus people are wicked just because they are circus people. So I'm going to forgive you, and God will forgive me."

In The Donkey-Boy's Coat, the Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem is described incredibly joyfully.

And then, from all the hamlet around, just as if a secret message had come to them (as it comes to birds, telling them to rise in flocks and fly to sunny lands) children, crowds of them, came into sight. They were all running toward the gates of the city of Jerusalem. First, there were little groups of them; then big groups, as they joined up; then a great crowd. And as they ran, they leaped up and down and waved green branches gathered from the trees.

Joey forgets himself and his ragged cloak in his joy, laying it under the feet of the donkey just as the other children do. It is transformed by the touch of the donkey's feet into a beautiful cloak, decorated with symbols of Jesus and his gifts to us.

There are many more wonderful stories, but I'll finish with one of my favorite quotes, found in The White Mouse's Story:

I have had only one real adventure in my life, and that was terrible. There were parts of it I did not understand, as I believe is the case even with you, when an adventure is worth having. 

I purchased this book years ago directly from the publisher, Sophia Institute Press. They have frequent sales and discounts, so follow them by email or facebook or whatever you fancy. The links above are to Amazon and are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). Every little bit helps - thanks! 

Physics in Sixth Grade: Objects in Motion and Liquids and Gases

Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics and Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics by Paul Fleisher, part of a series called Secrets of the Universe

These two books are recommended by Mater Amabilis for sixth grade, Level 3 Year 1. (Two of Fleisher's other Secrets of the Universe books are recommended for seventh grade.)

First Son read and narrated these books to me. Concepts of physics are clearly explained and illustrated by the author. The prevalence of inverse square laws, for example, is discussed in Objects in Motion. Using intensity of light as an example, the author shows clearly why so many intensive of force laws are inverse square laws. As the radius of a sphere of area covered by the same light is doubled, the amount of equal light is distributed across an area four times as large.

Picture each force spreading outward from its source like an ever-expanding bubble. Inverse square relationships hold true for all these forces because they all spread out evenly in all directions from the center point at which they are generated.

Many thought experiments and suggestions for demonstrations at home are included. Nearly all of the demonstrations are simple to put together with items you are likely to have on hand. Some of the demonstrations take longer than others. First Son, with First Daughter's assistance, spent the better part of an afternoon taking measurements of pendulums of different weights and different lengths.

The books end with an invitation to students to appreciate the complexity and beauty of the universe, and to keep learning.

Scientists believe that our universe was first created billions of years ago in a huge explosion they call the big bang. The same motion first created in the big bang is still with us today, spread among the vast number of stars, planets, atoms, and atomic particles moving and spinning through the cosmos.

We don't know all there is to know about the universe. Scientists still have much to learn about the stars and planets, the atom, and the miracles of life. There are still more laws to discover and more mysteries to solve. Perhaps you may one day add your name to that distinguished list of scientists who have helped to discover the secrets of the universe.

Each book contains a timeline of scientific discoveries (some general and some specific to the book's topic), biographies of scientists mentioned in the text, books for further reading, a bibliography, and a glossary.

I enjoyed these books and look forward to reading two more of them next year. (Hopefully First Son is as well.)

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). I like to use the little I earn on the blog to purchase birthday and Christmas gifts (so they'll really be from me because the kids say I don’t have any money). I purchased these books used.

A Solid Beginning to Chemistry: The Elements

Last summer, as I was contemplating First Daughter's chemistry course for third grade, I read about a new book on the Mater Amabilis facebook page. (Oh, what a wealth of resources and wisdom that page is! Join it!) Ellen Johnston McHenry at the Basement Workshop has created a number of resources for teaching chemistry, biology, and other subjects. The Elements: Ingredients of the Universe interested me as it could be the main textbook for our chemistry course and it seemed to be aimed right at First Daughter's level. I purchased the book and CD. The book contains all the text, activities, and lots of supplements. The CD allowed me to print the activity pages so we didn't have to write in the book (as intended by the publisher). It also includes the songs, which you can download separately if you like. I put the songs on our science playlist.

The Elements is designed for ages 8-13. First Daughter turned nine just after the school year started last fall. Her reading level is probably a bit higher than third grade, and I intended to assign the text to be read independently and then narrated. There are eight chapters in the book. You can see a sample of the first two chapters online. The text discusses the properties and definition of an element, the periodic table, atoms, and an introduction to the different families of elements (alkali, halogen, noble gases, etc.). The family chapters reminded me of the spirit of books like the The Burgess Bird Book for Children, giving personality to the behaviors seen in different groups of elements.

Within each chapter are lots of activities and the end of each chapter is a comic of The Atomic Chef. There are even more activities in the Teacher's Section at the end of the book. One of our favorite parts of the study was visiting the Basement Workshop Youtube channel where there were playlists of videos created to match the studies in the book. (Links to the Youtube channel are in the text.)

First Daughter's reading level was advanced for a third grader, but she definitely found the text challenging. I had planned on one chapter a week read independently plus an additional day when we would complete an activity or two together. After a few weeks, it became clear she was not able to narrate adequately, so I divided each chapter into two and read them over two weeks. I also worked through most of the activities with her to make sure she understood them. At the slower pace, she was able to remember much of the information. Most of the activities and videos were intriguing enough to pull the sixth grade boy over as well. In fact, he read much of the text over her shoulder, so I believe the stated age range is accurate.

For the most part, the activities First Daughter completed with me were designed and recommended in The Elements. I did encourage her to spend some time with EIN-O's Molecular Models Kit (originally used with Noeo Chemistry 1 which you can find here and which I wrote about here) and the Photographic Card Deck of The Elements which I received one year for Christmas because it's awesome.

This text was a solid beginning to our third grade study of chemistry. We spent fourteen weeks on this text and then moved on to some other chemistry books and resources I had, mainly from Noeo Chemistry 1. I imagine I'll write about those sometime, too.

The italic print: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an affiliate with Amazon, I receive a small commission if you follow one of my links, add something to your cart, and complete the purchase (in that order). I like to use the little I earn on the blog to purchase birthday and Christmas gifts (so they'll really be from me because the kids say I don't have any money).

Links to the Basement Workshop Store and Noeo Science are not affiliate links. I receive nothing from them, but perhaps you'll find them useful.