Curiosity Files - Red Tide / The Old Schoolhouse Review

"My research team and I specialize in the obscure, the abnormal and bizarre. We search land and seas for these oddities, and make each one a star." ~ Professor Ana Lyze

These are the opening words in the Red Tides Curiosity Files, which I have had the pleasure of reviewing for The Old Schoolhouse. The Curiosity Files (9 in all - published by The Old Schoolhouse) are science unit studies designed for ages 8-13, which can stand alone or be used to enhance a current unit study in your homeschool. (We just finished a seashell unit, and this dovetailed PERFECTLY!) Each unit study is 80-100 pages.

This current unit study is on sale for ONLY $1 in The Old Schoolhouse Store. The 9 unit studies in the Curiosity Files can be downloaded for just $46, or they are also available on CD for $49.

The Red Tides Curiosity File has many different activities, each of which are presented in formats for elementary and middle/high grades. Included activities are:

• Math - the Metric System
• Scientific Research Paper
• Persuasive & Descriptive Essays
• Spelling Word Lists
• Copywork (Print and Cursive)
  
• Coloring
• Wordsearches
• Science Experiments ("In the Lab")
• Opportunities for Creativity
• Mapping/Geography
• History
• Music
• Lapbooking/Notebooking
  
• .... and much more!

I love the unit study format, because it takes essential subjects we study each day (math, history, science, spelling, geography) and integrates them - making my children's learning that much more meaningful. My children - a kindergarten and fourth grader - enjoy this format very much. I could pick and choose the pages I wanted to print, and then put those in a three pronged folder for each child. I would follow along with them on the computer or iPad, so we were literally "on the same page". Each day we went through a few of the activities together. Even my youngest gained a lot from this study!

My oldest enjoys "fact finding" and hoarding information, but my youngest enjoys coloring and experimentation. This unit study provided each of them with an activity - so while they were learning, it made it easier on me because there was something each of them enjoyed every day! We did NOT cover every single thing in the study, but I like the flexibility of picking and choosing what works for us ~ and what works for each of my children. At first glance the amount of information can seem overwhelming, so know you probably will not accomplish everything, and that's OK!

I also appreciated having a book list, so I could reserve books from the library to enhance our study, as well as a list of additional online resources. So far, we have spent a week on this study, but with additional library books, online resources, and science experiments, you could easily expand it to two or even three weeks. (There is a very interesting timeline activity that is well worth pursuing, I might add!)

It's unique to find all of this quality information, organized so nicely, for just $1! If you average the price out for all the studies it's just a little more than $5 per study, so I think we'll be taking advantage of more of the Curiosity Files in our homeschool.

Take a look for yourself; it might just be a great fit for your children as well!

*Disclaimer: As a potential TOS Crew member, I received this product free of charge to review. This review is my honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.

Comments

[Tristan]

Great review Mary! I think these Curiosity Files are so neat for many of the reasons you listed. Another reason I love them - they are on topics I would never take the time to research myself, but they are so interesting for all my children.

[Debbie]

I have looked at this series so many times knowing that this would be something I could see us using. Thank you for your review!

[Martha]

Very nice review. We have used several of them and also enjoy them. I love having so much information available from which to choose what will work best for my children.

[Heidi]

Great review - I really appreciate your thoughts on this study.