Not too long ago, Josiah made a passing comment about
wanting to read a certain book that has been on our bookshelf for ages. Number
the Stars, by Lois Lowry, is an inspiring story set in Nazi occupied Denmark
during WWII. You can imagine my delight when just a few days later I got word
that I was going to have a chance to review a Literature
Unit on Number the Stars by Moving
Beyond the Page along with a the WWI and WWII Social Studies Package. What
perfect timing.
I love Unit Studies. And more than Unit Studies I love
Literature Rich Unit Studies. There is something so personal and effective
about teaching with books. Books make the whole word come to life. It is important
to me that our learning experiences are meaningful. I think Moving Beyond the Page made that
possible for us. If you are
homeschooling a boy, take a look at this
article in the Reflections
section of the website.
What I
Received (keep in mind that each product is available for purchase separately from of the package)
Curriculum – WWI & WWII by Kathryn Walbert, Ph.D.
All That Jazz - A History of US Book 9 by Joy Hakim
Where Poppies Grow by Linda Granfield
Online Curriculum – Number the Stars by
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (physical book)
How It Works and How We Used It
Moving Beyond
the Page is a full, literature rich curriculum. It is also designed to
stretch our kiddos reach his or her full potential. There are no textbooks. Instead, students are given hands-on learning
opportunities and are encouraged to become lifelong learners (Amen and Amen!) You
are able to purchase curriculum for entire year at a time (minus the Math) or
you can use one unit at a time at your leisure.
This
guide discusses choosing the right age level for your child. At the moment,
Moving Beyond the Page offers
curriculum for ages 7-13 with ages to come.
The students studying in the Ages 10-12 bracket cover 4
concepts within a year. They are divided
into Social Studies, Science, and Language Art Units. Each concept is expected
to take 9 weeks of instruction and each Unit can be accomplished in 19 days.
These are the concepts covered.
- Environment and Cycles
- Force and Power
- Change
- Systems and Interaction
Both of Josiah’s Units fell in the Force and Power Concept. Of course, if you chose to piecemeal your
curriculum one Unit at a time Moving
Beyond the Page makes that possible as well.
These are the prerequisites required for the Units in the
Ages 10-12 bracket directly from the website.
- Able to read and comprehend novels at a late 6th or 7th grade reading level
- Able to write multiple paragraphs on a topic
- Familiar with the five paragraph essay
- Usually used by children in the fifth or sixth grade.
This
link will take you to the Getting Started Page. From there you can view
each age bracket separately. There is a lot of information found here.
Because I reviewed two different Units, I will talk about
each one separately.
Did I mention that there are no textbooks? Instead, the
student gathers information from a variety of sources, one of them being All
That Jazz - A History of US Book 9 by Joy Hakim (which is available for
purchase on the Moving Beyond the
Page website). Another book used is Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion
by Linda Granfield. I didn’t own either of these (they came in the Package),
but check to see what might be lurking on your bookshelf that might be used in
one of the Curriculum packages. I’ve found a few other books on my shelf that
can be used with other units.
I am more of an eclectic homeschooler. Therefore, I love
being able to use what floats my boat (or Josiah’s) at the time. Moving Beyond the Page allowed
us the flexibility to do that. Within the WWI
and WII Package there are 9 lessons, plus a final project. Honestly, there
was no way Josiah could complete the unit in 19 days. We had a little thing
called “vacation” happen. Also, this curriculum is challenging. It is not
simply a read and “fill-in-the-blanks” kind of program. Facts are important to know, but how have the
facts impacted history or our day-to-day lives? I don’t want Josiah to learn
facts just too simply regurgitate them back out.
The Curriculum itself comes in a spiral bound book. It contains
instructions on how to use Moving
Beyond the Page, a required list of books and materials, a vocabulary list,
Student pages, Parent overview, and more. I felt that it was very easy to navigate and
gave Josiah a clear outline of what was expected.
My first impression of this Unit was “Wow!” I loved it. It
really challenged both Josiah and me to think critically about the impact of
war.
You can check out this sample of this particular unit and how
it works here. Please keep in mind that the link will take you to the
online sample. I received a physical book.
I’ll give you just a little example what Josiah learned in Lesson 5: Mobilizing for War. In this
lesson, we learned what happened initially after the attack on Pearl Harbor and
all the different ways Americans got ready for the war to come.
We read, A Date Which
Will Live in Infamy, the speech given by President Roosevelt to congress on
December 8, 1941. We were also able to go to a website and listen to a recorded
expert of the President’s speech from the National Archives.
Some of the questions Josiah had to answer
included; “Does President Roosevelt seem
certain that the correct course of action is to go to war? Does he seem certain
about the outcome of the war? If you heard this speech on the radio, what might
be thinking and feeling?”
Here is Josiah’s answer.
President Roosevelt
was sure that America needed to go to war. If I would have heard this speech I
would probably be a little excited, but also scared. Maybe someone I know would
have to go to war.
No fill-in-the-blank questions here!
We learned about persuasion and how posters were used to drum
up support for the War Effort. We discussed rationing and how it affected
families during wartime.
Here is a picture from one of the Lessons Activities. Josiah
was required to make tally marks for every time he consumed something using one
of these projects.
It might look like we’re doing well (no sugar!). I’m just
glad he didn’t have to keep track during our vacation week. I guarantee you it
would be a whole different story.
Josiah also learned about Victory Gardens during the Life Application portion of the lesson.
We are a bit acquainted with gardens. We
have always had one or had access to my Dad’s beautiful garden. Josiah settled
down with Papa’s seed catalogues and made a Victory Garden poster.
He had to think about what he would plant for family and
friends to eat if we had to rely solely on our garden for fresh fruits and
veggies.
He enjoyed that part of it. I have to say that it was like
pulling teeth to get him to decorate his poster. We had to cover up where he
wrote ‘Jaws’ and ‘I’m diving in’ in black letters. I should know better than to
make the boy decorate on a beautiful day. We had to have cousin Maddy come and
show us the fine art of “decorating.”
By the way, the gentleman in the picture is actually a
picture of Josiah’s Great Grandpa Michel just after the World War II era. I
liked being able to add some of our personal story to the whole thing.
I really loved this entire Social Studies package. For one,
I think it allowed for some deep thinking. It also created plenty of hands-on
experiences for Josiah. Which is a great thing in my book!
I have to say that if you haven’t had your kids read Number
the Stars I encourage you to do so. The subject matter is a little heavy. If you
have read my blog at all, you know that Josiah is dyslexic. Which seems that
the Age Bracket we chose to study might be a bit challenging. However, just
because Josiah might struggle with reading doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of dealing
with some more complex subject matters. This required more participation on my
part, but that’s what we do.
In addition to reading the book together, I also checked out
an audio version from the library. We did some great listening in the car.
I received the online version of the Number the Stars Unit. When
you purchase an online curriculum package (also available in a physical copy) you
are given a 3 month access to the curriculum. We navigated through the study by
using a Table of Contents. There were PDFs available for downloading of the
student activity sheets and a variety of other materials.
Under the Getting Ready Section, I was able to download:
- Student Activity Pages
- Reading and Questions
- Summary of Skills
- And more.
You can view a sample
here.
The student is able to log into the website, read that
particular lesson, and complete the activities. Some lessons will take longer
than others. There might be other sites to visit or activity sheets to print
off. There are spelling lists and
vocabulary words to learn. A suggested schedule is available. A journal is also
required for the Unit.
As the student goes through the lesson, he is instructed to
move on. At the end of the lesson, the title text fades away and a line is
drawn through it. That was good motivation for my visual/hands-on guy. He liked
having “proof” of his accomplishments.
Speaking of “proof,” there were quite a number of proofing
reading exercises. Obviously, Josiah moved through those a bit more slowly. We
did enjoy a lot of interesting discussion.
Some of the activities directly tied in with things Josiah
learned in the World Wars Unit. For example, in Lesson 3, “The Button Shop,”
the assignment was to view war propaganda posters from both sides. Our
conversation was quite interesting. I was afraid he might not be able to interpret
the intent of the posters. that they
might be too far above his head. In one poster, Hitler is standing in front of
a bright shining light, carrying a Nazi flag. Josiah’s interpretation? It looks like Hitler wanted to be the king
of the world!
I appreciated how both the World War Unit and the Number the
Stars Unit worked together. It made our school day most interesting.
If I had my druthers, I would choose to purchase the
Physical Curriculum as opposed to the online version. I didn’t hate it, but comparatively
I prefer to have all the material in my own little hands.
Here are a few final thoughts.
- In own little homeschool world, I like curriculum that provide Josiah many hands-on experiences as well as allow him to express himself creatively. I want him to think and to learn. I want him to be challenged. Moving Beyond the Page did all of those things.
- I love, love all the Unit Study possibilities. There are so many great choices. I am looking forward to picking out our next study.
- Don’t be afraid to adapt the curriculum to your particular needs. Remember, this is a guide. The Navajo Code Talkers section is far too interesting to rush through it …Josiah found it fascinating. Because of his particular needs, I adapted to what suited us. I didn’t feel like it compromised the depth of the study at all.
- I wouldn’t just focus on the Social Studies and Science units. I would add a Language Arts Unit into the mix every time. Literature just enhances everything else. I found several Units (including in other age brackets) that I am excited to try.
- Even if you are buckled down to a more traditional curriculum or program, Moving Beyond the Page is a great option for filler studies or even summer school (yes…we school in the summer). Spend some time on the website. They have wonderful tutorials, videos, etc. to explain their approach and why it works.
The Crew reviewed dozens of Moving Beyond the Page Packages.
I’m sure you will come across one that catches your fancy.
