Literature Based Learning #hsreviews

I don’t know about your school, but in our homeschool I love to base our learning on books.  Literature Based Learning takes the focus off book work and turns the focus on books.  We do a LOT of reading.   Thus I was thrilled to be able to choose two titles to review from Moving Beyond the Page recently through the TOS Crew.   We chose one Language Arts Package – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and one Social Studies Package – Early Explorers.  

Moving Beyond the Page has three separate categories for learning.  You can find literature studies for Language Arts, Social Studies, or Science.  They are then broken down by ages so you can find one appropriate for your child.  After you decide what subject and what study you want, you then have to choose whether you want an online study or a physical package study.  I prefer the physical package study but for the purposes of this review I have received one of each!  Great to get to try them both out.

Let’s talk about the studies now!  Each study can either be online or physical with the study guide.  They are designed to take 3 weeks to complete.  We used it as described for that.  You’ll find that they tell you how many days and what to do which day so that you have a great guideline.  I enjoyed this as it did not require a lot of planning on my part.  

We chose The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because it has been a favorite supper time read aloud with daddy.  Several times now he has read through the series with our children and they enjoy and love the series as well as daddy reading to them.  I thought it was about time our older two read it on their own and delved a little deeper into it.  We received the online package for this study.  You might ask what is included in the online package?  We received a physical copy of the book and then online we gained access to the guide.  This study is geared towards ages 8-10.  It is designed for a child who can read at a 4th-5th grade level as well as be able to write an organized paragraph.  The site suggests that this is  normally children in the 3rd-4th grade range.  The online package can be purchased for $21.92.  The physical package can also be purchased(we received the online version) for $25.98.  In the physical package you receive the book as well as a physical guide.  

Each of the units can also be used with another unit.  They have been geared to work together and build on each other.  However, they do not have to be used together.  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can be used in conjunction with Unit 2: The Power of People or as a standalone unit.  We are using it as a standalone unit.  But it’s nice to know that you could combine two to get more from them and make it an even greater unit study.  We like unit studies here!

 

 

In the literature based study of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you do not JUST compare the book to the movie, though that of course is a fun thing to do.  We used the animated version of the movie as it is a bit less scary and some of my children really struggle with scary things causing them to shut down.  If the child shuts down, it really does no good to talk to them because they would not have heard or be able to think of any of the answers you are looking for.  So, back to the original thought process!  In addition to comparing to the movie, with this study your child will learn to write a rough draft.  Now, it might not be a perfect one, but they learn the process as well as how to use possessive nouns, the correct forms of plural(use the rules of plural correctly), and practice logical thinking.  That last one quite a few of my children have issues with.  Their brains are not quite at a point that they can think logically and rationally.  I am always looking for new ways to encourage this.  I really did not have to worry for this study though because the child who was doing it does not need those special helps.  I have packed away some things in my brain though to study and try out with the others.

Now!  Let’s talk about who used this study. My oldest daughter who is 9 years old and working at a 3rd to 4th grade level was the one bouncing off the walls with happiness about this review product.  No joke.  This is one of her favorite books and a first time for her  reading it on her own.  At the end of the day she would spend time talking to daddy and discussing what she had learned with him.  This was probably my favorite part.  Watching them connect over school.  With all of his chores to keep our farm going and his business(work), he’s not home during school to help with the kids a lot.  I love that he can be involved over supper talking to them about what they’ve learned and having these types of discussions.  The other part of Literature based learning that is so wonderful to me is that we can go into detail over the age-old philosophy of good vs evil.  This book is wonderful for that and is a lot of what daddy and Bridgett discussed.  Also the use of power and how power can corrupt.  Daddy also brought up absolute power and the power of God and it made for some fun discussions.  The other children would chime in as well and it made me wish I had a way of recording the discussions for my kids to hear themselves in a few years!W

Wow!  All that on the first Literature Based Learning unit from Moving Beyond the Page.  Let’s move on to our Social Studies Package for Early Explorers.

 

 

 

I chose the Early Explorers course for my oldest son.  He is 7 but is at the same level with his older sister.  He is very competitive and doesn’t want her to get ahead of him in school so he works to keep up.  He also is gifted and really has not had to work hard.  This study is also geared for ages 8-10 or grades 3rd-4th with a reading level of 4th-5th.  We received the physical study for this one which can be purchased for $33.97.  An online version is also available to purchase for $29.91.  For this we received the study guide(in physical format), and two physical books.  These books are Explorers Who Got Lost and Exploration and Conquest The Americas after Columbus: 1500-1620.  

The reason we chose this study is that my son currently is very interested in learning about exploration and this time period.  He’s really loving history!  I, of course, like to encourage him in his love of history and help him learn as much as he wants.  This study was perfect for him.  In the study your child will get to explore with the explorers and then think about what the explorations meant.  What did they mean to the Native people of the land?  What their exploring mean for the countries doing the exploring?  What was gained?  What was lost?  This is some powerful thinking for an 8-10 year old(or 7-year-old in our case)!  Of course, you then have to decide what an explorer needed to go on his exploration.  Patrick had some mock explorations that he did with this study.  

It was so fun for him!  He became the explorer.  We went up on our hill(bluff) and we explored in a way we really haven’t done before.  We looked at what someone who had never seen this land before would see.  I think it opened all of our eyes to a new way of looking at our little world.  It was fun for the whole family to take our adventure hike.  This study is recommended to be used with another study titled Pedro’s Journal which is a language arts package; however, it does very well on its own and they do not need to be done simultaneously.  

In one of the lessons, the study guide included some explorer cards that your child fills some information in on.  These my son filled out, cut out, and then carried around talking to anyone who would listen about the explorers.  I really think we’ve created a monster in this boy!  I can’t wait to see what he does next in his quest for knowledge!  Wait that makes him an explorer of knowledge!  Oh yes, he loves this designation.

Need to learn more about Moving Beyond the Page and their approach to Literature Based Learning?  Not sure if you would like the studies we did but want to see if there are others you would.  Maybe the Science?  Well check out the Main TOS Blog Crew Post and read other reviews from fellow exploring children of the Moving Beyond the Page Curriculum.  You can also find Moving Beyond the Page on Facebook.