Why I Love Visual Guide Workbooks

I'm not big on workbooks generally, but I love the Visual Guide Workbooks.   They feature colorful, fun, infographics packed with great information, and questions and activities to go with them.    I have a child who often struggled to pay attention to long written passages but  almost always remembered the stuff he saw in the pictures and diagrams.  That made these workbooks perfect for him.   

While the lessons aren't in any particular order they do tend to focus on some major themes.    And so I've put together a free printable guide to the topics in these books so that, if you wanted to you could use them to supplement things you are already learning about in your homeschool. I've found that it's ok to skip around in the books a little.   A friend of mine who's a reading teacher says it's good for kids to have access to both reading passages exactly at their levels, and ones a little lower and a little above their level, and I find this good advice.   So I organized my "guide to the guides" in a way that you could find all the pages in all levels of the book on a certain subject.   That could be useful if you were using this with more than one child as well. 

Solar System page from the Visual Guide to 3rd Grade

Look at that gorgeous page on space!  Space is a major theme in several of the Visual Guide books (see the bottom of this page for links to all the books and a listing of their major themes).   My child really responds well to colorful, quality graphics in workbooks and worksheets like these.  But while you can find a loot of great free worksheets online, pages with colorful backgrounds like this are expensive to print, so if you want something like this, it's actually cheaper in the long run to buy workbooks like these.  

Animals of Africa Map page from the Visual Guide to 1st Grade

All infographics are followed by activities and questions.  You can see what these are like on the lesson on Animals of Africa above.   There are more hands on cut and paste activities as well.

Ben Franklin page from the Visual Guide to 3rd Grade

 

Ancient Egypt page from the Visual Guide to 1st Grade

These books include a lot of pages from History too.    Most are are related to US history but in the 1st grade book there's a little world history sprinkled in as well, like the page on ancient Egypt shown above.   Each of these pages is followed up by questions, and often activities, on the following pages.

Human Anatomy page from the Visual Guide to 3rd Grade

Monarch butterfly page from the Visual Guide to 2nd Grade

 

There's so many great science topics included, too.   Animals, human health and anatomy, earth science, conservation, and more.  

Below you can find links to these books, and major themes in them.   I considered it a major theme if there were 3 or more sections related in some way to it.   These are of course just a few of the topics included in these books.

Visual Guide to Kindergarten

US Symbols, Plants and Farming,
Animals Life, Inventions


Visual Guide to 1st Grade
National Parks and Monuments,
American History, Native Americans*, 
US Government/Our Capitol, Africa, World Cultures,
Animal Life, Environment and Conservation,
Space, Weather

Visual Guide to 2nd Grade
American History, Presidents/Patriotic Symbols,
National Parks and Monuments,
Animal Life, Earth Science, Sports, Weather*



Visual Guide to 3rd Grade
National Parks and Monuments, American History,

 Environment and Conservation, Animal Life, Sea life,
Earth Science, Space, Technology, Health

Free Printable Topics Guide
Use this guide to find topics in the
Visual Guidebooks to supplement
your homeschool lessons

Opinions are all my own.   I was not paid to promote these products but this post does contain affiliate links through which I could earn commission. 

Archaeology + Paleontology Layer Cake

All photos on this page are by Megan Evans

Don't have a yard suitable to doing fun archaeology digs in?   Well, then just try layer cake!

I can't claim to have come up with this brilliant idea.   That honor goes to amazing homeschool mom Megan Evans who made the archaeology/paleontology cake below, and graciously allowed me to share her photos of it here.

She didn't have a yard so she baked "artifacts" into a layer cake to "excavate" later.   That is the tastiest archeology dig I've ever heard of.
 

On the top we have a scrumptious campsite.

 

Then underneath we see the layers.

I like how she made the layers from

different color cake mix.   

 

The top layer had some modern items.

In the middle layer, a grave with grave goods.

(Love the use of the ring as a crown!)

And for the bottom layer, moving from

archaeology to paleontology, 

we have dinosaurs.

This is a project that would be so worth the sugar rush.  If you didn't want to eat through all that cake at once I could see gradually "excavating" it over several days.   For older kids you could have them string the top area off like a real archeology dig and diagram where they found things in the cake.  Such fun!   Thanks Megan for sharing this great idea!

TRIVIA  

• Archaeology and archeology are both correct spellings of the word in the US.   To learn more, read this. ) 

• Paleontology and Archeology, while they overlap some, are different.  Learn more here.

 

See More History Posts

Learning Games for Elementary

Playing games can be a great way to make learning fun, and spend quality family time together.   Below are a list of learning games you can use to practice and learn about various topics (for middle and high school games go here).   While there are many great online games too, in this list I'm only listing games you play offline with others (siblings, parents).    

Some of of these games are meant to be played with other children the same age.  If a parent is playing, I suggest adding an element of chance  to the parent's turn to make it more fair (For example, the parent could have to guess what hand your child is holding something in to be able to play their turn, or if it is a quiz style game, or the children could answer all the answers and the parent only moves if they get the answer wrong).   If an older child is playing with a younger child in a game of skill, I suggest giving the younger child some sort of similar advantage (a head start in a race game, two turns for every one turn the other child plays, etc.).

Most of the items on this list are free, but there are a few board games (some of which may already be in your closet) or printable games you can purchase which I've include, which are marked with a $. 

KEY

$ = Not a free resource

$ + $ = Free and not free resources

PK = Preschool (May or may not include 2-3 year olds)

KG = Kindergarten

EE = Early Elementary (KG - 2nd)

E = All of Elementary

LE = Late Elementary (3rd - 6th)

MS = Middle School/Junior High (6th - 8th)*

HS = High School (9th - 12th)*

K-12 = All school age (not PK)

ALL = All Ages (May or may not include 2-3 year old)

*Why do I even bother including MS/HS on an elementary school list?   Because sometimes its nice to find a game you can play with the whole family that everyone can learn from.   If you're looking for more games for Middle and High School, check out Ellen McHenry's Basement.

Mixed Skills
Educational Bingo Games
Jump and Learn Game

5 Learning Games (these can be used for various skills, ALL) 

Early Learning Skills

Colors and Shapes

Jump and Learn Game (Requires chalk, PK/KG)

Dino Sort - Teaches Sorting/Classifying (Printable, PK/EE)

Soccer Spin - Probability, Predictions, Tally Marks (PK/K)

Math

Various/Mixed Math Skills

Angry Bird Math - Counting/Probability (Printable, EE)

Storm the Castle Game (EE)

Sheep Herding Math (ALL)

Math Card Games, Various (Requires Card Deck, PK/E)

Traditional Native American Games Organized by Math Skill (ALL)

6 Math Games (board and card games to use for learning math $)

Bluebird Math Circle (All) - Math activities for various ages, many of which are related to Native American history and culture.  

Number Recognition

Number Bingo (Printable, PK/KG)

Jump and Learn Game (Requires chalk, PK/KG)

Subsidizing (Ability to quickly tell how many of an object there is)  

Caterpillar Number Match (Printable, PK/KG)

Ten Frames War (Printable, PK/KG)

Skip Counting
Various skip counting Games (Printable, KG, EE)

Place Value
Place Value Game (Printable, EE)


Money

Coin Recognition Game (Printable, ALL)

Race to a Dollar (Printable, Requires Change, EE)

Coin Recognition Games, Various 

Monopoly (Board Game, LE/MS/HS $)


Addition
Five In a Hive - Mental Math/Adding to 5 (Printable, PK, K, EE)
Find 10 - Adding to 10 (Printable, K/EE)
Adding to 10 Game (Printable, K/EE)
Adding Up to 12 Game (Printable, E)
Adding Dice Game (Printable, Requires Dice)
Race to a Hundred  +10/Number Charts (Printable, EE)
15 Game (Printable)
Sea Slide Addition Game (Printable, EE)
Addition Facts that Stick - 5 Week Game Based Curriculum (Printable or Book, E, $)

Subtraction
Subtraction Facts that Stick - 5 Week Game Based Curriculum (Printable or Book, E $)
Dino Subtraction Game (Printable)
No Prep Subtraction Game (Printable)
Robot Subtraction Game (Printable)
 

Number Lines
Frog Jump Number Line Game (Printable, E)


Multiplication

Loot the Pirate Ship (Printable, LE)

Multiplication Games by Games 4 Learning (Printable)

Multiplication Facts that Stick - 5 Week Game Based Curriculum (Printable or Book, E $)

Kingdominoes (Board Game, LE/MS/HS $)

Multiplication Facts Games by Cooties and Cuties (Printable Games, LE)

Division
Loot the Pirate Ship (Printable, LE)
Division Facts that Stick - 5 Week Game Based Curriculum (Printable or Book, E $)  

Fractions
Monster Math: Factions vs Decimals (Printable, LE)

Decimals
Monster Math: Factions vs Decimals (Printable, LE)

Prime Numbers
Loot the Pirate Ship (Printable, LE)


Area 

Area/Array Game (Printable)

Area of a Triangle Card Game (MS/HS)


Language Arts

Various/Mixed
Language Arts Adventure (EE)


Alphabet - Letter Identification
Jump and Learn Game (Needs chalk, PK/KG)
Alphabet Bingo (Printable) 
Bunny Hop Alphabet Game (PK, EE)

Reading - Phonics
Uno Style Phonogram Game (Printable, E $)
Hard and Soft G Go Fish (Printable, E)
Homophones Game (Printable, E)


Reading - Sight Words
Rotten Bananas (Needs Colored Paper, K, EE)
Sight Word Go Fish (K, EE)

Spelling
Spelling Balloon Game (Need Balloons, Sharpie, E)
Boggle Word Game (E/MS)

Grammar
Silly Sentences (Puzzle Game or Board Game, E, $)

Vocabulary
Various Vocabulary Games

Prefixes/Suffixes and Greek/Latin Roots

Affixes and Roots Games (LE/MS/HS)

Greek Roots Tarsia Puzzle (LE/MS/HS)

Roots and Affixes Go Fish (LE/MS/HS)

Writing/Composing

Campfire Storytelling Game (All Ages)

Computer Coding

Computer Coding Game  (Requires Cards)
Computer Coding game
 

Geography

World
Various Geography Games by Ellen McHenry (Various Ages)
Coleoptera (Beetles/Weevils) Around the World (printable, LE/MS/HS)


South America
Birds of Brazil Bingo (K-12)

Antarctica
Scientists of Antarctica (LE/MS/HS $) 

US States - Multiple States

13 Colonies Game (K-12)


US States - Specific States

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Geogrphy/Geology - Bottom of Page (K-12)

Texas
Ride 'em Cowboy Texas Game (E)

Foreign Language

French
On Vacation Around the World (in French) (Printable, E 7+/MS)



Health/Nutrition
Fruits and Vegetable Nutrition Game (ALL)



History 
The first section are game from historical time periods, and others are games that teach about these time periods.

Historical Games
These game are actual games played in ancient cultures and other times in the past.   They are useful for living history style exploration.  

Senet - Ancient Egyptian Game (LE/MS/HS)

Ancient Egyptian Snake Game (ALL)  

Ancient Rome - Tabula, an Ancient Roman Game (LE/MS/HS)  

Rota - Roman Tic-Tac-Toe (ALL)

Native Americans - Games from the Aboriginal People of North America (ALL)

World History

History Buffer Games (Various Eras - Printable, LE/MS/HS $ + $)

Egyptian Trivia Game (Printable, LE/MS/HS)

Digging Up Greece (LE/MS/HS)

Zeus on the Loose (Card Game, E/MS $) 

Age of Exploration Dice Game (E/MS $)

Viking Voyages (LE/MS)
    + My Viking Voyages Expansion Pack (LE/MS/HS)

Age of Exploration Dice Game (LE)

Sail the Seas - Explorers/Bodies of Water (LE/MS/HS)

Storming the Bastille French Revolution  (LE/MS/HS)

US History

History Buffer Games - US History (Printable, LE/MS/HS $ + $)

Great Depression Simulation Dice Game (LE/MS)

Bluebird Math Circle (All)
Math activities for various ages, many of which are related to Native American history and culture.

Religion (Christian)

Journeys of the Apostle Paul Game (LE/MS $)

St. Patrick of Ireland (LE/MS $) 

Science

General/MISC
Scientists of Antarctica (LE/MS/HS $) 


Animals and Habitats
Various Animal Games by Ellen McHenry (All)
Safari Animals Seek and Find (PK - K)
Phyla Ecology Game (LE/MS/MS)
Birds of Brazil Bingo ( K-12)
Birds of Prey (LE/MS/HS $)
Gastropods (Mollusks) Bingo (EE, MS, HS)
Poison Dart Frog (Requires cardboard, Lots of Set Up, E/MS)
Various Frog Games See links in post...it's more than just the pictured game  (Elementary)
Pond Scum - A Protozoa Game (LE/MS/HS)


Cells
Pond Scum - A Protozoa Game (LE/MS/HS)


Chemistry
Make 5 - A Game About Mineral Chemical Formulas ( LE, MS, HS)
Various Free Games by Ellen McHenry  (K-12)


Earth Science
Various Games by Ellen McHenry (K-12)


Nature Study
Nature Scavenger Hunt (K-12)



MISC

Family Friendly Version of Cards Against Humanity (LE/MS/HS)
Lego Building Game (Requires Legos, ALL 4+)
Various Lego Building Games  (Requires Legos, ALL 4+)
Bible Games, Various (ALL)
Concentration, Memorization, and Observation Games (LE/MS)  




Shared on Little's Learning Link-up

Easy Science Experiement: Milk + Dyes + Soap

This is a science experiment I did with my kids AGES ago...when my kids were so much smaller.   I loved how ARTSY this science experiment was.

It's fun and fairly simple. You will need:

• A shallow pan or bowl
• Milk
• Food coloring
• Dish soap

Fill the pan with milk. Drop several drops of different colored food coloring in different places in the milk. Then, squirt a small drop of dish soap in the middle of the dish soap. The colors will start to swirl as the dish soap reacts to the protein in the milk.  Like this...

Isn't that cool!  Of course, if you want to keep this "artwork" to hang on your wall then you'll have to take some pictures like we did.  I love how this also caught the reflection of the lights above our table.  Pretty cool!

LESSON IN COLORS
Use red, yellow, and blue food coloring to help teach younger children what colors are created when those colors mix.

EXPLORING DIFFERENT TYPE OF MILK
The blogger from Tots and Me commented that she tried this experiment with milk with different fat contents (1%, 2%, Whole, etc.) and that it does change the reaction.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT
I found this description of what causes the colors to swirl on About.com:

"The detergent lowers the surface tension of the liquid so that the food coloring is free to flow throughout the milk. The detergent reacts with the protein in the milk, altering the shape of those molecules and setting them in motion."

So, what is "surface tension?"   You can learn more about it and do an easy experiment to find out here.

You can read an even more detailed description at the bottom of About.com's Magic Colored Milk Science Project Page.


FOLLOW UP

You can follow up/review this info while cleaning. When cleaning a greasy pan have children observe what happens to the grease when you fill a pan with water and then add a drop of dish soap (the grease will go to the edge of the pan). Talk about how that's the same thing that happened when we did the milk experiment.   Talk about how soap works to help get rid of grease.  

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Shared on Little's Learning Link-up, Throwback Thursday

Book Review (+Free Printable): 100 Scientists Who Made History

This post contains some affiliate links through which I can earn commission.

One of the great things about homeschooling is getting to make connections between different subjects.   As we study history, I wanted my son to learn about the great scientists of the past...but I wanted to do it in a light, fun way.  100 Scientists Who Made History with it's fun, useful visuals and brief, interesting descriptions of the life and contributions of scientists throughout history, was exactly what I was looking for (or nearly that...I'll explain why later).

The book contains a wide array of scientists from various cultures from ancient through modern times.   Fifty-five of these (yes, I counted) are given full page features, brimming with fun facts about their life and work.   

 The rest of the 100 scientists are given brief paragraphs on pages like these...

So, why was it only NEARLY what I was looking for?   Well, because ideally, the scientists would be arranged in chronological order, making it easier for me to supplement my history lessons.   This book, though, was arranged by topic (a perfectly reasonable and useful way to arrange a book of this sort, but it didn't work well for my purposes).    To fix that, I made a chronological list of the scientists featured in the book,  which you can grab at the link below....

100 SCIENTISTS WHO MADE HISTORY

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST

Quick Organizing Tip

When I have a book like this that I want to be used for my history lessons, I will mark the pages I want to use for the next era/section with post-it-notes marked with either the date or chapter.   I also keep a notepad on my computer, organized by chapter, where I list resources I want to use in the future.   I'll stick post-it's in my spine in chapters I have extra resources for, reminding me to check that list. 

For more ways to combine science and history, 

check out my list of resources here. 

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Field Trip: La Jolla Tide Pools, San Diego

My son is fascinated by sea life.   Right now he says he wants to be a Marine Biologist.  (Of course, earlier this year he wanted to be a chef, so we'll see if this one sticks.)  But regardless, living so close to the ocean there's plenty of opportunities to feed his interest.

We recently took a trip to the La Jolla tidepools, which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

The day was a little clowdy, but he didn't mind.   The spot was nice...plenty of deep tidepools, but also adjacent to some sandy beach areas that were better for swimming (no nearby bathrooms though).  

He brought his goggles and snorkel...a replaced birthday gift (the original one got lost on his FIRST trip to the beach with it.   Snorkels and waves do not mix!   But it was perfect for tidepool exploring).  

Before and after the trip we read the passages about tidepools in One Small Square:  Seashore by Donald Silver.   The "One Small Square books are some of my favorite for learning about different habitats.   They include activities, but we didn't do any this time because we were meeting with some other homeschoolers and I wanted my son to be free to play and explore without direction.   But the book built up ideas for the trip and gave us some great ways to talk about it and learn from what he'd seen.


(DISCLOSURE:  Above are affiliate links through which I can earn commission.)

If you're in the San Diego area and want to visit this particular spot on the beach, it's at 321 Coast Blvd, La Jolla, CA.

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Child's Discovery

Fruit like molecules
Clustered together
Science in a bowl 

A little poem I made (not a haiku...just a poem) after my son told me he thought the fruit in the bowls looked like "cells."     

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Field Trip: Seals in San Diego

So, we recently moved from Waco, Texas to San Diego, California.  I grew up in California, and it's nice to be back.  One of the best things is being so close to the ocean.  While it's a little cold for swimming right now we had a great time going to visit the seals at Children's Pool (no pool...it's just a beach that's called that where seals come when they are pupping...which I've read is Dec. 15 to May 15).

Here's some pics we got while we were down there....

Yes, yes that is a football next to that seal...

And here's a video of all the cute stuff we caught the seals doing...
(with commentary by my three boys)

These seals are Pacific Harbor Seals.   They are just one of the many seals and sea lions that can be found in California. 

And, if you've ever wondered  how to tell seals from sea-lions, there's a good guide here including a coloring page you can print:  How to Tell Sea Lions from Seals

At Children's Pool humans are not allowed to go down on the beach while the seals are pupping, but when seals come up on other beaches people can cause them real problems.   So if you are lucky enough to see a seal with pups on a non-restricted beach, give it some space, because mother seals sometimes abandon their baby seals if they are scared by humans surrounding them (and if humans pet the baby seals, the human smell can also cause them to abandon their pups). 

Seagulls however, are another matter.
(They're just as likely to harass humans as vice versus).


Not to leave them out, my eldest caught this shot.   He's still new enough to California to be amazed at getting close to a seagull...I'm not gonna kill the wonder.   And I like the shot he captured.

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Story of the World Ancient Times: Chap 10: Ancient China - Lei Zu and the Silkworm

Post contains some affiliate links, through which I can earn commission.

Below you will find our lesson and some helpful resources for the section in Story of the World Chapter 10 on Lei Zu, the women who discovered silk.  If you're not using that curriculum, just skip past the "While Reading" section below to find resources for learning about the discovery of silk, and silkworms. 

You can see all my lessons and Story of the World resources here.

STORY OF THE WORD - WHILE READING

Paragraph 1 - 4:  The Yellow River Valley
(Paragraphs based on Revised edition)

We used the world map from Map Trek - Ancient Times (part of their free sample pages) to find all the places mentioned in paragraph 1-3.  He remembered quite a bit...and  it's nice seeing some recall finally kicking in.  All the repetition really helps.

At paragraph 4 we also stopped to look at some pictures of Chinese boats in the "Great Waterways" section in DK Ancient China (a book we found at our library).

If you are breaking up the section into smaller parts for younger learners, this is a good place in the chapter to stop and take a break.

Paragraph 5 - End of Section
When we read paragraph 5 about Huang Di we also stopped and looked at the page in DK Ancient China on "Health and Medicine", since Huang Di is said in legends to have discovered medicine.

It's important to note that there was more than one Huang Di...another, Shi Huangdi is talked about in chapter 32 of SOTW...he was the Huang Di who conceived of the Great Wall of China and had the terra cotta soldier's built.  So if you are looking for info online about Huang Di, you may also find info on him.

BOOK SUGGESTION

In stead of reading the story in SOTW about Lei Zu we read Silk Princess by Charles Santore.   This was a fun story, which my son enjoyed, and I loved the illustrations, but it added magic elements and changed the tale in other ways, such as moving the discovery to the princess in stead of the queen (which I had a little less problem with, since in the last pages it explained that in some ancient tales the discovery was attributed to Huang Di's daughter, not wife).   I sort of wish I had stuck with the story as told in Story of the World, or taken the time to find another picture book that left out magic and just stuck with the plain story.   It's not that I mind magic in folk tales, but there's so few stories of ancient inventors, and even less so of FEMALE ancient inventors, that I would have liked to leave more of this in the rhelm of the conceivable, than make it into just another fable. 

MORE ABOUT SILKWORMS

Here is a time lapse video of a silkworm making a cocoon (I've started it at minute 2:10...you can go back and also watch them munching leaves and such, but that may take too much time for most kiddos).  

Here's a picture of silkworms....

Generally in the making of silk the silkworms are killed before emerging as moths to prevent them from chewing through the pod, thus damaging the silk strands.  But if they are allowed to emerge, the moth looks like this....

Pictures from Pixabay

ACTIVITIES

At our co-op we drank some Chinese tea together, and someone brought in actual silk worm pods for the kids to touch and play with.  Silk worm pods are used as a beauty product and as such can be ordered inexpensively online.

Depending on the season you can also sometimes actually buy silk worms online if you would like to watch the whole silk worm cocoon making process.   You can also buy just the eggs for a little less here.

ONLINE GAME
Color a silk worm and moth online.

FREE PRINTABLE
Life Cycle of a Silk Worm

LEI ZU DOLL
You can find a printable bracket paper doll in the free sample pages from this book on ancient paper dolls.   The link to the sample pages is under the picture of the book.  (They spell it Leizu, without a space). 

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