We have spent several days over the past couple weeks learning about Puffer Fish! When we received this e-book, we had no prior knowledge of puffer fish except the one on Finding Nemo. I think this was a great advantage, because the information was new to all of us.
The Curiosity Files is a series of e-books produced by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. The Curiosity Files: Puffer Fish is an 85 page e-book sold in The Old Schoolhouse Store for $6.95 and is available for immediate download. You could also choose to buy a 9-pack bundle of Curiosity Files e-books for $46, a considerable discount over the individual price. (And you know I’m always looking for a good deal!)
This e-book is a unit study designed for ages 8-13. My children are 14, 7, 4 and almost 2. Although I have two kids on opposite ends of the “designed for” spectrum, we had no trouble adapting lessons for both of them. In fact, we included the youngest two in our lessons often. The lessons were a tad bit juvenile for my 14-year old, but I consider that a great opportunity to put him in the role of “teacher” to his younger siblings. He did a lot of reading for us and helped to oversee some of the hands-on projects. To keep the younger two engaged, we had them make puffer fish from play-doh or color puffer fish pictures during reading times.
This study covers many subjects. Obviously, we learned science. We also learned math as we measured the length of the different varieties of puffer fish and practiced exchange rates of American dollars to Japanese yen. A spelling and vocabulary list is included using words from the information presented in the study. There is also a list of recommended book resources and websites. Scripture copywork is included in both cursive and print options. Grammar lessons, crosswords and word searches, hands-on project instructions, and science fair board instructions are also included.
It would take several blog posts to discuss everything that was included with this study. I love that there was SOOOO much information and so many options. We were able to pick and choose those that attracted our interest and fit into our schedule. And this study came at just the right time for us, since we had just finished this year’s science curriculum.
I’ll be completely honest. I have a love-hate relationship with e-books. I love them because they are inexpensive. They are convenient, because they can be downloaded immediately. They don’t take up a lot of space, because you can store them on your computer or on a CD. You can choose which pages to print. Now, that’s what I love! What I hate is having to print them… I know! I know! I don’t have to print the whole thing… but, yes… I do! You see, that is a personality flaw. I feel like I have to print the whole thing, even though we would have had plenty of fun learning about puffer fish if we would have read from the screen and printed only those pages we truly needed. I’m working on getting over it! (If you are like me, and feel the need to print it all, be forewarned–there is a lot of color on the pages.)
Overall, I would highly recommend this study to anyone that enjoys unit studies or is looking for something to lighten up, freshen up and bring some fun into your homeschool. Now that I’ve been introduced to them, I am considering purchasing another one or two more titles to add a little more science to get us through the school year.
This is the play-doh puffer fish my AJ7 made…
Disclaimer: I did receive a complimentary copy of The Curiosity Files: Puffer Fish in exchange for an HONEST review.