Thursday, June 24, 2010

DNG Sunny Seashells

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Download N Go:  Sunny Seashells

Ages: k-5th grades
$7.95 Get It HERE!


The waves rolling in, with the sun high in the sky, warm southerly breezes blowing this is where I grew up. On the southeast coast, the beach, marsh and water was something I took for granted, but having moved midwest, miss. When I was given Download N Go Sunny Seashells by Amanda Bennett, I became very interested because having grown up with seashells, it intrigued me to see what information would be offered for our littles about such a fun topic. Download N Go is a The Old Schoolhouse unit study that is easy to use with a quick download from your computer. It offers five days of study materials that will cover the subjects of handwriting, science, geography, spelling, and more! The graphics are colorful and attractive. Included are internet links for you and your child to do together~be sure and monitor this with your child for safety's sake.

DNG is useful as an extension of ocean studies~or as a stand alone unit study~you decide!  You could use this material to launch into greater in depth study. One thing I did think of is this will be enhanced if you own a seashell collection. I have collected seashells for years and how fun to categorize actual shells based on the instruction!! Is there an oceanography center/museum or institute nearby? Now is the time for a visit! Go to the beach and pick up seashells, find a way to extend the wonderful activities and information in Sunny Seashells! If you don't have the resources nearby, then the reading list will be of greater importance with the large pictures and information to share with your child.

Included are lapbooking and hands on activities. You can prepare these yourself for your younger children by pre-cutting them out and having them ready to go each day, or for a child who is learning to cut or an older child, let them do it so that their skills increase in this area. One thing I have thought of that would be neat with the DNG series is to have an uncolorized part or version for those children who like and need coloring experience. Fine motor skills are enhanced with these activities in the hands-on extensions.

Of course, you never have to do it all, but you will want to do as much as you can! Each day has objectives that are easy to accomplish. For example:

Day 1: Seashells—What Are They?

1. Let’s talk about seashells—what is your favorite seashell?
2. What are the main parts of a seashell?
3. Seashell of the Day: the giant clam
4. Seashells Around the World: Ireland

Remember that you can do all or just what you need to accomplish as DNG is completely customizable!

There's a library list of reading resources that many if not all are in the public library system. Don't feel obligated to purchase these books, but if you want to, then go ahead. If you have other books, you can use them as well. It's up to you! The list is categorized by each day too~no guess work! I like this!!


About lapbooking~if you've never constructed one of this, it requires a few simple supplies: paper brads, a file foler, printer paper, scissors, glue and construction paper (if you want) and pencil for your child. HOW easy is this, when most of us have everything except the brads!! They are sold at the office suppliers and file folders can be gotten there or at Wal-Mart. Included for your use are a few links to give you some instructions on just how easy lap booking is for your child along with a few examples of them. This will take any guess work out for you!

There are games, activities, word lists and more here! I like the short answer questions too. This is a skill that is so useful in teaching our children to write essay answers for language arts!!

When your child completes the study, there is a certificate of completion to present~WOW! It's all complete for easy use and value!

Download N Go is a great deal for your k-5th grade child for
$7.95 Sunny Seashells is awesome!

1 comment:

Loretta said...

Hi

Just poppin' in from the TOS Crew.

Your review makes me wish for young children again, so I can use this material. (My sons are all in high school.)

I look forward to getting to know you this year - I enjoy your enthusiasm on the Crew Forums.

Loretta
http://homeschoolblogger.com/amnbooks/