Owlegories

My kiddos like getting curricula and books in the mail as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, but they get really excited when we get something like a DVD to review. It seems more like fun than work, and, of course, they never get tired of hearing, "We need to watch this video for school today." So, as you can imagine, they were pleased when a package from FishFlix.com arrived at our door. They were even happier when they opened the package and found a video about the things of God. My oldest son had watched the trailer with me on YouTube before the DVD came and was excited to tell his siblings about Owlegories: The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly.

Owlegories is an animated series in which owls teach kids about God through the use of allegories. (Did you catch the play on words in the title? Cute!) The episodes teach about God's nature and truths found in His Word by using elements found in nature. The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly is the second DVD of the series.

 

In each episode, the Professor sends the owl students (Joey, Nora, Violet, Gus, and Twitch) on an adventure. Along the way, they learn important truths, have fun, and are attempted to be foiled by the "bad guy" Devlin and his sidekick Fink. At the beginning of class, the students quote the owl pledge:

 

We love to learn about creation.

It helps us become wise. 

God's nature is all around us,

If we look through heaven's eyes.

The Ant
In this episode, the owl students go to a maple syrup farm. (This was so exciting to my kids as this month we were able to tap trees to make our own maple syrup too!) A colony of ants teach them 3 ways in which followers of Christ should be like ants based on Proverbs 6:6:

1. They work together.
2. They are hard workers.
3. They plan for the future.

My kids favorite part about this one was Gus's silly song about how God made everything.

The Fruit
Galatians 5:22-23 is the key verse for this episode. The students head to an apple orchard where they learn about the Fruits of the Spirit and are introduced to some bad fruits, too. My kids laughed at the impersonations that Twitch did of the other characters. It was even one of his impersonations that saved their apples from being stolen by Devlin to make the perfect pie!


The Butterfly
The students learn in this episode that creepy crawly bugs are not all bad. They observe the change of caterpillars as they morph into chrysalises and then transform into butterflies. They learn from II Corinthians 5:17 how Christians are like the butterflies:

1. God looks at our heart. It does not matter what we look like on the outside.
2. A caterpillar changes into a butterfly just as we are changed through salvation.
3. Just as the caterpillar is free when it becomes a butterfly, we find true freedom when we accept Christ as our Savior.

My kids loved when Devlin got "eaten" by a big fish!

At the end of each episode, there's a recap about the truths we can learn from God's Word. Then, there's a follow-up portion with known Christians (authors, pastors, etc.) where the truth is expounded on.

The entire video is about a half hour long and kept my kiddos entertained. More than that though, it taught my kids about God on their level. Because the episodes and lessons are short to keep the attention of little ones, there are aspects that get skipped, like the need to boil the maple sap to turn it into syrup or the actual time frame of metamorphosis. These things are not necessarily a big deal, but open up another teaching moment with the kids. Also, Owlegories does not use the King James Bible for their verses, so that was another detail that my kids pointed out.

All in all, my little ones love this video. They laugh at Gus, walk around singing the songs, and ask to watch it often. We've even downloaded the app and watched another episode that way. I see more Owlegories finding their way into our house in the future.  

FishFlix.com is an online store offering thousand of high-quality Christian movies. Their business philosophy is based on the following verses: Colossians 3:17 and Colossians 3:23-24, meaning that whatever they do, they're doing it for God. They offer low prices on their DVDs along with free shipping. If you're looking to add some quality entertainment to your life, FishFlix.com will have what you need.

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You can read more reviews of this title and some of the offered by FishFlix.com by visiting the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

Moving Beyond the Page

Everyone's homeschooling style is different. Being a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we are blessed with many products and incorporate different types of curriculum into our day. In that sense, our homeschool could be considered eclectic. Overall though, the area of study that is close to my heart is literature-based. I believe it's important to both read and study quality literature to get a thorough education. Another type of learning that I have come to love is unit studies. Taking one topic and immersing ourselves in it has proved very rewarding and engaging.

We recently were able to review Moving Beyond the Page. Let me tell you right now, I love it! It's a literature-rich curriculum based on unit studies. They offer topics for preschool through middle school and leave no gaps in education as they meet state and national standards at each level. The units integrates science, social studies, and language arts through critical and creative thinking, projects, and concepts. The offer full-year curriculum and individual subjects. Each unit can be used independently, but is designed to be used concurrently with the other subjects. They can be completed in about 19 days. We chose Poppy for our literature study and Lifecycles for our science.    

The Poppy unit is geared for kids ages 7-9 at the 3rd-4th grade reading level. It uses the book of the same name, written by the author Avi. We had never heard of the book or the author before starting this unit, but we are so glad to be introduced to them. The material is written for the student to read the book himself, but I used it instead as a family-read-aloud with my 7, 5, and 3-year-old. We love to cuddle up on the couch and read together. Poppy is a book that we enjoyed from the very beginning. It's about a deer mouse who questions the cycle of power and stands up to a great horned owl. The book follows her journey as she deals with loss, meets a new friend, and finds courage. The study divides the book to be read 2 chapters a day, but we easily could have sat and read the entire thing in a day or two. Each day at the end of the second chapter, my kids would beg me to read more.

After the daily reading, there are activities that further the study. Things like journaling, map reading, crafts, word study, character development, and discussions kept my kids busy.

 Many skills are strengthen in this study:

• Analyze characters' actions and the consequences. 
• Ask and answer relevant questions.
• Develop vocabulary by listening to and discussing both familiar and conceptually challenging selections.
• Identify synonyms and antonyms of words.
• Increase oral and written vocabulary by listening, discussing, and composing texts when responding to literature that is read and heard.
• Use correct punctuation in own writing.
• Use structural cues such as prefixes and suffixes to recognize words.
• Examine food chains in nature.
• Evaluate rules and laws and appropriate consequences for noncompliance.
• . . . and many more!     

We used the online version of the curriculum ($25.91), but there is also a physical option ($29.97). Both choices include a paperback copy of Poppy and an owl pellet. I've admitted before that I prefer to have a paper copy in my hands, but I was quite please with the digital curriculum. Each day, I would pull up the study on the iPad before we'd start reading. It was very easy to follow and easy to understand. It would also keep track of the portions we had accomplished. There were also worksheets that we printed to use. I'm not sure if I should say this because I know my electronic husband will tease me for finally agreeing with him, but I truly enjoyed the convenience of the online curriculum.

  

A real highlight was definitely dissecting the owl pellet. We learned that owl swallow their prey whole and then regurgitate the feathers, fur, and bones that could not be digested. The thought it was disgusting at first, but quickly got over the gross factor and enjoyed searching for the bones. 

We have enjoyed this study so much that we have gotten the next book in the Poppy series from the library. We are also surprising the kids with their very own Poppy pet mouse this week!

After finishing the literature portion each day, we'd move on to the Lifecycle study. The science program is designed to encourage the love of learning through a hands-on inquiry-based approach. Instead of focusing on one subject for the year, they approach science in a spiraling matter and cover many aspects each year at an age-appropriate level.

In the Lifecycles unit, the student examines the life cycles of plants, insects, and animals. He will learn the role that each plays in the life cycle of others. This study is also best for ages 7-9 at the 3rd-4th grade reading level.

Again, there are both online ($41.86) and physical ($45.92) options of the curriculum. Both packages include 2 paperback books (What is a Life Cycle? and Who Eats What?) and a butterfly house kit. We used the spiral-bound copy of the curriculum.

 
My kids enjoyed learning about the stages in the life cycles of various things. There are many hands-on activities included in the study. They were busy drawing the cycles of grasshoppers, assembling puzzles of chickens, gluing salmon cycle wheels, labeling mealworms, identifying characteristics of living things, and creating pasta butterfly life cycles.

Some of the skills included are as follows:

• Evaluate rules and laws and appropriate consequences for noncompliance.Classify and sequence organisms, objects, and events based on properties and patterns. 
• Conduct simple investigations.
• Identify the interdependence of plants and animals.
• Observe and recognize that living things need food, air, and space to grow. 
• Understand the interdependence of plants and animals.
•  . . . and more.

  
We loved reading the books together and learning about the lifecycles. We chose not to order the larvae at this time, but we are looking forward to using the butterfly house in the future.  They especially liked the end of the study when they got to create their very own species of animal. One had an acid shell, while another possessed a poisonous sword-like tongue!  

The level of difficulty for these units was perfect for my 7-year-old. Some of the material was fun, and other parts were demanding enough to challenge him. My 5 and 3-year-old were able to participate in quite a lot of the activities, as well. I didn't have them do the most difficult writing assignments, but they did just about everything else with my help.  The each had a two-pocket folder to contain their worksheets and projects. They enjoy flipping through all they've done and discussing what they've learned.

Moving Beyond the Page has been a joy to use. It is thorough, challenging, and engaging. We will be ordering other units for sure!


Many of the other unit studies were chosen by my Crew members. Make sure to check out some of their reviews.