If you’ve been a reader of my blog since the beginning, you would have read about my trials and tribulations trying to find “the perfect curriculum” and “the perfect schedule” for our homeschooling journey. I liked elements of The Well-Trained Mind. I felt comfortable with Charlotte Mason and related to her philosophy. I experimented with unschooling, but nothing felt “right” by themselves.
Eventually, I discovered project based learning and we discovered our niche. We started doing a structured morning, with math, language arts, Latin, and our review items. However, after lunch was left open for Morgan to explore her own desires. If she couldn’t “find” anything to do, rest assured, there was always “structured” history and science. But, if she found something that she wanted to learn about, it typically was in either of these topics, so all was good. This schedule STILL works for us and it works well.
Imagine my surprise when I received Creek Edge Press Task Cards to review and as I was reading through the Task Card Approach and the About Us page, I felt as if the author’s experiences mimicked my own. I couldn’t believe that someone had made a curriculum help which actually planned for open ended learning through specific tasks. I immediately wished I had these cards years ago!
I received the Chemistry and Great Scientists Task Card Set. The set contains 30 task cards for students in grades K-8 and an introductory booklet which is a small “teacher’s manual.” The set retails for $18. There is a week’s worth of tasks on each card.
I was surprised at the amount of work. Even though many were open ended tasks, they were substantial and did not have a “busy work” feel. The tasks were set up so she could work them independently. This is would not be the case for younger kids. The tasks set-up also ensured that the learning kept her interest.
The Introductory Booklet is 13 pages. It gives an introduction, tips for approaching the tasks, preparing the environment, book lists and tips, and card by card suggestions. I used the card by card suggestions the most, since that is where the “type” of experiment is explained. It also gives details as to whether the author thinks parental help is needed for activities.
One of the largest benefits of this program is that there is no firm book list. There are suggested titles you can use, however, the suggestions are vast. This program is highly adaptable to many books and supplementary resources.
In the gallery section of the website, you will find pictures of sample task cards from each set.
Since I thought these worked so well with our afternoon project times, I will definitely be purchasing more of these cards for next year. You will find a full selection of history and science task card sets which can be used to follow The Well Trained Mind’s rotation.
Further questions can be answered through Creek Edge Press’s Frequently Asked Questions page or their Contact Us page.
You can read what my crew mates thought of Creek Edge Press Task Cards at the TOS Homeschool Crew's website.
**As a member of the 2011-2012 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I was provided product free of charge by Creek Edge Press for my HONEST opinion. No other compensation was received.**
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