Review of the E-Book: The Curiosity Files – Blue Diamonds

Cover page of Ebook

The Facts:

E-Book: The Curiosity Files™- Blue Diamond: Explorations with Professor Ana Lyze—Expert in Outlandish Oddities

TOS--The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
2010 The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC
P.O. Box 8426, Gray, TN 37615
Customer Service --- 1.888.718.HOME
http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/

To view a sample of this E-book, click here.

$6.95
Ideal for ages 8–13

Other products available at The Old Schoolhouse Store dealing with The Curiosity Files theme:

E-Book: The Curiosity Files - 9 Pack Bundle

Other titles in The Curiosity Files cover the following topics:

MRSA, 

Puffer Fish, 

Red Tide, 

Dung Beetle, 

Zombie Fire Ants, 

Blue-footed Booby, 

The Cicada Killing Wasp, 

and Quicksand.

All of the nine different themes can be bought as a collection or separately.

This particular E-Book, which was provided as a PDF download, provided about 90 pages of fun in the following such subjects pertaining to blue diamonds:

HAND-WRITING and BIBLE - Verses were provided throughout the unit which balanced the materialism of owning gems;

MATH - Assignments included measurement, in carats, of a diamond; 

READING - List of books relating to topic offered; this is good for the gifted and talented children who get bored with just the fact-giving; it's good to challenge the children; it's good for older students;

WRITING - Guided responses and writing prompts encouraged about what was been learned;

SCIENCE - Lab experiments seemed interesting and easy to use; especially liked learning about how a blue diamond is formed; and

ART - Coloring pages and activities, like making a jewelry box, were perfect for a hands on learner.

For art, my six year-old daughter decorated a box with diamonds.

My review:

This year, I have not had much time to teach enough science or to do unit studies with my children. That's why I was glad to be introduced to this unit. A lot of information was given as to the HISTORY of this rare gem--the blue diamond. GEOGRAPHY included where blue diamonds can be found in the world. The unit, I found, covered the main subjects that need to be taught.

I'm very much in favor of using technology 
to teach so that was a big plus.

TECHNOLOGY was brought into the learning, with lists of websites to research about blue diamonds.  That is super for the upper grades.  Internet is a wonderful resource to study the blue diamond.  Also, kids who like to study up on rocks and minerals, and the like, will learn new facts from this E-book.  I asked my high schooled son to research on the web, and he wrote down a few facts based on his findings.

CRITICAL THINKING was tapped.  This unit offered thought-provoking information.  It caused my 11 year-old hyper child to keep attentive to the high-interest reading. I liked the worksheets. There were fill-in-the-blank worksheets to review what has been learned. One of the blank worksheets asked my son to fill in the parts of a blue diamond; he especially liked the culet--the pointiest part of a diamond.

VOCABULARY activities were fun.  Spelling is required in Texas so I was glad to see vocabulary words were provided.  I asked my children to do the crossword and word puzzles because I thought that would entertain them, while they learned.  My older daughter, who enjoys learning about rocks and minerals, found the activities interesting.  This unit was not for emergent readers.

Presentation of information with colorful pictures throughout the unit broke the monotony of data; this is good for a visual learner.  I enjoyed the fact that the information was simple.  There were facts that I enjoyed like how the royalty used diamonds in the past.  I did not know about the specific cuts of diamond, either.  I think this E-book is more for middle school children and less for teens in high school; my thirteen year-old daughter enjoyed it. 

I liked the layout of the E-book.  Having been taught how to critique educational material years ago, I found it easy to use this E-book.  It was well-organized.  Some E-books that I come across leave out a Table of Contents page, leaving one to wonder what is covered and on what pages.  I liked the easy to use worksheets.

Of course, one other important factor is whether a unit provides the ANSWERS to the worksheets. This unit gave the answers for most of the worksheets at the end of the unit. I was glad to see that because there are PDF's that I've come across that leave out the answers.  I say that's a big no-no, especially if a vendor wants to make money.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my review.  I truly liked learning about blue diamonds.  When looking at a unit study such as this, a homeschooling mother often ends up learning alongside her children.  It was pleasant to be presented with this chance to review this E-book--The Curiosity Files--Blue Diamond.

Thanks for reading this entry.  I hope you will click on the links above to visit The Old Schoolhouse website.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry has been part of the Family Fun Fridays series. 

I received a free copy of this E-book in exchange for a fair review of this curriculum.