Bug Books for children

Like many home educators we often take a unit study approach to education, and since we have been collecting the new CODE books we have tied many unit studies into the topics covered by these books. The first cluster in CODE is Bugtastic - which makes this a great time to collect bug books - some of our favourites are:

CODE books 1 -4 Bugtastic

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - True this is at at even younger reading age, but it's a good confidence booster and lots of fun. You can also make lovely caterpillar print paintings by dipping a half of a potato in different coloured paints to make the body, drawing on some legs and adding some google eyes. You can also make a butterfly by folding an A4 paper in half, painting half the picture and then folding it over. If you want really fancy butterflies - cut out a butterfly shape from card. cut large sections out of the wings and paste coloured tissue paper over these for a stained glass effect.

Life Cycle of an Ant

The book begins by explaining exactly what an ant is. It explains that ants are invertebrates, insects and Hymenoptera ( a group of flying insects that includes ants, wasps and bees. I quite like this because it encourages children to start thinking about the scientific classification of organisms. It also teaches children the different castes of ants, their body parts and what the function of each part is. After this is a short section on colonies and nests, including a very interesting but brief paragraph on army ants making a living tent by linking bodies together to protect the queen and eggs when they rest during the day.

Only after learning the very basic facts about ants does the child move on to the main section, the life cycle. This explains the difference between life cycle and life span, has an illustration showing the process starting with an egg, which hatches into a larva, then a pupa and finally and adult. There are some excellent high magnification photos, as well as more detail information on each stage of the life cycle. You can actually see the eyes of a larva ready to hatch within the clear egg, and view worker ants bundling several eggs together to move them. There are several photos of larva and pupa as well including one very high magnification of a pure white pupa folded up in a cocoon which looks very much like something from a sci-fi flick.

Next we learn about the mating behaviour of ants, but there is nothing too graphic here.  A queen ant only mates once. She will remain fertile for life. After mating a new colony is formed. Finally, the book winds up with some details on the social lives of ants, diet and feeding and ants in danger or under threat. The final page is short section on making an ant farm and keeping ants.

We all really enjoyed this book. The boys loved the photographs which are of an exceptionally high quality show all sorts of tiny details. the magnification shows even tiny hairs on some of the ants, and all the photos are sharp and clear. They especially loved the pictures of the eggs, larvae and pupae. they also enjoyed seeing the different castes of ant : worker, soldier, queen and drones. There is one photo under feeding where one regurgitates into another's mouth which had the perfect level of gross for young boys.

I loved this book because, although written at a fairly easy reading level - I think most children could read this easily by age 7 - this does present a fair amount of scientific detail. It encourages children to think in terms of classification of species as well as to understand how the ants life cycle works, how creatures change as they grow, and of course something of the way these insects live in a huge group, each member with it's part to play.
Full review @dooyoo:
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/junior-book/the-life-cycle-of-an-ant/1706124/

Bugs by Number: Unique nook with all illustrations made only of numbers. Not exactly a counting book, but plenty to count if you wish as well as bug facts:
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/junior-book/bugs-by-the-numbers-sharon-werner/1711113/

An absolute must for insect identification in Britain:
Collins Complete British Insects - Michael Chinery

http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/non-fiction/collins-complete-british-insects-michael-chinery/1711468/


 Watch Me Grow: Butterfly: A very simple easy to read book, but lovely photos illustrating each step of the change.

Honey Bee's Hive - Mini Beasts

Army Ants - Mini Beasts

DK Eyewonder: Bugs

DK Insects

A Ladybug Larva Grows Up - Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers: Life Cycles

Incredible Insects

What is Pollination?  Big Science Ideas: An excellent resource showing how insects pollinate plants.

Uncover a Tarantula: Take a Three-Dimensional Look Inside a Tarantula!: A really fun book with a 3d model showing the insides of a tarantula as well as plenty of information about these creatures.

Ant's Bug Adventure - Bookband Blue level 4
Ants at Home - Project X - Bookband Lime level 11
Ant Meets the Queen - Project X Bookband Lime level 11
Ant Attack - Project X - Bookband Brown level 12
Ant Storm Project X - Bookband Brown level 12
The Swarm - Project X- Bookband Y5 Blue level  14
Wow Explained - Project X - Bookband Y5 Blue level 14

The project X books above include several reading levels.Ants at home is non fiction, and WOW explained is a unique cross between fiction and non fiction. The rest are part of a wonderful serial adventure involving children with special watches that allow them to shrink to microsized and explore the world on a whole new level. Ant's Bug adventure features and angry stag beetle, the next 4 titles are about ants and the final 2 feature bees.

 

Project X Code: Bugtastic and home education

Bugtastic is the first  cluster in Project X's new series CODE. These books are designed to be used with a phonetic approach to reading - and the emphasis is on phonetically decodable words. Each book in this series is divided into two sections. The first half is meant to be 100% phonetically decodable, to allow emergent readers to read with confidence. The second part of the book is 80% decodable, which allows the story to be more exciting. In the beginning a parent and child can share the reading of this book with the child reading the first half and the adult the second. As the child becomes more familiar with the text, they can then attempt the more complex section of the book.

Of course the big issue with "phonetically decodable" is that what is phonetically decodable for one child is not phonetically decodable for the next. Wikipedia defines decodable text as: "a type of text often used in beginning reading instruction. With this type of text, new readers can decipher words using the phonics skills they have been taught. For instance, children could decode a phrase such as "Pat the fat rat" if they had been taught the letter-sound associations for each letter--that 'p' stands for the sound /p/, 'a' for the sound /a/, etc." So - if they have not been taught these sounds - this text will not be decodable. I think the definition on righttrackreading.com is the easiest to understand: "In reading instruction, the term 'decodable' refers to words containing only the phonetic code the child or student has already learned." Since many phonics programmes begin only with soft letter most books in this series will not be decodable to children until they have moved on to long vowel sounds as well. This particular book, as well as the book number tow are an exception to this, using only soft vowel sounds with the exception of one single word "Bite" which is essential to this story, and the name of one character, Tiger. However, the series as whole does begin with reading level 3, and assume the child has had some previous instruction in phonics, including a knowledge of long vowel sounds for book 3.

Although designed for phonetic instruction, there is really no reason why you could not teach a child to read this book through whole language as well. The only difficulty is that there will be more unfamiliar words for a new reader because this series focuses on phonetically decodable rather than high frequency words. That said, with the exception of"Bite", I would expect every word in this particular book to be on high frequency word lists as well. The first half of this book uses a total of only 27 different words + the names of the five characters. All of the words are single syllable and very easy to read. I think "jump" and "visit" would be the most challenging.

With so few words, and such simple ones at that, I would expect the story to be a bit dull, as most phonetic readers are. The main drawback to phonics instruction is that by limiting the vocabulary used, stories become dull and children are often not motivated to read. This series was specifically designed to overcome that for children with reading difficulties and / or sen. The second part of the story does provide a richer vocabulary, but this entire series is also very highly visual. It is illustrated with beautiful computer generated imagery of the same quality level one would expect from a top of the line film animation studio like Dreamworks. Taken by itself, the text would be very dull, but the pictures suggest a far more exciting adventure story.

 The Bugtastic cluster, as one might guess has a lot of bugs. The children in this story have shrunk to micro-size so a preying mantis or even a grasshopper can look like a monster, and a slugs trail can become a very slippery hazard. Future sets will include all sorts of boy friendly topics such as space, vehicles, jungles, sharks, dragons, dinosaurs, and more.

In addition to the story, there are also a few pages introducing certain phonetic sounds which will be emphasized in this text, a few words broken down into phonetic components, a few tricky words and some questions or exercises relating to the story. This really is intended as a school book and the educational emphasis is obvious.

I've always been impressed with Oxford's range for beginning readers in general and Project X in particular. As soon as I saw this series, I knew it would be good. Looking through the first books I was very impressed from an educational standpoint, and I knew my sons would enjoy these. I did expect these to be read for pleasure as well as being used for school assignments ( I home educate). After all, my youngest at 4 is not reading yet, and my oldest at age 7 reads at a young adult level). They have been used for educational purposes as a refresher course in phonics for spelling improvement, and also just as base to build focus additional studies around. For instance with this unit we also read several non fiction titles on insects, and I think as school starts back next week we will do some bug art projects as well.

While I knew my sons would enjoy these books, even I was was surprised by just how much they enjoyed them. They were given money for Christmas by a generous Uncle, and rather than buy new video games as I expected, they both chose more books in this series. They have also been doing extra chores and saving up all of their pocket money to buy books. It is rare for my children to buy their own books - as they know Mom will eventually buy the books for them, but these books are expensive (£3.60 - £5.00 each, with the price going up when the page count increases from 24 to 32 pages) There are a total of 56 books plus the starter book which was over £7 so I can't very well buy the whole set all at once, and as I am buying as many as I can ( with help from dooyoo) they are also spending all of their money to add the set. Personally, I feel when a child is willing to choose school books over a new video game that is very high praise indeed.

My youngest says he likes these books because they have "the shrinky kids", whom he knows and loves from the previous Project X series. He says he really likes the baby dragon too. He says the books are funny, but most of all , I believe he enjoys imagining his own micro adventures. We often pause between books for him to describe what it would be like to do all the things in the book. To be miniature sized and see giant bugs, to go into space, or find a dragon.

My oldest says he loves the illustrations, and that the books are like a video game because you beat the boss of each world (the Bite) before moving on to the next level. He thinks the Wonders of the World will be the most exciting, but we haven't got to those yet, and can't wait to see what the big boss is for the whole set - very much like a video game. I think he must be using his imagination with these too though as he has often found a quite corner with a stack of these books and sat quietly staring at illustrations for far longer than it would take him to read the text.

I think these books are so wonderful. My children love them and they really are so much fun. They encourage the children to want to learn more about other subjects like we did with the bug unit. My youngest is learning some phonetic sounds from the phonics section at the beginning of the book and these will be wonderful when he starts reading n his own. My oldest is really far too old for these, as at age 7 he can read ata young adult level ( Thanks to the original Project X and Charlie Higgins) but he is still enjoying these, often reads to his brother, and I think they are helping his spelling as well.

This cluster is made up of ( in order):

1. The Web: This begins with a caterpillar style roller coaster and features a fright from a grasshopper - which looks a lot more frightening to micro- sized Cat. Featured phonemes: j,v,w,zz.

2. Cat's Quest: Poor Tiger has a tumble in a dripping puddle of slug slime before being carried off by an ant. Cat races to the rescue. Featured phonemes: x,y, qu.

3. Missing: This book features a short non fiction section on bugs as well a short story a Max, Mini and Ant search for Tiger and Cat. this story has more slick slug slime, much to the delight of my son as well as the first Bite of the series - a Preying Mantis. Featured phonemes: ch, th, sh, ng.

4. Bite Fright: The final book of this cluster sees team X battle the boss of this level, the Mantis Bite in order to progress pass through the exit door and progress to the next level. Featured phonemes: ai ee, igh.

Finally - phonetically decodable books that children really want to read.

Just over a year ago I was reviewing a number of books from Oxford's Project X series, which I dubbed the most exciting new development in children's books since Dr Seuss. Project X was a set of levelled readers which included both non fiction and fiction titles especially designed to bridge the attainment gap between boys and girls in literacy. While the series was designed to get boys reading - I see no reason why girls would not enjoy it every bit as much. There were 2 very strong female characters, and girls can enjoy action and adventure just as much as boys can. The series featured four children who discovered special watches which allowed them to shrink to micro size. At first it was all fun and games. I think every child has dreamt of shrinking down to the size of their toys, playing in their toy castles and riding in scalectrix cars - but soon it became an adventure as the team battled the evil Dr X.

I can't speak highly enough of my opinion of the original series, beginning with level one at age 5, within a year my son made it all the way to level 16 before growing bored with the series and moving on to young adult books and then graphic novels. These books made him really want to read, and I can remember him rushing to the post, happily abandoning a video game for a new book, and gave him the ability to read far more complex text. In addition to being a wonderful tool in developing literacy, they are also just good storybooks and both boys have rediscovered the original series now. My youngest absolutely loves them and Shrinky Kids books were one of the top items on their Christmas list.

But as much as we loved them - they did get some complaints for not teaching phonics. I happen to be a staunch supporter of phonics, and in addition to the Project X books - I spent a small fortune on Hooked on Phonics, Starfall Phonics and BOB books - however I believe most children will learn best with both phonics and whole language. Not every word in the English language is phonetic - and sounding out words takes too long. In addition to this, Phonics primers have never been very exciting - they were not the type of book children really wanted to read again and again. In all honesty - I never expected to find a completely decodable series of books with a high level interest for children - but I am over the moon to be proven wrong this time.

Project X Code is every bit as revolutionary as the original series - if not more so. The programme is designed for children with special educational needs or delayed reading levels - but I see absolutely no reason not to use this as beginning reading series for all children. The series uses synthetic phonics and is leveled just as the original series was to match the expected phonetic progression as children work through the different reading levels. It is not a series of phonics instruction ( project X has another series for that) but is is a series of phonetically decodable books beginning at a very easy reading level and progressing to more and more complex material in very tiny steps. This series provides very high interest reading material, which a child only just beginning to sound words out can start to enjoy.

So how did Project X accomplish the impossible and create a truly interesting series using only decodable words? Well - it appears they cheated just a little bit. They divided each book into two halves - the first half of which is 100% decodable. The second half is only 80% decodable. The idea is that in the beginning the child will read the first half of the book while a parent or teacher reads the other half until they are able to cope with both. Just as with the original series - the first books have limited text and a very small vocabulary, adding a few new words with each book until the child is reading fluently. Even the first books do have a distinct and enjoyable storyline - so much so that both my seven year old and my 4 year old enjoy listening to these. I was very surprised to see my seven year old take such an interest - he is very selective in picture books now, but the main theme of this story has really captivated him and he can't wait to get further books in the series as well. The main drawback at his age is that he can read the whole book in a few minutes - but at least he is still enjoying them. It is very unusual to find a book so easy to read that really interests an older child so much.

This specific book is not meant to be read by the child. My oldest read it easily, but it is intended to be read aloud by a parent or teacher to get the child interested in the series. It sets the scene for the rest of the series and is much larger as well. In this book a new micro-park is about to open , using technology similar to the watches used by Team X - or the shrinky kids as my son calls them. The entire them park is controlled by a computer named C.O.D.E. and built on a miniature scale. To enter the park, visitors must pass through a shrink ray, becoming micro-sized, but something has gone terribly wrong on opening day. The parks creator, Macro Marvel is trapped inside, sending out a desperate message to stop C.O.D.E. The super computer in the meantime is powering up with the intention of shrinking the entire world. Macro's daughter Mini, has rushed into the park to save him and is now trapped inside the park as well - the only ones who can help are Team X.

To defeat C.O.D.E. the team - with the help of Mini Marvel must travel through 4 levels in each of 14 worlds, overcoming the challenges and finally defeating the boss of each of world, very much like one would when playing the levels of a video game before taking on the main boss and clearing the game - or in this case series. To do this children must learn the vocabulary to read each book and read the code words at the end of each book. These are nonsense words used only to teach children to sound the words out and there is considerable debate as to the use of these. If your child is in school, this is part of the testing process so you may as well use them. If not the choice is yours, and I still haven't made up my mind. You can use the nonsense words or tape a wee post it over them using the most difficult words from the next book, or a combination of the non phonetic words from the book you are reading and new phonetic words from the next.

This book is illustrated using state of the art computer generated imagery, and it really is impressive. The books look like a video game, and the action , adventure and overall format make reading these very much like playing a video game. They have so much appeal - I believe most children will desperately want to read them. My four year old has now started reading his alphabet books regularly in an attempt to get ready to learn to read - specifically because he is desperate to read these himself. Completing each book gives the child the sense of satisfaction of completing a level on a favourite video game. Through out the series the shrinky kids will visit: a bug world, space, a dragon realm, a vehicle based attraction with all sorts of wild races, a jungle, an undersea zone, a waterfall zone, a polar region, a castle, a valley with volcanoes and dinosaurs, a zone with famous landmarks from all over the world, ancient Egypt, and finally Marvel Towers and C.O.D.E. control. There is certainly something here to fascinate any child - and this can easily be combined with other sources to encourage all sorts of learning.

This book was the most expensive of the series. I paid £7.15. This is because it is larger and includes an interactive CD- ROM with a short cartoon, teaching information and this book as well as the first 4 in the series all in an ebook format. The next books can be purchased from £3.20 each. This is terribly expensive - but I honestly believe a series like this can do more for my children than tuition in a high quality fee paying school - and compared to that - the price is peanuts indeed. It is a considerable investment - which is why I am really starting to collect the books now as story books before my youngest really needs them - but I can think of no better way to spend to my money then investing it in my children's education. So - all I can say is Thank God for Dooyoo who make it possible for me to afford some extras like this.

I think it is fairly obvious by now that I giving this book a full 5 stars - and that only because I can not give it 10. But don't take my word for it - you can read the whole book online here: http:// www.oup.com/ oxed/ primary/ projectx/ code/ Just take out the space after each /. This will give you a chance to see the quality of the animation as well. You can read the entire text of 4 of the main books on the Oxford Owl site as well, so you can see if this series suits you before buying any books. I read the free books with my children to gauge their interest - which was incredible before my first purchase. This series would work very well with or without the original series. I do feel the phonics set would be a real benefit to those using this, but it could be used with other phonics sets.

The best British childen's magazines for home education.

Having reviewed a large number of magazines for home education, I've decided to share our results.

1st place:
This went quite easily to Aquila. As I have included my full review just below this post I will not go into much detail. This is an excellent choice for education for many reasons. It has a strong emphasis on science, but also incorporates many other subjects. The very part though - is you do not even notice it is educational as you read it. The subjects are presented in such a way that it is truly fun for children rather than feeling like another school assignment. To find out more go to:
http://www.aquila.co.uk/

2nd:
Puffin Post: The main reason to subscribe to Puffin Post  is not the magazine at all - it is the books. A subscription to Puffin Post costs £45 and only includes 6 issues - one every other month. Each issue has articles on several books as well - but the best part is - you get to choose one book from each issue to be sent out to you as part of the subscription price. So the child reads the magazine, finds out about each book and then chooses the one they want to read the most.  I really liked these magazines, they are well written and cover a wide range of interests, but the part I like best is that they really encourage children to choose their own books.
To see my complete review please visit dooyoo@
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/magazines-newspapers/puffin-post/1672727/
or visit
http://www.puffinpost.co.uk/island/

3rd:
How It Works: An excellent science and technology magazine , listed as ages 8+. This magazine appears to combine articles for children with more adult articles.
see my review @
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/magazines-newspapers/how-it-works/1673149/
or visit their site:
http://www.howitworksdaily.com/offer/?gclid=CL6oz7Xb4LMCFebLtAod0V0AoA

4th:
Discovery Box: An excellent magazine for those who are looking for a publication that covers a wide variety of educational interests. The majority of the magazine is non fiction, and there is a good mix of subjects covered. Each issue has a has articles on science, nature and geography.
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/magazines-newspapers/discovery-box/1674163/
http://www.bayard-magazines.co.uk/gammebox/discoverybox.htm

5th:
National Geographic Kids:
We are letting our subscription to this magazine lapse. It simply had too much fluff and too many ads. But this is written at a lower reading age than most of these magazines, and with a limited amount of text makes easy light reading for younger children. Some issues are better than others, but you do learn something about science, nature and the world in each one.
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/magazines-newspapers/national-geographic-kids-magazine/1446517/

http://www.nationalgeographic-kids.co.uk/?infinity=gaw~Brand%2BUK%2BENG%2BSPART~National%20Geographic%20Kids~15066328099~national%20geographic%20kids~e&gclid=CM7_9-Xe4LMCFSHHtAodNEAA2Q

My review of Aquila Magazine

This review can be found on dooyoo, ciao, the Aquila website and in shortened form The Observer on Sunday 18, 02. 2012.

As many of you may know, I am passionate about children’s literacy. This was one of the major reasons behind my decision to home educate. I want my children to read well – but also to love reading. After all, as Mark Twain said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot.” I have also felt it important that children have a wide variety of reading material and enjoy reading from many different sources, so in addition to my massive collection of children’s books, I like to have at least one magazine subscription as well.
The problem is that finding really good magazines to appeal to boys of my son’s age and interests is difficult. We have subscribed to National Geographic Kids for some time, but the last issue was the final straw. My son read 9 pages of the magazine – but this amounted to very little text in bubbles alongside photos. The majority of the issue was advertising or writing about new products we could buy. It’s gotten to the point that each issue is like browsing through the Argos catalogue as the children come up with which items they want on their Christmas list. I did ask my son if he wanted to keep getting the magazine – he says he isn’t fussed with the magazine but likes some of the sweets and toys. I can buy sweets much cheaper at Tesco though, and the toys usually end up in the bin a few days later. So my quest for the perfect children’s magazine began.
After a fair amount of time researching online, I came across mention of AQUILA billed as “the magazine for children who enjoy challenges”. A bit of research shows this magazine was originally developed for “gifted and talented children”. In fact I have found one private school boasting that they use this magazine for their gifted and talented programme – and I could easily see designing a monthly curriculum around this. The company states that their current position is as follows: “we hope that AQUILA can inspire all children to reveal their brilliance”. Personally, I believe all children are gifted and talented. It is simply a matter of helping them to discover their own unique gifts and talents. After reading this magazine myself and with my son, I do believe this magazine is an excellent resource to do just that.
My only problem with this magazine was that the price was £45 and I was concerned that if we didn’t like it I’d be out a fair amount of money. I had never seen an issue and didn’t know anyone who had. They do offer a money back guarantee but I know it can take ages with some companies to get your money back. So, cheeky git that I am, I emailed and asked them to send me a sample copy which I would review, and if I found the magazine appropriate to our needs I would subscribe.
When my sample copy arrived, my first thought was “This is a bit thin”. It is in fact only 24 pages. By comparison NG Kids has 52 pages. Pulling a random copy off my shelf though, I found 21 pages of advertising, then we have 4 pages of pull out posters, none of which would be of any interest to us, and overall far too much fluff.
Once I started looking through AQUILA magazine my initial appraisal was quickly cast aside. It may be only 24 pages, but there were no advertisements (excepting a small offer in a box to refer a friend), no page after page of pull out posters of fluffy animals – in fact there were no posters at all. Of the 24 pages, my son read and enjoyed every one except the letters to the editor, and a single page in this magazine had more text than the nine pages he read of Nat Geo Kids. There are illustrations – and some very nice ones at that – but there is a good balance between illustrations and text in this magazine. There are enough pictures to keep a younger child interested, but there is still plenty of in-depth information in the text.
I received the Sept 2012 issue. The main articles in this issue were:
The Disappearance of Large Animals: This article explored possible reasons for the extinction of most of the very large mammals during the Pleistocene age. It does not give one single answer but explores many possibilities and encourages readers to think for themselves.
It All Happened in the Trees: This article is about the evolution of mankind, pointing to how scientists believe many current features of humans stem from life in the trees. I don’t agree with everything in this article, but I teach my children the prevailing scientific theories with the understanding that many people have different beliefs. But agree or disagree, I really enjoyed this article, in large part because it encourages children to think and question things. There is an interesting section on vision here, which led us off into many other subjects. We started by reading about how the position of an owl’s eyes give it the ability to judge distance better, but this led to a discussion of how different animals have different types of vision – which finally led to a fairly large project we have started on dinosaurs, by examining different features, such as placement of the eyes, and using this feature to guess if the animal is a carnivore or herbivore. We also had a very long discussion on how the opposable thumb affected the development of humans – but why other animals with an opposable thumb have not developed in the same manner. This article was only two pages, but so far we have spent hours reading, discussing, and pursuing other activities.
Puzzles: This magazine has two pages of puzzles, all of which involve some sort of mental exercise. We enjoyed doing these together and I found them fun as well. My son liked the fossil match puzzle best while I felt a maths puzzle involving cubes was the best.
Things to make: This section has a lovely craft idea which we will be doing as soon as we gather the stones. Basically you heat small round stones in the oven and colour them with wax crayons for some really lovely results.
Stone Age People: This article describes several different types of humans. It mentions early settlements, use of tools, Neolithic monuments and more. My son was especially interested in the cave art so we will be trying to reproduce some of the drawings on slabs of clay.
Wordworm: This appears to be a monthly column; the focus for this issue is an article discussing the French language. My son especially enjoyed discovering which words were the same in French as in English, so we are going to be working on a project of our own to find as many common words as possible between English and German.
Paws for Thought: Also appears to be a monthly column. This issue had an article on the Scottish Wildcat.
Just Think: This article was my favourite. It asks if we have a choice and explores the concept of scientific determinism. I think this was brilliantly written and encourages young children to think philosophically as well as scientifically. This led to another very long discussion. The result was that my son believes in a mild form of determinism but is willing to convert and believe all behaviour is controlled by pre-set chemicals and electrical impulses, because according to this idea he should not get in trouble if he watches The Big Bang Theory or plays video games when he should be studying, or does anything else he isn’t meant to. After all, it isn’t his fault – it is scientific determinism – who are we to argue with science?
Fun with Maths: Another monthly column, this issue explains the history of counting, the base ten system and why we have the numbers eleven and twelve instead of one-teen and two-teen.
Fiction: I didn’t expect much from this. My son is very picky with fiction, and for the most part finds short stories quite dull. I was pleasantly surprised though when he really enjoyed the two page story – Sharing the Good News of Mr Bones.
Overall, I really can’t think of anything bad to say about this magazine. It is expensive – but I often complain about the lack of real quality in children’s magazines. This is a small independent publication putting out a really first class product, and it does not have advertising to help defray expenses. Considering these facts, I find the price quite reasonable and hope that by subscribing I can help keep a wonderful publication in print. Needless to say, I did subscribe. I can’t wait for the next issue – the focus is on volcanoes and earthquakes.
In addition to the standard £45 for 12 issues, they also offer 4 issues at £20. There was an offer in the magazine to refer a friend and they could get 3 months for £10. They did allow me 3 months at £15 though which means I can buy the full subscription after Christmas.
This magazine is recommended for ages 8 – 12. I would say the lower age limit is fair enough. My son is age 7 and quite enjoyed this, but the text is small and this is written on an adult reading level. He could read it, but we chose to read this together, and I feel he got more out of this magazine with all of our discussions as a shared activity. I would recommend this for children of his age, but not much younger. As to the upper limit though, I am in complete disagreement. I think this magazine would suit teenagers with an interest in science very well. I also could see subscribing to this magazine purely for my own reading pleasure if my children were grown. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a magazine so much. I’m afraid I can’t stand the traditional women’s magazines. There is more to life than makeup and romance stories. It’s nice to find a magazine that encourages thought and leaves the reader feeling as if they have learned something – and I will never be too old to enjoy learning new things.

Using magazines in Home Education

Home educated children often develop very specialised knowledge. I am certain my 7 year old knows more about paleontology than many adults, and both of my sons know far more about aircraft, the military and DNA than the average child their age. My just turned four year old,  recently looking for good insult told his father - "I'll smash you so hard they won't recognise your DNA". He knows perfectly well the value of DNA in identification, and is always trying to come up with some scenario under which Parasaurolophus DNA could be found and used to resurrect his favorite dinosaur.

 I've met an other home educated child who could tell you everything about dogs, right down to veterinary care. In fact she impressed a local vet so much that he hired her at a very young age, having already memorised most of the veterinary manuals at 15. Yet another in his teens knew everything about mechanics, while others could answer any question on the history of Japan, The Middle Ages etc...

 There is nothing wrong with a child pursuing their own interests and learning the things they want to learn. In fact I am quite certain they learn more, and more importantly retain more information when the facts interest them. I  do not mind if my children spent a significant amount of their time in education learning about their favourite topics. But as great as specialised knowledge is - I don't want it to be at the expense of general knowledge. At age 7, my son is certain he wants to be a paleontologist, but 7 is far too young for career choices to be set in stone, even if he has stuck to ths one for 3 years. As my children are very young - I want them to branch out - explore everything.

 This is where a really good magazine can be invaluable in home education. A monthly magazine provides a bit variety to a child's ordinary routine. The articles in each months magazine introduce to new topics we might never have considered before. It is like have an extra teacher in the home, someone to a offer new and different point of view.

Educators have recognised the importance of non-fiction in a child's education, and schools are including non-fiction from a very early age. Most home educators do too, but a magazine is the perfect way to keep this varied. We recognise now that children build vast stores of general knowledge in early childhood, organising this information and putting to better knowledge as they grow older. But far too many older children are growing up without the general knowledge one would expect. University instructors are repeatedly complaining that students lack the most basic general knowledge - scientific literacy, a knowledge of their own history and the history and culture of other nations. A good general interest educational magazine is an excellent means of building of base of general knowledge about the world around your child.

We have recently sampled and reviewed quite a large number of children's magazines. We found Aquila to be far and away the best choice for our family, but we will still be using a few extras as well. I chose Aquila for a few reasons. The first is that being an educational publication, it fits in quite well with a home school curriculum.  I also loved the fact that this magazine is all content. There were no page fillers or fluff, nor were there any commercial ads. The very best thing about this magazine for us is the fact that in contains enough familiar and well loved topics to keep my son interested and wanting to read it combined with new topics we would never have dabbled in otherwise.

 Each month presents a new list of topics for us to explore and there is quite a lot to discuss as well  crafts to do and subjects for further research. We always choose at least one topic to find out more about. It might be volcanoes, or prehistoric mammals, or how hands shaped evolution. or the silk worm or Ancient Egypt. We even had one issue with an excellent article the concept of scientific determination. I think this was a wonderful way to encourage children to really think philosophically and scientifically.  Most of these are topics we would not have explored otherwise, so this magazine helped to give him a broader and more balanced education.

 I would recommend  choosing at least one high quality, non fiction magazine. You will of course have to consider your own child's interests and reading level. Just reading the magazine will do a lot to encourage literacy as well as to help your child learn about new places, ideas, and concepts. But I certainly would not stop there. I would plan on devoting at least one full day to each magazine. Read it, do the crafts, look up topics online, and if need be, order a few books to match as well. By becoming actively involved in the subjects your child will learn more - and it is great way to spend time together as well. Most of all, I think my child learns just by discussing the topics with me. We always try to consider other points of view, play devil's advocate and argue another position on science related topics etc... The more you put into a resource like this - the more your child will get out of it.

My next post will be a round up of educational magazines for children featuring the best and worst of genre, after which I hope to include some photos of art projects from the magazine we are using. Please check back soon for a complete run down of children's magazines in the UK.

Dinosaur arts and crafts:

Dinosaur Pictures With Textures:

 Children love different textures, so we decided to make dinosaur art with all sorts of different textures.

1. Melted crayon:
This one requires close adult supervision. We started out by tracing pages from a dinosaur colouring book. Next we held old crayons in a candle's flames and dripped the wax onto the pictures. The results were beautiful, colourful dinosaurs with a lumpy scale like texture.

2. Feathers:
The big buzz in paleontology right now is feathered dinosaurs. Although the fossil evidence is pretty limited - more and more books are depicting dinosaurs with feathers -and accurate or not - it certainly is fun. Simply take a traced or printed dinosaur colouring page, paint it with glue and then stick on very small cut up pieces of feather.

3. Sand paper dinos:
Use a very coarse grade sand paper and cut into dinosaur shaped. Paint using acrylic paint for the most remarkable and durable finishes, but ordinary child's paint will work as well. Then paste onto coloured jungle scenes.

4. Glitter Glue:
Once again we start with a template of a colouring page traced, photocopied or printed from an online source. The first step is to carefully trace the outline leaving a thick bead of glitter glue. Once this is completely dry, paint teh picture in and sprinkle with a bit more glue.

5. Paper Mache cut outs:
Cut out dinosaur shapes, plants and trees. from card or cereal boxes. Mix flour salt and water in a paste and dip tin strips of kitchen roll into these, and cover the dinosaur adding extra bits to give a 3D appearance,. Paint and dry. Paint a prehistoric scene onto a bit of card and glue the dinosaurs on.

Etchings:
 Lightly colour a piece of paper with  Crayola Crayons, or use markers if you wish. Use plenty of colours - preferably bright ones.  For the second layer, colour very heavily with crayon. It does need to be a good brand of crayon - and I would recommend Crayola. Next lay a dinosaur stencil over the paper and using a tooth pick, the back of a paint brush or anything small you can scrape with, scrape away the top layer of crayon to reveal a colourful dinosaur image.

Foil Art:
 Have the child draw a dinosaur on a very heavy card or a bit of cardboard. The inside of a cereal box works perfectly. If you prefer, you can cut out a printed dinosaur picture and paste it on instead. Next draw around the outline with white glue, leaving a heavy bead. Allow this to dry completely before the next step. Cover with aluminium foil  rubbing lightly until the heavy line of the glue shows through.  Wrinkle sin the rest of foil are a good thing - so don't try to smooth them all out. Tape the foil down behind the cardboard. Mix 1 part white glue, 2 parts water and a few drops of food colour for each colour or a very good quality water colour paint. Paint over the foil. wiping excess paint off the raised outline. Let dry and you have a nice shiny piece of foil art.

Diorama
 Using and old shoe box lay the lid face up with the one side of the box glued to the lid leaving a larger area of ground and an enclosed space for background. Colour or paint in a prehistoric back ground scene on paper and tape to the back and inside walls of the box. Then cut out trees, a volcano and other shapes. Glue these to car to make them stiff and place them  on the lid - some closer to the back and some to the front for a 3D effect. You can either use tiny plastic dinosaurs or paper cuts outs to complete the scene. A flying Pterosaur adds a nice touch as well.

If you want to make a really fancy diorama - start with a rectangular plastic aquarium - use clay and cloth to fashion plants, volcanoes, rocks etc... and model dinosaurs. For the back use a sheet of aluminium foil over a bit of card. You can give this a wash of blue paint if you wish. Then cut out  background plants in three colours of coloured card and layer these over the foil.

Dinosaur Imprints:
 Simply press model dinosaurs into clay. Allow to dry and paint.

Dinosaur sock puppets:
 A coloured sock with the end folded inwards to make a mouth makes an easy start on a dinosaur. Add eyes, teeth and a few distinguishing features like a crest or plates and you have a quick and easy dino.

Dinosaur egg candles:
Carefully poke a small hole at the bottom of an egg and a larger one at the top. Blow the contents of the egg out - a good time to bake a cake or make eggy toast. Rinse and dry. Then thread a wick through the holes leaving plenty at both ends. Tape up the bottom. An adult will have to melt and pour the wax, but you use old candle wax and broken crayons. Let the child choose the colours add one colour, wait a few minutes and add another, layering colours. Let teh child give the shell a swirl. Let this dry for a few days and peel away the shell.

Walking with Dinosaurs footprints:
Fill a square plastic dish pan or other tray at least 3" fill with damp levelled play sand. Carefully press the shape of a dinosaur footprint into the sand, two if you have room, using only one side of the tray. Next have your child place one foot into the tray then step across leaving two footprints. If this doesn't come out just right mix it up and try again. Fill the tray with a thin layer of plaster of Paris. Let dry, paint and then paint again with clear varnish or clear drying white glue to make it less fragile.

Pasta Pictures:
Start with dark coloured card. Cut out and glue a dinosaur skeleton picture on to the card. Select a variety of pasta shapes, including spaghetti, small elbow macaroni, shells - crushed and whole  + whatever else looks interesting. Glue bits of pasta ( raw) over the skeleton picture. If you want to make this really exciting - paint the pasta with glow in the dark glue first and let dry.

Making Fossils:
Get a couple of plastic replica fossils or skeletons and press into plasticine. Fill with plaster and paint.