Moving Beyond the Page–a Review

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I have had the privilege of using and reviewing many different curriculum products over the past few years.  I love being able to try these products in our own homeschool setting and telling my readers about our experience. 
Moving Beyond the Page has been no exception.  We were given the choice of a language arts package and either a social studies or science package.  We received the language arts package Abigail Adams (online version) and the science package Health and Nutrition.  Both of these units are designed for students ages 12-14, so I have been using them with my 14 year old daughter.
     Moving Beyond the Page is a literature-rich curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking skills and synthesis of information.  The curriculum is available as full semester or full year packages or can be purchased as individual units for supplementation of your existing curriculum.  Before our materials arrived, I had some concerns that it might not be challenging enough for my 14 year old.  Those concerns were quickly abated.  This is a very challenging curriculum.  Like most curricula, however, it is simple to choose activities which are the best for your student.
      Our literature study was the online version.  This retails for $26.88 and includes a paperback version of Abigail Adams and online access to the language arts curriculum.  I have mixed feelings about the online version. It includes all of the teacher information as well as student handouts.  I like being able to print out just the written materials that my daughter needs to complete an assignment; but, the materials are arranged so that you have to open each lesson individually.  I am a ‘big picture’ planner and would have preferred to have all of the material as one large .pdf so I could peruse and print more quickly.  For my daughter, however, the online option was great.  I could have the lesson directions opened up for her and she could just follow along.  She is working on reading speed and comprehension, so she typically had to complete her reading one day and work on assignments for the lesson on the next day.  Through this study she has learned about Abigail Adams and the tumultuous time surrounding her tenure as first lady.  Her least favorite activities have been the writing assignments (mainly because she hates to write).  She also enjoys the links provided to enrich different parts of the lessons. These are definitely easier to use with the online version.
     The Science Package - Health and Nutrition we received was the spiral bound version.  This retails for $46.89 and includes the curriculum guide and The Boy’s Guide to Becoming a Teen and The Girl’s Guide to Becoming a Teen. The curriculum guide contains the same materials as the online version, just in hard copy.  All of the teacher notes, handouts, and student instructions are included.  For my needs, I would have preferred the student materials be separated into another workbook because it would have been a little easier to use.  I like being able to have my teacher materials available to use for planning, answering questions, and checking work at the same time as my kids have their materials.  The lessons in this unit study varied in length from lessons that took my daughter around 30 minutes to complete to lessons that took her several days to complete.  The reading assignments were the main component that caused her to need extra time for some lessons.  The reading wasn’t necessarily long or complex, but the pictures on the covers of the books seem a little below her age and she balked at the books being ‘baby.’  The content is definitely not baby.  Written by a physician, these books give quality information about the changes children go through as they move into adulthood.
     Overall, our experience has been positive with these Moving Beyond the Page products.  I would recommend trying an individual unit before purchasing an entire semester or year package, just to make sure that the format and content works for your family. Moving Beyond the Page is active on Facebook.  To check out their page visit: www.facebook.com/movingbeyondthepage Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using many different units from Moving Beyond the Page.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.