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Remarkable Rain Review by Dawn Peterson
By Cindy West and Melissa LeachShining Dawn Books, LLC
http://www.shiningdawnbooks.com/
Remarkable Rain is one of several nature-based unit studies produced by Shining Dawn Books in a downloadable e-book format. Authors Cindy West and Melissa Leach are homeschool moms who have truly done a fantastic job putting together this resource inspired by Charlotte Mason nature study.
Remarkable Rain is so full of ideas, resources, and interesting information that it's difficult to describe it in brief. The topics encompass the water cycle, types of rain, the beauty and effects of rain, watersheds, floods and droughts, and much more. Geared toward the grammar school child, the e-book provides plenty of inspiration and background information so you can confidently direct your child in this worthwhile study. The nature walks and outside activities are the focus of the unit study, and there are many ideas for outdoor activities and assignments. There are ideas for experiments, art and crafts, recipes, projects, writing and research, Bible lessons, poetry, literature, picture study, and composer and music references. There are tips on how to include very young children as well as ideas on teaching older kids, guidance on how to use the study for co-ops, colorful pages to print for notebooking and observation, and much more.
What I love most about this study is how adaptable it is and how much information is in it. It's so much more than a resource and jumping off point. It's full of fascinating facts about rain and its effects, and I plan to utilize it much more during our dreary and wet Sacramento winters! We'll be discussing the importance of rain, using our local library for the literature resources, observing and sketching clouds, looking for rainbows to watercolor, finding puddles to outline in chalk and note the evaporation rate, observing puddle water under our microscope, making a rain gauge, researching the topic of our atmosphere, discussing the wise and foolish house builders (Matthew 7:24-26), and of course, printing off and using many of the great notebooking pages for simple observation during nature walks. I think I'm actually looking forward to rainy season for once!
Like all of Shining Dawn's NaturExplorer unit studies, Remarkable Rain is beautifully done and well thought out. It would be a great addition to any homeschool nature study.
Product review by Dawn Peterson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2011
