Review: Creek Edge Press' Physics and Digital Science Task Card Set

One of the fun things about reviewing homeschooling products is discovering products created and designed by other homeschoolers for homeschoolers. Today  I get to highlight one such interesting company.

Creek Edge Press is a company founded by Amy Kate Hilsman, a homeschooling mother of five daughters. As she began homeschooling her eldest daughter using a combined Montessori/Charlotte Mason approach, she created her first set of task cards to direct her daughter's afternoon learning activities. Later, she continued to create more of them, and soon other homeschoolers noticed them on her blog and wanted to use them, too.

Hilsman designed her task card sets to utilize combined Classical, Charlotte Mason and Montessori educational approaches in her unique, hands-on educational approach. With each task card set, a student can learn history, science, art or music--even grammar!--to explore a subject in a step-by-step, methodical approach.

Our family had opportunity to review a set of these innovative cards in its science line, pictured above.

The Physics and Digital Science Task Card set costs $18.00, and it is designed for grades K through 8. We received a thin comb-bound guide book (for the teacher) and a set of task cards (for the student). The guide provides information on how to set up the learning environment plus tips on how to select books for the course. The task cards are set up in a simple, step-by-step fashion.

Yes, you do need to purchase or borrow encyclopedias and other books in order to fully utilize this course. In our case, we did not always utilize the exact titles recommended due to unavailability, either in our home library or closest public library. Yet, my son still learned from this step-by-step approach.

My 7th grader enjoyed using this study on his own, with minor supervision from me and my husband. He enjoyed making his own book covering the simple machines studied in the initial section of this study. He also had a lot of fun building the projects.

Scout had recently learned about simple machines in this year's science book, but since he is a hands-on learner, he really enjoyed the opportunity to then make the machines he had been learning about. He built a large lever in my front yard. As a 7th grader, he did not find this study particularly challenging, but it did reinforce what he had been learning in his science text. He demonstrated his understanding of the material by showing me his simple machines book and describing it to me.

Overall, we thought this was a good program. It could be used by a kindergarten through early elementary aged student with assistance, as well as by an upper elementary aged student with little supervision.



Disclosure: As a member of the Homeschool Crew, I received a review copy of the Physics Task Card Set for review. No other compensation was received. Since each family is different, be sure to read other reviews of this product at the Homeschool Crew blog.