Review ~ Brain Food Learning ~ The Fascinating World of Birds

We were recently blessed to receive a DVD from Brain Food Learning called The Fascinating World of Birds. These educational and fun DVD's  were created for ages 3-11, but they are interesting for all ages.

The DVD lasts about 44 minutes and has become my 4 year olds favorite for the time being. She can tell you many facts now about pelicans (her favorite) and ostriches, penguins and hummingbirds. My 7 year old can answer every question in the quizzes at the end and is very proud about it. My 8 and 10 year olds memorized all the facts the first time they watched it, but they still watch it over again with the little ones. It impressed me when they spotted a woodpecker in a tree one day and they told a friend why they don't beat their own brains out while pecking like that.

Other birds featured include the Canada Goose, owls, macaws, American Robins and eagles.

Watch this short preview to see what its like, and see why the kids enjoyed watching it so much. Its a lively and fascinating way to learn!



If you would like to use some worksheets and activities to enhance the learning opportunities for your kids there is also a free curriculum you can download to go along with each of the DVD's they offer.

My kids have enjoyed watching and honestly so have I. The length isn't too long for kids to sit through, but it isn't so short you feel like there wasn't enough content either. You can also watch it in segments if you like, and feature just one bird at a time. If you have kids interested in birds, insects or mammals they will really enjoy these! I plan on getting the other two and putting them away for Christmas.

The Fascinating World of Birds can be purchased for $14.99 at the Brain Food Learning website.

Brain Food Learning offers other DVD's as well, some of which were reviewed by other members of The Schoolhouse Review Crew. Click on the banner below to read about those!

Homeschool Legacy ~ Forest For The Trees

Homeschool Legacy has created some Once-A-Week unit studies designed to enhance your homeschool with a bit of fun mixed with learning. Each unit is Creation based and is intended to be used just one day a week, like on a laid back Friday, or whatever day suits the needs of your family best. Many different topics are available, for this review we received Forest For The Trees.

Forest For The Trees is intended for grades 2-12 and contains lessons for 4 weeks. I used it with my 3rd and 4th graders but my 1st grader was able to participate quite a bit too. All of them enjoyed the read alouds! A book list is included, but if you are unable to find the suggested books in your library, the Dewey decimal numbers are included so you can find other related books. We were not able to find many of the books on the list since our library is small, but we did find some other good ones to use instead.

Some of the activities included are family devotionals, making a nature journal, experiments, field trips and getting outdoors, recipes, history, vocabulary, math, stump your Dad trivia (which they LOVED!) and identifying different kinds of trees.

My son loved making leaf rubbings, he enhanced his with crayons so it would show up better. He is a very artistic kid. Any activity involving art is right up his alley.

 Another great feature of the Once A Week Unit Studies is that they contain everything you need to help your child earn merit badges if they are in Boy Scouts or American Heritage Girls. Not all unit studies can be used for both clubs, read the page for each individual study to be sure it can be used for your child.

We host a Keepers of The Faith Club here once a month, and my kids earned a Trees Pin by using this study.

We finished up our study by picking apples and making applesauce and apple butter outside in a big copper kettle! Don't worry this isn't a requirement, but a recipe is given for making applesauce in a slow cooker.

Yes we thoroughly enjoyed this unit study! It fit right in with our regular curriculum and encouraged us to get outdoors and explore the neighborhood a little more. It was fun and we learned a lot together about God and His creation, and that was part of their goals when starting the Homeschool Legacy company.

Forest For The Trees can be ordered from Homeschool Legacy for $15.95.




Disclaimer ~ We received this product at no charge in exchange for an honest review after using it in our homeschool. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Lots and Lots of Penguins! (Marshall Publishing)

We were given the opportunity to review a set of DVD's from Marshall Publishing that included Lots and Lots of Penguins in the Wild, Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe Tapping Feet, and a bonus DVD containing an animated video Party Like a Penguin. This company carries many other DVD's in the "Lots and Lots Of" series. You have probably seen these advertised on TV if you have it in your home.


This year we are using a curriculum called Exploring Countries and Cultures, it is a year of geography and there are unit studies for all 7 continents. Antarctica was supposed to be the last unit, but we skipped ahead so we could use these DVD's along with it. I just love the freedom we have to do that with homeschooling!


Using Lots and Lots of Penguins along with the Antarctica unit was a perfect fit! Compared to the other continents and countries we will be learning about, there isn't a whole lot to learn about Antarctica except for the location, climate, and animals that live there.

After finding Antarctica on the map we put in the Lots and Lots of Penguins in the Wild DVD. This video is awesome because it contains no narration or other distractions. The kids were free to just watch and discover on their own. Other creatures from Antarctica can be seen in this DVD as well. We were able to get a good look at what the land looks like, I challenged them to find a tree or other plants. One of the first comments they made was that they would HATE to live there, the wind howling in the background and the ice floating around in the ocean made them realize just how cold it must be. This led to some great discussion about how God made penguins special so they could live in such a frozen climate. God thought of everything!

Later we watched Lots and Lots of Playful Penguins and Their Toe Tapping Feet. This DVD is different because it used an animated penguin to tell about each kind of penguin. Lots of live video showing the characteristics of each breed and also how each one sounds different made this a very educational experience. We learned that Emperor penguins get taller than our 3 year old and weigh more than my 9 year old and them used that information to compare each of the other breeds. Music "videos" including real penguin footage are played in between the informational parts. Edited clips of penguins make them seem as if they are dancing along. All 4 kids were up and dancing through these sections, and my 3 year old just giggled while watching the penguins waddle and slide around.




The bonus DVD is an animated video with cartoon penguins dancing along to the song "Party Like a Penguin". My 3 and 6 year old like watching this one over and over, but honestly after the first few times this DVD was driving everyone else a little nuts. But then again so does many of the other DVD's they have with sing along songs. This one is definitely geared toward younger kids.





If you have little ones that love penguins or older kids who will be learning about Antarctica these DVD's would be a great learning tool to go along with your studies. The 3 DVD set can be purchased from the Marshall Publishing website or by calling 1-888-300-3455. The regular price is $39.00 but right now its on sale for $19.95 and if you use the code TOS27 at checkout you will also get FREE first class shipping!

Disclaimer ~ We received this product at no cost in exchange for an honest review after using it in our homeschool. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are my own.