About a month ago, I received for review with the Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Review Crew a 4-week once-a-week-unit study Horsing Around from Homeschool Legacy for grades 2-12. My almost-12 year old daughter Liberty worked on this review. She loves horses but knows little and has even less hands-on experience. A PDF download with 34 pages, Liberty worked through this on her own primarily. She began by giving me a list of DVD’s recommended that were horse stories to reserve from the library. Getting to watch National Velvet, Black Beauty, and Dreamer were some of her favorite parts. In the study she learned of breeds and their characteristics, read Bible verses to read that mentioned horses, science topics she could study were given (comparing a horse and a human skeleton provided an interesting comparison!). She read books that were recommended like King of the Wind, art topics to explore like drawing horses (a book to learn how is recommended and much appreciated!) and read and copied down a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The “Stump Your Dad Trivia” was fun for her. Liberty learned fun facts and had fun asking others the questions.
There was so much that was suggested, we had to pick and choose activities. Liberty spends hours reading about available horses for sale on line, so when this review was offered, I thought she’d be thrilled. She read much and while hands-on experience opportunities are limited for us, she enjoyed her trek through this unit study. She did finish it within four weeks, but we could have made it last far longer if we went through all the possible activities.
Liberty had fun with this, but it did seem more suitable for someone who has ready access to horses. Accessing horses is difficult at best for us, so we were limited with several of the activities. It seemed that either you’d have horses but then would likely would know much of the scientific portions of the study, or you’d love to learn about horses but be frustrated by the limitations of not being able to do the hands-on activities. It might, however, be a good option for someone who is new into horses or considering investing in them. It provides both science and history, and I might add handwriting practice and even a bit of poetry study to Homeschool Legacy’s suggested subjects studied.
I sent these PDF files to Liberty and my Kindles to use that way, but that eliminated the links that were in the PDF. I’m not sure what the issue was there, but I could access it on my computer as well, so we used it both ways and it worked.
The Boy Scout Horsemanship Merit Badge is an earning possibility with a list of requirements, and there’s a badge earning opportunity for the American Heritage Girls Horsemanship Badge as well. We participate in neither so these don’t make complete sense, but for those that do, this sounds like a great opportunity.
Horsing Around is listed here for $18.95 for the paperback option or $14 for the downloadable file.
Homeschool Legacy is on:
To read the reviews from the rest of the Crew on this and other offerings from Homeschool Legacy, check out the Review Crew Blog.
Just read this and it may be a good option for my oldest, Mellony, who is almost 9. She’s always been interested in horses as far back as I can remember. We are trying to find another little pony to buy because after Jay spent most of the day on the side of the road broken down getting the other one, we don’t have it anymore. We had a horrific accident resulting in a really nasty broken leg for that poor pony and we (meaning me because Jay was at work) had to put her down. It was just simply awful!! Anyway, we’re working on getting a new pony and I want Mel to lean what she can out horses. I’m picturing us giving pony rides when we have farm days and one day having a horse that can pull a wagon full of people around for a hay ride. Thanks for the review. Lunch is over. Gotta put the babies down for naps and head back outside!