New Materials

Creek Edge Press is back in production mode!
The school year is winding down and our pace is changing. Many hours have been released from school and teaching as recitals and assignments have been completed. The entire Creek Edge Press team is excited to present our next phase of production.


Canadian History Task Card Set 
Our newest set of task cards is complete. We expect they will hit our storefront and be ready to ship by the end of June.

I am particularly happy to release this set as my childhood home bordered Sarnia, Ontario at a time when international exchange took place with ease. My Suzuki violin lessons and many fun community activities took place ‘across the bridge.’ That background and the help of several Canadian friends of Creek Edge Press have served this project well.


Recitation Handbooks
Relational learning plays an important role in the context of the Task Card Approach. Children need to hear and say new terms. They benefit from opportunities to listen, read, and recite in a group setting. Our Recitation Handbooks allow all levels to experience and work on these skills at the same time. The books include a tiered approach to memory work (called recitation) across the curriculum as well as copywork and dictation for grades K – 12. The handbooks include 32 week open-and-go plans and line up with our History Task Card Sets. An innovative feature of these handbooks is the ability to customize them to include family or church related memory work without disrupting the week by week format. We are hoping to have these in the storefront and ready to ship in August.


Task Card Approach 
This new book explores the foundations and distinctives of the Task Card Approach, providing you with encouragement and practical insight into the application of these principles within your home or school. We are hopeful that this book will be available in e-book format in August. 


2012 – 2013 Catalog 
Our new catalog with course description is located on our home page in a printable pdf version.

Choosing Your Path

Families and schools vary in their preferences for sequencing work in science and history. This article outlines several possibilities for planning the sequence of your studies using Task Card Sets from Creek Edge Press.

If you scroll down this page you will see a link to our catalog where you will find detailed
descriptions of each Task Card Set. These will help you understand how the cards may be used at various stages. Over time, the standard required in your student’s response is increased and students use more detailed materials to complete the tasks as they mature. During the grammar stage, students naturally focus on major figures, events, and basic vocabulary. Dialectic students use in-depth materials that encourage understanding of broad themes and patterns.

Most families prefer to study one era of history each year (or term). This focus provides a shared experience among the students and eases the burden of preparation. It isn’t always practical to plan a prepared environment for more than one subject in science, but some families prefer to have several sets going at once for various levels. The following lists details possible plans for one student.

K – Geography and Culture and simple nature study for science

1 – Ancient World and Life Science

2 – Medieval World and Earth and Space

3 – Early Modern World and Physics and Digital Science

4 – Modern World and Chemistry and Great Scientists

5 – Geography and Culture and Ancient World (one semester each) and Life Science

6 – Medieval World and Earth and Space

7 – Early Modern World and Physics and Digital Science

8 – Modern World and Chemistry and Great Scientists

If you want to include a year for American History study, your schedule might look like this.

K – Geography and Culture and nature study

1 – American History and Life Science

2 – Ancient World and Earth and Space

3 – Medieval World and Physics and Digital Science

4 – Early Modern World and Chemistry and Great Scientists

5 – Modern World and Life Science

6 – Geography and Culture and Ancient World (one semester each) and Earth and Space

7 – Medieval World progressing into Early Modern and Physics and Digital Science

8 – Early Modern through Modern World and Chemistry and Great Scientists

Consider mapping out a plan for your oldest student and having the younger students fold in as able. There are many good options. Whatever your preference, you will find that your plan provides focus and eases your preparation. 


                                                    

 

Creek Edge Press Blog Button

Erratum – American History Task Card Book List

I wanted to alert you to an error that has occured in the printing of several American History Introductions. The error is found on the page titled Book List and Tips.  You might want to print the following corrected list and place it inside your Introducation.

Core Books

Smithsonian Children’s Encyclopedia of American History

The Kingfisher Student Encyclopedia of the United States

Presidents, Eyewitness Books

Our Country’s Presidents, National Geographic Society

Our Fifty States, National Geographic

Atlas

Scholastic Atlas of the United States

If your Introduction is one of the affected copies, you will find World History options listed and those are fine to use on a supplemental basis, but they won’t go into enough detail for completing the tasks.

As always, feel free to substitute comparable materials. 

Key Word Summary Samples

Your Course Introduction provides instructions for optimizing the use of summary writing.  Younger students generally do well with the ‘Where, When, Who, What’ approach to oral narrations and beginning summaries, but older students need to read for detail and respond with greater specificity.  Creek Edge Press Task Card Sets make use of key words to assist your student’s growth in this area.  You’ll find key words listed on a task card under a summary writing task where it states, “Include the following.”  Encourage your student to use these key words to aid their research and to prompt their memory when writing a closed book summary. 

The following is another option for using key words in summary writing.  Below, you will see examples of closed book summaries done in response to tasks on various task card sets.  To the left of the margin you will see a list of key words.  These are words that were written by the student while reading.  The summary was written after the book was closed. This method is fabulous for students who are still learning to summarize details succinctly.  Students who have advanced beyond this stage may find this method useful as a means of reinforcing the correct spelling of new material.  

                                                                             

Ready, Set…

Research!

Abby and Holly are using the Task Card Approach with history as well as science this year. Holly is a pro at research after years of adding research tasks to our Tapestry studies, but I like to check in at the beginning of the year while going over expectations. I was especially happy to see Abby turn to the Table of Contents without instruction.

If you’re using Task Card Sets from Creek Edge Press and are working on foundational research and Task Card Approach skills, I recommend focusing on one task at a time during the early weeks of the school year. This week our focus was on expectations for ‘Encyclopedia Research’ and response. The girls completed other tasks as well, but I accepted their work ‘as is’ in those areas.

Abby is finishing the transition to independent investigation and response,so this task will soon be one she can complete on her own. She already has map work and summary writing down fairly well from wrapping up last year’s work, but we’ll be raising expectations for attention to detail and neatness as the school year unfolds.

And, no, I didn’t ask them to pose!

Introducing Grammar Reinforcement Task Cards

Grammar Reinforcement Task Card Sets are comprised of discovery-oriented tasks designed to facilitate engaged learning and exploration of the elements and mechanics of language.

Your students will investigate the parts of speech and reinforce key language arts content through recitation, copy work, included hands-on activities, and projects.

Grammar Reinforcement Task Card Sets include two sets of task cards, forty-one cards altogether, and an Introduction to the course. The course is designed for 2nd through 6th grade students and may be used to introduce or reinforce grammar concepts.

“Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.”
~ William Safire