Everything you Never wanted to know about QUICKSAND from The Curiosity Files

Sometimes we need a home school boost. We get stuck in the day to day learning and feel as if we are being sucked into a never-ending cycle of the same 'ole, same 'ole.  

We crave change.

That change can take the form of a field trip, a lazy-day off, having friends over or just putting aside our normal academics and trying something else.  

Recently, we were rescued from the pit of boredom by:

Professor Ana Lyze

She is a fictitious expert in outlandish oddities, who has penned a series of e-books called

The Curiosity Files published by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. 

She came into our home bringing 84 pages of intriguing information about Quicksand.  I only wish those pages were bound in book form that I could hold and flip through instead of an e-book.                                                                 Call me old fashioned, but I LOVE books.  The feel, the sound of pages turning, the smell of the fresh page yet to be read.  I know I've got to get into the techo age, but it's tough. I've been curling up on the sofa, relaxing in a bathtub or lounging in my bed with book in hand for over 40 years.  It's a tough habit to break. 

BUT

At a cost of only $6.95, I get an instant download (that satisfies my lack of patience), it is filled with - more than I thought possible - information about quicksand  (satisfying my thirst for knowledge), the digital format allows me to print out as many of the the workbook style pages I need (giving my frugal side a smile) and we can sit around the laptop and read the informative parts. These "perks" will help me in breaking my 'have to hold a book' habit.

Here is a quick overview of what I received in this 84 page e-book:

The first section gives a lot of scientific facts about quicksand.  Where you will find it, how to get out of it safely if you discover you have stepped into some, etc.  Followed by a short 'what do you remember' quiz.

Then we are led to think Biblically comparing sin to quicksand--beginning with the parable of the wise man found in Matthew 7. Moving to Proverbs to remind us to build our lives on wisdom and Jeremiah the prophet teaching us not to live foolishly.  Lastly, we look at Psalms to show us where the "quicksand" of sin can lead us. 

Next we move onto math.  Being reminded how every tiny millimeter of space in quicksand is completely filled with a super-dense solution that liquefies with movement, we are instructed to change millimeters to inches to get a better understanding of that space.

Want some geography?  Let's go to the place where the most deaths due to quicksand are reported and why. 

Which leads to a study about tides.  All this in the first 24 pages, only about 1/3 of the book! 

Continuing on you will do some more math, draw some pictures, fill in an outline to complete an essay, work on vocabulary/spelling words for elementary and high school levels with fun activities including a word search and crossword puzzle, copy work for printing and cursive,   science experiments on surface tension and viscosity, more geography, a few crafts including making quicksand goo and edible quicksand, sand art, and-- my favorite part--templates to make a lapbook of all the information you have gleaned during your quicksand study.

To see a sample click here.

As you can see, there is much to do and learn.  There is enough in this little e-book for weeks of fun learning.  We have only just begun our study on quicksand using this e-book as our guide. We will end our school year, not in a pit of despair, but buried in quicksand knowledge ;)

This e-book and others in the series entitled:  The Curiosity Files can be purchased at 

The Old Schoolhouse Store.  (along with many great home school titles) 

Four of the nine titles available in this series are currently selling for only $1.00!  Check it out, you won't find anything better for your buck!

*I was sent a complimentary copy of the e-book: The Curiosity Files Quicksand  for my honest review.