Creation Illustrated Unit Studies Review

Creation Illustrated is a published print and digital periodical. Produced with outstanding quality and beauty, the family produced magazine is true to the family's publishing mission "...to share the wonders of God's creation." 

Review Crew members were offered access to two Creation Illustrated editions and the additional materials of one corresponding unit study for each to use and review. Downloadable unit studies focusing on Pine Trees and Intricacies of Snow were made available along with the Fall '17 Digital Edition and the Winter '18 Digital Edition. 

The publishers of Creation Illustrated take the appreciation and learning possibilities a step, (or two) further, with these additional educational materials. The educational materials are compiled into thorough unit study packages for students and teachers to increase understanding and appreciation of the natural world. The unit studies are suitable for home or classroom. They include a complete range of lessons incorporating an approach from many disciplines from language arts, to geography, to bible study and math. Compiled for Grades 5-8, I agree with the Unit Study tagline, "Primarily for Grades 5-8, but valuable lessons can be gained by everyone!"

My home school student and I chose to focus on the Creation Unit Study of Pine Trees. Given that we live on a suburban property that includes many evergreen trees, it seemed an ideal opportunity to learn more about the ever present evergreens that surround our home. Each Unit Study package begins with a useful list of reading and educational resources to use. The list begins with a link to The Creation Illustrated edition that relates to the subject matter but also includes other resources to augment the study. As a homeschooling parent, I appreciate having a list that someone has taken the time to create. Finding the right resources can take a lot of time. The resource list of reading and video resources alone is a valuable addition to the study of the topic of Pine Trees. All of the suggested activities presented an interesting approach to the study. The vocabulary was extensive enough to increase a students word usage and also, in our case, offer some validation of already understood language. As a family that appreciates and creates art and crafts, the addition of a drawing suggestion is also welcome.

The "Intricacies of Snow" Unit Study package follows the same format as that of "Pine Trees" with a resource list and activities based on different disciplines. The Snow Science page, while condensed includes many science concepts. In this unit study the vocabulary is also an important component. And including two art activities brings it all back around to the joy of learning for us.


Creation Illustrated periodicals include photographs that are stunning. The articles include fascinating information that improve one's understanding and appreciation of God's creation. The unit studies are thoughtful resources that add further to that comprehension. These resources are beautiful and comprehensive. They have presented ideas for approaching a given topic and have added value to our home school learning this season.

Improving A Communication Skill - A Review of Ultrakey Online

Despite my use of a desk top key board for writing, blogging and emailing, my typing is far from efficient. I am slow. So when the opportunity to use and review the Ultrakey Online Family Subscription  from Bytes of Learning was offered, I was happy to give it a try. I was equally happy to encourage my daughter to learn and improve her typing. Given that she is not an exception to the fact that most teenagers currently keyboard with their thumbs, I was happy that this product included up to 8 users with our family subscription. I was the most willing to improve my typing skills but she has gone along with the plan. 

Initially, signing up with Ultrakey was effortless. I did have trouble figuring out how to set up additional accounts for more than myself. The information on how to do so was available in the program, however, my kids will all tell you that I am impatient with technology in that way. One phone call to a very friendly costumer service department with an actual person responding and answering my questions and I was kindly walked through getting my daughter's account set up and ready to go. 

UltraKey Online has given me easy to access tools to practice and improve my typing skills one lesson at a time. My daughter is doing the same with UltraKey Online. The lessons and drills are given based on the users chosen goals and "adapts to whatever ability the user has, and proceeds at the user's personal pace". Different users within one account can progress at their own speed, working to attain their own goals. Each student's progress reports can be recorded within a family account with individual access to continued practicing. Individual goals can be set, reviewed and re-evaluated within one overall account.

The lessons are based on the importance of the "motor memory process", the ongoing repetition and continued practice needed to instill motor memory. The concept of muscle memory is easily understood by my teenage dancer. I appreciate the thorough user manual that comes with this product and the references to educational principles behind learning a skill. It is clear that the creators have done their research and understand the learning process of students gaining the skill of typing. Having those references was useful in communicating to my daughter the effectiveness of returning to practice regularly. The easy use of this product has made the option of ongoing practice attainable. We used the game section to add an edge of fun to the practice routine.

Games add some fun
to the learning process

Though we only used the program on a desktop it can be used on a variety of devices. It can be used on tablets and chrome books. The fact that it doesn't have plugins is an advantage to me. As I mentioned, I don't always have a lot of patience with technology and it's dynamic status. Using resources that need updating when I return to them has always been an annoyance to me as a homeschooling mom. With Bytes of Learning Ultrakey this is not an issue. They handle that end, the students at my house can simply log on and begin where they left off.


My daughter has improved her typing skill significantly. With the Bytes of Learning  Online Family Subscription the family manager has access to the progress reports which gives me the option of reviewing what she's done and accomplished within the program. We have both improved our typing skill. I am excited to continue to increase my typing accuracy and wmp and increase my writing productivity through improved typing. Like it says in the Ultrakey user guide, "Fluent keyboarding is ultimately a communication process."

A printable certificate of
attaining goals. Please don't look
to closely at mine!