INCLUDED IN ISLAND LIFE *DIGITAL* UNIT
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- 6 open-and-go lessons
- All digital guidebooks included to cover the whole family, aged pre-reader to adult
- All guidebooks are specifically choreographed to be used together
- Core Connections are included, to extend this into an all-in-one unit study, covering multiple school subjects (all ages)
- Just download, use on any device (or print, if desired) and go!
- Downloads appear immediately after purchase on your device screen
INCLUDED IN PIRATES ADD-ON *DIGITAL*
- 5 additional open-and-go lessons
- All digital guidebooks included to cover the whole family, aged pre-reader to adult
- No Core Connections (Core Connections Companion is with Island Life; Pirates is an add-on or single subject only)
EACH UNIT (ISLAND LIFE AND PIRATES ADD-ON) CAN BE COMPLETED ON ITS OWN, OR IT CAN BE COMPLETED TOGETHER, AS THEY SUPPLEMENT ONE ANOTHER.
WHAT’S THE PIRATES ADD-ON ABOUT
REAL stories of REAL pirates, REAL treasure, REAL hideouts, REAL battles, and REAL history. As our units are always experiential, we first located the places noted for pirate hideouts; we learned all of the local secrets; we discovered how to bring it to life… to take your family into the journey of what it was actually like as a pirate in the Caribbean.
Grab your unit, and let’s go on our journey!
WHAT’S ISLAND LIFE ABOUT
What is it like living the island life in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI)? This unit doesn’t hold back! It takes you down the ins and outs of island life, while teaching all about microbiology, ecology, pirate history, and more! This unit is best paired with our Pirates of the Caribbean unit (optional, not required)!
Please let us highlight for you one of the people that so inspired this unit. Born in 1914, Martin immigrated from Switzerland to the United States at only 16 years of age. He learned about nursery work and horticulture with his job in the states, where somebody told him about some islands, one of which had only ~11,000 people on it. Piqued with great curiosity, he traveled to the Caribbean and began his exciting adventure. He purchased land where the Danish land marker was (and still is) in a boulder from before 1917 (before the United States purchased from Denmark). Then, after expanding his horticulture expertise, he became the first person to bring new palms to the island, consequently receiving recognition and awards from the USVI governor for his beautification of the islands. He built his home by hand—along with the help of family members and friends. The beautiful piece of property, also one of the highest homes on the entire island, provides an extremely rare 360-degree view of the entire island. The entire home is surrounded by gardens that were created by him, his wife, and his children.
Having already passed in the very place he loved so dear, he passed it onto his son. WHAT an incredible story and rare view into the world of true island life (at least, on this island).
As this unit was written, we also interviewed many locals from all the islands in the USVI. We went all in to truly learn all we could, in order to share with you. What we witnessed was exciting but devastating. It was gorgeous, but it was broken. We had moments of complete awe followed by moments of great sadness. This unit doesn’t hold anything back. It provides a real sneak peek into what being an islander is really like in the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with the lifestyle of the Caribbean people.
On that note, island living is going to look very different from one island to the next. It’s just as different as asking a person what living in the United States is like. There are some common themes, but each state is different. This is why we made the unit focus on these islands, specifically.
CORE CONNECTIONS COMPANION
The Island Life unit can be used as core curriculum (with Core Connections) or as an extracurricular (without Core Connections). Full Scope and Sequence are HERE.
DIFFERENCES FROM THE NORM
We were able to combine the Growing/Advanced guidebooks in these units! More advanced information will be in the sidebar in color-coded font. This is a mini unit with Core Connections!
PAGE COUNT
ISLAND LIFE: 80 (GROWING/ADVANCED), 23 (EARLY LEARNER), 45 (CORE CONNECTIONS)
PIRATES: 48 (GROWING/ADVANCED), 15 (EARLY LEARNER)
RELEASED: 2020, 2024
CAMPFIRE STANDARDS
Our units are taught through living book format.They are applicable to all age levels, pre-reader to adult. If you would like to see how we adjust each level for difficulty (while allowing the whole family to come together), please visit this page HERE.
Brettani Shannon (verified owner) –
Campfire Curriculum is our first ever unit study. I had heard the concept and really wanted to try it. I was initially sold on CC as an effort to get away from busy-work. Ready to get away from worksheets and shallow experiences, I was looking for a way to choose interest-led learning without going the distance of an “unschooler.” The guidance you provide in your video to allow your student to choose the subject and not caring what order they go in felt like a perfect balance of interest-led free choice with structure and guidance. The “open and go” plan, core connections for Language, science and social studies made this the perfect fit for me. I looked through the CC shop with my child and she wanted to do all of the units! It just so happened that we chose “The Real Pirates of the Caribbean” first and I am so glad we did! I was surprised to see that this unit did not have the core connections, but that turned out to be perfect. It was a wonderful soft start into unit studies. It is so engaging! The story and content are balanced, thought provoking, and so beautifully written that I feel inspired as a writer! The conversation questions (some around social issues) have been thought provoking for both of us. I asked my child every day what was her favorite part of the day (and we did a lot of fun things) and every day, it was “pirates!” Truth be told, it was my favorite part of the day as well! Let me tell you a bit more about that…
One of the reasons I wanted to homeschool is how tortuous school morning are in our house. My child is so hard to get up and moving in the morning. We spent most days last year crying on the way to school. She loved school once she was there and had a positive experience, but mornings were taxing on our relationship. She loves reading, so I had the idea that waking her up with a cup of tea and snuggles on the couch with some good reading material would be a positive change. We opened up “The Real Pirates of the Caribbean” on day one and fell in love. Day two, my daughter asked if I would wake her up early for “pirates.” I was planning on doing CC 3 days a week, but she wants to wake up to it 7 days a week! This unit study literally turned my child into a morning person (and has consequently been a blessing to our family dynamic that is beyond measure).
We are onto “Island Life” and “Through the lens of a Photographer”‘ now and loving it them both as well. The “Cool Teacher Moments” are really great. And I have seen God work in such sweet little ways through it, confirming that this is the right choice for us. CC will permanently be at the core of our homeschool journey.