When looking for ways to incorporate more nature study into our homeschool routine, I was excited to review the Home School Weather Kit Grades 3 thru 6 from Cloud Chart Inc. The kit, currently priced at $40.00, includes a teacher’s guide, one folklore DVD, (5) cloud charts, and (14) 8.5 x 11 cloud flash cards. This is everything a parent or instructor should need, content-wise, for teaching a small group about cloud formations and weather forecasting. A few additional materials will be needed throughout the lessons, but they are basic supplies that most households have on hand or that should be easily obtained at a grocery or household store.

The teacher’s manual includes four sections: Clouds Are Many Shapes and Sizes; Clouds and Weather; How Much Rain?; and Weather Lore. It also has a total of seven lessons. This small paperback book with only 27 pages packs in standards; objectives; background information for the teacher; supply lists; advanced preparation instructions; and more. The lessons are slightly scripted, with questions to ask and suggested answers following. There are extra text boxes called “on the walls” and “extending the activity” with simple activities that help enhance the lesson.

The individual lessons range from as short as 10 minutes, to as long as 45 minutes. Most of the lessons are interactive, which should help with attention spans, but if necessary, families can find natural stopping points to make the lessons shorter. The variety of activities within the lessons work for all different types of learners. There are hands-on activities like representing water molecules with construction paper and building weather-measuring instruments. There are also a few links for websites to explore, memory games to create, reproducible worksheets/charts, discussion opportunities, and of course the accompanying materials and instructions on how to use them.

The kit includes five cloud charts, which is enough for smaller families, but larger families can easily share. The charts are 17 x 11 but came folded in half to standard 8.5 x 11 size, with the inside featuring color photographs and information about the basic cloud groups. The back of the chart has forecasting information and thunderstorm safety.

The folklore DVD is like a professional slideshow more than a movie and has photographs, text, music, and narration. It explains how sayings like “morning mountains, evening fountains” or “red sky in morning, sailor’s warning; red sky at night, sailor’s delight” were influenced by cloud formation.

The final resource included is a set of 14 cloud flashcards. They are large, glossy, colorful cards with pictures on the front and the cloud type on the back. The cards can be used for a variety of games and activities described throughout the teacher manual.

The Home School Weather Kit is not a comprehensive weather unit but is an excellent starting point for a science or nature study unit on clouds. Not all students like the artistic expectation of drawing animals and plants in their nature journals, but this kit gives the opportunity to journal through diagrams and charting data. Weather is a significant factor in nature, but can sometimes be overlooked in everyday journaling, so this kit gives a great starting point for not just learning to predict and observe the weather, but also paying attention to how it affects other facets of nature such as plant growth, animal behavior and more.

Having children in Kindergarten through 8th grade, I believe the suggested grade range is right on target, but I also found the lessons are easily adaptable for younger and slightly older students. Younger children should not be expected to do all of the writing or explain every concept as thoroughly as the upper elementary students, but they are still learning through exposure and can begin to recognize cloud types. Middle school students who have never really studied clouds can still learn a lot, but should be expected to do all of the activities and extensions, as well as give more detailed answers, and may also be encouraged to do extra research and reading. Overall, the Home School Weather Kit Grades 3 thru 6 is an excellent choice for parents who need a little support and guidance for teaching clouds in an informative and hands-on way.

Product review by Brittney Rutherford, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2020