My family had the privilege of trying the Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life book and Unit Study Curriculum Guide from the Heroes of History series by YWAM Publishing for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.
YWAM (YOUTH WITH A MISSION) Publishing is a nonprofit organization that produces and distributes books that help Christians make a difference in the world by giving a portion of every dollar spent to buy books through YWAM Publishing to children and adults in other countries that are in need. Their books focus on evangelism, educational training, prayer, discipleship, and mercy ministries.
YWAM Publishing has two popular book series; one called Heroes of History and the other called Christian Heroes: Then & Now; in which true stories are told of real people that lived in our history. In the Heroes of History series we learn about great men and woman who changed the course of history. In the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series we learn about ordinary people who have put their trust in God and in doing so accomplish extraordinary things. Both of these book series help us as: parents, teachers, and caretakers; give our children wholesome biographies to read or be read to that teach good character traits, values, and virtues.You can read more about them at: http://www.heroesthenandnow.com/.
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| Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life Book |
The Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life book by Janet & Geoff Benge is part of a series of 26 biography books called Heroes of History by YWAM Publishing. This book tells the true life story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, a character that I remember when I was younger from reading the "Little House on the Prairie" book series that she had written about her life. I also grew up watching the TV series too about her also called "Little House on the Prairie" and although the books and TV series were different in some ways they both had great stories and taught wonderful values. This book from YWAM Publishing about Laura Ingalls Wilder teaches great character traits, values, and virtues too. It chronicles her and her families life from the big woods of Wisconsin to the Indian country of the Great Plains from 1867-1957. You also get a good feel for how the West grew and transformed into farms, towns, and railroads as Laura herself was plunged into the midst of it all. It is a total of 15 chapters and 193 pages long. The book is even more of an eye opener how trialing her life was and how she still endured to the end with a positive attitude.
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| Hardtack: a very hard to chew biscuit cracker the pioneers and soldiers ate. Our dog loved them! |
The Unit Study Curriculum Guide that is paired with the Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life book that I received was in the physical format on CD. I want to make note that YWAM Publishing is in the process of changing all of their Unit Study Curriculum Guides from physical versions to digital versions that are downloadable to your desktop. The Unit Study goes in depth to help you go above and beyond the book and explore other areas that pertain to the material like: crafts, cooking, art, and writing assignments; has questions to ask your children to see if they comprehended the reading, and quotes to use as copywork to enhance handwriting or memorization.
Here is the Unit Study Curriculum Guide Contents:
Part 1 -
Introduction (how to use the study)
- Key Quotes (great for copywork, memorization, theatrical presentation, or art display)
- Display Corner (an area designated for hands on display of items relating to the reading)
- Chapter Questions (questions that enhance the reading: vocabulary, factual, 2 comprehension, and 2 open-ended)
- Student Explorations (essay questions, creative writing, hands-on projects, audio/visual projects, arts & crafts)
- Community Links (field trip ideas)
- Social Studies (places, journeys, terms/vocabulary, geographical characteristics: mapping, timeline: plotting historical events, conceptual questions)
- Related Themes to Explore (science, literature, folk culture, geography, history)
- Culminating Event (sort of a show and tell ending, ideas include: literary, clothing, music, food, oral presentations, displays)
Appendix B: Answers to Chapter Questions
Appendix C: Social Studies Reproducibles
Part 2 -
Continuation of Appendix C: Social Studies Reproducibles
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| Zari in a pioneer looking dress and apron. |
HOW WE USED IT:
I read the book to my two youngest girls who are 4 (almost 5) and 7. They enjoyed listening to me read about Laura Ingalls Wilder. After each chapter we did the comprehension questions from the study guide. We had fantastic discussions about pioneer and country life and I could tell they were loving learning about her as I haven't read the Little House book series to them yet or had them watch the TV episodes (I know! I am going to get on this a.s.a.p.). Their little inquisitive minds were filling with questions and I knew after we finished reading the book that they still hungered for more to learn. From the many, many suggestions of the study guide we also made hardtack (a kind of hard cracker/biscuit made from flour and water that our dog loved more than us), grew our own root vegetables: potatoes (ours didn't take 4 months like it said it might), and dressed up in similar fashion.
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| Growing Root Vegetables: Potatoes |
I love that the Little House series has so much to offer for homeschoolers and this book and study guide adds to the list of awesome curricula out there. There is literally thousands of things you can do with this and it can be expanded upon exponentially. In the coming months we will be delving deeper into the unit study to help my daughters learn even more about Laura, her family, pioneers, American Indians, and frontiersmen & frontierswomen. We love YWAM Publishing Heroes of History and will be back for more!
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| Heroes of History Book Series |
BUY IT
YWAM Publishing Heroes of History Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life book:
Regular Price: $9.99 YWAM Price: $7.50
YWAM Publishing Heroes of History Laura Ingalls Wilder Unit Study Curriculum Guide:
Regular Price: $9.99 YWAM Price: $7.50 for CD and $5.49 for downloadable.
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