Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
My family had the privilege of trying the Project Passport World History Studies Renaissance & Reformation from Home School in the Woods for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.
Home School in the Woods is a family run business that creates Christian based history curriculum for homeschooling. This curriculum immerses your student in the topic. It is very hands-on with lapbooks, timelines, recipes, art, creative writing, notebook projects, dramatized audio theater, maps, crafts, projects, re-enactments, file-folder games, vocabulary to learn, etc.
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| There are icons that help along one side and buttons that link to nice clear photos of the finished projects. |
The Project Passport World History Studies are a virtual trip through history. These are recommended for grades 3-8. There are two different versions you can purchase, a CD version or a digital download version. With the CD version everything that you access and print is on the CD. With the digital download version you download a zipped file, place all of the contents into a folder on your computer, and access it by the start.htm file that is in that folder. We received the digital download version. This "trip" is supposed to last roughly 8-12 weeks depending upon how quickly everything is completed. For Each Project Passport World History Study you make a passport and "luggage" folder to hold some of the stuff you print off and make along the journey. Each "trip" has 25 chapters called "stops", where you observe action-packed events and meet fascinating people along the way. At each stop you come to there will be "Guide Book Text" which is information for the student to read about a certain topic explored and a "Travel Itinerary" that covers the project choices and directions. There are also helpful icons that let you know what you will be doing and color photos of all the completed projects so you know how they are supposed to look like when finished. There are a lot of printables of information and projects to do. Masters are available for all printables. There are so many things to do on the trip, for example: creating a "Scrapbook of Sights" (notebook for storing the notebook projects), dining on local cuisine with the "Dining out Guide" (recipes to create food and drink that was popular in the area at the time), taking pictures ("Snapshot Moments in History" scrapbook timeline), reporting on important people and happenings (a newspaper creative writing assignment - In the Renaissance & Reformation study it is called "The Renaissance Reporter"), making "souvenirs" to remember your stay (craft/art projects), dressing like the locals (clothing of the era: fun dress up craft), making a lapbook, playing games (file-folder games), collecting postcards, listening to tour guides (dramatized audio theater - there are 8 of these), and so much more!
We found that there was a lot of preparation that needed to happen before getting started. There is a lot of things needing printed, items needing prepared for crafts and other projects, and general preparation of materials before one can begin the journey. The Travel Itinerary and Travel Planner: Quick Stop Itinerary helps with this a lot!
You will need a few items to get you through the lessons:
- Working Printer
- Color and Black Ink for the printer to cover all the printing that will be happening
- White and Colored Printer Paper
- White and Colored Cardstock (this is best, but admittedly we didn't have any of this and used only white printer paper and it worked OK)
- One 3-Ring Binder for the Guide Book (teacher binder for Introduction, Travel Tips, Travel Planner: Quick Stop Itinerary, Travel Itinerary, Guide Book Text, and Additional Resources)
- One 3-Ring Binder for the Scrapbook of Sights (student binder for all notebook projects)
- Colored File Folders or Colored Pocket Folders with Fasteners
- Scissors and/or an X-acto Knife (when using an X-acto Knife you will need a thick piece of cardboard or self healing mat to use as a cutting surface)
- Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils to color the pictures, if desired
- Glue
- Other Craft supplies specified for each of the different projects that your student wants to do
This is what the Project Passport World History Studies: Renaissance & Reformation covers:
- Laying the Foundation (Packing for the Trip)
- Italy & Da Vinci
- Everyday Life - Part I
- Everyday Life - Part II
- Renaissance Art
- Famous Artists of the Renaissance
- Music of the Renaissance
- Literature, Drama, and Shakespeare
- Science, Math, and Astronomy
- Inventions
- Exploration - Part I: The Americas
- Exploration - Part II: Africa, Asia, and Around the World
- The Early Reformers
- Martin Luther
- The Thirty Years' War
- Zwingli and Switzerland
- John Calvin
- France and the Wars of Religion
- Henry VIII
- Henry's Children
- Civil War
- Knox and Scotland
- The Counter-Reformation - Part I
- The Counter-Reformation - Part II
- The Final Stop - Packing Up!
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| Zari coloring the Scrapbook of Sights Cover. |
How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
I have reviewed many products from Home School in the Woods before. Each product was a lot of fun to do with my kids and they enjoyed learning with them. Renaissance & Reformation is part of a series called Project Passport. The Project Passport world history studies we have done reviews for are: Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, The Middle Ages, Ancient Egypt and now this one.
I enlisted my daughter Zari who is in 3rd grade this school year to learn about Renaissance & Reformation, a Project Passport Study from Home School in the Woods, since she loved listening to and helping out with the other studies before. This is for 3rd through 8th graders so she did need my help with some of the more advanced projects and writing assignments and it took her a lot longer to get through some of the stops than it might have taken for my older kids. I learned quite a bit too while helping her with this study.
This study, like all the other ones we did, was jam packed with information. I am glad that I already had experience doing this type of program because everything seemed to go faster. The instructions are not hard, but there is a lot of things to set up and print out initially and throughout the program....so be aware of that and set some time aside initially to get things done so you are not overwhelmed. We still have not gotten through all the stops, but we have enjoyed everything that we have done thus far. I love that it is from a biblical Christian perspective too.
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| Zari enjoying the rice Pudding we made from "A Booklet of Renaissance Feasting". |
Zari really liked our project time together. She loved trying some of the recipes in the "A Booklet of Renaissance Feasting" cookbook. We loved the Rice Pudding! It is great to add interest to history with recipes. She loves art and making things. She had fun making the circlet for her head. Dressing up in period clothing is a great way to learn history. We used beads and wire we had and it turned out fairly well. She learned a lot about: everyday life, music, art, literature and drama of the Renaissance, science and invention, Reformers and their influence across Europe, wars and conflicts, Henry VIII, exploration, the Counter-Reformation, and much more! There were so many projects to do to go with all the reading, creative writing, and listening to the audio tours. We did so many fun things and learned so much about the culture so far. I can't wait to get all the way through the whole program with my daughter. We are looking forward to learning more about the Renaissance & Reformation.
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| Zari making braiding the circlet together and finished project. |
I highly recommend the Project Passport World History Studies: Renaissance & Reformation from Home School in the Woods. This is great for anyone homeschooling who might need some help with teaching about Renaissance & Reformation in a highly educational, fun, and very hands-on way. This would also be perfect for those wanting something fun to do with their kids in the summer time. I am looking forward to reviewing more from Home School in the Woods in the future. There is also a U.S. Elections Lap-Pak that is relevant now because of the presidential election coming up this year.
BUY IT
You can purchase the download version of the Project Passport World History Studies: Renaissance & Reformation for $33.95 and CD version for $34.95.
Download the scope and sequence, look at a sample lesson, listen to a sample audio tour, see photo examples of projects, and watch a video of "What is a Project Passport" when you click the link above, to get more of an idea about the program.
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