Monday, July 20, 2015

Home School in the Woods {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

Does your family enjoy history as much as we do? I believe it is the favorite subject in our household; well, that, along with science. Anything that uses unit study and hands-on approaches makes it even better for my boys. We are currently enjoying the Project Passport World History Study: Middle Ages, from Home School in the Woods.

We are heading in to high school World History this coming school year, so this will be a great addition to our study. Frankly, the middle ages is Botanist Boy's favorite time period, I think. A few years back, he created a castle, using an apple box along with other supplies.
Each Project Passport is available, either as a CD, or as a download (Mac and PC compatible). All text, masters, directions, teacher keys, photos, and resource lists are provided. The Project Passport contains 25 "Stops," which can take 8-12 weeks to cover. We're actually going at a much slower pace, doing one or two "stops" a week, since we want to stretch it out through most of the school year (or at least the first semester).

Each boy is creating his own "Scrapbook of Sights." It contains his timeline, maps, a menu and recipe booklet, "Postcards from Famous Folks," craft cards with directions for making 3D projects, and more.

I like that there are audio tours, to add that audio aspect to the project. 
 
I read the information from each "Stop" aloud to the boys, while they work on cutting out and making various projects. Topics covered are: the fall of Rome and the start of the Dark Ages; Every Day Life (family, clothing, food, community, crime and punishment, entertainment); Business; Science and invention; Education; the arts; Medicine and Disease; the (Roman Catholic) Church; the Crusades; Knights; Vikings; and Battles and Wars.
One project is a little travel case, complete with luggage tag, which contains a travelogue, sites seen, etc. There are pockets, in which you can tuck little souvenirs.
The "Snapshot Moments in History" timeline can be printed off in two ways. Little Bit chose to have the pages printed separately from the timeline figures, which can be cut and pasted in the proper locations on the timeline.
Botanist Boy chose to have the whole thing printed off as one component. He isn't that crazy about cutting and pasting!
They had to mark the boundaries on a couple different maps. The two maps compare and contrast the the territories over the years.
There are lapbook components, such as this Structure of the Classes. Instead of lapbooks, though, we will just include them in the scrapbook/notebook.

The passport is a fun little item. I think Little Bit especially enjoys the component. There is even a place to include a passport photo.
They each have their first stamp in their passports. I think we'll be wanting to add in the Renaissance and Reformation project this year, as well.
The boys are working on creating a castle on Minecraft, with their best buds in Florida. They might also create one with Legos, after we get back home. Little Bit looks forward to making a cap like Robin Hood's. So, look forward to more posts to come!

Oh, as a "heads up:" You will want to make sure you have new ink cartridges in your printer! You'll require a lot of ink.

We enjoyed our previous review for Home School in the Woods, the Hands-On History Pak: Composers. We are enjoying this one just as much. I highly recommend you check them out for yourself. Be sure to also read the reviews by the rest of my Crew mates.

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