YWAM Publishing ~ REVIEW

 
Loving History is something extremely new to me.  My kiddos have been blessed to have some wonderful resources that I only wished I had growing up, to enhance their Historical adventures.  One of those resources is from YWAM Publishing.  We were able to Review a book from their Heroes of History  series and this time I decided to share the Heroes of History- Laura Ingalls Wilder with Kaden.  Of course I loved Laura growing up from the very popular Little House on the Prairie.  But, I knew there was much more to her and her life then that show, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this book.  Not only did we receive the book from YWAM Publishing, but we were also given the digital format of the Study Guide for this book.  

Kaden was the lucky one to go through this book and study guide with me.  The book says it's for ages 10 and up.  I think even younger ones would enjoy and do just fine with reading it in my opinion...especially as a read aloud.  We are reading it aloud because I wanted to read it too.  We are going at a much slower pace because Kaden and I are trying to read additional books from that time period.  We are also planning a big trip to a local Pioneer Town later this month so we are relishing in these moments.  The book covers Laura's life through many different changes and milestones.  The book was Historically rich and full of sprinkles of wisdom from life lessons learned and seasons lived.  Both Kaden and I loved it and he has dived into the wonders of the pioneer life through now reading the Little House series and some activities we were inspired by that we found in the Study Guide.

The Study Guide was my favorite guide I have ever used.....Ever!  It was easy to retrieve digitally, it was simple and easy to follow along while reading the book and most importantly for me it was well organized and the layout was neat.  I thought it was great that there is a thorough explanation of how to use the Guide in a Classroom, Group or Homeschool setting.  The needs and opportunities for the children in these three settings are all so different.  So, it was nice to see that they were each given great thought on how to successfully use this guide and book.

One of our favorite sections was the Key Quotes that featured wisdom from Helen Keller, Benjamin Franklin and a few others.  We were encouraged to memorize them, talk about them and even display them on a board or to make a plaque with it on it.  We wrote a new one up on our chalk board each week, practiced writing it and talked about the idea behind each one. 

I wanted to touch on the end of the chapter questions.  This is something I always wonder about when looking at new studies and programs.  I love the consistency throughout the whole guide.  Each chapter ends with 6 questions.  A vocabulary question, a factual question, 2 questions to gauge the level of a student’s comprehension and 2 open-ended questions seeking their interpretation on what they just read...easy peasy! You could have your kiddos write down the answers, but I have really enjoyed doing it orally.  As for the Student Explorations there is so many fun and engaging ideas to make this learning opportunity a true experience.  You have choices from essays, creative writing, hands on, audio/visual projects and straight up arts and crafts.  Kaden so far has done some planting inspired by the book and is working with Dad to build a bin so we can grow potatoes from scraps.  Also we checked out a pioneer cookbook and whipped up a batch of old fashion biscuits.  We have a few more things lined up, he is inspired to try and learn to sew.  We have some old t shirts and baby cloths that we are going to start on a little quilt this weekend.

The other great thing about the Guide is the Community and Social Studies sections.  You are encouraged to get out for instance and visit a farm and speak to a local Farmer or head to a museum.  And the Social Studies part is divided up into 6 main categories.  The first is about places she lived and her journeys.  There are some great activities to do to encourage a sense of representation of where her story took place.  You have vocabulary words and questions along with Geographical characteristics and my all time favorite timelines.  We also found the Resource section very helpful.  There were a ton of books listed, along with movies and so much more to flesh out the learning experience even more.


Once again I have been wowed by YWAM Publishing, I recommend any of the Christian Heroes: Then and Now or Heroes of History.  Here are a few I reviewed last year, Harriet Tubman and Orville Wright.  These books are beautifully written and captures the essence of the person they are about.  They would make an excellent addition in any classroom or any homeschool library.  I also this the Christian Heroes: Then and Now would be great in a Church library or youth group.  Along with the study guides this would be so fun to do as a Co-op, homeschool group or even a book club that incorporated the fun activities.

I look forward to continuing our collection of books throughout the next several years.  Make sure you connect with YWAM Publishing today on Social Media.

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