Home School in the Woods (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Being a family that really enjoys products from Home School in the Woods, we were thrilled when we were given the opportunity to review a few of their stand-alone Á La Carte  products.  These are items such as lapbooks, folder games, timelines, and newspaper projects that previously were only available with larger purchases such as the Project Passport World History studies.   These a la carte products offer a wide range of time periods of history, from ancient cultures such as Egypt on through American History and the World War II.

We've used a number of other products from Home School in the Woods in the past, from learning about the 50 states with the Make-A-State Activity Pak, or getting hands-on with History with the Project Passport: Ancient Greece or the Project Passport: Middle Ages studies, so we already had a good idea of what the quality and educational value of these a la carte items would be beforehand.




I selected two items - a file folder game on Ancient Egypt called Tomb Dash!  and  The Old Testament Tribune Newspaper.

Tomb Dash! File Folder Game

Old Testament Tribune Newspaper

Both items were delivered in easy to download PDF files that could be printed easily and quickly.  The files are in black and white which means that there is plenty of opportunities to get creative with markers, crayons, map colors or even paints.

Giving my Tomb Dash! question cards a quick wash of watercolor 

The purchase of Tomb Dash! provides the user with a downloadable zip file that includes three files.  First,a thirty-six page PDF file contains game assembly instructions, printables for the game board, game cards, player pieces, game play instructions and the license agreement.  Also included in the zip file are two MP3 files (one for a ten-minute game, the other for a fifteen-minute game) to be used as a game soundtrack as well as a timer to indicate the end of the game.

The game itself consists of the game board, 126 question cards, 16 Action cards, 12 cover chips and six player markers.  Each of these are supplied in the PDF and are printed on either colored paper or cardstock.  A file folder is also required for the game board along with glue (or double-sided sticky tape) and colored pencils or makers.    A standard six-sided dice is also needed for gameplay.

Tomb Dash! is a cooperative type of game where players work together to exit the tomb and collect artifacts before the timer runs out and the pyramid complex caves in (the mp3 soundtrack comes to an end).  Each player takes a turn answering a question.  If they can answer the question, they then roll the dice and move their player piece the allotted spaces. Players can also share their turns with other players to accomplish the final goal.

Each of the 126 cards contains trivia questions in regards to Ancient Egyptian history and these questions are extremely challenging.

We had fun trying to play Tomb Dash! but what we did learn from playing is that I really want to purchase the Project Passport: Ancient Egypt study that this a la carte product comes from because the answers to the questions come directly from the Project Passport study.

Ashleigh trying to think of the answer to the question. 

Our family is not strangers to the folder games from Home School in the Woods.  Having used a few different Project Passport products and the Make-A-State Activity Pack, we have had experience using the games that are typically included with these products.  (Both the Name that State! game, Journey Through the Middle Ages game, as well as the Greek Life! game in the closed folder are available for a la carte purchases).

I really like that these games are easily assembled in a simple folder with a ziplock and instructions tucked inside and easily stored on a shelf.

Our second a la carte product we received was the Old Testament Tribune where students report stories and create advertisements for an Old Testament newspaper to help improve creative writing skills.  This a la carte product comes as a 13 page PDF which contains 8 pages of guided writing prompts covering many important stories from the Bible, 1 blank template to add your own favorite stories not already included, as well as assembly instructions and license agreement.  Once completed, the pages are glued together and then attached to paper towel rolls to create a scroll.

Since we read a Bible story each school day out of our Illustrated Bible, the kids were able to work on this project a little each day.  They would read their story and then check to see if the day's story was included in the pages.  Stories are presented in the same order as they are presented in the Bible.  Some stories include lines for students to write their own narration, as if they are reporting the events to their readers ( sample story: "Was it a U.F.O. or Elijah in a Fiery Chariot?") while others are presented as advertisements for "businesses", for example, Joseph's Dream Interpreting Service or Sampson's Body Building Gym (enroll today and get a free hairstyle from Delilah's House of Hair!). Much of the headlines and ads are humorous and presented in a tongue in cheek style, making it a fun activity for the kids to work on.

Once completed, the pages are glued together and then attached to paper towel rolls to create a stroll.

This project turned out really nice and we had a really fun time working on it.  However, we will probably revisit this project in the future and will print on papers that look more like parchment to make a better looking finished product with a more authentic look.

To learn more about the many wonderful education products from Home School in the Woods, visit their website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/HSintheWoods  
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• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrKq6iLty2fpB6R6ZpcUb8A   

Make-A-State (A Homeschool Crew Review)

You might recall that the kids and I have reviewed a few different products from Home School in the Woods and both times that we have, the kids have enjoyed it.  There's something about combining lapbooking and notebooking together, which their products do quite well, that helps keep the kids invested in their learning and involved in the materials.

For the last few weeks, Ashleigh and Garrett have been learning about the state of Alabama using the latest offering from Home School in the Woods Activity-Paks  series, Make-a-State Activity .  

What is Make-a-State Activity?

The Make-a-State Activity is designed to allow students to take a hands on approach to learning about each of the 50 states while combining notebooking with lapbooking to create a folderbook about each State.  Over the course of designing their books, students learn basic facts such as the State Motto, State Flower and Bird, the State Song, Native American tribes from the area, basic geography of each state, famous people, and the state government leaders, among so many other things. 

Make a State comes in two versions, either a physical CD version or a digital download.  For this review, we were offered the digital download edition, which once installed on your computer allows the user to print out instructions on how to design the lapbooks and how each element of the lapbook should be arranged in the folder.  

Each State offers twenty activities as well as two bonus activities.  

1. Key State Facts
2. Origin of State Name
3. State Motto
4. State Symbols
5. State Song
   
6. State Industry/Agriculture/Climate
7. State Wildlife
8. Regions
9. State Geography
10. State Government
11. State Seal & Flag
12. State History
13. Famous People From…
14. Native Tribes
15. State Landmarks
16. Sports Teams
17. State Quarter
18. Recipes
19. State Vocabulary
20. State Timeline

• BONUS 1:  State Pages
• BONUS 2: “Name That State!” File Folder Game

How We Used It/ What We Thought:

Currently, US Geography is not one of our current curriculum studies, however, the kids are able to locate each state on the map.  However, just knowing the states isn't enough - one should know not only the name of all the states in our country but should also be able to name the capitol city, recognize the flags of each state and be able to name some basic facts about each one.  

Since we don't have a curriculum, I figured we would just start from the beginning with Alabama and work our way though each state, one at a time. 

Because we used the Digital Download version, everything is downloaded to the computer.  All information is presented via the internet browser, although outside of the initial download, no internet access is needed to access and print the PDF files needed to complete the lapbook.  Instructions on both how to create the lapbook as well as how to assemble the various activities are included with very easy to follow instructions. 

Clear, Easy to Follow Instructions Provided

Each of the 20 activities are fairly simple, allowing children to focus on a small amount of information at a time. Each activity also organizes well into the folderbook which is something I really liked - other lapbooks we have used seem a bit crowded. 

While the Bonus "State Pages" do provide an amount of the information that is needed, students will still have to make use of either the internet or books in order to find much of the information.  I like this aspect of it, because that means the kids are starting on learning how to search for the information and research it themselves. The kids are still a bit young to do much of their own research just yet (although, that's just around the corner for us) so for Alabama, we focused on finding the facts that they needed to know together and then had them fill out the various portions of their folderbook.  This allowed us to look up photographs of various national parks, the Northern Flicker (Alabama's State bird), and the Camellia (State Flower).   We also got to learn about people like Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, and we listened to music by Percy Sledge as we learned about Famous People from Alabama.   Also, the kids learned to recognize the Alabama state quarter and have been on a lookout for it ever since. 

The only hickup we ran into was the section about sports teams, as Alabama doesn't have any professional sports teams, so we ended up having to select semi-pro teams to fill out the Sports section. 

We did not utilize the Bonus "Name that State" game just yet, since we have only covered the one state, but I am looking forwards to utilizing this resource as they learn more about each state. 

I really do enjoy this activity pak and will be very happy to have it to help guide us through learning the 50 States.   One thing I do really like is that each folderbook follows the same format with the same elements, so as we progress through each state, the kids will become more familiar with what information will be needed and how to find it on their own.  

To learn more about Home School in the Woods, be sure to visit their website. You can also learn more about their products and ask questions at any one of their social media sites at :

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods   
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• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrKq6iLty2fpB6R6ZpcUb8A   

Home School in the Woods was extremely generous to the members of the Crew and they gave us several options to choose from for our review. While I selected the Make-a-State Activity pak, other crew members reviewed selections from the Time Traveler American series, the Lap-Paks  and Activity-Paks offerings as well as the Timeline Trio package that Home School in the Woods offers.  Be sure to click the Review Crew Banner Below to check out all the reviews available.

Home School in the Woods ( A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

My kids enjoy learning about History.  Out of all the subjects we study, History is easily the favorite between both Garrett and Ashleigh. However, we all know that history can be extremely dry in its presentation sometimes.

Homeschool in the Woods has solved the problem of dry boring history by putting together several full immersion, hands on,  in-depth study units with their Project Passport World History Studies.  We had the opportunity to try and review the Project Passport World History Study: The Middle Ages (Digital Download version) over the last few weeks and were really impressed with what Homeschool in the Woods has put together.

The Project Passport units are designed as if the student is travelling back into time to the period being studied.  Each study unit is divided into "Stops", like a short excursion while on a trip, in which a topic is explored in depth using maps, projects, hands on activities while learning about the culture, lifestyles, and history of the particular era of study. 

Too cute - Luggage and Passports for our "Trip"

This unit study quickly caught my children's attention straight out of the gate when we put together our binders, passports and luggage bags. These projects are so unique and were much fun for the kids and helped to really set the tone of this being a fun trip instead of just the typical discussion on the topic.

I should mention here that this Unit Study takes much preparation ahead of time before starting.  Each student will need their own binder (we're using 2 inch binders) and a binder for the teacher.. You'll also need printer paper, colored cardstock and a fresh ink cartridge in your printer because there is a lot of printing to be done.  Luckily, Homeschool in the Woods provides step by step instructions with each "Stop" which tells you how to properly assemble each step (even telling you the easiest way to print all the pages for easily assembly).  Most everything, with the exception of the craft projects can easily be kept together in the binder.  But once everything is printed out, it really makes for a nice, colorful presentation that is very impressive.  From timelines, newspapers (where the students write the articles), paper crafts and such, there's a lot of opportunities for making this project a very unique keepsake crafted towards your own child.  Kids even get to decorate post cards from various characters important to the time period and keep them in a post card rack that they assemble and keep in their binder.

Timeline of our  Earlier Travels

Postcard showing the sacking of the Roman Empire

Our Binders 

Our trip was about the middle ages starting with the Invasion of the Barbarians into the Roman Empire and the start of the Dark Ages.  I did worry that the reading of the text would be a bit dry for the kids but found it to be perfect for them. Most often, we would read together the text while eating our meal during lunch and I found the kids would be enthralled with the lesson and asked many questions.  (And I think I have the only 2nd graders in our town to know who Attila the Hun and the Goths are, much to the surprise of their dad).  The reading portions of each stop are fairly short (1-3 printed pages, depending on the topic) and while fairly detailed, are not too long or overloading for younger kids like mine.

After our discussion and our lunch was done, we would then spend about 20 to 30 minutes working on activities for the "Stop" . Some stops had audio "tours" where a guide would conduct "interviews" or describe sites and sounds for various happenings of the time which we listened to while doing the activities.  Some activities included map work or coloring, while others were more of creating crafts representing the time period.

Probably our absolutely favorite activity so far has been learning about the different classes of people of the time and how they dressed. The kids had so much fun coloring each class, cutting them out and then making puppets with each one.  (The instructions called for gluing them to popsicle sticks but I could not for the life of me find ours so we improvised with lunch bags.. lol).  What a fun project!!

It also happened that after studying the classes and talking about Knights and Castles that we went on our trip to Walt Disney World. While there, we happened to have lunch at the restaurant Be Our Guest which was designed to look like a castle and had suits of armor in it.. Sooo, when they kids saw this, it immediately brought back to mind our discussion about these things and made the kids that much more interested in them.   I had to admit, even I was impressed with how much they had retained from these discussions and how well they were able to recollect many of the details that we had discussed.  It was also really cool, as a homeschooling mother, to be able to see their excitement to have our history lesson brought to life before their eyes.

On a really cool, unrelated note, these suits of armor talk, sing, hum and even sneeze.. The kids thought that was so neat.. LOL



Since we had the Digital downloadable version of the Project Passport, the entire curriculum was

Copy or one of the Itineraries.  Click the image for a better view

downloaded directly to our computer.  A file entitled "Start.html" allows the user to click on the link and have the entire curriculum load up as a webpage in your preferred browser.  This way, each Stop allows for viewing necessary information with just a click of the mouse.  While entirely browser based - once the files are downloaded you do not have to have an internet connection as all files are located on your computer.   Photos are included to show finished projects along with links for each of the reading texts and Stop information in the form of a "Travel Itinerary" which gives step by step instructions for that Stop.  Each of these files are saved as PDF's on your computer and are extremely easy to access and print out for binders.  The entire file for the unit study only took up 262 MB on my hard drive so the storage necessary is minimal in my opinion.  For those who do not want to download and would prefer a physical product, they do offer a CD version of each offering that can be ordered.

Screenshot of browser based interface 

This was my first experience with Homeschool in the Woods and their Project Passport series and I have to say, overall, I am thoroughly impressed with it and I am finding it very easy to use with my younger students.  We still have several Stops to go before we have completed this particular trip but I am already looking at the other offerings that Homeschool in the Woods offers as these hands on, activity based learning units are absolutely perfect for my autistic son as well as for my daughter who loves anything that has to do with making "pretty stuff" as she puts it.   With Project Passport World History unit studies on Ancient Egypt and the Renaissance and Reformation periods, as well as their Time Traveler American History based studies that cover from Early Colonization to World War II, I can easily see myself using their products many times over.

Some of the many projects to be made during the Trip through the Middle Ages

More information can be found on Homeschool in the Wood's website as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google + . You can also click on the banner below and see what my other fellow Crew Members thought of all three of the Project Passport offerings.