If you are looking for a hands on way to teach history to your kids, you definitely need to take a look at Home School in the Woods.
The products are all created by the Pak family. Mom Pak, Amy, remembered not being so fond of history in school when she was growing up. In teaching her own kids, she was not happy with the illustrations and as a graphic designer, she was able to make new illustrations. This created their first product, which was a set of timeline figures. They have since made many more products to help make history fun and interactive.
Our family was given a complimentary copy of their Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt, which comes in either a download or a CD version (Mac and PC compatible).
When I first received the download, it was a bit overwhelming looking at all that was in it!
Once I stopped looking at the “whole” and started looking at the “pieces”, it was less daunting, though.
There is a lovely introduction, as well as “travel tips”, so that you can understand what you will be doing with the program.
The program is organized into different “stops”. You are traveling through Ancient Egypt, and you will make stops along the way to learn about the different people and places you meet!
One thing that I especially like about it is that all three of my kids (aged 7 to 13) can do the program at the same time. The suggested grades are grades 3 through 8, so technically, my 7 year old is a bit young, but she enjoyed doing the hands on stuff and being a part of it all. I’m sure she didn’t remember every detail (who does!?), but she enjoyed coloring all the printables (while the other two were content with leaving them black and white).
There are creative writing assignments, crafts, games, and even recipes so you can make meals from the time periods and places you are learning!! There are over 50 projects and activities, complete with directions and even pictures so you can see what the final product will look like. I don’t have a crafty brain, so those pictures, definitely came in handy!
Please click on the link above to check out a sampling of the things you will be doing. There is really so much involved with this program!
There are 25 “stops” along your tour of Ancient Egypt and they will take you 8 to 12 weeks to complete, depending on how long you take at each stop and how many days per week you “travel”.
If you enjoy your trip, you can move on to their other Project Passport destinations: The Middle Ages and Renaissance and Reformation. (Other TOS crew members reviewed those 2 Project Passports. If you are interested in hearing about them, click the banner at the end of this post.)
Information at a glance:
What is it? A hands on history study by Home School in the Woods. We reviewed Ancient Egypt, but there are 2 others to choose from as well (Middle Ages and Renaissance and Reformation). I hear they have Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome in the works as well.
For whom? It is geared towards grades 3 through 8, but our rising 2nd grader participated in a lot of the activities.
How much is it? $33.95 for the download or $34.95 for the CD.
Something to consider… Make sure you have lots of white paper, colored paper, and colored cardstock on hand. Since this is a CD or download, you will need to print everything off.
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