Exploring Paddington with Branch Out World {Product Review}

Do you love the stories of Paddington as much as I do? There is just something about that darling bear which warms my heart. We were recently asked to review a unit study of Paddington Bear from Branch Out World, a British company.

About Branch Out World

Branch Out World is a British company producing educational resources like the Picture Book Explorers series. These are a collection of literature based unit studies created around beautifully illustrated picture books with links to the British Isles. These are all downloadable units that incorporate reading aloud with a variety of coordinating fun and educational activities.

Creating an Old Testament Activity-Pak with Home School In the Woods {Product Review}

I have written many times about unit studies and lapbooks and why our family enjoys them. One of the favorite companies for us is Home School in the Woods. We have reviewed several of their products over the last few years with great success. We recently had another chance to review on of their great products and have been enjoying putting together another one of the Hands-on History Activity-Paks, this time working through The Old Testament.   

About The Old Testament Hands-on History Activity-Pak

The Old Testament is just one of the many products in the Hands-on History Activity-Paks series from Home School in the Woods. Other products in the series include: Make-A-State, The New Testament, Artists, and Composers. Each of the Activity-Paks includes projects on the topic that together create an entire lapbook. Providing a hands-on experience for gaining and demonstrating knowledge on a subject. Home School in the Woods prides themselves on being a hands-on history company with multiple product lines. 
Every Activity-Pak includes step-by-step directions for each project, directions and photos for all the aspects of the lap book assembly, and all the printable pages needed to complete each activity. They can be used to accompany any text you are using--curriculum, unit studies, or just books in general! Another option is to use the lap book as a guide for your studies, simply add the reading and research each project as you do it! (Scripture references accompany the New and Old Testament projects.)
The Old Testament Activity-Pak includes 15 different lapbook covering different parts of the Old Testament including:

File Folder Games: Hands-On History and Geography with Home School in the Woods {Product Review}

I love searching for ways to make learning fun. Some of the easiest are games. There are many games which incorporate things like the maths, but there aren't as many things which help teach other subjects. Especially history and geography. Enter File Folder Games. With just a bit of extra time, a file folder game can be created for nearly any subject thanks to the help of Home School in the Woods. Over the last several weeks, we have been reviewing two of their Á La Carte projects-- A Trip to Town and Name that State!--both file folder games.

About A Trip to Town and Name that State!

Home School in the Woods is one of the top producers of printable materials, lapbooks, and unit studies for homeschooling. They recently branched out and started offering some of the

Exploring Apologia Astronomy with A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks {Product Review}

We have been working to complete the Apologia 2nd Edition Astronomy curriculum before we dive into our official start of school next week. We are on our last chapter, so the end is near. Throughout the time we have been using the curriculum, I have had each boy using the student notebooks by Apologia that coordinate with the topic. But the boys were kind of getting bored with them by this point. When we were asked to review the A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks, and I discovered there were lapbooks to go with the Apologia Curriculum including a coordinating one Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook, for our text we were almost finished with, I hoped it would be a low key way to wrap up our study--besides, we LOVE lapbooks!

About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks is a company that is devoted to providing quality hands-on materials to bring more fun into the "mundane" when it comes to curriculum. This is done through their creation of lapbooks!

What are lapbooks?
Think of it as scrapbooking your way through a subject. When you are done, you can share your knowing through hands on records of information in the form of little mini-booklets--these can be done through, through drawing, dictating or writing! These mini-booklets are then attached (glue or tape) into file folders. Perfect to keep a record of the time spent learning a subject, and able to pull it out for referencing at any time in the future!

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks carries a WIDE variety of lapbook templates--from standalone lapbooks on popular subjects, to materials that coordinate with popular homeschooling publishing companies like Apologia, Classical Conversations, Diana Waring, Geography Matters and more!

One of the most popular series are the lapbooks which correspond with the best selling Apologia Young Explorers science curriculum.

We were given the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook (instant download) to work on with my two boys age 7 and 11.

Our Thoughts on the Product

We aren't strangers to lapbooks and are VERY aware of how much time and prep typically goes into getting one of these ready. One of the things that I appreciated right off the bat, was that there was never more than one mini-booklet per page for this lapbook AND I could print it all on white paper choosing color or b/w ink. For this particular review, I didn't use my colored file folders, as I have a COSTCO size box of the plain manila colored ones ready for use--even had three pre-folded and ready to use!

I appreciate that I can download this file and save it to a flash drive to keep out of my computer hard drive. It's also in pdf form so very easy to use. Now, as I said before, we were already nearly completed with the Astronomy course, so it was silly to start at the BEGINNING to use the lapbook. So instead, I used the lapbook pages that coordinated with the last two units of our astronomy book, beginning with Lesson 13.

The astronomy lapbook is very very large--requires 14 file folders--using about 1 per unit. The first page of the lapbook download simply gives you a list of materials and directions on how to put the lapbook together--specifically how to fold the file folders.

I skipped ahead to the unit we were on, and scanned the lapbook portion that went with it. I like to note what mini-booklets I can print in b/w and what would work best in color--this saves me ink! Next, I simply go to the printing!

In the past, we've always done SEPARATE lapbooks for each boy--but THIS time I decided to try out doing a collective lapbook with each boy being responsible for a mini-booklet. This not only spreads out the work, but keeps them from being overwhelmed with the cutting/writing.

BEST DECISION EVER!!!

I have a boy who loves making lapbooks, and one who does not like them--but BOTH were satisfied with turning this into a joint lapbook--each contributing his share.

Because we already owned and had been using the Apologia student notebooks that went with our Astronomy, I simply used them to SUPPLEMENT the lapbook. Doing the mini-booklets in the lapbook, over the lapbook elements included in the notebook. THIS WORKED PERFECTLY!

We have been able to simply continue our routine using the Astronomy course. The lapbook pages are clearly labelled at the top with the parts of the unit they coordinate with...for instance, Lesson 1 has a lapbook page that has this direction at the top:

Cut out this piece and hamburger fold on middle line. (There will be a tab sticking out. Do not cut off) Fold tab up and over to keep booklet closed. (Like a matchbook) Glue into folder. Read Think About This and Navigation, pages 17-18. Inside the booklet, explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS.

This tells me that the information for inside the mini-booklet are on pages 17-18 in the text under the sections labelled as directed. So I will read that to my boys and they will then use the mini-booklet to explain about navigating with stars, a compass, and a GPS as directed.

See? It's like a study guide too!

Using the lapbook pages as a guide, we completed 2-4 lapbook elements each of the days we worked on it. And because we created a joint lapbook, we completed it more quickly!

Supplies needed?
Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2nd Edition Text
File folders--colored or plain
Your printer w/color and b/w ink
Printer paper
scissors
glue/tape
stapler/brads
pencils/pens/markers/crayons

That's it. Nothing weird or unusual.

Here are some photos of our completion of the TWO full lapbooks we have done so far--and we are in our third as of today.

Recording Star Classifications

Adding in the Dwarf Planet vs Planet Comparison

Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook almost completed

Cover of the Lesson 14 Part 1 Lapbook

When these are done, I will be able to store them easily for future reference if needed. If we had done the ENTIRE book with lapbooking, I would have 3-hole punched each folder and put them together in a binder to store.

I highly recommend this lapbook. It is available in instant download ($15)--which means no need for shelf space and print as you go. It is probably the MOST open and go lapbook I have ever done. I can say that because I have done a LOOOOOTTTTTT of lapbooks from many different companies. This one took the absolute least amount of time to complete. Period. The boys were able to cut everything themselves because there weren't weird shapes or thick paper. There was minimal coloring and not a lot of writing either. It worked perfectly in conjunction with the student notebooks we already had--and I would probably use them WITH the student notebooks for any further Apologia science. I feel they are each valuable and while you don't NEED to do both--yes you could do only this in place of the student notebooks, or only the student notebooks without this--I think they compliment each other perfectly.

The main con is that you need a reliable printer. And if you wanted one lapbook per student, you will be spending more on paper and ink than I did. By choosing to print some booklets in b/w instead of color, I was able to save some money.

I will take a moment to add that IF YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE IT ALL PRINTED ALREADY--there is an option from A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks to PURCHASE a printed copy of the lapbook for $35.00 (plus shipping). If you don't have a reliable printer or can't afford the paper/ink, this might be a good alternative for you.

Want To Know More About A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks?

Over the last several weeks, we have been using the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (2nd Edition) Lapbook from the collection of Apologia Curriculum lapbooks created by A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks. You have seen how we have used them, but there were several other lapbook topics reviewed by our homeschool review crew--including some that coordinate with Classical Conversations! I hope you will visit the anchor post to learn more about what A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks offer!
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You can find A Journey Through Learning on these social media platforms:

* Facebook * Twitter (@AJTL_lapbooks) 

* Google+ * Instagram  

I am happy that this product worked well for us to finish our astronomy curriculum. It showed me that lapbooks work best for us when they do them as a team to share the work. Now we are eager to move on with our new science curriculum for 2017-2018!

Make-A-State Activity Pak- 1 Resource for All 50 States! {Product Review}

Now that we are on summer break, we aren't doing our full curriculum at all. I do still however, enjoy doing a few things over the summer to keep the brain working strong in my boys. One of the ways that I do this, is with simple projects like worksheets, science projects, nature exploration, and easy geography projects. I was recently given the Make-a-State Activity by Home School in the Woods to explore with my boys, and this product has fit the bill for what I had in mind over the summer. 

About Make-a-State Activity and Home School In the Woods

Make-a-State Activity is just one of the many products in the Activity-Paks series from Home School in the Woods. Other products in the series include: The Old Testament, The New Testament, Artists, and Composers. Each of the Activity-Paks includes projects on the topic that together create an entire lapbook. Providing a hands-on experience for gaining and demonstrating knowledge on a subject. Home School in the Woods

5 Days of Popular Homeschool Teaching Methods~Day 4: What is Unit Study? {5 Days of Homeschool Blog Hop}

Welcome to my fourth installment of my Popular Homeschool Teaching Methods series! I hope you ahve been enjoying my discussion this week. Thus far, we have spoken about why knowing your teaching method style is important, and I have explained what the Charlotte Mason and Classical method are all about. I also have mentioned that I have not yet shared the style that our family relates to the most yet--could it be today? Let's talk about another of the popular homeschool teaching methods: Unit Study!

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. 

Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

What is the Unit Study teaching method?

Before we go any further, let's take a minute to talk about what a Unit Style teaching method is all about. In the unit study method you find find the following to be true:

Bringing Ancient Egypt History to Life with Home School In the Woods {Product Review}

History history history. Our family ADORES all things history. My oldest has had a fascination lately with more ancient history--especially civilizations mentioned in the Bible. We recently were given the opportunity to review HISTORY Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt from Home School In the Woods. Because of our past success with this company (read my US Elections review) and our love of Unit Studies, I had high hopes that it would be everything we loved--and could feed my boys love of history.

A Music Appreciation Curriculum for Multi-Grade Levels from Zeezok Publishing {Curriculum Review}

I adore music. I adore GOOD music. I am a pianist who loves good classical music. I was trained by learning how to play the greats--Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Handel...all those familiar names. I really want my boys to learn about the great composers who paved the way for our modern music, but even as a piano teacher, I still wished for a program that I could guide them on. Something that included not just information about the composers, but showcased the beautiful music they wrote as well. Needless to say, the minute I heard we had a chance to review Music Appreciation Book 1: for the Elementary Grades from Zeezok Publishing LLC, I was thrilled and hoped that it would be the kind of program I was looking for.

Product Information

Zeezok Publishing LLC is committed to providing materials that are unique for families to use in the education of their children. Offering curriculum from their Great Musician Series to their Presidential Penmanship to their zGuide to the Movies, the quality and presentation style of the products cannot be beat.

Their newest product is the Music Appreciation Book 1: for the Elementary Grades which goes with their Great Musician series. Covering the lives of seven different composers--Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, and Schubert--the program introduces classical music to your children

while also introducing them to music theory. 
This is a two-year curriculum (meeting national academic requirements) designed for kindergarten through 6th grade. It's a flexible and easy to teach program that will not only teach you about each composer, but expose your child to multiple songs by each composer! The curriculum includes over 2 1/2 hrs of professionally recorded music.
The Music Appreciation Book 1 Collection ($169.99) includes the following:
* Student Activity Book * Music Discs * Lapbook * All seven composer biographies
You can see a sample of the student activity book and a  sample of the lapbook for more information.
We received the Music Appreciation Book 1 Collection to be used with the boys ages 5 and 10.

How Did We Use It?

I was so excited to get this package and when the box arrived on a weekend, I tore into it! I was immediately in love with the high quality of the biographies, and knew we had to get started the following Monday. We were asked to start with Mozart, so I flipped to the Mozart's section in the activity book to look it over. I love that each composer has a different colored section making it much easier to find. 
While I was flipping through the activity book (it's three hold punched which is a nice benefit!), I went ahead and popped in the lapbook CD. I am very familiar with lapbooks, as they are some of our most favorite things to make. The CD immediately pulled up a menu--the top option was View Music Appreciation Lapbook. I love it when it's clearly laid out like that! So I clicked it and discovered that every composer was going to have their own lapbook--so this was a very large file as each lapbook has about 16 different pieces and requires two file folders to make. I found the Mozart section (About 70 pages in) and printed off the first two lapbook components. I love that I can print off duplicates since I am doing this with both boys. Instructions for putting the lapbook together is found on the first couple pages of the file, INCLUDING what each composers lapbook will look like when finished. This is a fabulous extra.

Going back to the Student Activity Book--on the first page of each composer is a weekly lesson outline. This provides you EVERYTHING you need to know about how to section out all the activities for each week. The icons show you what things are to be read, what are hands on, what are character traits, what is geography, etc. I also appreciated the note of the asterix (*). This identified what things must be done in order to meet national academic standards. I liked to think of these as the "at the very least, get these done" items. Once I looked at this, I analyzed all the activities within a week's assignments and QUICKLY discovered how meaty each lesson was. I knew right away that there was no way we'd get all of that done in one week. But, the great thing, is that this program doesn't have a set schedule--you can adjust it to fit. On the website, it states that each day's work is at least an hour depending on how much is done. That's a LOT! 
In my planner, I just noted what activities I was going to do each day and discovered spreading it out over about 7 days (1 1/2 weeks) would probably be the best for us.  I went ahead and put together the boys lapbooks (green for Little Britches, blue for Baby Britches) because I always keep file folders handy just for this kind of thing. And on Monday we began.

The boys weren't jumping up and down about it, but they both love music and love me reading, so they were willing to give it a try. We quickly discovered the books were written in a very read aloud friendly way and the boys liked the pen and ink illustrations. We chose to read it aloud, but it is written where my oldest could easily read it himself--grade 3-4 level for the biographies. The boys were captivated right away with the story of Mozart and were in awe of his musical genius. 
In the middle of our first chapter, we found a piece of sheet music--the first song that Mozart ever had written down and he was only five when he wrote it! Considering Baby Britches is five, this resonated big time with both boys. They immediately wanted to listen to the song-so we found the coordinating music CD (included in the package and clearly marked) and enjoyed the simple (or not!) melody. Being that I am a pianist and the boys are convinced I can play ANYTHING, they had me stop and go to the piano to hear me play it.  The sheet music was complete, and I was able to take it right to the piano and give it a go. I can sight read very very well, but let me tell you--I was not perfect and had to think about some of the sequences before playing them. I was able to affirm that without a doubt, Mozart was a certifiable genius. LOL. The boys LOVED me playing the song and had me do it over and over again.
As we finished up the chapter, we discovered ANOTHER song, and headed back to the piano once again. At this point, the boys clearly were very very interested in the life of Mozart and demanded we read more--but I told them we were done with just this chapter.
The next step I did the first day was to go over the comprehension questions. I decided that although they were able to be written down, I wanted to do them orally so that both boys had opportunity to answer the questions. Ideally, you would want to purchase TWO student activity books, but I knew that Little Britches would be doing the bulk of the writing, so I just used the one included in my review. The questions were designed to check comprehension from the reading and all the questions could be answered based on that.  The second day, we listened again to the songs from the first chapter and then did some of the student activity book readings on character traits and tidbits of interest. We finished the day's work by doing our first lapbook piece which included attaching Mozart's face, and completing a map activity for the lapbook. 
Day three found us listening again--and by now humming along--with the two Mozart songs and completing some reading/questions from the student activity book. This time, Little Britches did record his answers in the book.
Day four had us back at the piano to play the two songs--and by this time, they could tell me when I made mistakes. LOL. We completed the next hands-on activity and writing exercise.
On Friday of the first week, we listened to the songs and danced to them, and then did the last student workbook activity for the week--a review of some German words and terms and matching.  Surprisingly, I was able to get all of the weeks' assignments done in one week, but this was the only week this happened. Throughout the rest of the review period I followed a similar routine--although the lapbook pieces increased and we had to start spreading them out over a couple days. We averaged 7 days for each lesson. We didn't always do every activity during the week, but we did 90% of the ones that were included. 
On our final day with the final lapbook pieces, we focused on the operas that Mozart was famous for. I searched out Youtube videos of the LIVE performances and even found a condensed animated version of The Magic Flute for the boys to watch--even sung in English. When I played the famous The Marriage of Figaro solo (you know, the one that goes "Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!), the boys cheered because they recognized it from Tom & Jerry cartoons. LOL. They also LOVED the Marriage of Figaro overture, especially when I told them that I played it in high school on my flute. It was so much fun sharing some of my most favorite operas and opera songs with them--especially because they enjoyed them!
By the end of our review period, we completed our Mozart lapbook and will be starting a new composer next week.

What Are Our Thoughts?

I think that overall everyone really enjoyed this program. The boys ALWAYS love lapbooks and they liked being able to work on them together--yet doing separate work. I think the aspect the boys enjoyed the most was listening to the story and hearing the music. They are very musically oriented, so I am not surprised by this at all. After the first day, they came running when it was time to do our music lessons for the day. It is definitely possible to do multiple grade levels at one time. I just incorporated my 5 year old when I could in our discussions.
I absolutely loved how complete this program was. Not only were they getting biographical information about each composer, but through this, they learned some history about the time era. They learned about the culture of the regions the composers visited. I loved the addition of the character traits that were pointed out from the life of Mozart. These were great talking points for us and I worked to incorporate their validity in regards to our own lives. 

Some map work

Writing down favorite Mozart songs

We are a lapbook loving family, so we definitely appreciated the aspect of the lapbook. The activities were very well done and detailed, but I appreciated most that there was minimal writing activities. This really makes it more multi-grade friendly as writing is a skill that a lot of children aren't strong in. The cutting lines were pretty basic, so my 5 year old was able to really help with the cutting in this lapbook. I also am happy that the program included a visual of what the lapbook for Mozart would look like when completed. That helped us match up our pieces--they are numbered, but still. I will add a photo of it when I get one of it all completed as we have a couple pieces that just need attached.
Is there anything I don't like? Well, I think it would be nice if there was a guide that told me what page each composer's lapbook started on as part of the student workbook. I found the numbers on the lapbook pdf, but it would be handy if it said on the book like "found on page 82 of lapbook" so I could just type that number in and go right to the lapbook piece I needed.

Other than that, I really don't have anything to add because it was so well done and just what I was hoping for!

Will we continue to use this product? Absolutely! We can probably finish one more composer before we finish school for 2015-2016, which means I will have five more to do next year! And if you didn't already catch it, you do not have to do the composers in order--each is a separate unit, so you can go in whatever order you prefer!

Would I Recommend This Program?

Yes yes yes! This is a simply marvelous program that is well rounded in what it teaches. Not only are you getting a fabulous history lesson with every composer, but you are putting together lapbooks which can be referenced for years to come that are full not just of biographical information, but aspects of music theory too! With this one curriculum, you have everything you need to teach a comprehensive music appreciation course to your family. If you DON'T like lapbooks, I honestly think you could still use all the information included--just don't put the lapbooks together. You could go with a notebooking style and store it all in a binder. I definitely think it's a great program for teaching multi-grades--something that can be difficult to find.

Want to Know More?

We reviewed the Music Appreciation Book 1: for the Elementary Grades from Zeezok Publishing LLC with a focus on the Mozart unit study. I hope that you will check out the rest of the reviews from my fellow crew members and see the composers that they explored! Are you looking to stay up to date with what's going on over at Zeezok? You can follow them on these social media outlets: Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Zeezok-Publishing-LLC-208441035019 Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/zeezok/ As you can see, this program from Zeezok was exactly what I was looking for and I am happy that I have been able to begin my introduction of the classical composers to my boys. I am definitely going to be watching for when book 2 comes out because this is a great program and I want them all!
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US Elections Lap-Pak by Home School in the Woods {Curriculum Review}

I have discovered that my boys do well with unit studies and lapbooks. Not only do they enjoy being able to pull out the completed project to show friends and family, but they enjoy the process that involves coloring, cutting and pasting. We were recently given the opportunity to review the HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections by Home School In The Woods and I had a feeling that this was going to be a great way to introduce the subject of US Government and the electoral process to my oldest son--something very apropos for a presidential election year!

Product Summary

Home School in The Woods is a multi-award winning company that is dedicated to providing materials to make history come ALIVE in your classroom! Steering clear of the typical history textbook, Home School in The Woods chooses to help your child make living and real connections with the men, women, places, and events they experience through their history experience, with hands on materials. One of the ways they do this is through their Lap-Pak units. Following the concept of lapbooking, Home School In the Woods has newly designed unit studies for teaching history to children grades K-8.

One of the newest of these products is the HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections. This lapbook unit introduces your student to the presidential election process by briefly taking your child back to the foundation of our government structure, through important parts of a presidential campaign, and then to how we choose a new president. This product is designed for grades 3-8 and is available as a downloadable version ($18.95) or a CD version ($19.95).

The Lap-Pak activities include:

* Definition of “Election”
* Different Forms of Government
* The American Experiment
* The Three Branches of Government
* Suffrage
* Who Do We Vote For?
* Terms of Office
* A “Handful” of Political Parties
* Caucuses & Primaries
* National Conventions
* The Presidential Campaign: Platform
* The Presidential Campaign: Stump Speaking
* The Presidential Campaign: Media — News Source
* The Presidential Campaign: Campaign Advertising — Spreading the Word!
* Raising Money
* Statistics
* Election Day
* The Electoral College
* Inauguration Day
* The Electoral Race!
* The “Vocabinet”

We were given the downloadable version to review with Little Britches, age 10.

Using the Product

The first step of using the product was to download the link I was provided. This gave a folder that contained images, mp3s, pdfs, and a "start".

I began at the beginning--the start, of course! This page gave me a great idea on how to use the product and explained it very well.

One of the first things I did was check out the "Directions for Printing the Reading Text". It allowed me to determined what to do with the informational text. It was possible to print it and turn it into a booklet that went with the lapbook, or simply print it out to go in a binder. Since it was for me, I decided to go with the binder and went ahead and printed out the full unit study reading.

I discovered by reading the start page, that I even had the option to have the reading text READ to my student for me via audio links. I liked this idea, but decided that unless I really needed to do something else, I would be the principle reader.

I checked out the project directions next. This gave me an idea on whether I wanted to do the unit as designed for a lapbook, or if I wanted to go with a notebooking style. I decided to stick with our tried and true winner of lapbooking, so I began printing out the first few lessons.

Each lesson is labeled by a title, and the title is alphabetical in a list of pdf files, so you simply find the ones you want and then print them out. To make it a lot easier, I FIRST printed out the information regarding putting each lesson's lapbook portion together. This told me whether I needed to print something multiple times, the type of paper I needed, and how it was going to be used. This saved a lot of trial and error.

I decided to start by printing the first 5 lessons. To save time, I also pre-cut a lot of it. Not that Little Britches couldn't on his own, but because this would make it easier for us to complete a lesson within a time frame. Once I had the first few lessons done, I paper clipped them all together in order.

The next step was to put together the lapbook's base, which was easy to do using the color directions provided. I pulled the directions up on my laptop while attaching everything and it was easy to complete. I have made lapbooks before, so I had a general idea of what to do.

After I had the first few lesson components together, I knew I could just get started. We started this on a Monday and I decided based on the reading for each lesson that we would complete 1-2 lessons a session depending on the lesson's length and the complexity of the lapbook components. The first few lessons had pretty lengthy readings, so we did just one lesson a day.

When we began, I gave an introduction on the topic and why I felt it was perfect for the time. Little Britches was rather excited when he discovered it was going to be a lapbook--"I really like putting lapbooks together!" As I decided in advance, we completed one lesson a day for the first week.

The lapbook recommends waiting until the very end to put all the pieces of the lapbook together (following their directions for placement), but I like to see how the lapbook progresses, so after completing each week, we attached the elements we had finished.

Here are some photos of us working through the lapbook:

We worked through one reading passage (I read aloud), and 1-2 lapbook coordinating components per day and we completed our entire lapbook within our review period. The unit took about 15-20 minutes per day over 4-5 days a week.

Our Thoughts On The Product

Little Britches:
"I love lapbooks because they are short lessons and it's fun to look on the whole thing when it's done. It was interesting to learn about how elections are done and now I understand more watching TV with my Papaw right now because he likes politics shows."

Me:
There are so many great things about this product to mention, but I will try to focus on the things that I like the most.

1. I really enjoy having all the information already provided for me. The notes are there for me to read (or let him read) and then we simply can talk about it and complete the lapbook piece for it. Sometimes unit studies can be discouraging when you have to go round up all the resources yourself.

2. The instructions for using the product were very detailed, but allowed for some leeway--like letting your child write something out instead of printing it for them. It was easy to follow along with the printing directions to know what kind of paper I needed to use and how it all fit together.

3. It worked well having short lessons. My son learns best with concise lessons. I handed him the lapbook components and then read aloud while he colored or cut the pieces. Each piece only took us about 15-20 minutes, but the information was very comprehensive.

4. Good for different learning types and ages. This product provided the lesson that could be worked on independently by the student or used as a read aloud. The lesson was in visual form to be printed or read, and audio form to be listened to. Thus, this makes it a good product for a larger spectrum of ages. I felt my reading aloud was a great fit for my 4th grader. If he had been older, I would have had him read, or better yet, listen to the audio clips. Because the lesson information is provided, it would be easy to fit it to your child's needs.

5. I appreciated that the information was presented without bias. Because it's an election/politics lapbook, there is always a chance for a bias. But this information was strictly taken from the federal and state level laws and also focused on the Constitution. A simple play-by-play about how an election works logistically.

6. Lapbooks are great for using as a portfolio of sorts. Now that we have completed the lapbook, I can easily store it in my files and have Little Britches reference it later in our studies. There won't be any extra papers anywhere to worry about.

7. It's all digital. Now that I have this lapbook, I will be able to pull it out and use the same information for my younger son at a later date--and it's all saved on my flash drive! There is a definite bonus to having it all as a download.

8. The supplies are standard for any classroom. I love that everything that is required is available easily! The main supplies are colored papers, cardstock, crayons and scissors. Sometimes you need brads for moving parts. I never have to go buy anything for these projects!

Cons?
There are two that I would put forth as the main ones.

*If you don't have a good printer, then you will be in trouble because all the pieces of this lapbook get printed out. There is a lot of paper and ink being used just for the lapbook components. Fortunately, we have a good printer and I restocked my ink. I also have a lot of different types of paper which is a plus for lapbook work.

*There is a lot of prep work that goes into a lapbook. If you have a child that isn't a strong cutter, you will need to do the cutting in advance, or allow for a lot more time. There are also pieces to be printed on numerous different sheets of paper, so you need to spend a good amount of time getting everything ready to use. Unless you prepare every piece for the lapbook, it's NOT an open and go. Some of the lessons I prepared in advance, and some of them I let Little Britches do the cutting.

Will we continue to use this product?
Well, we actually were able to finish the whole lapbook, which is great! But I definitely plan on investigating some of the other lapbooks this company has because this one worked so well for us!

Would I Recommend This Product?

HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections is a great product for the child that does better with short concise lessons, and needs things to manipulate and move to keep them focused. This is a great product if you are trying to teach multiple age groups under one topic. The lap-PAK is great for someone who doesn't mind having to do quite a bit of prep work for a lesson. This is also a great product if you need something that is already researched for you. The lapbook promotes more creativity than typical activities as there are some open ended activities, and there are movable pieces and coloring involved.

I wouldn't recommend this product if you like an open-and-go product with little prep work. It also might not be a good choice if you have a child that doesn't work well with putting together projects. Someone who is more of a classical or traditional style teaching method, won't like that there aren't simple reading and writing activities. I also recommend that you observe the age range because this product is definitely for the 3rd-8th grade level child. I believe that the price is very reasonable for the quality and comprehensiveness of the unit--and because you can use the product over and over with future children since it is downloadable.

If You Want To Know More...

We reviewed the HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections ($18.95-downloadable) by Home School In The Woods. You have seen how we used it and read our thoughts on it...but what did the other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew think?

You can learn more about Home School In the Woods by following them on these social media outlets:

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Little Britches really enjoyed learning about how an election process works, and I enjoyed revisiting the topic as well. It is great to hear him use his new knowledge as he discusses what he sees about the current 2016 election year with his Papaw and I know it will be nice to have this lapbook to refer back to later! Working through this with him, showed me again how much he enjoys these type of units. I am definitely going to be checking out some of the other products available from Home School In the Woods!

A Rain Forest Unit Study and Lapbook w/Tropical Parrot Craft

Exploring the rain forest is an adventure I'd love to do. In like a bubble. Because there are a lot of things there that can hurt or eat me (LOL). Instead, I choose to explore the rain forest through books. I was able to share my love of the rain forest with the boys using this month's Poppins Book Nook theme: Forest and Woods. We did a unit study using the book The Great Kapok Tree as our primary resource and had fun creating a lapbook to share our new knowledge.

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I had so much fun pulling together the materials for our study this month. Since we are out on summer break, we are only doing light schooling, which means that a unit study on rain forests worked perfectly! I will share with you the books we read, the lapbook we created, the craft we made, and then the printable I designed that all revolve around this topic. I hope you get inspired!

Our Books

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest

by Lynne Cherry

One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how "all living things depend on one another" . . . and it works.

This book is so beautiful and lush with the fabulous illustrations. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was going to be our spine for our unit study. The book sets up an introduction to the rain forest brilliantly by talking about the different layers, the locations of rain forests, and then sharing several different animal species living in the rain forest through the plot of the book. The boys loved the story right from the start and eagerly examined every page to see what they could find hiding in the paintings. 

We came back to this book several times over the course of our study, to review what we had learned and see how it applied to the book. 

Afternoon on the Amazon (Magic Tree House #6)

Mary Pope Osbourne

Vampire bats and killer ants?

That's what Jack and Annie are about to run into when the Magic Tree House whisks them away to the Amazon River. It's not long before they get hopelessly lost. Will they be able to find their way back to the tree house? Or are Jack and Annie stuck forever in the rain forest?

After we had spent a day learning about the rain forest, I read Afternoon on the Amazon out loud while the boys ate their lunch. We paused several times to talk about what was going on in the book and how it related to things we had learned. There were several tie ins that even Baby Britches was able to volunteer information. This was actually their first experience with a Magic Tree House book, and I think they really enjoyed it and will be interested in reading another one.

One Day In the Tropical Rain Forest

by Jean Craighead George

Doomsday — It is dawn, and young Tepui makes his way through the rain forest. He treasures his tropical homeland and all of its wildlife, from the giant Coco de Mono tree to the tribe of playful monkeys to the colorful treetop birds. But today is doomsday for Tepui's beloved rain forest. Eleven bulldozers and four trucks will soon arrive to level the forest. Tepui is desperate to stop them, and there's just one way he can do it. He must discover a butterfly no one has ever seen -- by the end of the day.

This was a great book to read pieces of for the boys. It fit perfectly with talking about the problem with destroying the rain forest and to give a broader picture about what the rain forest is like to someone living in it. We might read the whole book later, but for now, I just wanted pieces to give them an idea on the reasons for taking care of the forest.

Jungle (Eyewitness Books)

by Theresa Greenaway

Discover life in the tropical rain forest--from the exotic birds in the tree tops to the millions of insects on the forest floor

Jungle is a great book to share even more information about the world of the tropical rain forest. We all loved the brilliant photos of the creatures making the rain forest their home and the extra tidbits of information. This book helped us learn more about the rain forest layers, seed dispersal, hidden dangers, the homes animals and insects make, medicines and other products that comes from the rain forest, as well as famous explorers. I love the Eyewitness Books series because they really help expand whatever you are studying, especially when it relates to things in nature. The boys continue to look through this book because they just love all the photos.

Animals of the Rain Forest

by Windows On Nature

ISBN:9781900933858

Full of fascinating animal facts and stunning illustrations, this charming introduction to the wildlife of the rain forests will amaze and delight every young reader.

This is one of the books that I went through with Baby Britches. He loved all the animals and enjoyed having me read about them. Though not available on Amazon, we found this book at the library and I hope you can too, because it is a good one. The window cutout is a very cute way to present the animals.

There are so many other books about the rain forest that would be great for unit study, but these were the ones I found at our library that worked perfectly for what I wanted.

Our Activities

Our primary activity over the course of our study was to have each boy make a lapbook. I love lapbooks, but it had been awhile since I had the boys make one. We all had a great time putting them together and they will be able to pull the out to look out over and over again. Here are some photos of our lapbook sessions:

Locating South America, Brazil and the Amazon River

Baby Britches working on coloring his frogs for this frog match

Adding in the real life photos

Matching the types of lines in his booklet with the lines he sees on the trees in the forest

Complete lapbooks

You can see that I kept some of their things the same, and others different. It worked very well and with all the materials out there it was easy to pick what worked for each boy.

Our materials for completing the lapbooks:

* The Great Kapok Tree Lapbook

*Lake of the Big Snake: An African Rain Forest Adventure Lapbook

*The Umbrella Unit Study

*Amazon Rain Forest Lapbooks by Tinas Dynamic Homeschool

*Magic School Bus: In the Rain Forest episode

*Virtual Field Trip: Amazon Rain Forest

*Giant Amazon Water Lily Video

Our Tropical Parrot Craft

Since Baby Britches favorite animal from our unit study was the toucan, I decided that we would do a parrot craft to finish off our week. I used the pretty parrot template from I Heart Crafty Things for the bird body, beak and feet. I added the streamers for wings and tail like was suggested on this parrot craft by Ramblings of a Crazy Woman, to make our fun and colorful parrots.

Materials:

*Template from I Heart Crafty Things for body, feet, and beak

*Colored construction paper or cardstock

*Colorful crepe streamers

*Googly Eyes

*Glue, Scissors, Tape

Directions:

1. Print the template on paper and trace onto construction paper, or print template on colored cardstock. 

2. Cut out the body, beak and feet (x2). Attach to the beak and feet to the body.

3. Trim at least 2 colors of streamers about 8" long for wings and at least 12" for tail. 

4. With Scissors, make slit for the wing streamers and for the tail streamers. Put each set of streamers together and pinch end and then pull it through the appropriate slit about 1". Tape down.

5. Glue on googly eye. 

Baby Britches wanted TWO sets of wings, so I just attached some completely on the back of his bird. Little Britches wanted to give the bird a very long tail, so we did streamers about 3 feet long for his birds tail.

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I hope can take a moment and check out some of the posts from my Poppins Book Nook co-hosts to see what they did for their Forest and Woods books.

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - ABC Creative Learning - As We Walk Along the Road - Brain Power Boy - Chestnut Grove Academy - Embracing Destiny - Every Bed of Roses - Farm Fresh Adventures - Growing in God's Grace - Kathys Cluttered Mind - My Bright Firefly - Peakle Pie - Preschool Powol Packets - Pray Species - SAHM I am - Stir The Wonder - Sunny Day Family - Sweet Silly Sara - Teach Beside Me - To the Moon and Back - Tots and Me - Tree Valley Academy - Witty Hoots

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We had so much fun learning about the rain forest and it was great to get back into a unit study again! Later this week, I will be sharing links to the new rain forest themed printables that I made for the boys, that I think you will enjoy. I hope you will check out some of my previous Poppins Book Nook posts for storybook and activity ideas, and then tune in next month when we dive into exploring famous composers!