Homeschool in the Woods Review

*****Disclaimer......I received The 20th Century in American lapbook free of charge for the sole purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The views I have expressed are my own and are real experiences with my family. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html>:"Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

History, much to my disappointment, is not a favorite subject of my kiddos.  Lydia enjoys it more than the others.  But the boys would rather be covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed than do history.  I have hidden history for the past few months in their Adventure Club reading assignments, but I really miss studying history with them.  Joey wanted to study more "modern" history, and I was looking for an outline to get me started.  We were very excited to get the opportunity to try out The 20th Century in America lapbook ($21.95) by Homeschool in the Woods.


The download was very easy for this project pack.  The file is very large though, and it is broken down into several sub-categories to make it easy to use.  I created it's own folder in my documents for easy referral.  There is a lot of printing, but the nice thing is I could pick and choose what I printed.  Such as the Terminology cards, I did not need to print them all.  You could also choose to read the "book" on the computer instead of printing it.  The directions on assembling the lapbook and it's pieces could also be an optional print. 

The lapbook packet includes a booklet of information, you could actually do this entire lapbook without the use of any extra material.  Homeschool in the Woods includes a wonderful amount of informational reading to complete all the lapbook components.

With the use of the Reading Text, Joey could have easily worked his way through this packet independently.  But I wanted to make sure he was paying attention to the information he was reading.  

The 20th Century in America lapbook includes information about the important conflicts in the 20th Century, fads in food, the Stock Market Crash, The Great Depression, 20th Century slang and terminology, Fashion, important figures and sports heroes....and much more.  This lapbook could easily be turned into a quick study of the 20th Century or an extended study by spending a couple weeks on each topic.  It is very versatile.  

It is written with Grades 3 - 8 in mind, but you could easily include younger children in this project pack.  In fact, to lighten the study a bit about the World Wars, I printed off coloring sheets for Joey to use while we watched a documentary about the causes of World War I.  I have chosen to proceed with this study at a slower pace, because Joey was having a harder time understanding at the quicker pace.  

So how has this worked for us......Wonderfully!!!  I like to create and include my own extras into our history studies.  The 20th Century in America lapbook allows me to have tons of information at my fingertips, and yet still add my own extras to what we are learning.  We can move at our own pace and go as in depth into topics as we choose.  They do provide a list of extra book recommendations to help you find age appropriate materials on some very deep topics.  A list of music suggestions is also included.  But again, you choose how much of this you would like to use.  

Pros......
1. Versatile.
2.  Easy to use with all ages.
3.  All information provided for each lapbook topic.  No extra research is necessary.
4.  Easy download and printing.
5.  Could be used easily for independent study.
6.  Cost effective...$21.95 for a possible half-year history study!!  Only $22.95 if you want to purchase the cd, instead of the instant download.
7.  Lots of extra material recommendations.
8.  Lots of opportunities for creative writing and research projects for older children or those just learning how to do research.
9.  Extra clipart included to jazz up your lapbook.

Cons......
1.  If not careful, could print a lot of unnecessary pages.  

Yeah....I only have one item under the cons.  I have enjoyed this unit study so far, and look forward to continuing its use with Joey.  In fact, we will use this project with Lydia also.  I will probably incorporate her more on a couple of topics to check her interest in more modern history.   I would definitely recommend the 20th Century in America lapbook from Homeschool in the Woods.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to try out other products from Homeschool in the Woods, be sure to stop by the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog and see how well the Homeschool in the Woods products worked out in their homes.