Krazy Kuehner Days: YWAM Publishing - Heroes of History

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

YWAM Publishing - Heroes of History - John Adams Review

This year we started back on American History. We have spent the last few weeks studying the Colonies and the American Revolution. We were excited to get chosen to review the Heroes of History - John Adams ($9.99) book and John Adams - Digital Unit Study ($9.99) from YWAM Publishing to go along with our studies.

We received a print copy of Heroes of History - John Adams, and the Digital Unit study downloadable guide that corresponds with the book.

John Adams is such an overlooked man in history. He was very intelligent and thought things through. He dedicated his life to the colonial movement and spent many years apart from his family to help with the Colonial Government. So I assigned Joey to do some extra research on him using the Heroes of History - John Adams book.

The Heroes of History - John Adams book is very well written. I would recommend this for upper elementary through middle school. Joey is at a late middle school comprehension level, so it fit perfectly in for him.

The story starts out with an exciting, attention-grabbing story that will get your child wanting to continue reading. But the book covers the life of John from an early school age through his death on July 4, 1826. There are 17 chapters, and Joey was able to finish the book in about a week. But the possibilities are endless for how you choose to use the book though. Joey read the material and used the comprehension questions from the Digital Unit Study. But if you are working on this for a family project, you could use it as a read aloud and work on projects together based on John Adams life. You could space out a study for about a one month period, using both the Heroes of History - John Adams book along with the Digital Unit Study - John Adams.

The Digital Unit Study was very easy to download. I saved it for easy reference. It is a PDF, so I was able to read it on my laptop screen, and I only printed the pages that I wanted to. There are a few pages that are great to print and that includes a mini-biography, a map of the 13 Colonies, and a timeline for John Adams life.

There are many project suggestions throughout the Digital Unit Study. One of the project ideas suggested was to create a display corner about the life of John Adams. As you learn about his life, the kids can add display items that they create about him. It could center around a timeline, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, famous quotes, or maps of where his travels took him. What an awesome idea!

There are six comprehension questions for each chapter in the book. I simply re-typed the questions into a word document for Joey to type up answers to me. You could also verbally discuss the questions with your students.

The Digital Unit Study covers topics of geography, history, literature, creative writing, public speaking, art, and reading comprehension. Suggestions include ways for you to easily adapt this study from your youngest students through high school age. They also include ways to increase your student's research skills and hands-on projects for multi-sensory learners. Field trip ideas are also included to make it so your student can really see how John Adams lived.

We have used many of YWAM Publishing Heroes of History books through the years. I have loved every single one of them. It's really a great way for your student to learn history without being overwhelmed. I enjoy reading them, even as an adult. The Digital Unit Studies just take the work out of your lesson planning. I can't wait to continue our time through history while using the Heroes of History books.

Several members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew were given the opportunity to try out different books in the YWAM Publishing Heroes of History and Christian Heroes series. Take some time to see what stories they reviewed and how their families enjoyed the product they received.