Customer Review

 
Andrea J. from Ohio wrote the following on 05/19/2008:
Presidential profiles, panning for gold, projects, and penmanship practice are all a part of the beautifully done CD of lessons and activities on the Early 19th century. The planning that went into this great resource is incredible. When you pop in the CD you are immediately impressed with its organization and detail. After reading through the introductory material, you are ready to begin printing off 25 lessons and instructions for over 35 activities. There are activities for all types of learners including: a timeline to cement the events studied using the author's beautiful timeline figures, a lapbook filled with small booklets, hands-on projects such as Corn Husk dolls, coonskin cap, panning for gold, and piecing a quilt. A newspaper is created throughout the study as well as a Songbook and copybook of McGuffey Readers reading tips. Also included are factfile cards which include facts on people, places, events, and vocabulary for the 25 lessons. These could be used as review, a matching game, or make up your own game. But wait, a file folder game on Westward Movement is included too! Topics covered are the first 12 Presidents, states to enter the Union, the Growth of the Nation, Innovations, the War of 1812, Mountain Men, Natives, Pioneers, the Westward Movement, the Mexican American War, Lewis and Clark, Slavery before the Civil War, Gold Rush and much more. A Chuck Wagon Dinner brings the unit to an end where children can showcase what they have learned and enjoy recipes and activities typical of the time. Included in our study was a 5th grader, 2nd grader and a Kindergartener, most of the time. We spent 1-2 weeks on each lesson by reading through the text, 1-3 pages, adding timeline figures and a little text to our ongoing timeline, and finishing up with a lapbook minibook, hands-on project, or notebooking page provided. The artwork is beautiful on all student project pages of this CD. We colored them with colored pencils as the author suggested and they look fantastic, although they would look great without any coloring too. The teacher prep is so easy using the CD. Lessons are clearly laid out along with all student masters. With the click of your mouse you can access any lesson or project and print. I simply printed as I went as there is a lot. You can add in great literature or audio/visual ideas listed in the lessons or use what you have available. There are some timeline figures for which no text or lesson covers, so we simply typed the person, event and year in our search engine and quickly filled in any information we did not know. It would be impossible to cover everything included on the timeline without allowing for some personal research. At the end of the study, your students will have an awesome notebook filled with a timeline, penmanship pages, a songbook, file folder game, lapbook, and pictures of activities, crafts and chuck wagon dinner! Not to mention you will possess all of the great hands-on projects and fun memories of studying the 19th century together. I would definitely recommend any of the Time Traveler CD's by Amy Pak. They are well worth your money and more. We enjoy lapbooking and have not found any as well done as the one made in this study. Your children will be so proud of their accomplishments, but it will require some disciplined work. What a great way to study an era in our country's history. With some great time-tested biographies, non-fiction, and fiction, your study will be complete. Students can even work on their lapbook, timeline, or craft as you read. I plan to go back in time and dig into the other Time Travelers in this series when the next batch of adventurers in our home is ready; boys next time around!!