Home School Adventure Co. ~ Review

My boys are familiar with the Jim Elliot and Nate Saint missionary story. They have watched the movie and have read some about them. They knew a little about the Indians that lived in Ecuador. When I saw this study, I knew my boys (and myself) would be interested in learning more about this tribe and the missionaries who tried to witness to them. We, my boys and I, have been reviewing the newest product from Home School Adventure Co., Walking with the Waodani, over the past month.

About Walking with the Waodani:
Walking with the Waodani is a four lesson unit study. It is intended to be spread out over a month, going over one lesson per week. The lessons include Shell Mera (Then), Shell Mera (Now), Ecuador, and Quito. There are five components to each lesson. They are lesson introduction, people and places, meals and markets, animals and agriculture, and worlds and worldview. You will learn about the geographic place using maps, read stories about the people that live in these places, make some of the meals they eat, and learn about the animals that live there. Each lesson also has a travel journal. Some of the assignments include notebook pages, mark your map (a notebook page that contains a map), rating a recipe, drawing an animal, and creative freewriting. There are also additional resources for each lesson that include links to websites, books, and DVDs.



How we used Walking with the Waodani:
We wanted to take our time so we decided to take about two weeks per lesson with this study. I read the pages out loud to my boys. There are several pages of information with each lesson. I would read a couple of pages each day. I also gave them an assignment (part of the travel journal) to work on every few days. At the end of the lesson, I had my boys pick one of the links in the additional resources to read through. We also watched a couple of videos during the review period. We watched the End of the Spear and Through Gates of Splendor. The meals portion that was covered were grubs and piranhas. My boys said they would eat both if given the chance. We didn’t actually cook the meal, but there are directions included for making the meals. My boys have cooked/grilled plenty of fish, so they were able to answer the questions about eating the fish.



What we thought about Walking with the Waodani:
My boys and I are having a fun time going through this study. We have learned so much more than what we already knew. We loved watching about the Indians and missionaries. My boys are enjoying going through the notebooking pages and answering the questions about Ecuador. Below is part of the story from lesson 1 that one of my boys wrote:

This is my first trip to visit the Indians. I was able to do a flyover, but was unable to make contact. I decided to join Operation Auca because I want to tell others about Jesus. I don’t have any family…well, I have my parents and siblings back home. As the days get closer to leaving, I am feeling a bit nervous. How will these people react to seeing us near their homes? Will they accept us?

I’m looking forward to going over the last two lessons with my boys over the next few weeks. We will be reading some of the books listed in the additional resources.

Walking with the Waodani is available as a digital download ($18.95) or a print edition ($21.95).

 FREEBIE: You can sign up to receive the first lesson free by clicking here (scroll down until you see "Get the Waodani Preview").

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Homeschool Legacy ~ Review

I love history and I try to help my children have a love for learning about our land. Over the past three weeks, we have been using the Once- a- Week Micro-Study Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims from Homeschool Legacy to learn more about Thanksgiving.

What is Homeschool Legacy? 
Homeschool Legacy is a company that produces once-a-week studies and micro-studies. Their goal is to instill a love of learning in your children. The once-a-week studies are written particularly for all homeschool families, but they also help children who are in different programs to earn merit badges. The once-a-week studies were created to help families bring glory to God. The Gibson family started this business after researching the many different ways to homeschool. They felt that the best choice was a unit study to give families a break from the textbook.

What is a micro-study?
Some of the differences between a unit study and a micro study are listed below:

• A micro-study only has you reading from one classic or read aloud during the study
• They are still designed to be used one day a week over a period of time, but they can also be completed in a week if you choose
• They are digital products with educational links throughout the study
• Micro-studies are designed for children in grades 1-8
• They do not include weekly library lists

What is Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims micro-study?
The Thanksgiving micro-study is a six week study of Thanksgiving. Over the course of the six weeks, you and your children learn many things about the Pilgrims, the Constitution, the Mayflower Compact, Plymouth, and the Puritans. The micro-study is designed to be used 30 minutes for three days a week. There are a few books listed (or you can use your own) and there are also some recipes to make. There is also several helpful links to click on throughout the study to learn how the pilgrims talked, learn about your First Amendment rights, take a virtual tour of the Mayflower, and a link to slow cooker Indian pudding.

How we used the Thanksgiving micro-study:
Since we already had a couple of books about Thanksgiving, we used our own instead of the ones listed. (The one pictured above is one of the books we used.) We have gone through three weeks of the study. I am using it with all four of my children (grades K, 6th, 8th, and 9th). So, my choice of books were a little young for my older two, but they still listened to me read the book. My older children did most of the work while my K-5er helped with the easier stuff and listened to the history parts. I was hoping to make it to week four before I had to write our review so we could make the Indian pudding recipe. (I will try to come back and update after we make the pudding early next week).

What we thought:
My children liked being able to take a break from their textbook history to study about Thanksgiving. They learned some things that they did not learn from their textbook about the Pilgrims. They are looking forward to making the pudding and finishing out the study the week before Thanksgiving. Week six of this study is about Christmas and I would like to continue our study by purchasing the once-a-week unit study Christmas Comes To America.

You can see a sample week of the Thanksgiving study (and actually any of their studies).

Be sure to click below and read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew though about Homeschool Legacy (there are several different studies that were reviewed).