Homeschool Review Crew - Carole P. Roman

I was thrilled to get a chance to review Carole P. Roman books and collections from Carole P. Roman. Specifically, I received:

If You Were Me And Lived In... Peru: A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World
If You Were Me And Lived In... Australia: A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World
Oh Susannah: Color With Me

What is Carole P. Roman books and collection?

If you are familiar with Carole P. Roman's books, you know that she knows how to express a variety of cultures information in easy-to-read and colorful books. She has written a few different series, some made for younger children and others intended for slightly older upper elementary, and the historical books are intended to be used into the teen years.

She had added to her collection some early chapter books and the Oh Susannah series. Susannah Maya Logan is a little girl who experiences typical childhood events and overcomes situations, like nighttime fears. The coloring book accompanies the stories and includes a couple of question pages and a couple pages that ask you to draw things like something you are afraid of.

Additional books in her series include The Cultural Series that is intended for children ages 4 to 8. The Historical books are meant for ages 8 to 15. Other books by Carole P. Roman include Captain No Beard for ages 3 to 8, Bedtime series for children ages 4 to 8, Rocket-Bye for ages 2 to 8, Can a Princess be a Firefighter is for ages 2+, Oh Susannah is intended for children ages 7 to 12, and Things that Go Bump is intended for ages 7 to 12.

How Did We Use It?

When I showed the kids the books, my oldest daughter, who is in high school, got all excited when she saw the book on Australia since her favorite Christian band - For King And Country - are from Australia originally. Obviously, at 16, she is older than the intended age range, but it was fun to watch her get all excited and sit down to read the book aloud to us all. We tried to locate on the map where the members of the band are from, and enjoyed every last word about Australia. She also compared the shape of the picture in the book to a shape of Australia she had recently drawn and was pleased at the results.

Next, I read the book about Peru to my younger daughter. I was excited that we got the Peru book because my 20-something niece moved to Peru in January to serve as a missionary indefinitely. We saw her for the last time in quite awhile over Christmas, and have been anxiously awaiting news from Peru. We have been hearing her jungle stories and stories about the delicious food in the city, so I was interested to read Carole P. Roman's version of Peru and get more of an insight into what my niece is experiencing. Sure enough, some of the foods described in the book were the same as what my niece had talked about enjoying. And, the other information about the rain forest, the mountains and the cities fit with accuracy as well.

Finally, we received the Oh Susannah book that is a coloring book that corresponds with the chapter stories about Susannah. My daughter enjoyed coloring the pages, and we thumbed through the pages which inspired us to learn more about the chapter books. The coloring book also provides a few pages where it invites your child to draw a picture of, for instance, something he or she is afraid of and to answer questions about the Oh Susannah stories as well.

What Did We Think?

I love these books. They are a fun and easy way to learn about different cultures, and the Oh Susannah coloring book was really fun for my coloring loving little artist. I love how the books provided just enough detail to pique your interest to delve into learning more, and we love love loved the pictures.

I remember my son absolutely devoured these history books, like If You Were Me And Lived In Colonial America when he was late middle school or early high school age. They are perfect for your student especially if they are visual or enjoy graphic novels. If I had younger kids, I'd love to explore the Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience: A Captain No Beard Story since they just look like a fun sit-on-your-lap kind of book to enjoy.

FIND CAROLE P. ROMAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks
Twitter: twitter.com/caroleproman Tag: @caroleproman
Instagram: www.instagram.com/caroleproman Tag: @caroleproman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6A9PDx7NdBgYUN1giUOp0A

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

Homeschool Review Crew - Let's Go Geography

Since, as a child, I absolutely loved learning about the geography of the states, it has surprised me that my children don't have the same passion as I did, so I was thrilled to get a chance to review Let's Go Geography online program from Let’s Go Geography that not only covers the US geography but the entire world.

What is Let's Go Geography?

The program is hands-on and includes map work, craft activities, reading suggestions, notebooking opportunities, and video. I received a subscription that gave me access to download the entire year or to choose only a semester. I went with the full year. I received Year 1 of what will be a 3-year curriculum that will cover most of the countries of the world. Each year covers two regions of the United States as well as about 26 other countries and is designed to be followed in order. The lessons are designed to be used by one teacher to be used with one or more students. It could easily be used with a co-op group as the lessons provide all of the printouts and instruction needed for a group or for just one student. I also received an email reminder each week with a link to the next lesson. The program is online, but the lessons are each contained inside of pdf files which you can print and download. Inside the pdf files are links to videos and further information that go along with the lessons.

How Did We Use It?

It starts with downloading and putting together a passport that the student uses throughout each lesson. It also suggests the use of a 3-ring binder where all of the pages can be stored.



Each lesson is set up in the same order and come with a checklist:

When you log onto the site, you are directed to click on your Member Page:

There you find the 36 weeks of lessons broken down by semester with each 12 weeks providing a review. When you click on the lesson link, you are taken to a pdf that you can download or print. Each pdf is about 30 pages long to cover each lesson.

The first section of each lesson includes a page of brief key information about the geographical location such as Continent, Capital, Largest City, Official Language, Population and Square Miles.

From the Member Page, you click on the link provided. When you complete the lesson, you click the box that says the lesson has been completed.

Diving into each lesson:

There is a page of library book recommendations, craft supplies, and the travel journal activities.

As you delve into the lesson, first, you print a map or maps from the link(s) provided, and then identify locations and color it and answer questions.

Next, the student learns about the country's flag and glue a miniature flag onto their passports and onto a continent page.

Music is next, and there is usually a YouTube video of a national anthem or other cultural music.

Let's Explore provide more information about the country, links to videos that are of National Geographic quality, and the pages on the pdf provide more interesting information about the area.

The Create! section was our favorite. This is where the student makes crafts associated with information about the region studied.

The Printables section includes all of the pages that need to be printed to complete the lesson.

There were coloring pages in the lessons, so instead of having my daughter use crayons on everything, I decided to switch it up a bit and have her paint the pages instead. She loved this!

After completing several lessons, there is a review lesson. The first review comes in Week 12. This lesson is very similar to the others in the way it is presented, but it also includes some summary review activity sheets that cover all of the previous lessons and could easily be used as a test.

What Did We Think?

Overall, the program was really enjoyable and educational. I loved how the videos that were included as links to each lesson were National Geographic or similar quality. Each lesson was easy to follow, and I absolutely loved the checklist, and my hands-on learner thrived on the crafts and all of the hands-on activities. We learned a lot, even this traveler mama learned some things. I only ran into one real issue at all, and that was getting used to the navigation of the site.

POSSIBLE CONS

I only mention this because I think the site holds a lot of potential for a wonderful geography experience. I will say that I do a lot of things online and love having knowledge at my fingertips. My children, however, somehow ended up not preferring online learning. So, getting them to use a learning site holds enough challenges in and of itself. It makes it all the better when the site is easy to navigate.

That being said, aside from some broken links or timing out errors when I would click on a video or explore links from the site, the program was really fun. What would have improved this aspect for me is if the links were all set to open in a separate window. Clicking the back arrow to return to the site after viewing the recommended links was not always an option, and I often got an error page. Maybe it was that I was using the program in Chrome, and I admit that it's a personal pet peeve of mine when a link opens inside a site rather than opening up a new tab or window for viewing making it easy to stay on or return to the base site. I don't know. I just had to get used to clicking Ctrl-Left Click whenever I clicked on a link to make sure it would open in another window, which didn't fix the broken or outdated link issue, but it made it more enjoyable so I could use the site.

I would say that the pros far outweigh the con of navigating the site, and as time goes on, I'm sure the webmaster will improve this aspect, at least I hope so because the site itself really holds a lot of potential otherwise.

FIND LET'S GO GEOGRAPHY ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/letsgogeography Tag: @letsgogeography
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ie/letsgogeography/ Tag: @letsgogeography

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

Homeschool Review Crew - USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom

We have always been a family who loves to travel and learn everything we can about the sites we pass by, so I was thrilled to get a chance to review the USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom that is a fantastic supplement for a homeschool geography curriculum as it provides everything you need to conduct a 50 state unit study as well as USA notebooking pages.

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew received:

For Preschool:

Alphabet Curriculum Notebook (26-week Curriculum)
Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook (the Bible version of the above)


For Kindergarten:

Learn to R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook (36-week Curriculum)
R.E.A.D. Review Pack (28 Early Readers that Correspond with R.E.A.D. Notebook) Can be used as a stand-alone product, if you are not wanting a full curriculum.

For Older Kids:

How to Write a Paragraph

But, I can't wait to tell you about the products I received. We absolutely loved them:

What is the USA Activity Bundle from Crafty Classroom?

I received three downloads of activity packs in PDF format that provided a Homeschool Geography Curriculum supplement of 50 State Unit Study along with USA Notebooking Pages that were just perfect for my hands-on learner who loves to color:

U.S.A. State by State Activity Notebook
U.S.A. State Bird Art Cards
U.S.A. 50 State Mazes

The U.S.A. State by State Activity Notebook is a 60-page pdf that includes an activity sheet for each state plus full-color Bingo USA game cards to print out and a Roll-Across-America game board to print and play.

The U.S.A. State Bird Art Cards includes a 30-page pdf that includes all of the state birds to be printed and colored to make beautiful cards. If you are observant, you will notice that I said 30 pages, when there are more than 30 states in the USA. Even though there are more than 30 states to cover, the pages included cover all of the states since some birds represent more than one state's bird. The book recommends using a book called United Tweets of America for research.

And it comes with a matching game that the student colors and cuts out from the printout page:

The U.S.A. 50 State Mazes is a 51-page pdf that includes each of the state's outlines filled in with mazes to print and complete.

How Did We Use It?

I was excited to receive this pack of the USA because we travel every summer. Some years, we have gone south, others we have headed East, and every year, we head to either WI or MI on a five week music tour with my musician hubby. So, anything that is educational about the places we are visiting is always welcome by me. Since we have already traveled through WI and MI and live in MO, we started with these three states to delve into and learn more.

What Did We Think?

Though, the books could easily be used to add to a geography curriculum as a nice supplement, these are really a fun way to pass the time in the car while traveling if you have a good method of keeping the colored pencils contained. Each book would be great to print off in its entirety or just the states you plan to visit, and place inside a folder to use as a travel booklet. Otherwise, we used them at home before our trip as they take learning geography and makes it fun and hands-on.

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Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: