TOS Review - YWAM Biographies Heroes of History: 'Milton Hershey More than Chocolate'

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Yay! Chocolate and history - What more could we ask for? I was thrilled to get a chance to review the Heroes of History: Milton Hershey More than Chocolate paperback book and its corresponding downloadable Unit Study Curriculum Guide: Milton Hershey (which I received on a physical disc for the computer) from YWAM Publishing.

I was asked to choose from among a huge list from their Heroes of History and their Christian Heroes: Then & Now series along with their corresponding Unit Study Curriculum Guide.

What is YWAM Publishing?

YWAM began with a mission to share the Gospel by printing tracts to distribute at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It stands for Youth With a Mission. Today, the publishing division of the ministry prints thousands of Christian-related material, including a vast array of historical biographies that spotlight Christian men and women throughout history. The hero of history we got to explore and learn more about is Milton Hershey. The book, 'Heroes of History: Milton Hershey More than Chocolate' was written by Janet and Geoff Benge. I also received a corresponding downloadable Unit Study Curriculum Guide, which I was able to download to my laptop for use.

We received the 192-page paperback along with the downloadable study guide which I received on a disc but was also able to download it from the YWAM site for my devices with no disc drive.

This Heroes of History series from YWAM Biographies spotlights the true stories of men and women who changed history. The books are written in a narrative style that engages the entire family, intended for readers 10 and up, but could also be read aloud to all.

~*~ The corresponding study guides cover a wide array of suggestions for further study, complete with instructions for use, biographical sketches, author interviews, and reader reviews along with a bonus section. Within these study guides there are Unit Studies and suggestions for:

• Student Explorations with essay writing, creative writing, hands-on project and audio/visual projects.
• Social Studies with reproducible activity sheets, geography, history, vocabulary, and critical thinking
• Community Links with meaningful field trips, guest speakers, and service projects
• Related themes with politics and law, current events, lifeskills, math, history, geography, and science
• Biography of related resources with book suggestions, movies, documentaries, magazine articles, and websites to explore.
• Culminating event with project displays, era music, food, and activities, and oral presentation guides

How Did We Use It?

I printed off pages for my daughter to review and complete.

One part of the guide suggested creating a scrapbook of Hershey, and another talked about a scrapbook or creating a commercial about chocolate. The very first section had quotes, one of them being from Milton Hershey, and suggestions for having your child do memory work. It only seemed tasteful to find a picture of Hershey's chocolate and insert the quote to remember:

I thought it would be a cool idea to print off Hershey's picture and create candy bar wrappers.

I wanted to sit down with my children and use this as a read-aloud, but as expected, as soon as my lives-for-chocolate and loves-books-almost-as-much-as-chocolate-loving daughter saw the book, she snagged it from my hands, and shall we say - The rest is history. Though, I was able to get my hands on the book when I sat down with her to do the Unit Study Curriculum Guide.

What Did We Think?

The book itself was wonderful, an ease to read and perfect length. The study guide really was in-depth and brought everything together. Of course, my chocolate-loving daughter enjoyed learning more about Milton Hershey's chocolate, but now she also knows more about the man behind the tasty treat.

It's interesting how when someone is successful in life, I don't stop to think about how they got there and that the journey most likely involved some trials. She was surprised to learn things about him such as, that at the age of 7, he walked several miles to and from school just to learn and then only finished the Fourth Grade. One of the questions my daughter had when reading was how writers of biographies gather their information, so I was thrilled when I saw on the study guide a section of "Meet the Authors" and one part that talked about the research.

The entire heroes biography selections is a breath of fresh air, because the entire family can learn about amazing men and women together. These are people who helped to shape our world, but some of them I really know very little about and am anxious to learn.

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

Schoolhouse Review: 'Jim Elliot One Great Purpose' from YWAM Publishing

  I received a pdf e-book and study guide, entitled Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose,  and Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose Unit Study Curriculum Guide, from Youth With A Mission, YWAM Publishing.

The book and study guide are part of their Christian Heroes: Then & Now series.



The 192-page book sells for $8.99, but YWAM’s price is $6.99
The 62-page study guide sells for $9.99, but YWAM’s price is $7.49

The book and study guide is recommended to be used with children ages 10+. I used it as a family read-aloud with all three of my children, ranging from 7 to 13 years of age.

I was already familiar with YWAM, from years ago, but never really was able to jump in and enjoy what they are all about.  A few years ago, at a local homeschool convention, I saw a booth set up by YWAM.  It intrigued me, and I always meant to check out their books.  At the time, my children were far too young to fully appreciate them. So, I was more than thrilled when this opportunity came along for me to review one of their books hands-on.  I received the e-book in pdf form along with the study guide, which was in a 2-part pdf download form. I easily downloaded it to my laptop which runs Windows 7.

I was not familiar with who Jim Elliot was, so I was curious to learn about his life and contribution to our Christian heritage as well. I was sad to learn that he lost his life because of his passion to share the gospel, but his zeal was inspirational to share with my children.

No parent wants to readily encourage their child to pursue a dream that ends in death; however, I did like how the book pointed out Jim Elliot’s spiritual endeavor from a well-rounded perspective. These perspectives included the heart of his mother who would have rather he stayed in the United States, but watched him sail away. It also pointed out how friends he thought he would journey with ended up pursuing marriage instead of the mission field.

I also liked how the book explained the work that goes into spreading the gospel, from fund raising, to finding a partner to join the mission, to learning a new and foreign language, to being willing to lay down your life if necessary.

I asked my children their preference about reading the book by themselves or having me read it to them as a family, and all of them decided they liked it best when I read it aloud. So, we sat down with the e-book on my computer screen with my children tucked away on the couch and the living room floor, and I began to read. I quickly discovered that no more than one chapter at a time was their attention span limit.



I really liked how easy the book was to read. Even though my children chose for me to read it aloud to them, I’m sure the font, sentence styling, and words are written in a format that my older two children could have easily read alone.

It didn’t stop with just the book, though you can buy the book alone if you prefer. I found the study guide to be a plethora of information. There is enough information in there to study this book for several weeks and to cover a wide spectrum of subjects in a variety of learning styles.

There are suggested activities that include Bible verses, study of Ecuador and maps, foreign language fun, and there is a long list of additional books and other resources to pursue.

The study guide introduction claims that it covers:

• Creative Writing
• Drama
• Movie Critiquing
• Reading Comprehension
• Essay Writing
• History and Geography Concepts

However, I was thrilled to discover that it also covered:

• Artistic Expression
• Scripture Memory

These are the two areas I was most excited about for my children. YWAM publishers suggest that you set up a display area for your projects to bring the biography and the historical along with the spiritual implications all together. Here’s some of what we did with it:

She put on her Panama hat, and we went on an Amazon jungle, rain forest adventure to Ecuador.  We took a mini imaginary trip to the country where Jim Elliot ventured forth to preach the Good News!

Fact Sheet and maps of Ecuador

Making a topographical map with "clay" (Playdough)

Sculpted animals of the rain forest out of Playdough clay

Study guide comprehension and review questions

Spanish (Jesus loves the little children)

Bible verse

Our attempt at clay pots

Bark rubbing

Please read what other Schoolhouse Reviewers thought here, or click on the picture below: