Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
I had a fabulous professor in college from whom I took several classes about World War II history – thanks, Dr. Khippan! – and ever since we started homeschooling, I’ve looked forward to our World War II unit. I’ve been collecting resources for years to be sure that I had the materials we needed to do this time period justice – and that’s why I was excited for the opportunity to review Time Travelers U.S. History Studies: World War II from Home School in the Woods.
Home School in the Woods has several series of resources, including time lines, world history materials, map packs, and Biblical studies. Many of these are targeted for students in third through eighth grades, including the Time Travelers study we used.
While my kids are definitely at the upper end of that range, we still enjoyed parts of this study – and there’s much to dig into.
I like that the resource includes a lapbook. If you’re using all or most of the resource, that gives purpose and functionality to the work. The pieces then can be put together in the lapbook, which makes a great keepsake or souvenir.
Even without the lapbook, though, there is much to study. Many of the lessons include readings with lessons. There are also many pages of copywork featuring famous quotes related to the war. We especially liked the pages that were available for coloring: propaganda posters and a variety of maps. We studied propaganda used by both the Allied and Axis powers, and so these coloring pages were really neat to use and display.
The maps were also important references. We printed them at the beginning of our study and referred to them as we learned about battles and events in different places. Even though we were constantly talking about new places, using the maps was a huge help as my kids tried to wrap their minds around just how big World War II was and how many places were involved in fighting physically.
I really like all of these options. They provide a great deal of versatility and make it possible for a wide range of ages to learn together. While my two kids are close in age and ability, the flexibility provided with these materials would make it very easy for a family or larger group of kids to study together. Parents could easily differentiate by adding pieces or removing them for younger kids.
On the flip side, however, the depth and variety of materials does have a down side: there’s just so many of them that the files are cumbersome to use. There is a clickable document that helps to navigate much of it, but I found printing the files to be very frustrating. I don’t like having to have multiple windows and programs open, but that’s what happened as I tried to navigate through the folders and documents. I like that the document is clickable, as that does make it easier to navigate, but I’d much rather have a single file with everything in it. If the table of contents was hyperlinked, then navigating the larger file is still rather easy. When there are many documents with only a page or two in each one, remembering where something is and how to find it again is much more complicated.
I really love that variety, though. I became a fan the minute I noticed the recipes – we love cooking and baking along with our historical studies! There are several included here, and they’re really good ones.
Another perk is the inclusion of primary sources. I loved being able to see a ration card, because as many times as I’ve heard about them, I’ve never seen one before. That was really neat, and we all spent quite a long time studying it and then discussing what we observed.
We used these materials in conjunction with our regular history plans. These could easily be everything you need for younger students, but this resource makes a great hands-on supplement for books or other materials, as well.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Click here to read other reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew.
