Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I
compensated in any other way.
A history unit has come and gone, and now we find ourselves on the American History side of things, back to the beginning to the New World Explorers! Home School in the Woods has every American History and World History unit available that includes hands on history activities, so of course, I got the very first American History study within the Time Travelers unit called Time Travelers: New World Explorers.
We love hands on history activities and my experience has taught me that Home School in the Woods provides tons of opportunities for hands on activities and projects, along with short, concise reading lessons. This history curriculum provides creative ways for children to learn penmanship, vocabulary, creative writing and composition, critical thinking, and imagination. It’s no wonder this beloved multiple award-winning history curriculum company is used by so many homeschool families!
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Continuing Our History Studies Using Home School in the Woods and Hands On History Activities
Once I discovered how well my kids retain information through hands on history activities, we’ve been doing them ever since and haven’t looked back. In fact, I’ve gotten several different history units through Home School in the Woods because every lesson is sure to keep my kids’ attention and they remember history so well by doing history lessons that include projects.
So, even though we received the Time Travelers: New World Explorers pack in exchange for an honest review, it isn’t our first rodeo using Home School in the Woods. I was ecstatic to learn we would have another opportunity to review them since we reviewed them once already regarding a world history unit called Project Passport: The Middle Ages.
I even went so far as to get even more history units myself, outside of the review crew participation, because that’s how much I love their impact on my children’s learning, such as the Timeline Collection, the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak, the New & Old Testament studies, the history of the holidays, and a few others! (Actually, a peek at the below video will give you a glimpse of some of these items I just mentioned.)
Something I’ve learned through using Home School in the Woods is how well the curriculum is put together for kids who desire hands-on projects as well as for kids who like to simply read texts, color, and do lighter activities. Not every lesson requires a humongous project, but if that’s more your style it’s definitely available if you want in these history packs of Home School in the Woods.
There are usually multiple project opportunities for each lesson, some projects more hands-on heavy than other projects. Plus, there are projects that build upon each lesson, adding to that one project throughout the study, so your kids will have a completed proud work of art when they finish the entire unit.
Time Travelers Units
Here are all the Time Travelers study units, which we will be making our way through this year and the coming years:
I can’t wait to go through each unit because I know they are all going to be fabulous in their own right! Starting from the beginning, here are all of the Time Travelers units that we’re going to enjoy:
- New World Explorers
- Colonial Life
- The American Revolution
- The Early 19th Century
- The Civil War
- The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression
- World War II
You can also get the Time Travelers Bundle that includes all 7 of the U.S. history studies! Pretty awesome, right?
Teach Your Kids About The U.S. Elections Process Through Hands On Activities!
I’m really looking forward to doing the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak, especially this year since it’s an election year {2020}. My kids are in 4th grade and I think they’re at the perfect age to learn more about our government elections process. The projects included in the elections pak:
- Definition of “Election”
- Different Forms of Government
- The American Experiment
- The Three Branches of Government
- Suffrage
- Who Do We Vote For?
- Terms of Office
- A “Handful” of Political Parties
- Caucuses & Primaries
- National Conventions
- Platform (The Presidential Campaign)
- Stump Speaking (The Presidential Campaign)
- Media — News Source (The Presidential Campaign)
- Campaign Advertising — Spreading the Word! (The Presidential Campaign)
- Raising Money
- Statistics
- Election Day
- The Electoral College
- Inauguration Day
- The Electoral Race!
- The “Vocabinet”
About Time Travelers: New World Explorers and It’s Hands On History Activities
This year I decided to move the direction of our history studies into American history territory. I want our studies to be more in-depth and to start from the very beginning with lots of hands-on projects and activities as well as deeper studies on each individual explorer, and that’s where the Time Travelers: New World Explorers unit comes into the picture.
In the Time Travelers: New World Explorers unit, the following types of activities are included:
- Creative Writing
- Factfile Cards
- Penmanship Pages
- European Recipes
- File Folder Games
- Notebooking Activities
- Notebook Timeline
- Science Experiments
- Three-dimensional Projects such as an Incan Artifact, Ship’s Log, Pueblo Diorama, plus more!
- 10 Lap Book Projects, including mapping, pop-ups, layered books, etc.
- And a final “Exploration Celebration” to bring the unit to a close!
The Lessons included in the Time Travelers: New World Explorers:
- What is an explorer?
- The life of an explorer (part 1)
- The life of an explorer (part 2)
- Ship, ahoy!
- Project Day – 1
- Navigation
- Brendan, Erikkson, & Columbus
- Cabot & Vespucci
- Ponce de Leon & Balboa
- Project Day – 2
- Pizarro & Magellan
- Verrazano & Cortes
- Cartier & de Soto
- Coronado & Drake
- Project Day – 3
- Cabrillo & Ribaut
- Raleigh & Smith
- Onate, de Champlain, & Hudson
- Bering & Cook
- Project Day – 4
- Pirates! (part 1)
- Pirates! (part 2)
- Project Day – 5
- Pulling Together the Lap Book
- Wrapping up the unit with an Exploration Celebration!
As you can see, several explorers will be studied within this Time Travelers pack, along with several opportunities for projects! This is exactly what I wanted for our history focus this year.
A Glimpse Into the New World Explorers Unit
The products themselves are digital, excluding a few different pieces that can also be physical (though this will be stated on the Home School in the Woods product pages for each product). The Time Travelers: New World Explorers unit that we received is a digital product. I simply downloaded the zip file onto my computer, and the folders are organized in an easy-to-understand system.
There are notebook covers available for the teacher notebook and for student notebooks [Covers file], both in color and in outline for so kids can color. You also get instructions on how to begin the unit [Intro-Etc] in addition to tips to consider and a suggested lesson plan calendar. All of the lessons are organized from lessons 1 through 25 [Lesson-Masters] as well as all of the projects that go with each lesson [Lesson-Projects]. There are lesson texts for each lesson, too, so that the kids learn what that lesson is about, whether it be about a ship, pirates, particular explorers, and so on [Lesson-Text]. And of course, there are teacher keys where all the maps are stored for each lesson [Teacher-Keys].
We already did some amazing hands on history activities so far! My kids created a flag representative of a European country that supported an explorer from Lesson 3. Zoey made the flag of The French Fleur-De-Lis, which has gold fleur-de-lis on a royal blue background. Daniel made St. George’s Cross of England that has a red cross on a white background.
Daniel attached his flag to his ship that he created in Lesson 4 when the kids learned all about the parts of a ship through the project called Anatomy of a Ship.
As you can see, Scout (my toddler) thought the world of this ship! The doors in the captain’s quarters open and close, which is the perfect fit for Scout to crawl in and out of.
Just so you know, each project available throughout each lesson is completely optional. And while some lessons will have much quicker projects, other lessons will take longer to complete. You may even find that one lesson has tons and tons of projects in it (such as lesson 7), although many of these projects are meant to be added to throughout the entire study pack, not just for that lesson.
Hands On History Activities Using Lap Books
It’s important to note that most of Home School in the Woods products include a lap book project. But just like every other project within a study, the lap book projects are also optional. If you decide to implement it within the study, like we will, it will be in one of the first few lessons so that you can add to it as you do each lesson.
The lap book will be officially completed in the last lesson of the study, and your kiddos will have a truly amazing history lap book that they will most definitely be proud of! And can also refer to for future reference forever! This will be especially useful when the history cycle goes back around to deeper studies come the high school years.
Blessedly, Home School in the Woods includes pictures of completed projects (most of the projects) within the study so that you know what the project should look like when it’s finished.
In my New World Explorers, I was provided multiple pictures of the lap book project in all its stages.
My children always seem to learn best with hands-on activities, especially when it comes to history and science, so I’m glad that Home School in the Woods provides these wonderful activities that also teach them the concepts they need to know as well.
We’re really looking forward to jumping headfirst into the different explorers! And since Home School in the Woods provides a suggested book list to coincide with these lessons, I think we’re all set. This is going to be a fantastic year in history – our family history in the making – that will go down in the books as some of our most treasured homeschool memories!
Hands On History Activities With Home School in the Woods
History is such a special part of our homeschool. In fact, we use the themes in history to steer the direction of our homeschool in all other subjects. I can always rely on Home School in the Woods to ‘bring it’ with everything they have, and the Time Travelers: New World Explorers did not disappoint.
Other reviewers also used Home School in the Woods, and they used other products besides the New World Explorers. Read the Homeschool Review Crew blog or click on the banner below to read their magnificent reviews!
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