A TOS Review: Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt

We are history fans. All the way around. We would rather study history than about anything. Except for Football. Josiah would be all over a class called “Football is Awesome.”.  Maybe I could create one. That might not be a bad idea. I could sneak some math in there somewhere. 

Nevertheless, history has always been one of the favored subjects here. One of my favorite homeschool history resources over the years has been Home School in the Woods. 

You can imagine that I was over the moon when we had the opportunity to review the NEW Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt.

 

 

 

Just a little more about Home School in the Woods before I tell you about our experience with Ancient Egypt. Home School in the Woods specializes in creating activity packs, project packs and lapbooks that center around historical topics. They are a Christian company that presents the material with a Christian point of view.

I have used a vast array of their products and have never been disappointed.

For this review I received a download of Project PassportWorld History Study: Ancient Egypt. This is an enormous download.  You can use it as a stand-alone curriculum or as a supplement for a larger study on Ancient History. If you choose to use the product as a whole study the student will get to “visit” Ancient Egypt over 25 “stops.” There are a variety of projects at each stop. Each are designed to be interactive and “hands-on.”

The time frame suggested to complete Ancient Egypt is 8-12 weeks. Personally, I think it could be as long as you need it to be. This is one of those projects that can take you on many rabbit trails! The product is intended to be used for grades 3-8.

There is quite a bit of prep work involved. A younger child will need assistance, but an older student can certainly do much of the prep themselves. I get everything together for Josiah. He’s 13 and perfectly capable of many things. However, I knew that the instructions would be confusing for him. He’s dyslexic and dysgraphic. I wanted to make the experience as enjoyable and productive as possible.

Just a note about all the material you will receive. There are several folders containing everything that you will need; including a folder titled “PDFs.” This folder has all the printables and information you will need. The folder “Intro-Etc.” has additional resources, itinerary and more. There is also a PDF called Travel Tips. Make sure you read this. In fact, print it out and keep it in your notes. I have done many lapbook and notebook projects in my time. All the info there was so helpful! There is even a suggested list of supplies. I liked having it one place instead of trying to track down supplies with each “stop.”

 I have made it a habit to keep a binder of any materials we are studying just for me. This is not a complicated product…there are just many moving parts.

I did print materials as needed. If I had to do it again, I would do it all at once. I would have saved myself some time.

I thought I would share a few pics of some of what happened on Stop 2.  

The first thing we did was to read the text for the day. It is an informative reading (just a little over 3 pages) on the Nile and the unification of Egypt. We also read about Imhotep.

 You can see from my stylized shot (I say stylized because I am having camera issues and this is about as good as it gets!) of the intermarry that each activity is in bold.  A few of the activities are continues. The student simply adds to them each week. Josiah keeps all the finished projects and the ones he is working on in his binder. The small bits and pieces are in a ziplock bag.

 

 The first project for Stop 2 is Snapshot memories. This is basically a timeline that fits in the binder. The 'snapshot' was cut out and placed over the current tag. We then added any extra information and the date.

 

 

 

The next project is a map. The map was started in the previous lesson and the student adds to it with each subsequent lesson. I like that the places can be cut out and glued to the map. There was another aspect to the map project that we didn't complete. The student was to glue a little pepper on the banks of the Nile River. My guy wasn't interested, but I think that it is a fantastic way to add more dimension (and fun!) to the project.

 

The project below is also one that continues every week. The student will gather postcards every week from "famous folks." They are also encouraged to draw on the back and keep them in a cute postcard rack that they put together at Stop 1.

 

 

The next project is the continuing Newspaper project. I personally love this one. It probably is the writer in me. Josiah looked at me with the 'deer in the headlights' look. We are going to have to work on this. :<)

 

The next activity is creating a minibook on the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.  It was completed and placed in the ziplock bag.

 

 The final activity on this leg of the trip is to begin an Audio Tour! This is such a neat thing. We listened to it a few times. Not to worry. All the MP3s are included in the download. I didn't have to go search for them online.

Just a Few More Thoughts

Homeschool in the Woods simply provides a superior product. The images are quality and the activities are creative and memorable. I love that they supply a very hands-on experience.

I love that I can include as many projects (or as few) as Josiah is interested in completing.  I love, too, that we are supplied with suggestions for additional resources. I am all about the books and it was nice to have a list for the library. 

Our visit to Ancient Egypt isn’t over.  We can’t wait to see what happens next.

 You can connect with Homeschool in the Woods via the following social media outlets. Click on the banner to read more reviews. Other members of the crew reviewed additional products, as well.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeschoolinthewoods
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HSintheWoods
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hsinthewoods/
Google +: https://plus.google.com/b/109711152019235885312/+Homeschoolinthewoods/posts