Home School in the Woods Review

Have you ever stumbled across a company that is just so amazing? Their materials make learning super easy and tons of fun. Your kids beg for more materials when they are done? That would be our experience with Home School in the Woods. We are big lovers of history in this house; my kids are super crafty and love to create and explore as they learn. So when we learned about the opportunity to try out some of the Á La Carte products, we didn’t hesitate to say yes, please!

Look at these amazing materials! All materials are designed by a homeschool family (so they know what life is like – they know what we need!). We chose to review the Science, Invention and Mathematicians Timeline. This timeline helps us get to know over 120 people and inventions in medicine, space, agriculture and more! Why do these things matter? We also grabbed the Pirate Panopoly Game where we get to learn all about the pirate’s attire; seeing who could dress their pirate the fastest!

These Á La Carte materials are perfect, in my humble opinion, for those who are looking to to explore a specific topic a bit more. Include these with your unit study, or choose a couple to add in to your history or science lesson to make things lots more fun. This is one of those company’s that has an amazing amount of materials and every one of them is just so very good! We have used quite a few of these through the years and have not once been disappointed. In fact I credit them with the love of history and science that has been growing in both of my boys. From timelines to activity paks, you will find something to enjoy with your family, of that I have no doubt. These materials are definitely ones you want to check out!

Since both of my boys love pirates and learning all they can about them, I thought this might be a fun opportunity for them to learn a bit of something about a pirate’s garb!

While we first assumed that “panopoly” was simply part of the name, once we started with this we learned that it means quite a bit more. It is actually by definition: something that covers, protects; a striking array; ceremonial attire with accessories; complete armor/arms of a warrior. These all sound like a great explanation to me, very fitting too.

There is a “Pirate in his Skivvies” board for each player to color as well as a bunch of apparel (be sure to laminate these before you being playing). An excellent idea (given in the instructions) is to use velcro to help pieces stick as you go along. We didn’t start out using it but I admit we later made a point of getting it and playing was much easier! My kids all got quite busy coloring and creating a range of attire for their pirates some with polka dots, some with flowers (for that girly pirate my daughter made hers be) – I had to actually tell them it was time to be done designing and time to start playing. As we went along we learned about the names and purposes of each piece of attire. A cravat, breeches, wide-brimmed hats and of course long socks and leather shoes. So many reasons for every one of these pieces – If you want to know why, you are going to have to get this one for yourself. 🙂

I am a huge fan of timelines! I love how they can really pull things together and help us to see things differently. One of the things we have been trying to gently encourage is a better understanding of mathematics in the hopes that it might encourage a bit of desire within my oldest son. Of course it also includes science and invention so while we learned about some things like Fibonacci, we also learned about the introduction of Greek Fire; we had the opportunity to get to know Anaxagoras and Anthony Fokker as well as Girolamo Cardano and John Deere (that’s a name we definitely know where we live!). How much more exciting is mathematics when you get to know the man who was the father of geometry. Maybe you want to learn about the introduction of gunpowder or stainless steel. As we learned a bit about each of these individuals, and the science or math behind them.

Connect the dots. I definitely have seen my kids get more curious as we have learned about the stories behind some of those sometimes crazy sometimes amazing, inventions through the years too! There are so many amazing inventions, mathematical and scientific theories and equations we just don’t know the story of. And as we have learned through this, everyone and everything has a story. Knowing the stories makes it all so much more interesting.

There are so many more projects available too! From learning the art of quilling, to 3D projects, games and posters, there is nothing you can not learn about in a way that is creative and fun! We have our eyes on a number of other projects we hope to experience in the near future too! Since Passover is so soon upon us, did you know, there is a game for that? I know my goal is for learning to be something that is natural and fun in our home. And let me tell you, these are definitely a great way to do that!