~ Acorns ~ Nuggets of Gold ~: August 2018

I have been reviewing Home School in the Woods products for close to a decade now (!), and I'm always pleased with the finished product. Amy Pak offers such beautifully illustrated hands-on projects which delight my eye every time I look at them. They are also something that helps make each learning experience memorable for my children. This time around I was chosen to review the 20th Century in America Hands-on History Lap-Pak.

We were interested in this particular Hands-on History Lap-Pak because my Youngest is definitely a history buff (Like his grandfather before him☺), and he was keen to do something that included events like the stock market crash of 1929 and the space race, not to mention the world wars. We definitely chose to focus on some of the projects that were high on his interest scale for the review, but there are MANY other projects involved.

The Lap-Pak is a complete history study that includes files to print the text as a booklet or in binder form, complete instructions for lap-pak assembly, resources for further reading, as well as photos of each completed project within the lap-pak. For our purposes (Running low on ink and funds...), we read the text from the computer screen instead of printing the booklet.

Here is what is covered in this Lap-Pak:

World Wars Other Conflicts
Political Events Social Movements
Modern Missionaries Disasters
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 Science and Invention in the 20th Century
Medical Advancements The Space Race
Art Movements of the Modern Era Accomplishments in Architecture
20th Century Authors and their Literature Music of the Century
Transportation in America News and Media of the 20th Century
People of Interest Diner Menu: "Dining through the Decades"
Fashion through the Decades Slang Terminology
Timeline of the 20th Century
Sports Figures Who Made Their Mark in History

Disasters project

Illustrating the fact that EVERY education has some holes~ we have a lifetime to fill some of them in, I even learned a few tidbits while going through a few of the lessons with him. When working on the Disasters of the 20th Century project, I realized that I don't recall hearing about the deadly Tri-State tornado of 1925 in school. If reading about it independently I might have thought that it was the inspiration for Frank L. Baum's Wizard of Oz story (not true ;) ). While the book pre-dates the disaster by 25 years, I suspect the massive tornado might have been the inspiration for turning Baum's book into a movie 14 years later as the country climbed out of the Great Depression.

I was also delighted to realize that many facts have stuck with my son, and he sees history as a whole.

When discussing Accomplishments in Architecture project I wanted to see if he could identify the 4th Accomplishment with only the simple hint of "Borglum." He immediately recalled that Borglum was the architect/artist behind Mount Rushmore, which we visited two summers ago on a road trip to Montana for a family reunion. Hands-on History really sticks with kids!

He was also able to give me a little factual information about the Panama Canal that he gleaned from reading the old Tom Swift fiction series. ☺

One of the projects that I am looking forward to completing with Youngest is one of my favorite Amy Pak styled projects, the Science and Invention Pie book. This is such a fun finished project!

As you can see there are a wide variety of projects and booklets that when completed create a memorable experience and something really fun to share with friends and family members that are curious about your homeschooling activities, not to mention something impressive to include in your year-end portfolio.

Some of the projects we completed~ waiting to finish them all to put them in the Lap-Book

I have only one constructive criticism that I have mentioned in previous reviews, that I will mention here again. The pdf files for printing everything (except the text booklet) are provided as individual page files, as seen in the screenshot to the right. I would DEARLY love to see each project as one complete file, which would be a huge time saver. Instead of having to print each page individually, each project could be printed with one click. Additionally, as printers with duplex printing capabilities seem to be the norm rather than the exception these days, for those projects that are printed on both sides of the paper, it would make life soooo much easier to be able to simply print duplex from a complete file, instead of reloading the cassette (Hopefully with the first printed page oriented correctly =p ) and printing each side individually. *My printer is not conveniently located, so the current process isn't nearly as efficient as I would like.

That being said, I really DO love Amy Pak's products, even if I can see some room for improvement in the delivery of the products.

I mentioned at the beginning of the review that I have had personal experience with many other Home School in the Woods products. Here is a list of the other reviews that I have done over the years, for a variety of their products (At the end of my review there is a link that will bring you to the Crew Reviews, so that you can see the products through someone else's eyes):
2009 New Testament Activity Pak *Note: my introduction to Home School In the Woods is still one of my favorite products~ the Fruit of the Spirit and Armor of God projects are so very beautifully done.
2010 Olde World Style Maps
2013 Hands-on History Activity Study: Great Empires
**2015 Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt
2016 Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections
**2017 Project Passport World History Study: Renaissance and Reformation
2017 Hands-on History Activity-Pak: Make-A-State
2018 Home School in the Woods À La Carte Projects *We reviewed the games Westward Ho and The Fight for Freedom (WWII)

** The newest Project Passport World History Study, which completes the Project Passport collection, ANCIENT ROME is now available and then entire Project Passport World History Studies Collection is now available as a downloadable bundle.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty

Company: Home School in the Woods
Product: Hands-on History Lap-Paks: 20th Century in America
Ages: Grades 3-8
Price: $18.95 Downloadable file

Visit Amy Pak and Home School in the Woods on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~