Saturday, March 6, 2010

Product Review: Download and Go Expedition Austalia

Description

We had an opportunity to use Expedition Australia part of the new Download and Go E book series by Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse. The units are theme based and full of fun and exciting discoveries. It is set up to be used in five days, but has different sections within each day that if desired could easily make it last much longer. The cost is $7.95 each and they are reusable year after year with no other required resources to buy. There is a book list included with each topic if you would like to explore that topic further. There are several different themes from the Download and Go series to chooses from including: Amelia Earhart, Davy Crockett, Valentine's Day, George Washington, Spring Surprises, and several others. Go to http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/ and click on Download and Go Series to see all of the different products and to purchase.

How We Used This Product

I used this product with Anthony (4), Alex (6), and Nicholas (8). We spent an hour each day for five days in a row. Each morning after our Bible lesson we sat down in front of the computer and worked our way through each topic for that day.

What We Liked

The name Download and Go is perfect for this product because that is literally what I did. I did not have to prepare anything ahead of time. At the beginning of each day I printed out what we needed for that day, sat down with the boys, and we got to work. We have already made a few lap books and really enjoyed making one all about Australia. The boys loved the videos at the start of every day. We enjoyed making the maps of Australia, learning about different areas in Australia,and finding out more about native animals there. We also loved the links that showed the time and temperature in different regions compared to the time and temperature where we are. We liked the link to the Australian currency comparing to other money around the world. We also enjoyed learning a new vocabulary word every day. I loved that there was nothing else that had to be bought to use this program and that I can use it again in a few years with my younger children.

What We Didn't Like

One negative to this product is that quite a few of the printables are in color. While that is very engaging for the children, colored ink can be quite costly especially if you have more than one child.

My Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this Download and Go Expedition Australia. We had a great time using the product to explore and learn about Australia. Expedition Australia did a great job teaching both the children and I about the land "down under."

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