YWAM Publishing commits themselves to producing and distributing books that encourage Christians and make a difference in the world. The Heroes of History series is a biography series that tells the story of fascinating men and women who shaped the course of history. The series contains books on presidents, scientists, authors, inventors, explorers and so much more. Recommended age for the series is 10 and up if they are reading independently, but it can be used with younger children if you are reading aloud.
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life is a 193 page paperback book with 15 chapters. It tells the fascinating story of one of the most well known pioneers in history who lived through many changes over her 92 years and wrote her family's story as pioneers in a well loved children's series that children are still reading today. Laura never set out to be w writer, she was a hard worker helping out on the farms, in a hotel, as a seamstress, a teacher, a farmer's wife, and many other things. She started writing newspaper articles on homesteading and over time and with the death of many of her family members desired to preserve her father's stories and the tragedies and triumphs her family went through as pioneers so she started writing them down. With the advice of her daughter Rose, a famous writer, ended up becoming a published author.
The book focuses quite a bit on Laura's younger years. Her families many moves, and the memories she had, both happy and sad. Happy memories such as the stories her father told and music that he played, the Sugaring Off dance at her grandparents and her times playing with her cousins and sad memories such as the plague of grasshoppers and the death of her brother. Then the story moves to her teenage years in South Dakota and her marriage to Almanzo Wilder. Their struggles continued including fire. illness, and the death of a child. After a few more moves (they even spent some time living in Florida) they ended up in Mansfield Missouri where Laura eventually began writing and they lived the remainder of their lives.
The downloadable study guide to go along with the book is 84 pages and is split up into two parts. The first part contains:
Key Quotes: quotes that relate to the topic of study that your student can memorize, discuss, or use as copywork.
Display Corner: Ideas for things you can collect or gather to display relating to Laura Ingalls Wilder's life.
Chapter Questions: Each chapter has a vocabulary question, a factual question, a comprehension question, and an open ended question.
Student Explorations: Suggestions for a variety of activities students can learn from such as essay writing, creative writing, hands on activities, audio/visual projects, and arts and crafts to enhance their studies.
Community Links: Suggestions of places students can go or people they can talk to that relate to the study of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Social Studies: Has 6 different sections: places, journey, terms/vocabulary, geographical characteristics, timeline, and conceptual questions.
Related Themes to Explore: Suggestions in the areas of science, literature, folk culture, history, and geography for your children to explore.
Culminating Event: Ideas for an event to mark the end of the study.
It also has a list of books and resources for further study and answers to chapter questions.
The second part has forms you can print out and fill out such as: a fact sheet on Laura Ingalls Wilder, maps (we colored all of the states she lived in), and a timeline.
I have been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life aloud to my 8,10, 12, and 13 year olds. I chose this book because Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of my favorite people from history and though I have studied her extensively I had never read this biography. The timing was good for us because my 10 year old has been reading Little House in the Big Woods and was curious to find out more about Laura and though I have aloud a few of her other books to my boys, I had never read a biography.
We love the YWAM books. The chapters are the perfect length for a read aloud and we can finish a book in 4-5 weeks. The books are written in a way that is very interesting to read and understand. It is full of facts but written in a story like format. I love reading these books aloud to my children because I have a chance to learn right along with them. Often things that we read in the books cause us to go on little rabbit trails to learn more about the topic. After reading about the grasshoppers destroying everything they wanted to do some research on that. We all find it fascinating that even though there are no surviving direct descendants of Charles Ingalls, their family will be forever remembered through the Little House series. Reading this biography has stirred their interest in the pioneer culture and they have been doing further research. My 8 year old even started wearing a bonnet and pinafore (even to church one day!) and wanted to be assigned more chores like Laura.. She was so cute!
The study guide is so much more then questions and answers. It contains a variety of activities that will enhance your studies. The different types of activities will suit may kinds of learners. It is so easy for families to pick and choose the items they want to do, or they can choose to complete all of it. By reading several books and completing the unit studies you can turn this series into a history curriculum. We answered the study guide questions aloud and completed the fact sheet, map, and timeline. There are so many great activities you will definitely be able to find some you will enjoy. Don't tell my children but I am hoping to take them on a field trip this summer to the Laura Ingalls Wilder homes and museum in Mansfield Missouri. I have been once before 13 years ago and it is an amazing experience to see all of the things that were written about in the books! I think it would be a perfect ending to our study this year.
I highly recommend any of the books from YWAM Publishing. We have read several from the Heroes of History including: George Washington, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Meriweather Lewis. We also have read several of the Christian Heroes: Then and Now series including: George Muller, Amy Carmichael, Brother Andrew, Corrie ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, William Booth, David Livingstone, Gladys Aylward, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and John Wesley.
Member of The Crew reviewed several different books from YWAM Publishing. To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!
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