I love KnowedgeQuest and their products. I have most of them and have been very happy with all of them. I love their "What Really Happened" biography books, and their book on Canada, and their 50 States book, and most of all, I love their MapTrek book. My girls and I enjoy their Timeline Builder app (my review is here), and I'm looking forward to using their Medieval Life app as we study that time period this year.
I have enjoyed using the previous two volumes of A Child's Geography by Ann Voskamp, and when I heard about Volume 3 coming out, I pre-ordered it. I was so happy when it arrived! I immediately took the lovely large map that came with the book to be laminated and printed out the papers I thought we might want for my binder. Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest is the author of this newest volume. She's a homeschooling mother of 6 with a passion for geography. The books in this series are aimed at children in grades 1-6, but I used this book with my middle schoolers, and they enjoyed it. There is plenty here for older children.
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the electronic version of the book. For the purpose of this review, I received a PDF copy of the book, A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World, as well as everything included on the CD that comes with the physical book, also in PDF form. (I like to use a free app called Documents by Savy Soda for reading PDFs on my iPad.)
The CD includes the following documents to enhance your studies:
- A PDF version of the book, so you can read it on your computer or tablet
- An 11x17 printable map
- Chapter-by-chapter activities
- Extra Reading suggestions, if you want more information as you go through the book. This docuement includes websites, biographies, picture books, fiction books, cook books, and websites.
- Beautiful maps, as only Knowledge Quest does, with both labeled and blank maps for map drills
- Recipes to go along with geographical areas
- Timeline dates
- Travel Log information, with a list of places to be sure you mark on your maps
- Prayer Walk - information about each country "visited" in the book, and suggested ways to pray for the people there
The book is written to sound like you're walking through the countries of the classical world with a guide. It's written narratively, with beautiful pictures of the countryside, along with ancient artifacts and ruins, pictures of life as it is there today, and wildlife you might encounter. The photography in the book is simply stunning. If you can't be there yourself, the pictures are surely the next best thing!Each chapter is broken into at least two parts, and sometimes more, which keeps the readings short and manageable. At the end of each section, there is a "Field Notes" heading, which encourages you to write your thoughts in a "field journal." This is when you have your children narrate back what you've read, and there are questions to ask to be sure they got the pertinent information, as well as a list of events you can add to a timeline. In the back is a glossary, with the definitions of the vocabulary words you find in bold print throughout the text.
My girls and I sat at our table. I read to them, and they narrated to me. Then, I had them write their narrations in their field journals. I found printable journal paper in half-sheet size, so we could fold it in half and put it in the little binders we used for our travel postcards from the first book in this series. I thought the smaller notebooks made it seem as though we had real field journals.
As we worked our way through the first chapters of this book, I had one child inform me she thinks narration is "boring." I was, to say the least, astonished. This child has done narration since the beginning of her education, and she thinks it's *boring?* Come to find out she simply didn't like doing the same thing repeatedly, so I encouraged her to come up with different ways of keeping her field journal. She could draw a map, or a picture of an animal from a particular region, or whatever she felt would make her field journal something valuable to her.We studied ancient Greece and Rome over the last school year, so this book fit right in with what we learned. It was a nice way to spend a few weeks over the summer, looking at pictures of the places we've studied and seeing what life is like there today, as well as learning more about the history and topography of the region. Asa we continue, I plan to use lots of the included recipes. Both my girls like to cook and will enjoy honing their skills on some fun new things.
I love having a hard copy of the book to hold, and look at the pictures. I find more and more often, though, that having a digital copy is helpful, too. I am not always the most organized person (ahem) and while I can always find my iPad, books have been known to wander away after school time, and we're stuck looking for them when we need them next. It's handy to be able to pull up the digital edition so we can continue with our studies and look for the book again when school is done for the day. Also, if we want to take school outside, I'd much rather take my iPad than haul books.
Intrigued, but want to know more? You can download a PDF file of the first three chapters of A Child's Geography: Explore the Classical World here. This book is available from Knowledge Quest for $24.95 for the ebook, and $39.95 for the paperback book (which also comes with a 22"x34" wall map, a $9.95 value included FREE).
GREAT NEWS: I am authorized to give away one free copy of A Child's Geography Vol. 3 to a lucky winner! Enter through Rafflecopter below. The giveaway ends September 14 at midnight EST.
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Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.
