I’ve been a huge fan of Homeschool In The Woods for a long time! Their products are just funtastic. Thus far we’ve used three different time traveler packs and are gearing up to use another two next year!
Each Time Traveler pack is loaded with crafts, recipes, copywork, notebooking pages and lapbooking pages. It’s six weeks of school pre-planned for you, but many of them can easily be extended well beyond six weeks!
How I use it:
I have now used four of these wonderful Time Traveler packs with another two lined up for next year. Each one has been used pretty much the same way. We print out the pieces that we’ll need to make our notebook and lapbook. Then we follow the schedule provided in with each Time Traveler CD.
The exception was with the Early 19th Century CD. Wow, is this CD loaded! Because we used this alongside the Winter Promise Curriculum we chose to make our way through this particular CD at a slower pace and I’m really glad we did! It’s just loaded with so much information I really believe you could spend an entire week on each and every one of the twenty-two lessons!
We work for four consecutive days on the lessons provided and use our fifth day as “project day”, as suggested in the CD. Project day is where things really get fun. You can work on any of the craft projects you might not have attempted yet {if desired}. There’s usually a recipe or two and often vocabulary words to use.
Really, the CDs couldn’t be simpler to use. There are pictures of each project so you can visually see the step-by-step instructions. But panic not if you would prefer to read the instructions because they are written out as well!
What I love:
I love that there’s a simple schedule, premade, that I can follow if I so wish. I usually do!
Everything is on a CD-disc so I can print it out if I want, or not. I prefer to print out the notebooking and lapbooking pieces and put the lessons and instructions onto my iPad for ease. But, I’ve also printed it all out in the past and that works just as well too!
I love the homemade games in each unit, they are such a fun way for children to remember what they’ve learned!
I love that each time we use one of these kits my kids feel like they are a part of history. They walk away knowing so much and feeling as though they’ve made fast friends.
I love that each unit comes with a list of additional books and videos you can use to enhance your learning experience, if you want. You won’t miss out if you choose not to use them!
I love that there are recipes included. There’s nothing quite like food to help my boys understand a certain time in history. The recipes are usually fairly simple and don’t require any special ingredients. Despite a few food allergies in our home I find that I can adapt all the recipes with ease.
I love that I can purchase just one of these CDs and legally make copies for all my children! No need to buy more then one copy – just print off as much as you need.
I love that these are written from a Christian perspective and that perspective is woven throughout the entire six weeks worth of lessons.
What I don’t like:
There’s precious little to not like about this particular curriculum, however to be honest with my review the one thing I wish was possible with this was to purchase them as downloads!
International shipping can be pricey, and even when it’s not it can take an excruciatingly long time to get stuff from other places. {Two weeks in general for us in Tasmania, but there are times when it can take 6-8 weeks!!} If these items were available as downloads it would reduce the need for international shipping.
However, I must also note that I once emailed Amy Pak about these not being downloadable and she was very honest and stated that the sheer size of them was part of the problem. The other problem was that there are huge images {remember you get timeline pieces, notebook pieces and lapbooking pieces – not to mention all the other goodies I’ve named} that would be distorted when they bring the size down to make download faster. She’s also very willing to put several CDs in a priority mail envelope for you {or was last time I emailed her} so if you stock up and purchase a few at a time then you’re good to go!
Bottom Line:
Thanks to the Pak family’s love for history and sharing it with the rest of the world. Because of this nifty series, my children have fallen in love with history. What more can I ask for?
Kendra lives in Tasmania Australia with her husband, the Man From Down Under, her two curious boys, a dog that thinks he's human, a guinea pig that won't stop squeaking, & a bird learning to talk back. She's a second generation home educator. She loves using methods from Unit Studies to Boxed Curriculum and everything in between to help feed the curious minds of her two, ever growing, boys. Creator, and avid user, of the Homeschooling Book of Days & The Nature Game. She can be found retelling tales from The Land Down Under over at the Aussie Pumpkin Patch.
Thanks for the review. I’m looking at using this year as we study “the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression” and then “WWII”. I will use them kind of as a spine as we read through each section, find additional books and websites, and do the projects. I think this is a great way to do some hands-on learning that will make it more ‘real’!
Those are two of the CDs we’re using this year too, we’re also using the Civil War cd as it turns out. 😉 We’re using them alongside Sonlight Books this year. 😀
Kendra, thanks so much for posting about us! Great photos! Your kids did a beautiful job. 🙂
I am new to homeschooling. I am wondering, how did you use this along with Winter Promise? They both seem like they are have enough to accomplish the goal. I like the looks of both but do not want to become overwhelmed with too much and I feel like if I purchased both products, I would become overwhelmed.
Can you enlighten me on how you used them together?
Thanks
Jennifer, these are scheduled right alongside All American 1 with Winter Promise so we simply worked them in that way. We’ve used them alongside Sonlight as well {Core D} by using the HSITW as our spine & just completing projects over a course of time. Thus we used them for longer then the 6 weeks they are scheduled. They are so very versatile, but you are right both Winter Promise & HSITW could be done on their own & you’d still have an amazing experience!
I was wondering if you made a schedule to go along with Core D? We are in week 10 of Core D, but I am wanting to add in the TT. Thank you for your wonderful review!
Jennifer, I don’t, sorry.