For the past few weeks, my lad and I have had the joy of Walking with the Waodani, as a review, a four part study put together by the Home School Adventure Co.. Imaging history, seeing God in action, trying new recipes and talking….oh the conversations we’ve had.  🙂

 Walking with the Waodani is a four part study Lesson 1 = Shell Mera (Then), Lesson 2 =
Shell Mera (Now), Lesson 3 (Ecuador) and Lesson 4 (Quito). For the purposes of this review we mostly worked with lesson 1 and 2.   It was created by the Home School Adventure Co., a company that has produced such wonderful resources such as Philosophy Adventure and Philippians in 28 weeks.  Producers of faith-centred products to broaden our hearts and minds. 

We received the preview version of this brand new study, it’s a study near and dear to Stacy Farrell’s heart, as she’s been working on it for the past four years, gathering information, conducting interviews and just learning about an amazing group of people.  🙂

We start off meeting a young man who made a great trip into Ecuador with an older mentor, where he met the Waodani.  In case you didn’t know, the Waodani is the preferred name for Auca, the group of savage natives who killed a group of missionaries (the Nate Saint story) back in the day.

Each lesson is set up the same with lesson introduction, people & places, meals & markets, animals & agriculture and worlds and worldview.    We get the chance to read blog posts that further our education, interact with websites, and fulfill worksheet requirements.   The worksheets (taking the form of a travel journal) had a variety of components to it… question and answers about the material (often found in a blog post), a chance to rate a recipe, draw a picture of a favourite animal learned about and … a creative writing opportunity.

I have to admit that my son freaked out the first time he saw one of these.  He was completely flummoxed and I needed to explain it a few times.   Once he figured it out though, he simply had fun with it.  It was indeed a joy to read, and for lesson two he was asking “What do I get to do this week?”   He did this work sitting on the computer as getting this lad to hand write anything is like pulling teeth.  🙂  He was so very very pleased with his efforts when completed, but not enough to share them with everyone. 🙂  I honoured his request by hiding most of his work.   I expect that week three would cause him to grin…writing about a giant sloth snatching him away… it’s an adventure!!!

Admittedly part of the work didn’t interest him in the way intended, my story telling lad, rather than draw an animal  would instead tell me a story about the animal he would have drawn if he felt like it, stories about ants and a jaguar.   It’s good to have the details in story form and hear about why he chose that animal and all the information he knows.

My son thoroughly appreciated the aspect of judging a recipe.  He thought roasted grubs would be good but was rather unsure about the live ones.  He would have liked to try them, but frankly…where does one find live eating grubs in Canada in the middle of winter?   I had no idea, and wasn’t keen enough on the idea to research it.  🙂

  Our fish experiment.. well.. let’s just say that making up the fish recipe was not a hit in our household and lead to me making my first ever fish chowder.  A great way to use up the fish that I didn’t want wasted.  🙂

Lesson three has a meal that intrigues me, but not sure what the guys will think of it.  Good to experiment with new things though eh?     I am looking forward to reading through the history with my lad, I am positive he will ask lots of interesting questions. 

I have to admit that has been my favourite part of this unit study…. watching my lad’s eyes as he learns new information and thinks about the sacrifice people make.   Families lose the husband/father …and then go and serve among the people who killed them.  Changing an entire culture. 

Sussing out that sometimes “civilized” societies help best when they step back out of the way and let the “natives” handle things themselves… as the natives know best what works in their own culture.

We’ve had delightful conversations and those moments I treasure.  🙂  OH… and the laughter… we laughed at some of the exploits of that young man.

You know you have options right?   You can easily complete one lesson over the course of a week (each day is colour-coded for ease), or you can stretch it out over a month.  You can use the material as a jumping off point for a more in-depth study of Ecuador, missionary work among indigenous people, innovative methods for travel and so much more. 

What else can I tell you?
I haven’t seen the entire study as week four has yet to be released (along with a blog post).   I know you can see it in the store HERE.  I know that the price is flexible with the anticipation of $14.95 for the digital edition and $18.95 for the print edition.

I know there will be a giveaway involved in the release but beyond that….

It’s a great study and I think you and your students/children could get a great deal out of it.  Seeing God in action, being inspired to try new foods, learning about some wonderful animals, seeing how a people group functions that is completely different than one’s own and more.  I know that you should come prepared to laugh, to think, to be surprised and filled with wonder at God’s amazing work.  Learn the history, learn the geography and the people.  It’s good stuff indeed.  

This unit study covers geography, history, social studies, culture, and more.  It is a flexible curriculum that should suit most learning styles and families. 

 If you want to stay informed about the release, click here to stay in the loop.

 Other products being reviewed are: 
 Creative Freewriting Adventure which will also include the Creative Freewriting Adventure Coloring Book Edition  
I’d Rather Be Your Mommy, which includes I’d Rather Be Your Mommy Coloring Book Edition and the I’d Rather Be Your Mommy Print Set  
Celebrating Manhood: a rite of passage guide 

A couple of updates you might be interested in: