A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

WW2

Review: Timeline Collection: A collection of historial timeline figures

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FTC disclaimer review

Over the past few weeks it was been our privilege to use Timeline Collection: A Collection of Historical Timeline Figures .  Being able to use time line figures has been a great way for my son to focus on specific WW2 figures and events.  Home School in the Woods has put together an extremely useful set of figurines all in a bundle.  Let me tell you how we used them. 

Home School in the Woods Timeline Collections review

What I am Reviewing

Timeline Collection: A Collection of Historical Timeline Figures was created by Home School in the Woods.  Geared for students in grades K through 12.  The Timeline Collection is a bundle containing four sets: Creation to Christ, Resurrection to Revolution, Napoleon to Now, America’s History,

These timelines are

The Time Travelers bundle comes as zip file in which will come an embedded page which will guide you in how to download your product and in which size you want it.     You can purchase this bundle in a variety of formats and with different liscences.  Check this page for more details. 

You will receive a number of illustrations reflecting people and events from the different history periods.  These historical timeline figures are available with or without text, and an easily resized format. 

Home School in the Woods logo

How We Used the Timeline Collection

When I agreed to take on this review I mentioned that we would only be using the illustrations for World War 2 as that is what my son is currently studying for history.  As it turned out we used the illustrations from World War 1 as a bit of look back to last year.   We didn’t really use them beyond “what more do you remember about ________”

World War 1 and 2 are part of America’s history which starts at the Magna Carta and ends, 40 pages later, with the 1999 Mississippi Flood.

Treaty of Versailles image

The figures can be printed either with text or without.  They come in resizable formats so that it is SO easy to use them however you want.  You can create a wall timeline, or create a book of important people, places and events.  Another option is to make a smaller timeline with pages taped together to make a long timeline.  Combining all the options would work well too.

Home School in the Woods works hard to make it as easy for you as possible. Two CDs with all the images, labeled and organized in different ways to make them easy to find. On CD2 you’ll find the list of all the images. 

History timeline table of contents

Each of those HTML files opens a window in your browser that will look something like this: 

Home school in the woods HTML file

It took my son a while to decide if he wanted to do a smaller timeline or do larger images and make a book.  He decided he mostly just wanted to do a folder with the images with text.  This way he could write on the back any additional information he wanted to have.

He had me print off some of the smaller images to add to his timeline for World War 2. 

home school in the woods timeline images

Samples of the Lad’s work

One of the things I love about the Timeline Collection is the sheer versatility of the figures.  From using the larger ones as a wall mount timeline, using them in booklet form, sizing down for a nottebook sized time line or lap book elements, sizing to medium size for notebooking pages or even creating puzzles using the larger images.  Just so many options!

I love that my lad can take the wall sized ones and use them as a way to document important details he wants to remember.  His goal is to add them to his WW2 binder.   He is steadily working his way through each person and event.

Home school in the woods

He has taken the liberty of adding some of the smaller figures to his timeline. It’s quite the extensive timeline and I like how he can go back through and give me details throughout the war. 

Home School in the woods - timeline

Should you get it?

YES!  These timeline images have been an excellent addition to the WW2 study my son is undertaking. We’ve been using the WW2 study from Home School in the Woods Time Travelers series as a spine.  We’ve added additional elements to increase the challenge for a high school student. 

The wall mount size has been met with an enthusiasm I didn’t expect.  So I urge you to add Timeline Collection: A Collection of Historical Timeline Figures to your history studies today. 

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Closing Notes

I want to take a moment to highlight the U.S. Elections Lap Pak.  To learn more, they have highlighted this pak on their blog. 

80 members of the Homeschool Review Crew are looking at the following products. Please do check out our reviews. 

Home School in the Woods Collections - Lap-pak, Timeline Figures, History Studies & Activity-Pak {Home School in the Woods Reviews}

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Under the Broken Sky

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Did you know about the Russian occupation of Manchuria during WW2?  Do you know about the ramifications of that occupation on the Japanese inhabitants of Manchuria?   I had NO idea.  Under the Broken Sky introduced me to this heart-breaking time in Japanese history. 

under the broken sky

What I am Reviewing

Under the Broken Sky.
Mariko Nagai.
Christy Ottaviano Books.
Reviewed for Raincoast books.
304 pages, Ages 10-14 years, trade paperback

Asia, Military fiction, middle school, poetry, history, stories in verse, Japan, WW2, Occupation, refugee,

Twelve-year-old Natsu and her family live a quiet farm life in Manchuria, near the border of the Soviet Union. But the life they’ve known begins to unravel when her father is recruited to the Japanese army, and Natsu and her little sister, Cricket, are left orphaned and destitute.
In a desperate move to keep her sister alive, Natsu sells Cricket to a Russian family following the 1945 Soviet occupation. The journey to redemption for Natsu’s broken family is rife with struggles, but Natsu is tenacious and will stop at nothing to get her little sister back.

under the broken sky

This video below gives some of the history behind this story.

The Details of Under the Broken Sky

Mariko Nagai does an excellent job of telling the story of Natsu and her family.   I was amazed at her determination.  

The poetry isn’t done in a classic rhyming verse, it reads like a real story.  Just written in a verse format. Each chapter is very readable length.  If you were to read one poem/chapter a day it could easily last 2-3 months.

under the broken sky

When I finished reading this story I told my son it would be a great part of his studies in WW2.  He was hesitant since I had mentioned the book was a poem.  When I read him one page of it he said: “oh, that’s like a real story, I could read that!”.  🙂    It’s gone onto his bookshelf for later reading.

I love that at the close of Under the Broken Sky we learn what happens afterwards.  How these Japanese-Chinese refugees would come home looking for relatives. We learn why they were there in the first place.  Factual information that also ties into why the author wanted or rather needed to, write this story.

under the broken Sky

Thoughts and Recommendations

Oh my… I read this book while on vacation, and while I can’t say it was an easy book to be absorbed in, I can say it was a good read.   The poetic form breaks up the story really well so you don’t get overloaded by the pain and angst found within these pages.    It was a VERY hard time for these Japanese citizens.  Stuck in a hostile, foreign land and not being sure of their future.  Such a difficult time.

Author Mariko Nagai does an excellent job of bringing us this story, showing us life before and life after.  Providing lighter moments mixed in very hard moments.   Seeing the pain, and yet being able to pull back and see the people involved. 

under the broken sky
disclosure

Home School in the Woods – WW2

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My son wants to learn about the great wars  in the coming year, therefore we were very excited to get a chance to review World War II from the selection of Time Travelers in U.S. History series offered by Home School in the Woods.   For the past bit, between bouts of readying our guest room and learning other important keeping up a house skills, my son has been watching copious Youtube videos and diving deep into World War II.  Come join us in our studies won’t you?

Home School in the Woods, review image showing WW2 study

Who is Home School in the Woods?

The Pak family in essence.  Taking a dislike of history and finding a way to teach it in a meaningful, delight-filled way. Their goal is to make history fun and interactive.   I urge you to check out the entirety of their Time Travelers series, as well as newest release Ancient Rome which completes their Project Passport series. 

Home School in the Woods

What do you get?

A WHOLE lot of PDF’s!   OH MY!   I actually just ordered them printed off for me at my local Staples.  For $35 printed, and delivered, I couldn’t beat the time saver, and personal printing costs to me in the middle of a busy season.   Just look at the binder full of paper!

Home School in the Woods

I found the materials come in two formats.  If you unzip the folder you can open the entire file in HTML format which walks you through all the information start to finish.  Or you can follow the same format I did and simply open all the files.   Print off exactly what you need, put it all in a binder so it’s all set up and ready to go and then just work your way through it.   You do not have to print off everything, some of the files are simply how to use, how to print off etc.  I should mention that different colours of paper were called for in the printing instructions.  I chose to ignore those colour changes as I didn’t need “Why this colour mom?  Can’t we print it in this colour instead?”   All white is simply easier in my household.  🙂

Home School in the woods PDF received

It is SO worth looking through the intro files, teacher keys etc.  You’ll find a treasure trove of information. In fact one of the pages I really appreciated having was the additional resources page listed in the intro file.  Books, movies, audios, music, and websites.  Just a phenomenal well done list which will save me OODLES of time (as long as I can find the materials!)  🙂

Home School in the Woods, resources

When I put things in the binder I put the Lesson reading, followed by the project list, then the copy work (for most weeks), and the weekly project.  I really appreciated that they build time into the unit study for catch up weeks.   Some of the weekly projects are fairly large, so instead of putting them in a page protector I gave them their own files… like the timelime and a later couple of lessons.

home school in the woods, folder

This study follows the events from the Close of WW1 and beginnings of the Nazi party through to the end of the war and what happened afterwards.  There are almost 100 figures to add to the ten-page timeline.

A Brief Look:

My son and I put together this brief overview for you.

How we used it:

We didn’t work through our WW2 study at a fast pace. Interspersed into our summer are several birthdays, I’ve had a few “under the weather days”, caring for a house that is our own now, and a major heat wave.. speed wasn’t in our purview.  Taking our time working through lessons allowed us to more fully discuss ideas and watch videos that went along with the lessons.  We’ve been inspired to take a few rabbit trails as well.  I love rabbit trails don’t you?   They are so much fun!

Taking time to set it all up properly in the beginning was the best thing I could have done.  Having the binder ready to go actually made my boy grin.  “Look Mom!  Look how much I can learn about the war!”  My son could work through it independently beyond checking in with me to see what his work load should be.

There are 25 lessons in all. We are looking forward to these upcoming lessons: Pearl Harbour, Hitler’s Fortress, VE day and Iwo Jima and the Atomic bomb.  It is SO interesting listening to my boy.  “I didn’t know that!”  “Mom, did you know ________________”.   The questions of “I don’t understand this part, can you help me?”  “Can we look this up on youtube?   I want to know more.”   Those questions a homeschooling parent lives for eh?

I now know FAR MORE about Hitler, his youth, and how he rose to power from a variety of viewpoints then I ever thought I would.  🙂   And think…. come January I’ll get to learn it all over again.   This Time Traveler unit study will become the spine of our World War II studies.  We’ll diverge now again to pick up speeches and study them, to focus on Canadian men and women of the war, and to throw in a bit more geography, art projects and to follow rabbit trails. Home School in the Woods

My son’s opinion:

I like it.  I am learning so much and I want to know even more.  It makes me think of different things I can watch on youtube, and how everything connects. It’s good and I can do most of it on my own, sometimes mom helps though.

My thoughts:

My lad likes it, it’s well laid out.  It provides ample opportunity for rabbit trails and discussion.  It’s written at a language easily accessed by middle school and above students. It provides an easy spine for when we start our official studies of World War II in January.  It will be very easy to adapt it, or perhaps adapt is not the right word, the way it is laid out it will be very easy to add additional materials or extend a lesson further. Together with The War to End all Wars Game, this history study will suit our needs nicely. 

Home School in the Woods

 

 World War II 
Time Travelers U.S. History Series
 Home School in the Woods
PDF and HTML files received.

Also has a CD option.  Pricing options here. 
History, interactive, hands on
Hands-on history, history studies, best history studies, world history studies, american history studies, history timelines, history curriculum, notebooking pages

 

 

 

Some 90 of us on the crew took a look at a variety of products from Home School in the Woods.  I invite you to go read the reviews.  Perhaps the next one you come across will be just what you are looking for!  I know this review is what we needed in our household. 

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