Living in Texas, and especially in San Antonio, we are surrounded by a ton of history. Growing up, history was never my favorite subject because I thought it was boring. That has really changed for me, and as a homeschooling mom, I want to make history fun and interesting for my kids. I don't want to read out of a text book the facts about history. I want to make it come to life for them, and show them these places of history if I can. We had the chance to review Heroes of History-Davy Crocket by YWAM Publishing and also use the digital study guide that comes with it. I was super excited about this one because we have been to the Alamo several times, and the kids know who Davy Crocket was, and have even seen some of his belongings.
The Heroes of History is a biography series about influential people that brings history to life. The story form of the book tells all about the people who have helped shape our history over the years, but also makes you feel like you are right there with them.
What we received ~
YWAM Publishing sent us the physical book, which is a little under 200 pages. They also sent us the downloadable digital study guide that goes along with the book. This way you can take this book and turn it into a unit study if you want to.
How did we use it?
You could totally just read Davy Crocket: Ever Westward and learn so much. It is filled with so much information, not only about the person who it's about, but also things they used and places they went.
The digital study guide is very easy to access after you download it. As you can see from the screenshot below, it is not just for homeschool settings. There are also guides for small groups and classrooms. In the guide designed for homeschool, it tells you how to utilize the series if you want to use it for your core U.S. history curriculum, and even provides a timeline so that you can have an idea of what books to read in order. It also goes into detail on other uses of the unit study. Whether you want to use it as a family read aloud or if you are looking for ways to incorporate language arts using this series, it's all here.
The Unit Study Guide has some fantastic ideas to really make studying Davy Crocket fun and engaging. We read the chapters and then would go to the study guide for the chapter questions. This is a great review and a way to make sure the kids are understanding what's being read. I LOVED the idea of having a display corner so that the kids can go and collect things that are related to Davy Crocket and where he lived. I would have done this, but we are in the middle of a big move and I am packing everything that stays still too long. I am definitely going to incorporate this on the next Heroes of History book we read!
The unit study has so much more to offer including terms and vocabulary that is used in the book, and also some ideas for arts and crafts to go along with it. After we get moved the kids want to recreate a model of the Alamo!
It also comes with some great printouts that include a fact sheet about Davy Crocket, maps, and a timeline! We are still working on our timeline, but the kids really enjoy it!
What we thought ~
So honestly I've never had the chance to read any of YWAM Publishing books until this one. I have to say I am SO impressed. I literally want to order more for myself to read because this book is so good. We used it as a read aloud book, and even did some reading to my husband, and the kid's cousin via video chat. All of us were very impressed how the book read and kept us all engaged. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone that is interested in the heroes. I have read some boring biographies before, but you won't have to worry about there here. The entire book is engaging and even leaves you with a few "chapter cliff hangers". I found the kids were wanting to move on to the next chapter because they wanted to find out what happened next! That is a plus in itself!
I am also very impressed with the study guide that comes with it, because it is also chock full of information about your hero.
We have really enjoyed reading Heroes of History- Davy Crocket by YWAM Publishing and can't wait to order more of these wonderful books! They are actually on sale right now and marked down from their normal $9.99 per book to $7.50 per book. This is the perfect time to stock up!
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YWAM Publishing was very generous and allowed 100 of us review their books. If you would like to read reviews on other books in this series, click the banner below.
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