Heros of History: George Washington- TOS Review

 

 

YWAM Publishing has added George Washington: True Patriot
to their Heros of History series and we were thrilled to review it, along with
True Patriot Unit Study Curriculum Guide
 

 George Washington is one of Cub's hero's. This is not a recent deal. When he was 3 he grabbed a huge tome at the local SuperStore on the Revolutionary War, asked for it with wide eyes and pointed out that George was predominantly featured. This is a boy who has loved George for a decade- basically since he could talk. He has read numerous books on him and has never, ever found any reason to not love and adore our nation's first president.

That being said, I was a little dubious that George Washington: True Patriot (E-Book format and two PDF files) would offer a much different perspective or even new information to my history-loving-George-enamored boy. But, I was wrong. He loved this book and zipped through it. He had plenty of, "Momma, did you know" moments (which I love); in other words, this book included enough new information, dished up in a way that was compelling, to hold the attention of someone who has already done quite a bit of reading about George Washington and American History.

 

Cub's response to "what do you want to share about this study" was, "I learned a lot from the book, which surprised me because I already knew so much about George Washington." Flower's feed-back was that she was learning a LOT and it was very interesting.  Thumbs up, all the way 'round.

 

This is a 19 chapter, 224 page book (including Bibliography) written in an engaging, narrative style. The book covers George's childhood, life as young adult, courtship with Martha, adulthood and presidency, with lots of information about the French and Indian and Revolutionary War thrown in for good measure. Your history loving student will love this book. Your non-history loving student will love this book, too. This is history at it's best; against the backdrop of real people, living complex and interesting lives.

 

Each chapter includes 4 questions (questions and answers found in the study guides):

• A vocabulary question
• A factual question
• A question for comprehension
• An open-ended question 

George Washington: True Patriot Unit Study Curriculum Guide

 

In addition to biographies, YWAM publishes curriculum guides for their "Hero's of History" series and you can be assured that each guide contains interesting projects and materials for a wide range of ages, interests and learning styles. Here's what you can look forward to:

• Chapter questions/Key quotes
• Student explorations
• Community links
• Social studies
• Related themes
• Culminating event
• Books & resources

Both Flower and Cub read the book, answered the chapter question and did the George Washington Fact sheet and time-line, (found in the study guide) and then hosted a levee (also found in the study guide). I had just been reading about these in another work of historical fiction and couldn't quite figure out what it was.

(this isn't  picture from the actual levee they hosted, but something similar we attended last spring).

The book is just the starting point of this adventure. The study guide can turn this very accessible book into an entire semester or year's worth of American History study. Your students won't be bored because the guide includes something for everyone; reading research, hands on projects, displays, cooking, more books and related resources.

 

Both Flower and Cub loved this book, regardless of the fact that they came out it from completely different starting points,  and have an even greater appreciation for George Washington (which, honestly, I didn't think was possible) than ever before. A great read and a great study on one of our countries greatest leaders.

 

So far the Hero's of History series contains 21 biographies, covering 1451 (Christopher Columbus)-1998 (Alan Shepherd). Compelling reading for anyone who loves history or hero's.

George Washington: True Patriot comes in paperback and is 224 pages long, written for ages 10 and up. It also comes in Audiobook format, Nook edition, Kindle edition and PDF format, regularly priced at $8.99 but available from YWAM Publishing for only $6.99. True Patriot Unit Study Curriculum Guide  $7.49