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Whether the trip is for a day or a week, homeschooling families
do enough traveling to warrant packing a bag of activities for
the road. The You're on Your Way! travel kit might be
a nice addition to your bag of tricks. The small soft-cover spiral-bound
book is tucked inside a plastic case with a handle mimicking a
suitcase. Attached by a mini-chain is a zipper bag of ten small
colored pencils. Tucked in a corner of the main bag is a pencil
sharpener, which rounds out this full ensemble of travel gear,
all in a charming package.
The 45-page book is where all the activities are based, so it
is appropriately sturdy yet flexible. Unfortunately, only about
two-thirds of the book is actually devoted to children's activities;
a 15-page section at the back is dedicated to a lengthy listing
of grade-by-grade standards for Language Arts in California. The
travel kit includes information about how to use it to satisfy
these standards for children who may be absent from public school
to enjoy travel time. For me, this was a huge disappointment, because
not only am I a homeschooler, I live on the opposite coast and
have no need at all to have these pages in my book. Even if we
were from California, my child would not find these pages interesting
or necessary.
Regarding the first two-thirds of the book, the pages are recommended
for children age five and up. An introductory page from the author
explains how children this young would need assistance, and my
assessment is that the activity book would ideally be used by older
children who read and write independently, unless the parent plans
to do nearly all of the reading and/or writing for a younger child.
My newest young reader was excited about the packaging and the
mini pencils at first glance but flipped through the book quickly
and described it as something her older sister would like instead.
The book centers on writing about the trip, with room for border
art on each page. Questions for completion on the first several
pages include pre-trip preparation, the travel party, weather,
and packing. Children might answer in words or draw in the small
space provided; both the font and the writing lines are geared
for older children. A few more pages are devoted to questions about
food, favorite moments, souvenirs, and reflection at the end of
the trip. Following these initial question pages are 12 pages that
are either lined or blank for any other information or sketches
a child might want to add.
Up to this point in the book, the primary "activities" being offered
are writing, drawing, and decorating pages. The questions are sometimes
thoughtful and would provide nice family discussion starters. Following
this portion of the book are the few pages that I would consider
more activity-centered. These might be fun to complete with a sibling
or a friend. One page each is devoted to a word game, a poem-writing
activity, creating a crossword puzzle, and developing a miniature
board game. Finally, there is a "trip quiz game" where a child
can fill in their favorite sound, food, or silly part of the trip.
Having a travel companion complete the form too might allow for
a "quiz" time to compare answers. Lastly, there is a page of stickers
with globes, suitcases, trees, street signs, and arrows, followed
by two pages of "Jet Set JotDots," which are tiny round stickers
to use anywhere in the book.
Certainly, there are children who would enjoy writing and drawing
about their trip to create a keepsake book of memories, but I suppose
I was expecting more "activity" in this kit based on the recommended
ages and the title itself. The kit might resonate more with older
children in general or with California families who are trying
to meet the standards. It will certainly fit with families whose
children are in traditional schools in that state, but it will
not be something I can recommend to the general population of homeschoolers
in terms of value for the price.
Product review by Melissa Theberge, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine,
LLC, August 2010
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