We’ve just finished studying Early America — the colonies and the American Revolution.  I was pleased that Ariel was very self-motivated (not typically the case.)  She did most of her reading unprompted, and did her lapbooks (she chose to make the revolution separate from everyday life) with no help other than my taping in the extensions.  The majority of our books come from the library, but we were sent a few for review that we enjoyed.  (I’ll tell you about the other two in separate posts.)

The American Revolution from A to Z

These A to Z books are handy because they provide explanations of the subject in small snippets.  Each letter is assigned a word or phrase, and it’s in large type.  For instance, “R is for Redcoats.” A paragraph or so follows, explaining what the significance of the term is.

These bite-size chunks make the information less overwhelming for young students (especially those who aren’t thrilled with the subject being studied).  If things are really bad, you could read just one letter’s worth of information per day!

The letters are helpful, too; they seem to make the books appealing to very young students, who are excited to recognize the letters.

The American Revolution from A to Z provides a little bit of background, and talks about key people and battles of the Revolutionary War, along with some little-known heroes.  Certain key elements of the war are introduced, as well, such as a Navy, minutemen, and spies.

The Declaration of Independence from A to Z

The Declaration of Independence from A to Z has many of the same benefits, of course.  It sets up the Declaration of Independence, touching on the War, and describing some of the things that created a need for the Declaration.  (For instance, G “is for Grievances.”)

Other pages discuss the creation of the Declaration itself.

Ariel says that these books are “a tad bit boring” (emphasis on “tad”).  From her, for a school book, that’s praise. 🙂  (Because they’re a tad boring, when they could be really boring.  Anything she didn’t choose herself is “boring,” to some degree.)

Interesting tidbit: the author of The Declaration of Independence from A to Z has contributed to Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse, Jr. magazine.

Disclosure: The publisher provided copies of the above books to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are my own (and those of my family).