YWAM Publishing offered us several choices from their Heroes of History series of books and we chose to review Heroes of History – Milton Hershey. YWAM Publishing also sent us a Study Guide to go along with our book.
We have very much enjoyed all of the books and study guides we have received for review purposes! We have had Ben Carson, George Washington & Corrie Ten Boom, all with accompanying study guides, and you can read those reviews here.
There is a lot more to Milton Hershey’s story than I was aware of. For example, Hershey had only a fourth grade education, and went to work full-time at the age of 12. Having remained childless, Hershey and his wife decided to put their fortune into creating a school and home for orphaned boys. They wanted their money to go to something that would help others. There is so much more in this book! as with all of the books we have reviewed from this company, we’ve gained knowledge we never had. Definitely worth the read, (see below, lol!) and the study guide is well worth your time!
One of the things I absolutely appreciate in the study guide is that included in the downloadable files were three separate overview pdfs, ranging in length from twelve to twenty-five pages. One is for classroom use, one for study group use, and the one for my purpose, home school use.
One of the things in my overview that I like the most is a couple of different charts to help if I were to use the books and study guides as a history spine, with one telling me the social studies topics and character qualities each one focuses on, along with where it is by date. For example:
Biography Title Time Period Social Studies Topics Character Qualities
The Beginnings of a Nation
Christopher Columbus: Across the Ocean Sea 1451–1506
Exploration of the world; indigenous peoples; early mapmaking; early trade routes; navigation; shipbuilding; sea adventures; monarchies in Spain, Portugal, and Italy; 15th-century religious conflicts; islands in the Caribbean Sea
Vision, perseverance
The other chart gives the timeline, and suggested schedule to work through. For example, If you wish to choose a one year track, you would choose one book per section for each period:
September to mid-October The Beginnings of a Nation
Christopher Columbus: Across the Ocean Sea John Smith: A Foothold in the New World William Penn: Liberty and Justice for All
And for a two-year track, you would choose two books from each section.
Anything which makes life easier is a plus for me, and yes, this would be so much easier than plotting it all out on my own.
The study guide to use with this book is a very thorough 71 pages. There are three appendix sections in the back for books and resources, answers to chapter questions, and social studies reproducibles.Study guides from YWAM Publishing cover a number of cross-curricular subjects, including but not limited to:
- History
- Geography
- Essay writing
- Creative writing
- Reading comprehension
- Public speaking
- Drama
- Art
We have so far used this study guide orally as a group, but there are things I definitely want to go back and try to use hands on with my kids. They also want to come up with something involving Hershey’s Chocolate!
We have really enjoyed this study!
As always, I would just love it if you would join me in all of “My Journeys Through Life.” Just go to the subscription box at the top of the blog and enter your email information. After that, you will always know when there is something new happening. I hope to see you here very soon! -)
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