Helpful Score: 2
I requested this book to add a history element to the geography curriculum we are using in our home school this year. I would read the assigned pages (the curriculum suggests to use this book and has it broken down into reading for each day)and my children all sat and listened. Several times during the three weeks we have used this book, my children (6, 6, 8, & 10) each have come up to me to repeat something they remember from the book. We finished yesterday and I told them where we would keep it for the rest of the school year in case they want to look through it on their own. All four of them have looked through it again already today and it's only 1:00pm :) The book has lovely pictures, and is written in a manner to answer specific questions. Most pages start with the question, then go on to answer that question. The questions are written as if they are actually being asked by young children and the answers are written in language that they are likely to understand. I did not find myself having to explain words to my youngest children, as I have with some of the other books we've used with other subjects.
Helpful Score: 1
my oldest daughter loves this series of books. she finds this one particularly funny because of all the rules that plagued daily life ad nauseum. very interesting and will make you thankful for our modern freedoms.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is wonderful! We are studying colonial times, and it was a great example of the life and times back then.
Helpful Score: 1
This Scholastic soft-covered book may be small, but it has lots of information about the American Colonial period. Particularly interesting, the facts are told from a childs perspective; what they wore, ate and did during an average day.
Since I am working on my familys genealogy, these facts will help flesh-out our ancestors lives. Genealogy, in and of itself, can be dry and boring. By adding bits of information from this book, the story is more likely to be interesting to readers.
This book explains life in the New England colonies during the years 1650 1730. Using the question-and-answer format, it is easy to find the info you want.
McGovern did an excellent job of explaining how hard life was in colonial times; but she also makes many points about the joy and fun children experienced regularly. The illustrations by June Otani help one understand some of the stranger aspects of life in early America.
My favorite example was pudding. No, it wasnt a desert; pudding was a soft pillow worn around a babys middle that protected the child from being hurt. According to Otani, a pudding looks like a full inner tube, with a baby in the center. There are straps for the babes shoulders, to keep it in place.
Because Colonial life was a mixture of things as we have now (some doctors and a few books), and things long-gone (a tithing-man made sure children werent talking or wriggling during church and who woke adults/children nodding off during church), this is a charming book for young and old.
Both the words and illustrations were excellent: 5 stars.
Since I am working on my familys genealogy, these facts will help flesh-out our ancestors lives. Genealogy, in and of itself, can be dry and boring. By adding bits of information from this book, the story is more likely to be interesting to readers.
This book explains life in the New England colonies during the years 1650 1730. Using the question-and-answer format, it is easy to find the info you want.
McGovern did an excellent job of explaining how hard life was in colonial times; but she also makes many points about the joy and fun children experienced regularly. The illustrations by June Otani help one understand some of the stranger aspects of life in early America.
My favorite example was pudding. No, it wasnt a desert; pudding was a soft pillow worn around a babys middle that protected the child from being hurt. According to Otani, a pudding looks like a full inner tube, with a baby in the center. There are straps for the babes shoulders, to keep it in place.
Because Colonial life was a mixture of things as we have now (some doctors and a few books), and things long-gone (a tithing-man made sure children werent talking or wriggling during church and who woke adults/children nodding off during church), this is a charming book for young and old.
Both the words and illustrations were excellent: 5 stars.