Homeschool Review: Home School in the Woods A La Carte Projects #hsreviews #hsitwalacarteprojects

You might recall that we have reviewed several neat resources from Home School in the Woods over the past few years and have raved over each and every one of them.  We have seriously enjoyed every project that we've been able to get our hands on from the Pak family, so I was super excited to find out that we would have the opportunity to review some of the À La Carte products this year.  I think that our all-time favorite of the Home School in the Woods resources has been the HISTORY Through the Ages Timeline Trio, so of course my first pick of the À La Carte projects was the New Figures of the 20th and 21st Century add-on set.  My second pick was The Art of Quilling and I picked it just for fun.  I had no idea how therapeutic it would be for the soul.

The new À La Carte projects allow you to pick and choose special things that will make your homeschool life grand and there are quite a few new timeline sets (such as Composers Through History and The Progress of Faith from Europe to the Colonies).  Each of these affordable sets comes as a PDF that you download and print.  It really is an easy-peasy way to keep your history timeline up-to-date.

The New Figures of the 20th and 21st Century provides 24 new figures to add to your HISTORY Through the Ages Timeline.  I don't know about you, but I LOVE the fact that Amy Pak keeps history fresh and alive by continually adding to the timeline figures.   This set includes the new age of technology (from laser printing to smartphones), famous people like Queen Elizabeth and President Obama, and even natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake.  It's chock-full of things that my children KNOW about and that makes it all the more interesting for them to add to the timeline.

The PDF comes in two different sizes -- one small-scaled for the Timeline book and one large-scaled for a timeline wall.  Either size can be printed with or without the words that tell about the figure represented.  This way, you can use them as flashcards or even as a test.  Neat, huh?

After printing the timeline figures, your students can cut them out and add them to either the Timeline book or wall -- whichever you prefer for your family.  The document is designed in black and white so it doesn't cost much to print.  At our house, though, we prefer a little color, so my girl makes sure to add a little "character" to the timeline figures.  I use this as a bonus teaching time by having her look up the person or event and find out what colors might best represent them.  She is then ready to cut them out and add them to their appropriate place in history.

I love that we can continue working on our Timeline book for years to come and I know it will be a treasure trove for us all.  Working on it gives my daughter a "refresher" of the history she's already learned and encourages her to learn even more.

Other of the À La Carte projects help you to step back in time and learn a new craft or game or even  create a newspaper page about a historical event.  Just because I thought we would enjoy it, I chose for us to try out The Art of Quilling.  I had absolutely no idea what "quilling" even was, but I liked that it was a renaissance and colonial craft.  I figured my daughter might find that interesting, too, since she's a crafter and an artist, so we gave it a chance and learned that "quilling" is the art of paper rolling and creates a 3-dimensional piece of artwork.  Isn't the finished product stunning?
The Art of Quilling comes as a full-color, downloadable PDF file that you will want to print.  The pages give you a great explanaion of quilling and its history and share detailed instructions on how to actually make it work.  A pattern is included for your first piece.  You will learn how to coil and shape each small piece of paper in order to bring out its beauty.  Who knew you could do so much with paper?

Quilling was originally an art form for those in the leisure class, but it can certainly be appreciated by any and all of us.  You probably have most (if not all) of the necessary supplies on-hand right now.  We used construction paper, cardstock, glue, and toothpicks (but you can purchase a special quilling tool if you'd like).  The paper cutter made it easier to cut the strips in the same width, but a pair of scissors and a ruler will work just as well.

For our first attempt at quilling, we decided to use the pattern provided.  The pretty forget-me-nots only required three colors of paper and it seemed to be a fairly simple pattern for newbies.  We cut the paper into 1/4 inch strips and used a toothpick as the wrapping tool to produce the proper coils.  Once coiled, the paper is pinched and dipped in glue so that it adheres to the canvas.  

Some coils needed to be tight, some needed to be loose.  The PDF explains how to use each type of coil to produce the desired result.  It also teaches you how to "pinch and glue" the coiled paper to get the different looks that you'll see on our artwork.  For example, the flower petals are shaped differently than the leaves.  We also "cheated" just a bit and dipped an extra toothpick into the glue to make the edges of the coil stay in place.

The process of cutting and coiling was very therapeutic and watching the design come to life with the use of such simple supplies was neat.  The college Freshman just finished an art appreciation class and he commended us on our work.  High praise, indeed.   In this day and age of technology and fast-pace, it was nice to step back in time and relax and focus on the process of creating and not just expect instant gratification.  Once again, we found a win with the À La Carte projects from Home School in the Woods.

You can find out more information about the multitude of resources offered by Home School in the Woods by visiting the following Social Media sites:

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And make sure that you check out all of the different À La Carte products offered.  There are so many different things available there.  From games to newspapers and timelines to art, you are definitley going to find a special project to enhance your history lessons.  There are some really neat looking projects that would be great to use for Bible Study as well.  I've got my eyes on both the Armor of GOD Poster (3D) and The Passover Seder Game.   I just really think I NEED these in my life.  The good thing is I can easily purchase and  download the files immediately.

Home School in the Woods has become a family favorite at Long Leaf Academy.  I am always happy to get my hands on what they offer and I know that you are going to be happy, too.  I wholeheartedly recommend these resources to you.  Please give them a try.  You'll be glad that you did.

I was given the opportunity to review the À La Carte products from  Home School in the Woods  as a member of the Homeschool Review Crew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought of these great projects and how they used them (or just click on the banner below.)  

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