My husband and I had only been married for a few months, when he arrived home from work one evening, and asked me how I would like to live in England for a year. His place of employment wanted him to work at one of their United Kingdom locations in a kind of transfer exchange, where he would go there for a time, and an English employee would come over here, to America. My answer? No, I wouldn't! Generally speaking, I have never been much of an adventurous kind of personality. As it happens, we did go, and became thoroughly immersed in the lovely English culture. I came to love it there, and we made some lifelong friends in the process. My husband and I have a deep rooted affection for the U.K.. So, when most anything of the British variety pops up, my ears perk up, and I'm interested.
The reason that I'm sharing some of my history with you, has to do with this review that you'll be reading about in the next few paragraphs. Branch Out World is a British based company, started by a homeschooling mother of three children. My daughter and I have had such fun reviewing a unit study from their Picture Book Explorers studies, Paddington Bear . A little fun fact for you: each study from this company has a connection to the U.K, whether it is the setting, author's background, or illustrator's background.
I adore classic literature, particularly classic children's literature. There are many titles in my cache of favorites, and Paddington is on that list. For those of you that need a little refresher regarding the storyline, Paddington Bear is a stowaway from darkest Peru. He is discovered at Paddington station in London, England, by Mr. and Mrs. Brown. They take him into their home, where he gets into a bit of innocent mischief as he learns to navigate his new surroundings. It's a sweet story in and of itself, but paired with this literature study, it becomes a delightful launching point into many more topics to explore.
This Unit Study was designed for use with the story Paddington, by Michael Bond. The book itself is not included, but they do share the ISBN code so you can select the exact copy. Our version is written by Bond, but is not that specific copy. Still, it worked for us. This is a digital download, so hurray for instant access! Everything that you'll need to prepare your lessons is included in the download, minus any extra supplies that might be needed for various activities and projects. Even those items are likely to be already in your supply closet and pantry.
I found everything to be laid out in a very organized manner. The first few pages explain the basics of using this study. You'll find instructions for working through each section, and a Table of Contents. There are ideas for recording your students' progress through photos, notebooks, and more. There is a one page "Let's Explore" sheet that provides the information for the copy of the book that this study used, additional books to consider, a supply list, and the story summary. This is helpful to tack up on your refrigerator or bulletin board for quick reference.
The study is divided into 5 days, but there is great potential to stretch it beyond that period of time, if you like. Upon first glance, this appeared to be a short study, but as we dove in, we found ourselves following trails here and there as certain topics caught our eye. That's why I said above, that this study is a great launching point. You can begin with the initial story, and then move on to study those areas that interest your students. This is the basic schedule:
Day one: Exploring the Setting
- learn about the flags of England and Peru
-study and color in maps of England and Peru
-make tourist posters
-learn about migration
-follow a timeline
Day Two: Exploring the Worlds
-learn about the author
-themes of the story
-vocabulary
-grammar
Day Three: Exploring the Pictures
-learn about the illustrator
-picture study
-Architectural Features
-principles of design
Day Four: Exploring Science
-bears of Peru
-shaving foam science
Day Five: Exploring Math, Crafts, and More
-parallel lines
-numbers
-packing
-strawberry tarts
-orange marmalade
All of the maps, mini books, templates, and answer keys are included, as well as related timelines, and fact sheet about migration. The instructions are very easy to follow. The target age range is 5-9 years old, but this is easily modified to suit younger and older students. My 12 year old daughter was my fellow reviewer of this study, and she was very engaged, and being older, could work on more complicated activities without losing interest. This is a great option for households that vary in age. We had an especially good time with the crafts and cooking projects. You really need to check out Branch Out World's Pinterest page. The ideas are great!
We made toilet paper tube Paddington Bear, complete with suitcase and marmalade sandwiches.
A study of Peru is included, and we saw that pan flutes are a part of the culture, so we made one with colored straws.
We just had to make orange marmalade, after all, it's Paddington's favorite. It was so good, we have a new family favorite!
To end the study we made a variation of the strawberry tarts, and watched the movie, Paddington.
We had a wonderful time as we worked through this literature resource. It was relaxing, creative, and all around enjoyable. While I expected to like this review, I didn't expect to have this much fun! I am delighted with how much opportunity for so many different topics of learning that this offers. I'm heading back to the main website to see what else we can get lost in. With so much to offer, you should definitely consider Branch Out World as you prepare for the upcoming school year.
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