Review: If You Were Me and Lived In….. by Carole P. Roman with Away We Go Media (TOS REVIEW)

  

We really enjoyed reading these books to review:
If You Were Me and Lived in...Mexico
If You Were Me and Lived in...South Korea
If You Were Me and Lived in...France and
If You Were Me and Lived in...Norway by Carole P. Roman with Away We Go Media

Each book is beautifully illustrated, and follows the same basic pattern.  The books begin by introducing the country on the globe, talks about the capital city, common names for boys and girls, what they call their mother and father, the local currency, a famous attraction , the local food, common toys, sports or activity, a holiday, and how to say school.  Each book also contains a pronunciation guide at the end of the book.
The books are geared towards ages pre-k to age 8, I think this is the perfect age range; but, they can easily be enjoyed by all ages.  There are only a few sentences per page and only 26 pages long; this makes them great for smaller attention spans and young readers.  Kids can easily relate to the topics discussed for each country and they provide a great opportunity to discuss the traditions of your own country as well (compare and contrast). 

We really enjoyed these books (my children range in age from 2-7yo).  The only con I have is that I wish the pronunciation was by the word in the text, instead of at the end.
The books are a great starting off point for country studies.  In addition to reading the book you could cook the foods that are mentioned, take virtual field trips to the capital city and/or the famous attraction, color pictures of the flag or other country symbols, learn more about the celebrated holiday mentioned, and make arts and craft projects symbolic of the country.

Information on where to buy these books is available at the author’s website, cost varies between $8.99-11.99.
We have added these books to our Continent Boxes and they are a GREAT addition!

First Grade–Week 30–Ancient America

North American continent box with lots of Mexican civilization stuff. The box includes photos from a cruise I took with my mom to the Yucatan.  4 part cards from Montessori for Everyone.  The Temple of the Inscriptions from the Safari Toob Around The World Toy Figure Playset

Make your own mask – we bought these from Oriental Trading and decorated them as part of co-op art class. 
We listened to:
on audible (book was FREE with a 30day trial subscription)
C read:

We also watched a short video clip on Brainpopjr.com about the Mayan civilization (subscription required). 
This was in addition to listening to SOTW and reading from the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History, following along with Pandia Press History Odyssey Ancients I. 

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Asia Continent Box

Since we studied China a bit this month in lieu of Chinese New Year, I thought it was a good time to share our Asian Continent Box!

We use the Little Passport stickers to decorate our boxes (instead of using the passport and container that came with the kit).

What's in our box?  

1.  Some Thailand Money, maps, post cards and a stuffed elephant that DH brought back from a trip

2.  Little Passport items from Japan, China, Israel and Thailand

3. Asian Mountain Animal Nature Tube

4.  Postcards from Asian countries received from postcrossing.com

5.GeoPuzzle Asia - Educational Geography Jigsaw Puzzle (50 pcs) - by Geotoys   

6. WorldWise Asia Card Game

7.  Cards from National Geographic Asian Animals (this was mine when I was a child) and Oh The "Wondrous" Places You'll Go! Travel CardGame

8.  Japan Book

We are still collecting items, and will also be adding the Asian Printables from Montessori Print Shop

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Europe Continent Box

 

Finally!  I have our Europe Continent Box put together!!

What's inside??

Items from Little Passports France, Ireland and England. We also started decorating the box with the stickers that come in the kit.
Items we received in a Cultural Exchange last year (brochures, recipes, etc..) (You can read the blog post about it HERE)
Postcards we've received from family, friends and Post Card Exchanges (FREE)
National Geographic Animal Cards from the Region (this kit is from when I was a kid)
European Landmarks from the Safari Around the World Toob

GeoPuzzle Europe - Educational Geography Jigsaw Puzzle (58 pcs) - by Geotoys
Items from our Expedition Earth Lessons
Europe Geography Folder and Landmark 3part cards from Montessori Print Shop
Europe cards from Oh The "Wondrous" Places You'll Go! Travel CardGame

And of course we always add to it as we collect new items!  

Weekly Workboxes will post tomorrow!  

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Continent Boxes–Australia (and Little Passports)

In addition to collecting stuff for the Alphabet Boxes, I have been collecting stuff for continent boxes, another great Montessori learning tool.  We have been doing our country studies in accordance with The Little Passports Program, we have been using Expedition Earth Curriculum to learn about each country, as we receive our packages each month. 
This month we did things a little bit differently, and used Expedition Australia Download N Go from Unit Studies with Amanda Bennett.
For our continent boxes, I purchased these boxes from IKEA (well I had my mom purchase them and mail them to me….oh how I miss IKEA!!)  Only $4 for a pack of 2, so for $16, I had enough (plus one extra!).  They are made out of paper, but they are pretty thick paper, but should last well with proper care!

So what’s in Australia’s box??

Of course I put our goodies from Little Passports (a picture of Sam and Sophia at the Great Barrier Reef, and a magnet kangaroo made by Aborigines), some postcards we received by participating at postcrossing.com, I purchased the Australia Bundle at The Montessori Print Shop (But you can print the Australia Landmarks 3-part cards for FREE!), A Coral Reef Toob (because of the great barrier reef), A Down Under Toob, some boomerangs they made at an activity we went to, some Australia Books, Some animal cards from my National Geographic Cards collection (from when I was a kid), and some cards from Oh the Places you will go collection.

You can find the above listed items by clicking on the pictures below:

You can also find a great selection of Australia made books by Kane Miller at my Usborne Books web page!

One of my awesome readers offered to send me a package from Australia (where she lives), which we are still anxiously awaiting!  We have yet to decorate/label our box, and since we have had the privilege of living 4 months in New Zealand, I’d like to make a little photo book of our travels to add…But, other than that it’s complete! 

NOTE:  Many of the books listed are discontinued, you may be able to find them used at the links provided, or check out Paperbackswap.com, I get A LOT of my books from there for little to no cost!  If you are not currently a member, please use code name ‘baa’ as your referral!  Thank you!

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