The Shape of Things: How Mapmakers Picture Our World -- New Picture Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you use maps? Perhaps you use your GPS but it gives us a map to follow. Today I get to share with you a new picture book that shares a bit of the history of maps and how they have been made over time. The book is The Shape of Things: How Mapmakers Picture Our World by Dean Robbins and illustrated by Matt Tavares. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Family Legacy Maps -- a Piece of Your Ancestry on the Wall

 

Disclosure: I was sent my own Family Legacy Map in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

How much of your ancestry do you know? Do you use one of the on-line services like Ancestry or Family Search? I always find it so interesting. Well, now there is a new company, Family Legacy Maps, that takes your information and photos and creates a family map for you! My friend, Aaron Carapella of Tribal Nations Maps (see my reviews), and Jon Vanderveer cofounded this new company. Can I tell you how neat it is?

Ways to Use a World Atlas in Different Lessons

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

How do you use a world atlas? Do you use it when you are teaching/learning geography? Are there other ways to use it? Today I am sharing with you the 6th Edition of National Geographic Kids World Atlas. And I am going to share ideas of different ways to use it in different types of lessons. They are not all social studies either! The World Atlas is recommended for ages 10 and older. 

Navigation History and How-To for Middle Grades

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you have a good sense of direction or are you one of those people who always gets lost? I tend to have a pretty good sense of direction. When I do get lost I can usually call my husband and he will pull out a map and find where I am and how to get where I want to be or use my GPS. Steve loves maps. When we were first married he would drive me crazy. I would print out directions when we were going somewhere but instead of reading me the directions he would try to tell me the directions from the map. Unfortunately he is not as quick as needed in the map reading when I'm driving. Because of Steve's love of maps, Hazel became interested in maps at a young age. Of course there are places that are not mapped out like the forest. What happens when you get lost there? Today's book is a book to give the reader skills to not get lost or at least know how to find one's way and what tools one might need when exploring. The book is How to Go Anywhere (and Not Get Lost) by Hans Aschim and illustrated by Andres Lozano.

Learning about the United States with the New National Geographic Kids United States Atlases

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Schools are starting back up and so are homeschools. This has been a crazy year for schools. Most of my friends' children are still doing remote learning. Hazel is back in the physical school and the school is doing a great job keeping them social distant as much as possible. Hazel has told me she sometimes forgets she is even wearing her mask. I have not gotten to that point but I don't wear one for the entire day. Today I thought I would look at some educational books and lessons. I have the latest editions of the National Geographic Kids United States Atlases and I want to share them with you, give you some ways of using them and also have a round-up of map activities and lessons. Are you ready? First we will look at the Beginner's United States Atlas. 

Fun Edcuational Books for Back to School

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been gathering all summer some amazing educational books. And now that school has started again, I think it is beyond time for me to share them with you!! These books are for various ages and are for various subjects. There is English, history, geography, science and more!! Talk about a fun mix. I even have some educational game books!! Hazel has been loving these. Let's start with Shakespeare!!

Resources for US Social Studies as well as Back to School

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Are your kids getting ready for back to school? Or perhaps you are looking for some resources for your homeschool? Today's products are just for you. Hazel loves National Geographic Kids and is so excited whenever one of their books arrives, so I always jump at the chance to review them. Today I get to share four amazing books with you. Three are about United States history and geography and the fourth is a planner for kids!! I have to say Hazel LOVES these books. She is constantly reading them. The first book is National Geographic Kids Weird But True Daily Planner. 

Making Learning Fun for Homeschool or the Summer Slide

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from MindWare. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Now I have mentioned that I have not been posting since so much of my time has been going to homeschooling Hazel for the last six weeks of school. Her school year officially ends this Friday (at least at her old school). However the items I am sharing today we will continue to use all summer because they make learning fun!! Now we needed to continue with her spelling which we had from her school, her math workbook (which is really boring) to do money and fractions plus keep her addition and subtraction facts fresh, then in science plants and space and in social studies continue with the states which has been an on going activity and finish up Massachusetts history. Well MindWare came to my rescue to do some of these things and make them fun!! In fact Hazel wants to continue using these resources during the summer as well!! To start with learning about money we got the game Loose Change. 

Maps, Culture, Cities & Towns -- Children's Book Reviews & Giveaway!!

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

 Today I am sharing some books that have various lessons around the theme of maps, culture, cities and towns. These books range for which ages they are good. We will start with Mapping My Day by Julie Dillemuth and illustrated by Laura Wood. This book is being released next week and I have an opportunity for one of you to win a copy of it!! See below.

Get Mapmaking -- Map Fun for Summertime Fun!

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Do your kids know how to read a map? Perhaps you have gone on a treasure hunt with a map? A great way to inspire creativity and to learn about maps is to create their own and today's book let's them do just that. The book is Get Mapmaking: How to Get Creative with Maps by Rian Hughes.

Exploring Singapore with Books, Food & Maps -- Global Learning for Kids

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring Singapore. I requested some books about Singapore from my contact at Tuttle Publishing. She sent me six books and a traveling map. We shared Singapore Children's Favorite Stories with you a few weeks ago as one of our posts for Multicultural Kid Blogs' Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month Series and Giveaway. (Have you entered the giveaway yet?) The first book we are going to share is Singapore: World City by Kim Inglis. 

Books to Explore Our World -- Maps Poster Book and Panorama Pops Boston Book Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

We love books that help us learn about places and cultures. In case you cannot tell I am a bit obsessed with teaching Hazel and learning myself about other cultures and places. However we are not big travelers, so books are our answer. Candlewick Press sent me two great books for our family. The first to share is Maps Poster Book by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. 

The Story of Passover -- Exodus

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this map free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am joining some other Multicultural Kid Blogs to bring you a Passover for Kids Blog Hop. This year I decided to focus on the Biblical story behind Passover. As a Christian I know this story since it is part of the Old Testament (in the book of Exodus chapters 7 through 14). To look at this story we started by looking at it in cartoon form on a DVD from the library.

Cat in the Hat: Let's Go on an Adventure DVD Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: NCircle Entertainment gave me a copy of the DVD free of charge and is supplying the one for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always, links are provided for your convenience and are not for compensation.

Don't you love Dr. Seuss and The Cat and the Hat? I know we do!! When NCircle Entertainment offered us a review copy of The Cat in the Hat: Let's Go on an Adventure! DVD plus one to giveaway, we jumped at the chance. 

This DVD includes five episodes as well as some Bonus Features like the various short parts they put in before or after the show on television. What I like most about The Cat in the Hat show is there is always a lesson in each show. In the episodes on this DVD includes following a treasure map, joining a salmon running upstream, following seeds, learning about skunks and about snails.

One of the episodes on the DVD is on map reading. Now Steve loves maps so I have many pictures of Hazel pretending to read a map. She also keeps any map we get from any place we go (Plimouth Plantation, Sea World, etc.). The maps may be falling apart, but she wants to keep them and I see her play with them. 

Hazel consults her "map"  to be like Daddy

So I thought it would be fun to make Hazel a map of the way we go to Cape Cod. Since she cannot read yet, I used the landmarks we usually see and look for on the trip. I figured she could cross them off when she sees them and make it a game.

Now it is your turn to win a copy of this wonderful DVD. Make learning a bit more fun with this one. Follow my Giveaway Rules though the winner can reside in Canada and do as the Rafflecopter instructs!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Post Card Swap Map

So remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned we are participating in the USA Post Card Swap that Beth at Living Life Intentionally is running. I showed you the post card we picked and a map of the USA and promised a project to tie it all together. Well today is the day. Since Hazel is not quite ready to really get all she can from these great post cards I want to make them usable for when she is older. Well I took our map (I got it at AAA for free as a member) and Mod Podged it onto two pieces of poster board (I think I would use cardboard or foam board next time). I also put a layer of Mod Podge over the map to seal it. I bought a package of very small Velcro dots that had 56 of them. I started putting one side around the map and the other part of the Velcro on the post cards so we could see all the post cards around the map and then take them off to read all the wonderful things people wrote about their states.

Once we have all fifty post cards we will hang this up in our craft room. When Hazel is a bit older we can use it to learn about where the states are and a little bit about each one. I have to say I love this post card swap idea!! I may have to try something like this. Would you be interested?