Geography Studies Using The Adventurous Mailbox Books, a Review
This week I wanted to tell you about a new and fun way to teach your students geography -through a series of adventure stories! The Adventurous Mailbox has come up with this unique method of engaging students to learn about the geography and culture of other countries around the world.
My two youngest boys each received a letter from Crameye Junker in which he introduces himself and encourages the student to read about his adventures around the globe.
The boys also received a set of eight books of Crameye's adventures to various places like Finland and Peru. The books are written at about the fourth or fifth grade level as a letter from Crameye in which he relays his adventures in a different country for each book. The first page of each book is a map of the area in which the story takes place. Woven into the stories are a lot of colorful descriptions of the geography and culture of the particular country the book centers around.
"...that airport was quiet. You couldn't hear anyone laughing, arguing or even just having a chat. Everyone was just walking around quietly with pretty serious looks on their faces." (Finland, page 7)
The books are in sequential order, with an overall story tying them all together. We found this to be quite an engaging way for students to learn about the many places and peoples that make up the world. The stories are not just travelogues and sometimes the stories even border on the fantastical; the first book's ending, for example, reminded us very much of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.
The only downside for us, may not be for you. Sometimes I felt that in the attempt to connect with their Middle School age audience, the stories went a little too far in their graphic details for our family's taste. For example, in the book centered around Taiwan, Crameye has this to say,
"You know what else people do differently in other countries? Poop. I'm not trying to be gross or anything, but not everyone does the deed in the same way. Here in Taiwan, a lot of places use squatters instead of sit-down toilets...." (Taiwan, page 17)
The paragraph goes on to describe in detail how these toilets are different and even includes a sketch to illustrate how they are used. I realize that there are quite a few middle schoolers that would love to read about this type of thing and add it to their knowledge, but our family's sensibilities are such that we were uncomfortable hearing about them.
"...that airport was quiet. You couldn't hear anyone laughing, arguing or even just having a chat. Everyone was just walking around quietly with pretty serious looks on their faces." (Finland, page 7)
The books are in sequential order, with an overall story tying them all together. We found this to be quite an engaging way for students to learn about the many places and peoples that make up the world. The stories are not just travelogues and sometimes the stories even border on the fantastical; the first book's ending, for example, reminded us very much of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.
The only downside for us, may not be for you. Sometimes I felt that in the attempt to connect with their Middle School age audience, the stories went a little too far in their graphic details for our family's taste. For example, in the book centered around Taiwan, Crameye has this to say,
"You know what else people do differently in other countries? Poop. I'm not trying to be gross or anything, but not everyone does the deed in the same way. Here in Taiwan, a lot of places use squatters instead of sit-down toilets...." (Taiwan, page 17)
The paragraph goes on to describe in detail how these toilets are different and even includes a sketch to illustrate how they are used. I realize that there are quite a few middle schoolers that would love to read about this type of thing and add it to their knowledge, but our family's sensibilities are such that we were uncomfortable hearing about them.
The Adventurous Mailbox also comes with access to online games and other activities as well as workbooks that go along the stories. We have not explored these options yet, however. More about the program, including excerpts from the books can be found at The Adventurous Mailbox website.
The base package is the books for $79 and the secret online adventure world. You can also get the Teacher’s Lounge, a set of lesson plans to go along with the books for $20 more.
Have any of you read Crameye's adventures, explored the games or used the workbooks? What does your family think of them and this intriguing way of learning about other cultures?
What history and geography studies have you been doing this week?
I have really enjoyed the community of homeschoolers we have built here and I encourage you to check out the links you may not have seen and make a comment on the posts.
As always I hope that you continue to link your new (and old) posts with any history and geography topic to this meme every Thursday.
Don't forget to link up to the Multicultural Kids Blog's Blog Hop each month.
Remember that I am pinning all posts to Pinterest.
You might want to check out the Pinterest board and see all the past posts.
Follow Phyllis Bergenholtz's board History and Geography Meme on Pinterest.
Please include this button on either the post you have linked or your sidebar or mention All Things Beautiful History and Geography meme in your post with a link. All posts that do not link directly to a history or geography post will be deleted.
The base package is the books for $79 and the secret online adventure world. You can also get the Teacher’s Lounge, a set of lesson plans to go along with the books for $20 more.
Have any of you read Crameye's adventures, explored the games or used the workbooks? What does your family think of them and this intriguing way of learning about other cultures?
What history and geography studies have you been doing this week?
I have really enjoyed the community of homeschoolers we have built here and I encourage you to check out the links you may not have seen and make a comment on the posts.
As always I hope that you continue to link your new (and old) posts with any history and geography topic to this meme every Thursday.
Don't forget to link up to the Multicultural Kids Blog's Blog Hop each month.
Remember that I am pinning all posts to Pinterest.
You might want to check out the Pinterest board and see all the past posts.
Follow Phyllis Bergenholtz's board History and Geography Meme on Pinterest.
Please include this button on either the post you have linked or your sidebar or mention All Things Beautiful History and Geography meme in your post with a link. All posts that do not link directly to a history or geography post will be deleted.
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