YWAM ~ Ronald Reagan ~ A Crew Review

Arlene and I have been reading another great biography from YWAM Publishing. This time we received Heroes of History - Ronald Reagan to review. We also received a downloadable 82 page PDF  Digital Unit Study that is full of activities, study questions, and enrichment ideas. Because so many families are now using laptops and tablets for reading, and for schoolwork, YWAM has been working to convert all of their Unit Study Curriculum Guides to digital format. We have enjoyed this change, as it means the unit study can be viewed from so many different devices, and we no longer need to wait for the mailman to deliver them.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was America's 40th President. While many adults remember his Presidency, many children know very little about his life. This biography from YWAM is a gentle introduction to Reagan's life. It begins with the episode when President Reagan was shot, then it flashes back to take you methodically through his childhood and adolescence. As Dutch, (Reagan's boyhood nickname,) becomes a man, you will learn of his acting, his Governorship, and his Presidency.

I remember a lot of Reagan's Presidency, as I was in school and old enough to follow current events. As I read the YWAM biography, I learned a lot about his earlier life. Many of the stories told of the hardships he endured while growing up during the Great Depression reminded me of stories my Grandparents had told.

Arlene is young enough that she doesn't remember much except pictures of Ron and Nancy Reagan appearing at events as 'the former President and First Lady.' Here are some of her thoughts:

I liked this book because it tells you about President Reagan's life in a fun and easy to read manner. I learned many things about President Reagan that I never knew before. I remember being sad when I learned about Mrs. Nancy Reagan's death, and when I read in the book that he was married to another woman before her, I was surprised and kept wondering where she was. I really liked the book. I even stayed up late at night to finish reading it the first time, and I only do that with a book I really like.

The Digital Unit Study that we received that corresponds to YWAM's Ronald Reagan biography is extensive. It has eight sections, plus three appendices. It comes with suggestions on how to adapt it for home, co-op or classroom use. I liked seeing the  variety of activities it suggests. Although we did not set up a display corner (one of the classroom geared activities,) it did remind me of when our girls were little and Emily & Arlene did a display about the White House for our homeschool group's Geography Fair. They (with help) had made a simple White House out of Legos, and had a jar of jelly beans on the table, which they told their friends were to represent Ronald Reagan's time in the White House.

In the section of the guide with Chapter Questions, there are six questions for each chapter. They include vocabulary and factual questions, as well as reading comprehension and open ended questions that are asking your student to really think about what happened and form an opinion. For your younger students, these could be done orally. Your students in the middle school grades and up should have no problem writing out their answers. Because the study guide is a PDF, you may wish to download it to a tablet style device so they can work on the questions while leaving your computer open for other use.

The Student Explorations section is the one I think most Unit Study based families will enjoy the most. There are four types of activities, divided into several difficulty levels. You may wish for your student to write an essay about Reagan's life or do a creative writing exercise. Your kinesthetic learners will thrive on the variety of choices in the Hands-on activities, and many students will want to try their hand at the audio/visual projects. There are also suggestions for Arts & crafts activities which would be great to do as a group, whether at home or in a school setting.

The families of the Crew reviewed several YWAM biographies, click the banner below to read all the reviews!

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