Book Review ~ Incans, Aztecs, Mayans

Topic 1 ~ Inca, Aztec & Mayans

Incans, Aztecs, Mayans by John Holzmann


I absolutely love this book! I like that it has short topics with one or two comprehension questions following the reading. I love that it includes notes for the "Adults" and sometimes for the "Student". I liked it when he made a point about why we needed to study other cultures and that we learn from the bad things people do just as much as the good things. The best part was all of the Bible knowledge included and the constant comparison between their religion and Christian religion. The author made three seperate parts: Inca, Aztec & Myan, but compared each to the others throughout the book. My rating is a strong 5.
Rating:
    5 ~ Mom
    3 ~ Jake (8 years old)
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Book Review ~ Lost Temple of the Aztecs

Topic 1 ~ Inca, Aztec & Mayans
Lost Temple of the Aztecs by Shelley Tanaka


This book is easy to seperate into managable "bites". It's easy to read and comprehend. The images and little side notes add just the right balance for the text. When asking my son to rate this book for this review he flipped through and started narrating several pages to me. A week had passed since we read it so for me that's all I needed to give this book a high rating.


Rating:
     5 ~ Mom
     4 ~ Jake (8 years old)
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Book Review ~ You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice!

Topic 1 ~ Inca, Aztec & Mayans

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice! Guesome Things You'd Rather Not Know by Fiona Macdonald
My son really enjoyed reading this book. I think he's going to love the whole series. This one is also a two page spread per topic. It is much more intense and I found quite a few things just plain gross. Ex. "The captives' skins are cut off and used to dress the god's statue" and "Your arms and legs will be eaten as a religious feast." While these things are "gruesome" it is what happened during that time. My son wasn't tramatized or even upset by these things. He just accepted that that was the way it was then. If you feel your child is sensative or hasn't really been introduced to death, then you might skip this one. My son has been introduced to sacrifices and death through the Bible, giving him a good foundation to understand what Idol worshipers can and will do to please their "gods".
Contents: geography, herbal remedies, warfare, plants of the desert, priests, sacrifice, religion, afterlife
Rating:
     3 ~ Mom
     5 ~ Jake (8 years old)

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Weekly Wrap Up

Home ~ I think one of my kiddo's must have read my weekly wrap-up post last week, as they all acted completely opposite this week. I had to have a tooth pulled on Tuesday (only to find out later it was a healthy tooth), so I had trouble reading but both of my older kids read for me without me asking them to. Not only did they help with JJ's schooling they also pitched in for our spring cleaning! On Thursday DS cleaned out from under my sink and today DD organized and put everything back. I just love it when they do these things. Makes me feel so guilty about ever feeling frustrated with them, almost. :)
We are going on a field trip tomorrow to Reedy River Suspension Bridge. It ties in with our Inca, Aztec & Mayan study. I only wish there was a bridge around that was made out of grass.

School ~

• Monday - Struggled to get JJ motivated but after lunch he kicked in his brain, lol. I was able to read again!!! We had some good discussions comparing the Aztec, Inca and Mayan religion. This seems to fascinate JJ. He's the one who initiated the topic and I just let him talk. I love the book Incas Aztecs & Mayans by John Holzmann. It has alot of "Adult Notes" that has great facts and information that I wasn't aware of or had forgotten about. I would recommend this book to everyone. I'm going to look for more books written by Mr. Holzmann, maybe he has some more history books out there. JJ's favorite books for this topic are the You Wouldn't Want To Be: Incan Mummy, Aztec Sacrifice, and Mayan Soothsayer. These were a bit pricey but he pours over every detail on the pages. I think they were worth every penny and I'm glad I ordered one for just about every topic we have this year. He always asks to read these first. Here's a couple pics of JJ working on the Aztecs. We also completed all of his language arts.

• Tuesday - Didn't go so well. I got all of the American History reading done in the morning but then I had to go to another dentist appointment. The reading was going much better now that I could reading again. JJ even volunteered to read some of it. We never made it to his language arts studies. So it was a so-so day.
• Wednesday - Non school day. My mouth was too sore to read so he got the day off. He was completely bored by 3 p.m. Next time I've got to plan some activities for those times I won't be able to do school.
• Thursday - Everything went really well today. We did all of the Topic 1 reading and had some great discussions on the Mayan marriage traditions. He learned what the Mayan's do after a baby is born. He thought that it was pretty horrific. This info wasn't even in his "You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer" book, instead the gory details were in the Incans, Aztecs, Mayans by John Holtzman.
• Friday - It's been a wonderful day. We got caught up on all of his American History reading and finished all of the scheduled books. I didn't get all the projects done as of yet but I'm confident that we can still get to them.

I've decided to add in some additional books to our Topic 1 & Topic 2 studies. I'm such a shameful book junkie. Does anyone know of a book junkie addict support group? LOL

Don't forget to go read how everyone else faired this week at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

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