My family received a copy of Heroes of History- Milton Hershey from YWAM Publishing for review purposes…and for an excuse to eat lots of chocolate–it’s educational, after all! We also received access to a Digital Unit Study Curriculum Guide for the review.
First, a bit about YWAM’s “Heroes” series.
We have included key individuals of historical significance and character in this series. Not all were involved in government and not all are remembered for their personal faith. But all of the characters make a contribution to the series as important representatives illustrating the American story and history. In this series you will find: explorers, pioneers, presidents, inventors, doctors, authors, and heroes in time of war.
So which hero did we choose? You guessed it–Milton Hershey!
The book we read is entitled Heroes of History–Milton Hershey: More Than Chocolate, by Janet and Geoff Benge.
I went into this book in my typical my-life-revolves-around-food manner, wondering what kind of contribution could a man like Hershey make to America that was more important than chocolate? I learned two things:
- He made a mean caramel.
- He was a man who had to pick himself up over and over and over and do a little groveling and work harder than most modern men (men meaning men, women, and children) are willing to do just to fall on his face again…and today he is a household name.
Sticktoitiveness (stick-to-it-ive-ness) is the word I’m looking for here. He had it…and a technique for super creamy caramels.
We learned quite a bit more, but ultimately it’s the character-building we take with us, and not the dates and facts, isn’t it?
A great read…like the rest of the YWAM books.
How did we use this book?
We read this book individually and came together for discussion, but some of the others we’ve read aloud. We’ve also simply placed YWAM books on a shelf and waited for the magic to happen without any direction from us–that works, too, especially when you find a name that already interests your kids or that they hear relatives talking about, like Ronald Reagan or Bonhoeffer or Thomas Edison or Corrie Ten Boom. So many greats!
The digital curriculum guide includes questions for discussion, as well as activities. Our favorite is the timeline and, uh, buying Hershey chocolate and eating it. That last part wasn’t exactly in the study guide, but we like to enhance our studies a bit. Ahem.
Additional Thoughts for My Fellow Roadschoolers:
If you don’t mind small books taking up shelf space, this is one of the few take-it-along book series we highly recommend! It is worth the space–it really is. Also, since the study guides are available digitally (as well as on CD), you can study this on a more intense level (which means more chocolate if you’re focusing on Milton Hershey) without taking up additional space or adding weight to what is inevitably an already weighed down roadschool.
Of course, you have to deal with download issues on the mishmash of crazy internet connections available on the road. Boo. But hey, there’s always Starbucks and the library! (Or, like us, you can download it and use it for a little while and then your whole computer can die and you have to buy a new computer with the money you were going to use to buy glasses, and then you have to download it twice. Whaa.)
Give it a try! (I don’t get any money for telling you this. It’s just a product I really believe in.)
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