Studying Cultures

Homeschool Review Crew

Learning about cultures is a key component of education.   We are exposed to them everyday when we leave our homes and sometimes even in our own homes.  Studying cultures can help us understand our differences.  A great way to do this with children is through reading.  Recently we’ve been reviewing three books from the Carole P. Roman Books and Collections by Carole P. Roman.  We received If You Were Me and Lived In . . . Norway: A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World, If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Germany: A Child’s Introduction Around the World, and If You Were Me and Lived in Ancient Greece: An Introduction to Civilizations Around the World. 

In our house we love reading so there is no better way for studying cultures than reading books.  We have previously reviewed some of these wonderful books from Carole P. Roman and knew we’d love these.   You can read our first review titled History Through Books where we reviewed some of the history geared books that are offered.  Another review we did also focused on history and was titled History Story Books.  We love these books and are pleased to be able to share again.

About the Series

 

We reviewed two separate series this time.  One is about cultures while the other is about civilizations.  For cultures we learned about Norway and Germany.  We chose these two as we’re studying German for our foreign language this year and I thought learning about the culture we’re studying the language of would be a great addition.  Norway is a place we really haven’t studied so I thought it would be a nice addition for our school.  

For civilizations we’re travelling back to Ancient Greece.  If you follow the links above you’ll see that we’ve done other ancient civilizations before and have really enjoyed them.  History is a favorite subject for us and anything we can add in to supplement the history we are learning or have learned is awesome! 

One series helps you and your children get a glimpse at life and with studying cultures that are currently in place while the other series shows you about ancient civilizations and cultures that were once in place.  For me that’s the easiest way to distinguish the two series.

When studying cultures and using this series they are geared to ages four through eight or nine.  For the civilizations book we have it is geared towards ages eight through fifteen as it is jam packed with lots of facts and information.

About the Author

Writing was never a plan for Carole P. Roman, in fact, she began writing as a dare.  Her first story was written based on a game she played with her grandson and titled Captain No Beard- An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life.  From there she branched out into hundreds of books studying cultures and civilizations plus historical, bedtime, and a whole series about the infamous Captain No Beard.  

We love these stories and highly recommend them.  While we’ve not branched out into Captain No Beard we are definitely in love with history and cultures around here.

Norway

 

Norway is not a country I personally have spent much time studying.  So, I was able to learn quite a bit from this book as were my children.  I loved the reasoning about why some coins have holes in the middle.  I’d never heard of them having holes but the fact that it was so you could string the money and not lose it in the olden days is a neat fact.  

While we all thought the idea of a hotel made entirely of snow was neat we’re not sure we’d want to have to sleep bundled up in our coats and never get to cozy up to a fire.  Because we have studied Alaska we could compare that the two(state and country) are alike in that during certain times of the year they have days of sun or days of dark.  We all agree that we prefer having both times.

Germany

 

Let’s travel to Germany!  That’s how I introduced this book.  I was shocked to learn that Germany is the second most popular immigration destination in the world.  The United States would be the first I believe.  My boys especially now have put the Miniatur Wunderland on their list of must sees.  It sounds neat and exciting!  Personally I’d love to see the historic places like castles and battle grounds.  

Of course now after reading the book making apple strudel is on our list.  Sounds so good!  A fun discussion of soccer versus fussball has also been had.  We call it soccer over here!

Ancient Greece

 

Our last title takes up back in time to Ancient Greece.  This book is geared towards older children and so has a ton of information.  It takes place in the classical period.  This particular book is written as if you were a boy.  Lots of Greek gods are named throughout the book.  We are planning on doing some mythology studies soon so this was a nice introduction.  

My kids were aghast that kids drank wine.  It’s not culturally acceptable here.  This then led to a great discussion on cultures and how they are different.  And no napkins?  Yikes!  The boys thought that they were getting the short end of the stick because boys had to go to school while girls stayed home while my girls thought that wasn’t fair.  They should have gotten to learn too!

Learn More

In addition to my reviews that I linked above for other titles please hop on over to the Main Blog Post on the Homeschool Review Crew which has all the wonderful crew reviews from this round linked up.  There were loads of titles available so you’re sure to get a variety and be studying cultures from around the world.  You can also find Carole P. Roman on facebook, twitter, instagram, and pinterest.