If you know me well, then you know I’m a huge fan of anything bear related. I tend to favor that Silly Old Bear that is yellow, wears a red shirt and has a pretty intense love of Honey, but I’m fond of the story of Paddington Bear as well. I mean Bears just rock! So I was really excited to find this study on offered on our review list from Branch Out World this year. Branch Out World Paddington Bear is part of their Picture Book Explorers series and is an amazing study on this Classic book.
Branch Out World is a really cool company that enjoys creating materials for use in Home Education. They’re from West Yorkshire, England – a place I have never been but have always thought intriguing. They create wonderful, literature-based unit studies that are easily adaptable to your students at home. These studies can be used for children in a group and family setting or individually as you prefer. Another very cool aspect is that most of the books share some aspect of being from the United Kingdom either through their setting, their author or illustrator. I found that part unique and neat.
For this review, we used Paddington Bear from the Picture Book Explorers series. This study does require that you purchase a copy of the book to go along with the guide for it’s use. We had a copy of Paddington Bear already that worked well for us (as I said, Paddington is already a family favorite).
This study costs 9 British pounds which is approx $11.50 in American cash. Not a bad price for the study itself. It’s a PDF download so it’s immediately usable once you pay and you purchase the book or borrow it from your library. This study calls for Paddington by Micheal Bond with ISBN: 978-0-00-723633-6. This is the revised 2007 or 2014 edition of the book.
A little about Paddington for those who haven’t heard of him before. Paddington is a bear from Peru that Mr. and Mrs. Brown find in the Paddington Station after he stowed away on a ship. I’m sure you can guess where he gets his name. He’s an adventurous soul, who gets in mischief all while sharing great life lessons through his story. Paddington is a child with fur and such a lovable bear!
Branch Out World Paddington Bear study is 69 pages long. You can easily print the study for use. The intended age range is from 5-9 years but it can be adapted for younger or older students as needed. Permission is given for family use or one classroom use but not for a full schoolhouse.
The study provides a full table of contents for you to use. There is also a short list of materials you should gather before starting, including a map of the British Isles for viewing as you follow along. Travel brochures about England and places nearby are recommended as well. You could get around this requirement by printing articles from papers from online or pictures from tourist websites for the area as well.
Because the company is a British company, you will notice that they use proper English from the British Isles which is a bit different from our American style of English. Some words are spelled differently (in their original English spellings) and some different phrases may be used throughout the study, or unique names to the area. This doesn’t not make the study any less usable or create a challenge for using the study but it may confuse some until they realize the reason behind it’s differences.
It is a good idea to read ahead through the study before it’s use and to read each day’s lesson ahead as well just to be prepared for the wording, and the projects that are to be completed that day. There are around 45 pages of printables with over 30 available activities that you can complete by working through this study. The study covers a wide variety of things in the lessons such as grammar, geography, animal species which falls under science, reading, art, and so much more. There are additional book and video suggestions shared throughout as well.
There are 5 different sections covered for the lessons, thoroughly exploring each aspect of the book to learn more. Each section has different activities to complete. The study begins with geography in finding Peru and how far Paddington has traveled to England where Mr. and Mrs. Brown live. You can also learn more about Peru and England then learn about the author and why he chose to write this story. A mini time-line is included as well.
On day two, your student begins to learn about the meaning of the story and the words used for writing it. This section discusses the theme and narration used in the book. Vocabulary and the author’s inspiration is also shared here.
Day Three begins with studying the pictures in the book and the illustrator, where he is from and how he came about to creating art for books like this. Architecture is covered in this section as well. You’re student will learn important terms for architecture through this part of the study. There are also principles of design provided for you to learn more.
Day four covers Science. Here you learn about Paddington, his type of bear, their habitat, and more. There are a few experiments shared here as well and sensory activities for your child. These are not edible experiments but they are a ton of fun!
Day five of this study covers Math and Crafts. There’s a ton of fun things in this section for your child to complete. One activity is packing, like Paddington packed his suitcase for his stow-away trip. It was a lot of fun to try this one. The Tablas de Sarhua is pretty fun too if you have room for it. It’s a family project, creating a lucky keepsake board with things you love and care about painted on in various scenes.
There are a bunch of recipes to create as well like Strawberry Tarts, Marmalade and snacks from Peru. You can have a Tea Party and celebrate the end of the study as well.
The last pages of the study contains the printables for the study and the facts sheets for the lessons. There’s a ton of fun things to do throughout the study, both for the students and together as well. It’s a great course for you to work through with your kids that we really enjoyed!
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