We have many board games in our
home and are especially drawn to well-produced, sturdy products. 10 Days in
Asia is a very durable game; included are
the game board, thick cardboard tiles,
and wooden tile holders. It’s comparable
to a Ravensburger game in quality and
o;ers a pleasurable tactile experience.
;e game board is a black-line map of
Asia, from Israel and Russia all the way
to Japan and Papua New Guinea. ;e
tiles are imprinted with either countries
or transportation modes (airplanes, railways, or ships). ;e object is to create a
ten-tile path in any direction through
Asia. Two countries can be connected
either by a border (these are placed right
next to each other) or by a transportation mode. Countries on the same railway can be connected by a railway card,
countries bordering the same ocean can
be connected by a ship card, and countries of the same color can be connected
by a plane of that color.
A;er being dealt ten tiles, players organize them on their racks in any way
they like. ;e catch: you can’t move them
a;er play begins; you can only replace
them. On your turn, draw a tile (from
the pile or one of three discard piles),
swap with one in your rack if you want,
and then discard. ;e winner is the ;rst
one with ten connected cards on his/her
rack. Simple and easy to learn!
;e challenge and fun is in ;nding
the countries on the map and moving
them around like a puzzle until they’re
connected. ;e ;rst couple times we
played, the most o;en-heard question
was “Where is Kazakhstan/Yemen/
Brunei/any other small Asian country?” It was fun and interesting to ;nd
them on the map. A;er getting familiar with the map, we enjoyed developing strategies for winning quickly. ;e
games are short so we played several
rounds in one sitting.
I was especially pleased that my
9-year-old could play the game without
help and could win as o;en as the older
players; the game is de;nitely family-friendly. Additionally, some geography
games require memorization in order
to win, while this game does not, which
makes the learning a natural by-product of constantly looking at the board
to plan paths.
We own another geography board
game that isn’t very fun to play (although
www.; eHomeschoolMagazine.com
it’s highly educational), and if I bring it
out, I’ll be met with sighs of resignation
from my children. By contrast, 10 Days
in Asia is exciting to play even if you’re
not interested in learning geography,
and you will indeed learn a good deal
of geography while you play! Games are
also available for Africa, Europe, and
the U.S., so you could buy one for the
area you’re studying and include games
in your geography studies. If your fam-
ily enjoys games and would like to ab-
sorb more geography in a natural way, I
hope you’ll give it a try.
On the Shores of the Great Sea
M. B. Synge
Yesterday’s Classics
www.yesterdaysclassics.com
919-357-8824
In preparing to present a chronological study of history to my children, I
have been uncertain of the basic reading spine I should use. ;ere are plenty
of sources of timelines, maps, activities,
big-program curricula, and all manner
of cra;s and activities, etc., but none
of those resources is as important as
the basic reading material. Certainly,
there are plenty of options, but I am
very particular. I want my children to
be exposed to reading material that is
narrative in style, does not speak down
to them, is engaging, and . . . how can I
say it? I like authors who use the English language well, so that it is beautiful
to hear, o;ers challenging vocabulary,
and avoids some common modern pitfalls. Ones that come to my mind are an
overly informal tone, an over-concern
with political correctness, and overly
simple language (in regard to word
choice and syntax).
;at is why I am considering using
;e Story of the World series by M. B.
Synge. On the Shores of the Great Sea
is the ;rst in the ;ve-book series, and it
covers the time of Abraham to the birth
of Christ. ;ere are ;;y-four short
chapters in this book; each is approximately ;ve pages long. Chapter titles
include these: “;e Home of Abraham,”
“;e Story of the Argonauts,” “;e Story of Romulus and Remus,” and “;e
Death of Caesar.” For our family, this
series will provide an excellent spine
in the younger years. Yesterday’s Classics recommends this book for ages 9
and up, but I don’t see any problem using it as a read-aloud in the very early
elementary years. Of course, we will
supplement with some of those other
resources mentioned above, including
a few well-chosen “fun” books along
the way. At least I know that the primary reading material will be enriching to
their minds in a way that will help them
develop an excellent use of the English
language.
You can look inside this book at
www.yesterdaysclassics.com. ;e list
price is $11.95. Yesterday’s Classics has
a plethora of wonderful titles that possess the qualities I have described here.
—Product review by
Nancy Casari Dayton
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