The Old Schoolhouse - March 2012

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.