We recently received a WAY Comes Home Kit from HomeSchool Scholastics, an i4 Learning Company in exchange for this review. WAY stands for Wellness, Academics, and You. It is a health and wellness curriculum designed to increase your child’s awareness about healthy choices and to help him achieve short- and long-term goals.
Check out this picture below. This is what arrived in the great big box that HomeSchool Scholastics sent us…plus plastic eggs and bubble wrap:
The kids were super excited even after the bubble wrap dance party had ended. Bubble wrap, people–best gift ever! Why is there no bubble wrap in that picture?
Let’s break down what you see above.
The main component of the program is a DVD (or digital version.) It contains lessons for each of the three levels, K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. So for week 1, there are three separate videos to watch, one for each of the levels, if you have a child in each level. If you don’t, do what you want, but you’ll probably end up watching them just for fun.
There are three consumable health journals, one for each of the levels, but as you homeschool parents know, grades are flexible. There are also vocabulary cards for each level.
Finally, there is a parent/teacher guide.
Pretty much all of the rest of the components are items you need to perform the activities encouraged (but not required) by the curriculum. There’s no marauding of craft stores and obscure outlet malls for this curriculum. Most everything is provided, or super simple to find. The goods include a balance scale, plastic eggs, measuring tape, bins, glitter, fingerprint pad (too much fun!) a stethoscope which is the coolest thing ever and belongs in everyone’s Christmas stocking, counting chips (Tiddlywinks, anyone?), a ChooseMyPlate booklet, glitter, foam balls…what am I forgetting..oh, bubble wrap!
Here’s how we worked the program:
We watched the videos–all three levels, because that’s how we roll, and because we have someone in each level.
Then the kids dove into their journals. Elijah (10) and Rebecca (8) could do most everything without assistance, but little Eliana is only 4 and still a preschooler, so she needed some guidance.
The journals are great for recording their thoughts, personal goals, and the like, but they don’t quite offer as much guidance as my kids would like in order for them to work entirely independently. There are some pages that are basically lined pages, and the kids would ask, “What do we do here?” Because they feel more like workbooks than journals, the kids didn’t quite know if they were supposed to do certain things on those pages, or just go nuts. Other than that bit of confusion, they really enjoyed their journals.
We did the extra activities as it fit our lifestyle–some we went all out on (we know what everybody’s heart sounds like), and some we skipped…for now. We will be going back to them soon, but they were anxious to jump to the next video lessons, so we did.
I think the kids’ favorite aspect so far has been the exercise segment of the videos. Instead of doing their own and only doing one, they’ve been doing all of everybody’s every time. That keeps them busy and the trailer bouncing for a while! We switch over to the exercise videos after watching the lessons or just randomly.
A couple thoughts from Mom:
I loved that the program really got them thinking about their health goals and how to achieve them in a manageable way. Who doesn’t love it when her four-year-old commits to walking 21 minutes every day with her mama? Give that girl a cookie! I mean broccoli…and a cookie.
One aspect I don’t entirely agree with is their approach to nutrition. If you follow the governments health standards, you will find it spot on. We don’t vilify animal fats, so we did change up the recommendations a bit. No biggy.
Overall, I like this program–the videos are entertaining and well-done. The kids/actors really grow on a person. The information is good, although some of it definitely requires parental involvement to aid in comprehension.
I appreciate that the children are all learning similar topics, but at their own levels and in three distinctly different ways, with no extra prep from me.
There are a lot of optional components to the program. This makes it more fun and exciting for the kids and helps the lessons stick. I am more of a less is more type person, but the kids are enjoying all the extras…and it’s really about them, not me, isn’t it?
Essentially, if you are required to add health into your homeschool, or you want your children to be a bit more aware of how their personal decisions affect them on many different levels, this program could benefit you.
Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:
Space–you see all those components, don’t you? They take up space! However, they are optional, so if you stick with the journals and the videos, and maybe the stethoscope because it’s totally awesome, you’re good. The balance scale, however–that baby’s big. Cool, but big.
The course can be shortened or lengthened to fit your needs, so you can use it and then drop it off in storage or pass it on after a few weeks–not like those big fat heavy math books that do in your leaf springs. We are leeeeeeengthening the program because we can, by adding in all the additional components and taking the lessons more slowly. I love homeschool freedom!
Need more information? Go right to the source!
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WAYComesHome
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WAYComesHome @WAYComesHome
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/i4learning/
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