Little Homeschool on the Prairie: Heroes of History Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire Review

YWAM Publishing is one of our favorite vendors. Our latest read was Heroes of History Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire. I’m even more excited to pick up more books this week at our homeschool convention. My kids always gravitate to the booth at the convention.

YWAM stands for Youth with a Mission. They have an incredible selection of books to choose from. I love that my kids are learning about a wide range of amazing men and woman throughout history. Their lives are an inspiration which are told as an autobiography of men and women with strong morals, determination, and even Christian values that had an impact on individuals and history. At the same time they are learning history and geography! YWAM Publishing has two series Heroes of History and Christian Heroes: Then and Now.

I received a physical copy of Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire and a Downloadable Unit Study Curriculum Guide .

Heroes of History Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire

This is a paperback book with 195 page and 17 chapters.

Our story starts out with a well know historical event with Benjamin Franklin. Ben flying a kite with a key tied around the hemp cord during a lightning storm. He confirms what Sir Isaac Newton had hypothesized about lightning some 50 years early! That Lightning was electrical in nature and a huge accomplishment from someone who wasn’t a trained scientist. After that Ben’s thoughts go back to when he was 7 years old in Boston.

Ben grow up in a Puritan home and his father decided since Ben was the 10^th son he should become a clergyman. Which the only thing Ben was looking forward to was learning from books and not becoming a clergyman. In grammar school Ben excelled and loved reading but, his father noticed that he didn’t have the piety, or patience to become a clergyman. He continued to learn how to write and do arithmetic well.

Ben’s father brought him into the family trade of candle & soap making which Ben disliked. Ben eventually ended up working for his brother James who owned a printed business which suited Ben well. Being an apprentice under his brother was a whole another story and fortunate he was able to get out from under his brother and released from his contract as an apprentice under him. He left Boston and ended up in Philadelphia.

Ben is a smart young lad and is known in the community as someone who can write well and speak well. He dreams of owning his own printing shop one day. He makes several mistakes along the way and learns a few hard lessons when he lands in England.

Eventually Ben is able to start a printer shop. In the story we learn that he wrote his first letter to the New England Courant under a fiction name “Silence Dogood”, Ben wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac under a made up name, and he was a vegetarian for a short time.

Some of his many inventions and discoveries where swimming fins, Franklin Stove, lightning rod, charting the Gulf Stream, bifocals, and this is just to name a few things. We were amazed at what a jack of all trades from printer, first Post Master General, and the first Ambassador that was received by a foreign government.

Of course we can’t forget his work with the Declaration of Independence and several other historical documents. We learned so much about Benjamin Franklin. He was a man of his word, and was constantly doing things from getting paved roads in Boston to lighted streets. He improved the local fire department, police force, and had a huge impact on the postal service. Wow, is all I can say and that is just a few of his accomplishements.

My son wanted to see if he could find Benjamin's Franklin's name on our replica of the Declaration of Independence

My son said, “That is real neat that out of all of the founding fathers he is the only one to sign all three papers that gave America their freedom.” If you’re wondering what the 3 are it would be the Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.

My son also said, “He was a very busy man and never rested” I’d have been beat to travel all over the world at his age.” “He was a brilliant man with so many ideas and solutions on several topics.” He also said, “Ben was one of a kind and I don’t think men today could do half of what Benjamin Franklin did in his lifetime.”

I was a very proud mom to see the depth of thought he put into what he read about Benjamin Franklin.

Unit Study Curriculum Guide

The file comes as a zipped file which you will need to extract. Once you open it you will see two unit studies. One has the Curriculum Guide and the other one has several maps, a biography fact sheet, and a timeline. You can also look at the bonus material for crosswords and a few other options.

It’s broken down so that you can use it as a full unit study or to pick and choose what works for your family.

Introductions-Is helpful as a parent if you’re not sure how to use the Study Guide for your family. It gives you some ideas on learning style, grade, ability of the study, and even for a group or a single child.

Key Quotes- There are 10 quotes in all which includes Benjamin Franklin and a few other individuals.

This is one of my favorite quotes in the book.

The Key Quotes can be used as memorization, copywork, or a discussion on the meaning of the quotes.

Display Corner-this is a selections of things about Benjamin Franklin to be displayed. Some ideas for this book would be a copy of the Declaration of Independence, bifocals, map of the colonies, pictures or books on candle making, books that influenced Ben, kite, or other options that are part of the history from the story.

Chapter Questions- Each chapter has 6 questions which includes a vocabulary question, factual question, 2 questions for comprehension, and 2 open ended questions on opinions.

An example of the Chapter Questions

The first 3 questions or broken down with younger students in mind and the other 3 questions are more difficult and geared for older students.

Student Explorations- has suggestions for every age. There are several ideas on essay & creative writing. This is nice as you don’t have to come up with an assignment for your kids to write about as there are several options that you can choose from.

There are lots of hands-on projects from flying a kite, creating a colonial home diorama, making your own newspaper, and a few other ideas. Another hands-on option is an audio or visual median. You could write a skit, be a reporter and much more. Arts and crafts section you learn about how to make candles or soap, collage of Ben’s life, and a few other options.

Community Links- Gives you a few resources for field-trips and service projects.

Social Studies -maps, vocabulary, timelines, critical thinking, and so much more.

Related Themes to Explore- this could point you to more information to find out about a topic. An example would be for you to look into the other men who were involved in drafting the Declaration of Independence. You could tour a state capital, newspaper, post office and a few other ideas.

Culminating Events -resources for project displays, era music, food, and activities, and an oral presentation.

Appendix A: Book and Resources if you want to dig deeper.

Appendix B: This has all your Answers to the Chapter Questions

The Study Guide is very informative and full of great resources. There is something for every learning style to build on.

How did I use Heroes of History Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire in my homeschool?

I started this as a read out loud with both of my kids. Then my daughter had an unexpected surgery and lots of other unplanned appointments. My 13 year old son ended up reading the book himself. Since I had already read the first two chapters I was already hooked and read it myself late into the night. We both read the entire book in record time. I love it when I see my son reading a book outside of school. I will have to go back and read it with my daughter.

I love seeing my son reading outside of school

My son and I had a lot of discussion about Benjamin Franklin but, we didn’t get a chance to use all of the Unit Study Curriculum Guide this time. We did go over some of the Chapter questions. We took a few rabbit trails with the learning more about the some important documents like the Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.

He mapped out the 13 colonies and Pennsylvania.

He also did the Benjamin Franklin Fact Sheet looking up the information online and from what he remembered in the story.

My son was intrigued by how Benjamin Franklin had a way with words and illustrations. We spent some time looking up some of his newspaper articles. The snake illustration of the colonies he thought was interesting way to illustrate the issue.

My son learned so much history, character, integrity, and Christian values when he reads YWAM Publishing books. It’s priceless the depth in each book.

We have so many favorites that it’s hard to choose which ones we liked the most. This year we have already read Alan Shepard: Higher and Faster and Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer. A very memorable one last year was Ronald Reagan: Destiny at His Side.

Heroes of History Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire is just one of the several books that the Homeschool Review Crew had an option to review. I am just 1 of the 70 people who have been using YWAM Publishing and their 2 series Christian Heroes: Then & Now and Heroes of History. Don’t forget to see what other’s have to say about the many options.