Little Homeschool on the Prairie: YWAM Publishing-Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

The last few weeks we have been reading Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor from YWAM Publishing. My family received a physical book and a Downloadable Unit Study Guide.

YWAM stands for Youth with a Mission. They have a plethora of wonderful books to choose from in their two series: Heroes of History and Christian Heroes: Then and Now. My favorite part is that when my kids read a book from YWAM Publishing I don’t have to ever worry about the content within the pages of the books. Their historical biographies are filled men and women of Christian values and morals.

The biographies are intended for 10 and up. I have been reading books from YWAM Publishing since my kids were in first grade. The Unit Study Curriculum is for 10 and up.

This is a paperback book with 204 pages and 17 chapters.

Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor

The story starts out with Douglas MacArthur leaving the islands of Corregidor with his wife, 4 year old son, and some of his military companions. He wanted to stay and fight with the rest of his men. President Franklin Roosevelt and the Allies needed his military experience despite the extreme danger of leaving the island. Douglas finds himself thinking of West Texas when he was 5 years old. How Douglas wished his father could see what had become of his youngest son.

Then we find ourselves back to those days of Douglas growing up as a son of a military man stationed in Fort Selden, Texas out on the frontier. The information about his father, mother, and his brother Arthur were interesting learning about his family dynamics. You can see that growing up he had a close family that developed his character to make him into the man he became.

The story talks about his struggles and determination despite the things he had to overcome. One of those struggles was getting into West Point. He found out that he had a curvature of his spine and wouldn’t be able to get into West Point. All Douglas wanted to do was be a soldier and go to West Point. Thanks to his mother they were able to find a doctor who gave him some exercises to try and straighten his spine out. He succeeded and went on to test extremely high in his examination into West Point.

His first year there he experienced an awful hazing event. Despite the awful hazing he endured and testified against those who did it. Douglas graduated first in his class in 1903 from West Point. He was assigned to the Philippines with the Corps of Engineers.

He went on to do great things and was promoted several times early in his career. Everything he did he did with excellence from his secret mission to Veracruz, Mexico to assist the situation to see if they secure transportation inland if needed. Despite the risk he went above and beyond despite the dangers.

He developed the Rainbow Division which consisted of National Guards from several states in War World I. The biography talks about how he would go into battle and encourage his men regardless of his rank or the danger. Douglas MacArthur seen many wars and played a crucial role in them all.

Despite him being relieved of command he was well loved and respected in Americans, Allies, and enemies.

I didn’t know much about him other than his command of the Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II and him being a great military strategist. Douglas MacArthur was buried in an everyday worn out suntan military uniform without any of his medals or ribbons he achieved in his lifetime.

Study Guide:

The Study Guide is 84 pages and covers each of the 17 chapters in the book. The Study Guide downloads as a PDF. The Study Guide covers several subjects like history, geography, essays, vocabulary, reading comprehension, creative writing, public speaking, drama, and art. It is broken up in two PDFs.

After you unzip your file you can download the files to your computer.

You can use the Study Guide to fit your family whether you use it in full or just portions of it to adapt to your homeschool. The Study Guide is also great if you want to use it in a group setting. There are enough activities to teach with your kids learning style. The Study Guide will give you suggestions with younger kids.

Key Quotes- There is 10 quotes in all which includes one from Douglas MacArthur and a few other individuals. They all show some aspect of Douglas MacArthur’s character.

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 that center on Douglas MacArthur’s life to be displayed. For this book the suggestions are: photographs or books of West Point, large map of the Pacific during War World II showing the areas he commanded, map of Europe during War World I, pictures of military ranks he achieved of the medals and ribbons, and photos of Pearl Harbor are just a few items.

Chapter Questions- Each of the 17 chapters has 6 questions which covers a vocabulary question, factual question, 2 questions for comprehension, and 2 open ended questions on opinions.

A Sample of the Chapter Questions

One vocabulary question asks you, “What does perpetual mean?” In the question it will tell you the page it is used from the book. This vocabulary word is from page 77. You are asked to use it in a sentence.

The Study Guide also has the first 3 questions with younger students in mind and the other 3 questions are more difficult and geared for older students.

The comprehensive questions are: “What happened April 10, 1946?” or a more complex question, “Describe Douglas as a leader. Use details from the chapter to provide evidence for at least five leadership qualities that you think Douglas possessed?” You can see that the questions vary and some can be used for younger kids using the Study Guide.

Student Explorations- has suggestions for every age and something for every learning style. It includes several ideas on essay & creative writing, hands on projects, audio/visual projects, and arts and crafts.

There are lots of hands-on projects like creating a family tree of Douglas MacArthur, making a recruitment brochure for West Point, or making a Filipino cuisine, making a Japanese doll, and several other options.

Community Links- Gives you a few resources for field-trips and service projects. One is contacting you Veteran or Foreign Wars and talk to someone about their military service in War World II or the Korean War.

Social Studies – is divided in 6 sections: places, journeys, terms/vocabulary, geological characteristics, timelines, and conceptual questions.

Related Themes to Explore- this will give you more information to find out about a topic. An example would be for you to look into the history of the United Nations in politics.

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.

Appendix C: Social Study Reproducibles. This has a biography page, timeline of important event around Douglas MacArthur’s life, and maps to fill out.

How did I use YWAM Publishing in my Homeschool?

My 14 year old son enjoys reading and one of his favorite topics is books about War World I and War World II. I let him choose the book he wanted to read. I had a feeling before I showed him the list that Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor from their Heroes of History would be a top contender.

I downloaded the Study Guide and looked over it before the book arrived.

Biography Page is a fun way to enhance your book

The maps from the Study Guide

My son enjoys the maps, biography page, and timeline. I printed those out right away. He was able to work on these independently without my help. He usually looks up the places himself for the maps online.

Our original plan was to go over the Chapter Questions after each chapter. However it didn’t work that way because he usually would read several chapters before bed and it only took him a little over a week to read the book. I ended up having him go over the Chapter Questions himself daily. Since he finished the book quickly I had him pick out 6 of his favorite chapters from the book to go over. He would pick 3 questions from each chapter to tell me about each Friday. He couldn’t use all the easy questions and was limited to one in that section.

My son enjoyed every page of Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor

My son said, “I didn’t know anything about MacArthur other than World War II due to his impact in the Pacific.” “I also knew he served in World War I in some capacity but now I know how much he was involved.” He stated, “The Korean War must have been hard for MacArthur and seeing the events unfold and being limited with what you could do.”

My son said, “I thought his family history was really interesting due to the fact that his parents had relatives who served on the opposite side during the Civil War.” The dynamics there are interesting.”

My son also had a lot of favorite quotes from Douglas MacArthur and understanding the context surrounding them intrigued him.

He has a several favorite quotes:

“Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.”

“Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

I read the book myself over a few days. I enjoyed learning about Douglas MacArthur and the historical aspects of the story.

I love adding YWAM Publishing books to our home library.

Throughout the years of homeschooling we have read many books YWAM Publishing. We love learning about the men and women who have made an impact on the world. YWAM Publishing has spoken volumes to my children’s heart and minds.

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