Download –N- Go: Expedition Australia

I was recently offered the opportunity to review the “Expedition Australia” Download N Go unit study by Amanda Bennett for The Old Schoolhouse. I’ve been interested in the Download N Go

units for awhile, so this was a wonderful treat for us!

The Download N Go studies are intended to be a 5 day unit study. Each day you explore different aspects of your subject. For example, for Australia, we looked at the Geography of Australia, we learned about people, animals, weather, games, and important geographical features such as the Great Barrier Reef.

The Expedition Australia unit includes:

• Day 1: Where on Earth is Australia?
• Day 2: Some of the Special Places in Australia
• Day 3: A bit of Australian History
• Day 4: Cool things to know about Australia
• Day 5: Fun and Games in Australia
• Daily objectives, Book Suggestions, Lapbook components & Family Fun Ideas

There are four convenient options to purchase the units:

• You can purchase them individually
• 4 Weeks at a time
• 19 weeks at one time
• 38 weeks- the full year’s curriculum

Some general information about the Download N Go studies:

• Ages: Kindergarten – 4th grade: The Download N Go units are generally geared towards Kindergarten through 4th grade, but I do suggest that your child be comfortable with reading, writing and drawing in order to get the most out of the study.
• Cost: $7.95 per unit, though there are package options available that reduce the price per unit. This is a great price for the quantity of materials you will receive for each unit, not to mention the time you’ll save not having to do all the research yourself!
• Supplies: 3 ring Binder, paper/printer, file-folder for the lapbook, and access to a computer with internet, crayons/colored pencils for drawing. I’d also recommend you have a globe, or world map for this unit.
• Preparation: About 1 weekend to print/organize the unit study. Before starting your unit, I’d also suggest reserving some of the books from your local library that they suggest (You can see some of the books we reserved below), this way you’ll have them on hand when you do your study!
• Organization: We printed out the study, then placed the whole thing in a binder that was divided by number tabs to indicate day 1, day 2 etc. Then we worked right next to our computer so that we could easily visit the links and videos while we worked. Once the unit is complete, I will move it to a “completed studies” 3” binder. I’ll separate out each unit study by tabs. You can find a free cover from The Old School House store for your completed units binder. Then you can reuse the original binder, tabs and notebook for your next download!

My Thoughts: I really thought this was a fun unit, and my daughter liked doing it. I think her favorite part was learning about the different animals in Australia. The book suggestions were great, and well suited for elementary aged children.

The only thing I would change, and I did, was to spread it out over 2 weeks instead of 1 week. There were so many worksheets each day and we were doing this in conjunction with her regular full load of school, that it was a little bit too much to do all in one day. But the nice thing about these units, is that you you can spread them out to fit your schedule fairly easily.

Another major pro in this series of unit studies, is that they are very easy to do with very little preparation. It’s literally meant to “Download N Go”!

If you would like more information on the Download N Go studies, the Old Schoolhouse has a list of current and upcoming units on their website.

This product was given to me free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.