IGCSE History – Dictatorship and Conflict in the USSR

Posted on April 4, 2023 by ofamily

I have to admit I found choosing History resources for us to use a lot harder than our other subjects. I struggled with the fact that there was not a lot of choice and I love having a number of different options that I can compare and then really spend my time finding the one that I think ticks all our boxes.

So for History I did actually buy another book first, which I was not that impressed with and then I found this series from Pearson and I have since gone on and bought two of these History books. (With History you get to choose which topics you are going to cover). My daughter really wanted to study Russian history so one of the topics that she selected was the USSR between 1924 and 1953.

Both my daughter and I are finding this book (Dictatorship and Conflict in the USSR 1924 – 53 by Pearson Edexcel) really easy to use. The text is formatted with lots of blocks and key information, so it does not feel like you are getting lost in information overload. There are key points and extend your knowledge points in small blocks on the side, they have included lots of sources and where possible photographs and illustrations. They really have made an effort to make it easy to read and digest the information.

At the end of each chapter they have also included a Recap page. We love this summary page. It includes some quick questions (really great for checking that the kids can remember the key facts), some longer questions and a quick summary of all the key facts.

But at this level it is not just about learning the facts it is also about questions and answers. Throughout the different chapters they have inserted Exam-style questions and they include Hints on how to answer the questions (these are great practice questions).

Then at the end of each chapter they have included 2 pages where they take a small question, break down how to answer it and then give sample answers where they also comment on what is good or not so good about the sample answers

We are finding this series a great History resource and one that I am glad we found (even it was on the second attempt)

Edit – if you want detailed question cards for this section there are a set on the TES website here – IGCSE History Dictatorship and Conflict in the USSR Question and Answer cards

Admin – I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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Billions of Years, Amazing Changes – a book on the story of evolution

Posted on March 28, 2023 by ofamily

When I requested a review copy of this book I expected a book on the story of evolution – Charles Darwin, his finches, the idea of variation and natural selection. But I did not expect this book to cover such a broad range of topics and link them to the idea of evolution, I never imagined they would include things like how fossils are formed, the layers of rock, co-evolution or genetics. However even though I was not expecting those things to be covered, now that I have read it I feel like it makes sense, these topics that we often think of, as separate ideas really are intertwined and it makes sense to look at them all together.

Billions of Years, Amazing Changes the story of evolution – is an introduction to evolution, and it covers the topic beautifully, it gives background and context and it explains how evolution is linked into other topics eg rock formation and genetics.

The age recommendation for this book is ages 8 – 12. But I feel that might be a bit misleading. The book is written with quite long detailed paragraphs so 8 or 9 year olds who are not strong readers might struggle with it (they also do not shy away from using proper words so some kids may need help with the vocabulary used, although that being said I LOVE that you include the proper words). In fact if I had an eight year old who wanted to read this I would probably read it with them (but that is just my personal opinion). It is not what I would consider an easy read but it is a very informative and worthwhile read but really I would say it is geared for the older kids, in fact I would go as far as saying more of the 10+ ages, if they are reading it independently. And I would say lots of kids over the age of 12 will still benefit from reading this (I will totally admit that this adult learnt quite a bit from reading it).

When my son read it, I suggested that he break it into chunks. He is an advance reader but I wanted him to read it, think about it and then read some more later once he had had time to digest it all. So he read it over a week, doing a bit every day. And I must admit even when I read it I broke it down into chunks.

They have taken a very broad look at evolution, by that I mean they really have thought about all the different things that are linked to it. I liked that aspect of this book. I like it when books surprise you by extending the topic into areas that you were not expecting. And that is exactly what this book did to me, it surprised me and made me think of this topic in a whole new light.

I must also say that they have included some stunning photographs in this book, but then my son and I always love beautiful photographs of animals, and these photographs are clear, detailed and the colours are exquisite.

I would definitely say this book is aimed at the older kids and at kids who find this topic interesting because it does go into quite a bit of detail and I think kids not interested in this topic may find it a bit long and a bit too detailed.

Admin – I did ask for a review copy of this book because it is a topic that my son finds interesting and one that I really do not know that much about.

I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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Electrical Circuits Topic Pack

Posted on March 24, 2023 by ofamily

As we are progressing with our International GCSE Science subjects I have started to discover how starting one of our science topics by spending a few days revising the KS3 work that we did on that topic is really the best start. And it really is NOT a wast of time, in fact when we spend a few days going back over KS3 units we normally end up spending even less time on the IGCSE unit, for the simple reason that we have reminded ourselves of the basics before we start so those vitally important building blocks are there and then when the new information comes along it just seems like an easy extension of what we know. It really is working for us to do it this way. So before we started her electricity topic we chose to revise the KS3 work with the Oaka Books KS3 Electrical Circuits topic pack.

With this pack my daughter read the topic booklet herself and then completed the corresponding Write Your Own Notes (she did this in small 15 minute slots between other work) and then just because we love the games so much we also had a quick go at playing the board game. In total it was quick because it was not new, it was revision but it was brilliant at getting us thinking about these concepts again and reminding us of some very important basics.

Okay so what exactly is included in the Electrical Circuit Topic Booklet and Write Your Own Notes?

  • It starts with the glossary of term
  • What is electrical current and stored energy
  • Conductors and Insulators
  • Series circuits vs parallel circuits
  • The formula – Voltage = current x resistance (also it defines what each of these are)
  • What the different electrical circuit symbols are (this is an extremely useful page)
  • Resistors
  • Voltage and current in circuits
  • Fuses

It really covers a lot and after going through the pack a lot of what is covered in here is what they do for IGCSE, but just in a more detail. So it is the prefect starting activity.

For anyone reading this post who is new to Oaka Topic Packs. All Topic packs come with a topic booklet, write your own notes booklet and an active learning game. The Topic Booklet contains summarized blocks of information with very memorable diagrams (we have found that the diagrams used often help us recall information).

Then the Write Your Own notes is basically a copy of the Topic Booklet but with gaps for the kids to complete themselves (this may sound like a boring step but we have found this really helps because the kids are having to recall the information and then write it down).

And finally the pack comes with an active learning game, which is a “board game” with question cards that the kids need to answer. In the past all of these games have been brilliant ways for me to see what the kids have understood and what we possibly need to go over again.

In the past we used the KS3 Science packs as part of our KS3 Science learning but I am finding that they can also be great starting activities for our IGCSE Sciences. By going through the KS3 Science packs before we start the topic in our IGCSE Science we remind ourselves of what we have already learnt and it tends to make the IGCSE Science topic just seem like an extension of what we know instead of something overwhelming.

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Auslander – a book for older kids about living in Nazi Germany

Posted on March 21, 2023 by ofamily

I had spotted this book (Auslander) in a few Historical Fiction book lists for older kids (11 years and older) so I was pleased when we saw it at our local library.

I had already read a few reviews about it so I knew that the book mentioned some of the medical ideas that were around Nazi Germany, including experiments done on people and how disabled people where simply killed, so with that in mind I thought it would be best if I read it first.

I will say that that it portrays a somewhat scary image (which from what I have read is very realistic) of life in Nazi Germany and it does not shy away from some of the more brutal side of thing so for that reason I do think the age suggestion of 11+ is accurate and for some kids it may be better if they are around 13 or so.

The story centers around Peter. Peter is a German boy who was living in Poland with his family when Germany invaded and after his parents are killed, Peter end up in an orphanage. However Peter is the image of a perfect Aryan boy so he gets picked from the orphanage and sent back to Germany as part of their “reclaimed” project. Here he gets to live with a German family. Now you start to see some of the very unsettling side-effects of the “brain-washed” German life. The way Peter views things verses the way some of the other German family view things. There are a few eye-opening scenes, one which I found very interesting was when he discovered that the doctor he was living with, was involved with the medical experiments that were being carried out.

While you follow the character of Peter living his life in Berlin you get a good understanding of what life was like. There is a scene with the Polish kids who are starving and being made to work physical jobs, a scene where Peter and his friends just want to go and dance to music but it is banned so they have to sneak out, how Peter tried to help by delivering packages of food to Jews in hiding, how his family turn against him and even say he must be sterilized and finally how he is forced to escape or be shot.

Although it is a historical fiction book and the characters are fictional I felt like it painted a realistic image of life in Nazi Germany and I think this is something that is often overlooked. When we cover this period of History we often deal with the British angle and the Holocaust and we don’t often look at life in Germany, what living in that dictatorship must have been like.

There are lots of brilliant Historical Fiction stories on World War II (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Waiting for Anya and When Hitler Stole Pink rabbit – are three others that we recommend), but I think World War II, is such a big topic, it effected so many people in so many ways that really it is good to read a number of different books that touch on these different angles and how it effected different people. And for me Auslander is one of those books, it can be difficult to read at times, to understand what some of the policies meant for ordinary humans but for older kids I do think it is a worthwhile read.

I will be recommending this book to both of my kids to read (aged 12 and 14)

Admin – this is a book that I had heard about and found in our local library. I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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Physics IGCSE Workbook

Posted on March 17, 2023 by ofamily

I have not written that much about our Physics IGCSE resources, not sure why, possibly because I am relying on the wonderful Theater of Science so much and we really are enjoying her IGCSE Physics sessions. Every week she explains a concept, gives examples and then gets the kids to work through questions (she provides FREE worksheets) and then every week she sets “homework” which is further reading and more questions for the kids to work through.

But we are book people so we do have a few physics books that we are using along with the Theater of Science lessons and I thought it was time I started to write a few posts about those Physics books. The first one is our CGP Edexcel International Physics workbook. We have the Biology version of this workbook and I have found it very useful so when I started looking around for a Physics workbook I just thought if I would stick with the workbook series that has been working for our Biology (really a case of if it works why change it).

I want to start by stressing this is workbook – there are NO explanations of concepts. This is a straight forward write-in question book (and yes they have included all the answers).

All the Physics concepts that you need to cover for your exams have been included.

Under each section they include a nice range of questions, it is a combination of multiple choice, graphs, explanation, practical, really a good mix. They also indicate which are the harder questions (ie it will say grade 7-9 above the questions). I have been happy with the mix of questions in these books. And at the back of the book they include two practice papers (I am constantly looking for practice papers so I love that they have included 2 examples in this book).

It covers all the topics and it gives you a good range of questions but I will admit you only really get 2 pages of questions on each item. For us that is what we wanted because we are already getting lots of questions in our Theater of Science sessions but if this is you only source of questions then you may find that you want extra.

Also I will mention this is black and white and is not all colourful and pretty, but lets be honest at this stage we really are not that interested in colours, we are looking for practical and realistic.

For us this is exactly what we wanted. It is a source of good questions, with answers and they have indicated which are the harder questions and which are easier. I think it was well worth the money that I paid for it.

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