Whether the trip is for a day or a week, homeschooling families do enough traveling to warrant packing a bag of activities for the road. The You're on Your Way! travel kit might be a nice addition to your bag of tricks. The small soft-cover spiral-bound book is tucked inside a plastic case with a handle mimicking a suitcase. Attached by a mini-chain is a zipper bag of ten small colored pencils. Tucked in a corner of the main bag is a pencil sharpener, which rounds out this full ensemble of travel gear, all in a charming package.

The 45-page book is where all the activities are based, so it is appropriately sturdy yet flexible. Unfortunately, only about two-thirds of the book is actually devoted to children's activities; a 15-page section at the back is dedicated to a lengthy listing of grade-by-grade standards for Language Arts in California. The travel kit includes information about how to use it to satisfy these standards for children who may be absent from public school to enjoy travel time. For me, this was a huge disappointment, because not only am I a homeschooler, I live on the opposite coast and have no need at all to have these pages in my book. Even if we were from California, my child would not find these pages interesting or necessary.

Regarding the first two-thirds of the book, the pages are recommended for children age five and up. An introductory page from the author explains how children this young would need assistance, and my assessment is that the activity book would ideally be used by older children who read and write independently, unless the parent plans to do nearly all of the reading and/or writing for a younger child. My newest young reader was excited about the packaging and the mini pencils at first glance but flipped through the book quickly and described it as something her older sister would like instead.

The book centers on writing about the trip, with room for border art on each page. Questions for completion on the first several pages include pre-trip preparation, the travel party, weather, and packing. Children might answer in words or draw in the small space provided; both the font and the writing lines are geared for older children. A few more pages are devoted to questions about food, favorite moments, souvenirs, and reflection at the end of the trip. Following these initial question pages are 12 pages that are either lined or blank for any other information or sketches a child might want to add.

Up to this point in the book, the primary "activities" being offered are writing, drawing, and decorating pages. The questions are sometimes thoughtful and would provide nice family discussion starters. Following this portion of the book are the few pages that I would consider more activity-centered. These might be fun to complete with a sibling or a friend. One page each is devoted to a word game, a poem-writing activity, creating a crossword puzzle, and developing a miniature board game. Finally, there is a "trip quiz game" where a child can fill in their favorite sound, food, or silly part of the trip. Having a travel companion complete the form too might allow for a "quiz" time to compare answers. Lastly, there is a page of stickers with globes, suitcases, trees, street signs, and arrows, followed by two pages of "Jet Set JotDots," which are tiny round stickers to use anywhere in the book.

Certainly, there are children who would enjoy writing and drawing about their trip to create a keepsake book of memories, but I suppose I was expecting more "activity" in this kit based on the recommended ages and the title itself. The kit might resonate more with older children in general or with California families who are trying to meet the standards. It will certainly fit with families whose children are in traditional schools in that state, but it will not be something I can recommend to the general population of homeschoolers in terms of value for the price.

Product review by Melissa Theberge, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2010