We have come a long way since bucket brigades were formed whenever a fire broke out. It was an ingenious idea at the time, but thankfully, firefighting has evolved over the years and has become a more viable profession.

If you have sons and they are anything like mine, then you have probably heard mention, one time or another, of them wanting to be a firefighter when they grow up. Right now, my oldest son wavers between that and wanting to be a Clone Trooper, but my youngest is sticking to his guns (or water hoses) and is ready to fight fires.

“When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Firefighter” is one study of The Old Schoolhouse WannaBe Series in E-book form that introduces children (and parents) to different professions they might consider for careers when they grow up. This E-book is part of a growing series that currently looks into the following careers:

We were able to review this E-book that I knew not only my sons, but was quite sure my daughter would enjoy too.

Study
It is quite comprehensive in covering topics like the history, job specifics, and requirements for becoming a firefighter. More detail is shared in these areas when we look at the type of gear they use, building codes, and salaries of the various ranks which is surprisingly low considering the amount of danger they are exposed to every time they head out on a call. There is even a narrative given by an engineer (the person who drives the fire truck) where he walks us through his workday and describes his responsibilities and those of his coworkers. This E-book is set up well to be used as a unit study resource for covering the subject of firefighting.

Activities/Exercises
The activities and exercises are various including math problems, vocabulary words, a word search, a crossword puzzle, copy work, and even phrases in sign language all using firefighting terms and concepts to reinforce the studied material. There is even a hands-on project of building a robotic arm similar to that of a robotic insect which is used to detect fires in forests.

The kids had fun playing one of the many games like ‘Stop, Drop, and Roll’ which practiced their response to their clothes catching fire and also ‘Fire Drill Practice’ where we created and practiced our fire escape plan should we ever need one. We also spent some time reading through our Bible and studying and discussing the listed verses where the presence of fire was referenced.

5 Things We Learned

• Benjamin Franklin’s Bucket Brigade was the first volunteer fire department, which was established in 1736.
• The first known female firefighter was a slave named Molly Williams.
• Fire fighters are required to workout 90 minutes everyday.
• The driver of a fire truck is called an engineer.
• The fire truck is called a firefighting apparatus and “weighs approximately 46,000 pounds.”

Take a peek at this firefighter E-Book.

My Conclusion
As stated, this E-book appears to be well researched and provides great insight into the firefighting profession. My older children enjoyed the day-in-the-life and I personally enjoyed learning more about the history of firefighting.

Although this E-book is designed for children ages 4-10, I would recommend that your child be able to read and probably be at least six years of age because of the amount of reading required to complete the material. I have a three year old and I often try to include him in group activities especially when it is a topic of interest to him. It would have been nice if more pictures had been included like when the history of firefighting was discussed and also when the engineer discusses his workday. A walk-through with pictures would provide more insight and also make it more appealing to a younger audience.

I am in the habit of putting together our study material from various resources, but when I purchase prepared material like this, I expect it to have a little more direction as to which order the reading material, exercises, and activities are to be completed. Sometimes, I just don’t want to have to think that hard. I was able to arrange the material in a manner where we were able to complete most of it within a two week period because we didn’t study it everyday.

If you plan to use this E-Book for multiple ages/grades, then I would suggest spreading it out over a one month period which will allow you more time to complete the material, include younger members (under six) by finding additional resources for them, and also planning a visit to a fire station at the end of the study. There are also some really fun party ideas, entertaining games, and directions on creating a fire engine cake which would be great for an end of study celebration or a birthday party.

Cost
The price for an individual WannaBe E-Book is $8.95. Anything that prices under $10 always grabs my attention. You can also purchase all ten E-Books in the series for $89.50. I have to agree that you do get a lot of value for the money spent. I am looking forward to the future E-Books in this series, which will be 40 books in all, because you could really make an educated decision in pursuit of a career after reading this book. Purchases are made online and after the transaction, the E-Book(s) is immediately available for use.

What career have any of your children expressed interest in?

The product featured in this review was provided to me free of cost by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.