Hi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Jane (PlainJane) and I am the blessed and happy wife to Jeff and doubly blessed mama of two perfectly wonderful daughters. Please join me as I share our Lifestyle of Learning through Christian homeschooling and homesteading on our little hobby farm with our prairie girls.
Bookworm is our dd14/9th grader.
Our perfectionist and over-achiever. She loves reading, playing violin, her Paint horse, Annie, being a farm girl, and History re-entacting.
Ladybug
is our dd11/6th grader.
Our "girls just want to have fun" girl. She loves to play and has a great sense of humor, but also likes reading, music, her Quarter Horse, Kitty, and History re-enactment.
We are finished reading
the Moody books
By Sarah Maxwell
and HIGHLY recommend them
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~ I am a part of... ~
he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you -- THEY ARE YOUR LIFE. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:46-47
Aug. 16, 2008~ US Geography ~
I guess I'm just thinking out loud, but thought I'd record my plans for US Geography for this coming school year and the next. We did World Geo. a few years ago, and Bookworm had US Geo. in co-op six years ago, but since we are finally about midway through the study of American Colonies, I thought we better get started on this, so here are my thoughts and plans...
We will study the states in the order of statehood (I think). Every couple of weeks each of the girls will be given a state to study (I will put two states' names in a cup and they will draw which one they get), so the first week they will have Delaware & Pennsylvania (the first 2 states into statehood). Each girl will have a different state that they are to become the EXPERT in (they like this idea). Then they have two weeks to do a map and thorough study of that state using books from home and the library. Here is what I want from them:
Each is expected to trace their particular state on typing paper; write the names of the states and/or bodies of water that border that state.
Locate the state capital with a star (sticker) and locate certain better-known cities for each state as listed in U.S. Map Skills book.
Label major lakes, reservoirs, rivers, national forests, mountain ranges and the like on their map as given in U.S. Map Skills book and make a legend.
Locate special Points of Interest as listed in U.S. Map Skills book such as Washington's Birthplace or Mt. Rushmore.
Be able to define any geographical vocabulary words associated with that state such as crater or portage.
Know the state's postal abbreviation.
Cut out state clip-art and label with abbreviation & year of statehood and place on timeline (clip-art found in U.S. Map Skills book).
Be able to list one to three products the state is known for.
At the end of two weeks the girls will give a report on their state to the family (after supper) explaining their map as well as giving other interesting facts and perhaps showing pictures from library books. They will also each make one or more dish(es) from "Eat Your Way Through the USA" for dinner that night. Following their presentations and wild applause, they will draw for their next state and start all over again.
The US Geography Books that we have and I really like are:
U.S. Map Skills, a gem of a little book that only costs $2.49 from CBD. It teaches geography how I learnt it, and then some. Highly recommended!
Eat Your Way Through the USA, a yummy way to learn some gastronomic differences between states and make daddy smile in the process.
MAPS! The World and United States, I guess I like this book over the more well-known map book choices because it has nice bold outlines of the states - making it easy for the child to place a sheet of typing paper over the state and trace the outline without having to hold it up to a window. It just has the outline with a star for the capital - leaving it for your child to put in bodies of water or mtns. and cities. I might have found my copy at a teacher supply store, but it's at Amazon too.
Cantering the Country, I love this book! One could do a whole year of unit studies with just this book. We won't be going quite that indepth.
The Complete Book of Presidents and States, I got this book at Walmart a few years ago. It's more colorful than most geo. books and easy to read (for grades 4-6). Available through Amazon.
Rand McNally Kid's Road Atlas, or any good US road atlas where the children can get good practice looking up & locating cities on the map using the index, finding state parks and points of interest. I got my copy for $3.99 at Target of few years back.
So there you have it, we will probably tack on time to work on US Geography after US History each day - just 15 minutes a day will add up over two weeks. There are a lot of fun books & websites/blogs with fun crafts and lapbook ideas that we could do along with this, but since the girls are older now and we have more than enough to do with crafts & lapbooks with Early American History, this will have to suffice. The girls are really looking forward to doing this - being the experts, each doing their own thing, cooking, and doing research. They can hardly wait!
I don' t know if you have this, but a terrific game we have, called Great States, is a really fun way to learn the States. Some of the questions I have to cheat on, like spell such and such backwards. OK, I don't cheat, I turn around and spell it with my back to them. :-)
Jenn
Yes, my oldest loves Math. It comes so easy for him. I wish I caould say the same for myself. He gets this from my hubby. I'm looking forward to Teaching Textbooks to free up some time for my other kids.
thank you sooooo much for sharing what you are doing with geography ! I am going to be doing something similar with Canada. This gave me LOTS of good ideas. I can't wait to share it as we go through it. You were a BLESSING again ....thank you. I miss you terribly. I haven't been getting around to friends blogs like I want and I hope that will change soon. Harvest won't last forever. [0;
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