I've said this before - my oldest son, Chad, is a sponge for learning. He has always been a great reader and made it easy for me when it came to teaching geography, world/American history and just about anything else you can learn by reading. If you need to know where some place is in the world, ask Chad. If you have a history question, he probably knows the answer. Some kid, he is.

     However, my younger two kids are not as eager to read and absorb these subjects. So I decided we would study one state a day, beginning with the New England states. I had a good black line map that Carmen traced onto a large sheet of paper, outlining every state, and it hangs on the wall above our kitchen table. Every day, she colors in the state-of-the-day, and labels the name and capital city. I also had a Dover U.S. coloring book that she is coloring each day as well. She loves to draw and color so this is fun for her (which makes learning easier). We use our Worldbook Encyclopedias, our road atlas and whatever other resources I have, like Country magazine. The dictionary sometimes gives the source of the state name, which we find interesting. Alec just sits and listens but he likes to read what the encyclopedia says about each state's exports, manufacturing, etc. At dinner, I ask them questions to help them remember some of what we learned.

     This isn't in-depth study but it's fun to learn some of the state's history, economy, population, year of statehood, state flag, weather, geography, bird, tree, etc. Almost every day, one of them (or I) say, "I didn't know that!. And every day, I try to find more resources to add to our study. I'm saving our state for last and we'll spend more than just one day on it. It's what you call "homeschooling on a shoe string". No expensive program needed.