Well, I can't believe how fast it's going, but we already have done the 1st two weeks of our American Girl Club.  Here is a recap of the first 2 weeks.

Week #1

1. Read the first 3 chapters of Meet Samantha before coming to club.  Discussed the chapters as a group at the start of club.
2. Played with "tin-can-phones" that my daughter and I made before the club so everyone could experience talking on a tin-can-phone like Samantha and Nellie did.  (Although ours were made out of plastic fast food cups!  LOL)
3. Made calling card boxes.  Discussed how in 1904 telephones were rare so when someone wanted to come for a visit they just showed up!  Since they might not find anyone at home people carried calling cards that they could leave if no one was home.  Boxes were kept in the parlor to collect these calling cards.
4. Read about the kitchens of 1904. (Coal burning stoves, iceboxes, servants, etc.) and ate blueberry muffins.
5. Read the first few pages of Welcome to Samantha's World about transportation.
   
6. Talked about the Samantha lapbook we will be making and decided that we would all work on 4 booklets a week at home and then assemble them the last night when we have our tea party.

Here is my daughters calling card box she made.

Week #2

1. Read the last 3 chapters of Meet Samantha before coming to club.  Discussed the chapters as a group at the start of club.
2. Played Tiddlywinks and talked about how parlor games were played in 1904 in the days before Television and other electronic entertainment.
3. Made paper fans and calling cards to go in the boxes we made last week.  Talked about what life must have been like before air conditioning!
4. Read about Saratoga Potatoes (The beginning of potato chips!) and ate Saratoga Potatoes.
5. Read two pages from Welcome to Samantha's World about Newfangled Inventions, life in the big city and life in small towns in 1904.

Here is my daughter with her fan she made in week 2.

Here are the calling cards the girls made and exchanged.

Here is my daughters calling card box with all her new friends cards in it.

So that is what we have done so far.  The girls are LOVING the class.  The first night one of the girls told my daughter (not realizing she was my daughter) "I thought this was going to be boring, but it's really fun!"  Then at the beginning of night two I got several hugs as the girls arrived!  That makes it all worthwhile!

Happy Homeschooling,

Jamin

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Comments

Posted by Anonymous

What fun! I remember doing the American Girls Club with my daughter many years ago. They actually had a history club then and when you completed each unit you got a charm for your bracelet! My daughter is 21 and still treasures her American Girl charm bracelet. We did similar projects and had such a great time. We live about an hour from Williamsburg, so Felicity is still my favorite:-) Time passes so fast - enjoy every minute!
Blessings, Jan in Va (remember the ice cream pie:-)

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Posted by HopeRumpca

Thanks so much for posting this info Jam. It is helping wrap my head around the projects and the basic form of the group. Once I have a clue I can usually go from there and my daughter has been *begging* me to start a club in our area! So now I am off to the library to see what there is to be found!

Thanks so much!
Hope & Family
Eagle Point, OR

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Posted by SchoolinRhome

Hi! I just wanted to let you know I nominated you at the HSB Awards for Best thrifty homeschooler. I love your ideas and Freebie Fridays! I hope you win! Have you seen the prizes? They are awesome!
Have a great end of the week!
SchoolinRhome
www.homeschoolblogger.com/SchoolinRHome

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