Wow! It still amazes me that we have been on this homeschool journey for 10 years now and love it more all the time!  How cool is that!!  Well, the littles and I are using Story of the World (SOTW) this year and may I say we love love love it.  So far it is just what I wanted, with very few of my own additions.  In fact looking over the first few months, there is very little I would add.  I actually own a lot of their extra reading suggestions, too.  We kicked off the new year with an archaeological dig in the sandbox.  I buried about 40 things and the kids all had their own section.  After they dug up the household items, they told me what they were used for and what it said about our family.  They loved this activity.

We then moved on to making handprints out of Plaster of Paris to remind ourselves what our hands looked like in 2008.  Another great way to understand history in a hands-on way. LOL!

The kids also loved doing cave painting.  They really worked at it until they were pleased with the outcome.

The top one is done by my Tom Sawyer (6). 

The kids enjoy coloring the coloring pages that come with the SOTW workbook, while I read to them, and are also having fun with the map work.  We are starting a timeline so they can watch history go by (more on that in another post).  Reading and math are getting off the ground, too, and I hope to have circle time up and happening by next week.

The big teen is off to a good start with his studies.  However, the nature center that he interns at has asked him back for an additional week as a camp counselor so I guess we will have to school " light" for another week.

BLessings,

Dawn

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Posted by momwife1

Awesome post! I loved the things you and your family did. TY for stopping by my blog. Nice to meet you.

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Posted by proverbsmomof3

love the 'excavation'site. I'm sure you will enjoy all the other great activities in SOTW.
Congratulations on a Decade of Home Learning. I'm sure they have been adventurous years with so many more to come. You are a wonderful teacher and mother.

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Posted by hugs4Him

What great activities you all do!

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Posted by bbullard

I enjoyed SOTW, too, and my son loved it so much that he is seriously considering being a world history major in college (of course, he's only 10). It was my favorite type of history product--it told history from several perspectives, the stories weren't overwhelming for the kids, and we were able to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly. I might use it as a spine for my daughter as she embarks on a great books study for high school. I didn't spring for the workbook; we bought these books through Sonlight and so it came with a collection of timeline figures, and we developed great notebooks.

Your cave painting and handprints are great ideas. You are so very creative! The kids will refer to these after many years and have such wonderful memories not only about their academic studies, but about the fun they had and of course, Mom and all of her hard work. Thanks for sharing, lady, and keep it up! You're an inspiration to us all! Ten years--WOW! We're going into year 6, and it's been a blur--a fast-paced, fun-filled blur (much to the chagrin of my mother-in-law--LOL).

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Posted by Anonymous

We did Story of the World last year and loved it.
Thanks for stopping in my blog.
jen
www.justanormalfamily.blogspot.com

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Posted by homeforgood

Looks like a lot of fun! PopPop has a huge bone he buries out in their sandbox and the kids still find such delight when they unknowingly unbury it again.

I'll be starting little boy with his preschool stuff in a couple of weeks and dd has a couple more weeks of reading to finish up and then she can choose whether to begin her new books or wait for a couple more weeks. No hurry as Sept 1 was the set date for us.

Janet

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Posted by ridiculousmom

hey Dawn,
Who publishes sotw? Itsounds like a good one for my younger ones. I know I can't do all the activities as you do, I don't have the energy with nine at home, but it sounds like an interesting resource. IM me or leave a comment on my blog when you get a chance.
Thanks,
Harlow

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Posted by timbuck2mom

That cave painting picture is just great!

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Posted by Anonymous

Great pictures!

You mentioned on my blog that you wanted to find those sand timers I use. Go to Abilitations.com and enter their catalog section. Type in "Sense of Timers" in the search box and you should find them. ~Kari

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Posted by kellieann

Looks like a fun-filled first week!

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Posted by lahbluebonnet

Great activities! My kids don't care for coloring books, but they would have enjoyed the architectural dig. Wish I had thought of that when they were really young!
Blessings,
Laurie

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