Salt Dough Map of the 13 Colonies (Plus Florida)

Breaking news … we finished a project. Yes, US! We actually finished a project!
For this project we used a map in Kris Bordessa’s Great Colonial American Projects You Can Build Yourself. I sketched a grid over the map in the book.

Then I sketched a larger grid on the cardboard. I think we quadrupled the size [...]

Learning Notes Catch-Up — Marie

One day last week, Marie and I watched a bit of the inauguration and read part of To Kill a Mockingbird, which she finished the next day. I thought it was incredibly powerful, setting aside a portrayal of racism in Depression-era Alabama — a world that existed around the time my father was born–to watch [...]

Animal Farm

Monday, we wrapped up our reading and discussion of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. (Click the link for a summary of the book and discussion of the characters.) Here is a video on the historical symbolism in Animal Farm. I watched it with the kids after our discussion, because I wanted them to draw their own [...]

Starting Our History Unit

Martin and I decided to do a unit on the American Revolution, and Monday we went to Colonial Williamsburg.
Today we just got our feet wet. Marty is pretty much a virgin when it comes to history. Even though we did Story of the World for a long time, I wondered whether he had any real [...]

Trip to Colonial Williamsburg

We went on this trip Monday with our homeschool group: NLSV. We got an affordable deal, thanks to the Colonial Williamsburg/REACH Home Educators Day. I loved it; I thought it was fascinating! But for my kids, I think I traveled a long way just throw marshmallows :-/
On the other hand, maybe it fits in with [...]

American Revolution Unit Study — Any Suggestions??

Martin (age 10) and I decided to do a unit on the American Revolution. We may be interested in co-oping if any local kids — say 8-12 years old — want to join us. In case anyone is wondering — no, there’s no way we’re going to get to ALL these books and activities. No [...]

Repost: Because of Winn Dixie, with a Rabbit Trail into the Civil War and the Underground Railroad

Martin and I just finished reading Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Di Camillo. I really love this book. The author manages — with a very light hand — to offer a story that is realistic and profound, with a lot to say about human experience, yet gentle, fun, and — at times — fanciful.
I [...]

Repost — Spring, 2008: Unit on WWII & the Holocaust

We tend to do “Unit Studies” in a fairly relaxed way. Our units are usually not designed by me, though I do help the kids choose books, and we read them together. I also read about topics of interest so I can discuss them reasonably intelligently, and offer suggestions, information, and guidance. I guess this [...]

Repost (Winter 06-07) Reptile Unit

This is sort of a Montessori-inspired activity. This was part of a reptile unit Martin and I did, in which we read many books and did a lot of notebooking. I made many reptile cards, most were of species I knew we would see in the Reptile Zoo in Luray, Virginia. Martin and Marie matched [...]

Repost — Fall, 2007 — Unit on WWI-WWII

Marie and I have been doing a unit on the 1930’s and 1940’s, focusing on the U.S. and Europe.
Around Christmas, we delved into World War I a bit. We read an excellent historical novel titled After the Dancing Days by Margaret Rostkowski and read a bit about World War I in Story of the World, [...]