Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue…
Jan
Hailey is studying US history this year and we are both absolutely loving it! We are using Sonlight, and I have to say this is the first time I am not even considering switching curriculum. I love the books we read together and we have both learned so much! Since Sonlight does not offer a lot of hands on activities I do add those in, as Hailey loves doing those too.
Back when we were learning about some of the explorers who came to America, we studied Christopher Columbus. In addition to reading books about him, Hailey worked on a map that showed the route Columbus took when he landed in America.
This is her completed map (from an activity book called Interactive 3-D Maps: American History).
Review of Eat Your U.S. History Homework
Nov
One of our favorite subjects is most definitely history! When I was in school if someone had ever told me that I would one day love history I would have thought that person was crazy. I was taught to memorize dates and information, which was very boring and I do not remember much of anything about the history I learned in school. I knew I wanted to teach my kids in a very different way, and keep things fun and interesting so that they will remember what they learn. When I saw Eat Your U.S. History Homework I thought it would be a really fun way to learn some history, and it definitely fits into my hands-on teaching approach.
Ann McCallum is the author of Eat Your U.S. History Homework, as well as several other books including Eat Your Math Homework, and Eat Your Science Homework which you can learn more about at Ann McCallum Books. The book we reviewed was Eat Your U.S. History Homework: Recipes for Revolutionary Minds, which is geared for children in grades 2-5. It is a 47 page, hardcover book that includes 6 recipes. Several historical events that occurred between 1620-1776 in American history are highlighted throughout the book. These include when the Pilgrims arrived in America, life in original 13 colonies, the French and Indian war, Slavery, the Boston Tea Party, and the Declaration of Independence.
Each historical event has three parts to it:
First, there is a short, one page history lesson. This particular recipe, Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies, highlights America in 1773 and goes over the Boston Tea party and some of the events that happened at that time. There are several bold words throughout the lesson which can be looked up in the glossary in the back of the book.
The next part is the recipe. All of the ingredients and equipment needed are listed. There are step by step, illustrated instructions.
The last part gives some brief, interesting information from the time period. Then it ends with some thought provoking questions.
So, how did we use Eat Your U.S. History Homework?
Hailey is studying U.S. history this year, so this book fits in perfectly with our studies! It definitely works as a great supplement to add some fun things into your U.S. history studies. In the example I am sharing- we read about the Boston Tea Party and it reads more like a story than a boring history text book.
Hailey looked over the recipe for the Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies. All of the ingredients were regular items that we already had at home, so I did not have to buy anything.
Measuring some honey
Stirring some of the ingredients
Super delicious Honey- Jumble cookies
This is not a typical history book as it just highlights a few events. I think it makes a great supplement to your history curriculum to add some fun cooking with kids. The book is written in an entertaining manner, with cute illustrations, that keeps the readers attention. It is very interesting to learn the origins of some familiar recipes- for example we learned that the Honey-Jumble cookies are now called snickerdoodles, one of our favorite cookies. The recipes are simple and most of the recipes in the book use ingredients we already have at home. Hailey, age 9 and in 4th grade, was able to follow the directions for the recipe and make the cookies entirely on her own. While it is recommended for kids in grades 2-5 I think it would be fun for younger and older kids as well.
Hailey’s review of Eat Your U.S. History Homework: “I thought it was really interesting to learn about when they ate the cookies. It was really fun to make cookies!”
I would definitely recommend Eat Your U.S. History Homework as a fun addition to your U.S. studies.
Review of Home School in the Woods ~ Project Passport Renaissance & Reformation
Jul
Hailey’s favorite subject during this last school year was most definitely history. She loves it best when I read to her about the topic we are learning about while she colors or works on a project. She learns best that way- she needs to have some sort of project she is working on related to our topic of learning. The funny thing is that while I was in school I never liked history, but it has become my favorite subject now too.
I was so excited when given the chance to do a review for Home School in the Woods! Their unit studies are planned out exactly how Hailey learns- lots of hands on activities. We looked over the choices in the Project Passport World History Studies and Hailey decided she was most interested in checking out Project Passport World History Study: Renaissance & Reformation.
Home School in the Woods was developed by homeschooling mom, Amy Pak. She understands the importance of having hands on projects and activities to go along with the information you are studying. The activities that go along with the time period will make you and your children feel like they are really living at that time. There are activities for cooking food from the time period, dressing up, making 3-D projects, and more. In addition there are history readings, maps, and timelines.
Project Passport World History has three different studies you can pick from. There is Ancient Egypt, The Middle Ages, and the one we picked- Renaissance & Reformation. The studies each have 25 stops- at each stop there are different historical figures or interesting events that you learn more about. There are more than 50 hands on activities to pick from in each study- so there is definitely something for everyone!
The Project Passport World History studies are for children in grades 3-8 and can be purchased as a download or as a CD. I reviewed the downloaded version, which can be used on a PC or a Mac.
So, how did we use it?
When I first downloaded Renaissance & Reformation, I have to admit feeling a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to look through. Once I took the time, when the kids were all in bed, to really look it over and read through the introduction and the travel tips, it made a lot more sense to me. It took a while to go through the first few stops to get everything ready to start teaching. There was a lot of printing to be done, on different kinds of paper (white paper, colored paper, white card stock, colored card stock, etc), and it took quite a bit of time.
At first I wanted to do all of the projects, but I realized very soon that was not possible. I tend to feel like I have to do it all rather than picking the ones that are the best fit for us, but it would take a long time to do everything! Since we are on summer vacation right now, we decided to do more of the scrapbook activities and 3-D projects that Hailey really loves to do. There were some days that we were able to complete more than one stop and there were other times when we had to stretch one stop out over a couple of days. Here are some of the activities we did:
Hailey started out by making a passport to take on her journey through the Renaissance & Reformation.
Hailey made a postcard of Florence, Italy after learning about Cosimo de Medici.
Hailey tried a few different art techniques she learned about from the Renaissance era. Here she worked on making a fresco.
Hunter thought it looked fun and decided he wanted to join in and make one too.
Hunter working on his fresco.
Hailey decided to make a self portrait for her fresco.
Hailey learned about the different social classes during the Renaissance.
She also worked on a chalk pastel.
The finished artwork.
Another kind of art she learned about was Chiaroscuro, which means light-dark.
Hailey enjoyed working on a masquerade mask.
Her creation
Hailey’s favorite project was definitely Shakespeare’s Globe.
She worked very hard coloring and putting together the playhouse.
Then she entertained us with a little performance.
I asked Hailey what she thought of Project Passport World History Study: Renaissance & Reformation. She said it was a lot of fun and she liked doing the projects. She definitely wants to do more! I think the hands on projects are perfect for her learning style. She is at the younger end of the recommended age range (she just finished 3rd grade) and some of the readings were over her head. I would like to add in some of my own choices of historical fiction for me to read to her while she colors and works on the activities. I also wish there was an option to buy everything already printed out- the printing takes a lot of time. That being said, I really enjoyed using Home School in the Woods and would absolutely use more of their unit studies! Both of us learned a lot and had fun creating projects and memories together. I highly recommend it!
Want to learn more about Home School in the Woods?
Tales from the Circle C Ranch Book and Lapbook Review
Jun
Our favorite time during our homeschool day is when we read together. On a typical day I read a chapter from a book and Hailey reads a chapter from a book. We both look forward to reading time and I am always on the lookout for a good book we can use for school. When the opportunity came up to review Tales from the Circle C Ranch by Susan K. Marlow author of the Circle C Adventures series, I went to the website to check it out. I was able to download the first story in the book and was I immediately hooked! There is also Andrea Carter’s Tales from the Circle C Ranch Learning Lapbook that goes along with the book, and we love lapbooks so we were excited to check that out too!
So, how did we use the book and the lapbook?
Each day we read a portion of the book. Some of the chapters were short, so we could read more than one and others were longer. Sometimes Hailey did the reading and sometimes I did the reading.
Then if there was a part of the lapbook that went with the reading for the day we would do that as well.
This is the front cover of the lapbook.
This is inside the first folder.
Hailey’s favorite part of the lapbook was the Mercantile activity on the bottom left side of the red folder. In it is a price list of items one might have found at the general store in the 1800s. Hailey had to pretend it was 1874 and that she had $2 to spend at the store. She was able to pick several items, including a toy whistle for 10 cents, a comb for 40 cents, a harmonica for 60 cents, and a few other items.
This is the inside of the second folder.
One of my favorite lapbook activities was the limerick section. We learned how to write a limerick and that the sillier the limerick is the better. I thought it was going to be a hard activity for Hailey to do, but she loved it! She wrote several limericks, and we spent the rest of the day making up more silly limericks. She picked one of her favorites for me to share with you:
I had a lovely cat,
who was ever so fat.
He had another owner,
who was covered with toner.
The owner was a stinky rat.
Pretty silly, but we had a lot of fun with it!
I asked Hailey what she thought about Tales from the Circle C Ranch and she said it was a lot of fun to read. She said her favorite short story was The Best Gift of All, a story where Andi was at the store trying to find the perfect gift to buy for her mother. The problem was that Andi had spent most of her money, rather than saving it, so she couldn’t find anything to buy. Hailey said she enjoyed that story because she thought it was more special that Andi made a present for her mom than it would have been if she had bought her one. She also said she really enjoyed making the lapbook and all of the parts in it were fun to make.
I really enjoyed Tales from the Circle C Ranch and would definitely recommend it. Not only does it include fun stories, but it’s a great way to learn about the 1800s. I love historical fiction and I think using a historical fiction book with a lapbook is one of the best ways to learn.
Want to learn more about Circle C Adventures:
