Our Plan: World History

I still have quite a ways to go before I have our plans for this coming school year finalized. However, I have decided on our history course, and I am very excited!!

This past year we switched to studying history through the use of living books combined with lap books and notebooking. It was a huge hit. We all loved it!! I used Beautiful Feet's Early American History as a guide, and tried to supplement with Catholic books as we went along. It worked out alright, but I was really hoping to find a Catholic program to use for this coming year.

Well, I ran across RC History, and it seems to be just about perfect for us! One of my favorite aspects of the program is that we will all be doing the same time period together each year, based on a four year rotation. Yeah!!!

We have found that history comes alive when the family learns together. Particularly if you are not well-acquainted with history yourself (which I am not!!), or you are teaching multiple ages (which I am!!), studying the same time periods together will strengthen everyone's learning and interest and make your job of teaching simpler! (Anything that will make my job a bit simpler, sounds good to me!)

It should be a fun year as we make our way through the Old Testament and Ancient History!

I have just finished ordering all of our books, and the kids have really been enjoying previewing them as they arrive in the mail.


Here's the list of what we will be using...

Teacher's Guide:

Connecting With History: A Guide to Salvation History
Year One: Old Testament and Ancient History

"Connecting With History is our first self-published history curriculum. It takes an integrated approach to history and literature from a thoroughly Catholic perspective, covering the Old Testament and the ancient cultures of Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome."

(I am also hoping to read a few books myself from the Logic and Rhetoric book lists.)

Core Text:

• New Catholic Picture Bible
• Ancient World by Fiona Chandler

Reading List:

• Usborne Time Traveler
• Archaeologists Dig for Clues
• Noah's Ark by Peter Spier
• Tut's Mummy Lost and Found
• Aesop's Fables Coloring Book
• Pyramids: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt
• Old Testament Days: An Activity Guide
• Classical Kids: An Activity Guide
• The Trojan Horse or How the Greeks Won the War

Supplemental:

• The Genesis of it All
• Noah's Ark (It's not on the list, but my kids LOVE looking through the pictures in this book!)
• The Great Pyramid
• Favorite Greek Myths
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
• Exodus
• The Story of Hercules
• D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
• Blackline Maps of World History

Audio CD’s/Cassettes:

• Jewish Holiday Stories
• Tales from the Old Testament
• Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths
• Greek Myths
• Strengthened by God/The Great Deluge

Bedtime Read-A-Loud for Daddy and Boys:

• Shadow Hawk
• King David and His Songs
• The Golden Goblet
• Victory on the Walls: A Story of Nehemiah

Each of the children will also be starting their own Book of the Centuries (updated link), as well as a couple lap books throughout the year based on Ancient History. I am also considering ordering the Timeline, for our school room wall, or possibly making our own. We'll see...

I did order the book History Pockets – Ancient Civilizations to help us with our lapbooks, as well as an Ancient Egypt Toob (we LOVE all the various toobs!) and an Ancient Egypt Treasure Box for a little extra fun (at the recommendation of my dear friend Trina, who is to blame inspired my love of history through living books last summer!! :)

Oh, and I even ordered a number of stickers and stencils too...

I can't wait to start... Is it September yet?? ;)

The Strategic Air & Space Museum

I can't believe that it has taken me so many posts just to tell you about the first 3 days of our trip to Nebraska... Unfortunately, I am not planning on speeding up the process any time soon... Sorry! ;)

On day 4, our first full day in Lincoln, we took a little trip, a bit further east on I-80, to Ashland, Nebraska, to visit the Strategic Air and Space Museum.

The Strategic Air & Space Museum is a museum focusing on United States Air Force military aircraft and nuclear missiles. It was formerly the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Museum at Offutt Air Force Base before it was moved to this 300,000 square foot building in 1998 and renamed in 2001. This museum is regarded as having one of the top collections of strategic aircraft!

I was so busy worrying about where we would be staying come Friday, that I forgot my camera back at the hotel. Luckily, Rascal had his camera (a little disposable -- that we gave him right before we left, and which he had been carrying around everywhere!) with him, so we did get a couple photos...

This is a picture of us (taken by Rascal) in front of the SR-71 Blackbird:

The boys had a blast exploring everything,

and Hubby and Captain even flew in the Flight Simulator!

Not to be left out, Rascal and Snuggles flew in a child size "flight simulator" as well.


We saw B-29's, F-16's, and one of the only two XF-85 Goblins ever made - a 14' long plane meant to be carried by a bomber and used for missions that exceeded the distance of land based fighter planes.

The boys were disappointed that they didn't have their bomber jackets with them, but before we left, they each got to turn a penny into a souvenir, which they totally loved!

April Shower of Photos :: Day 28

So, I just spent the last hour trying to upload the one video/photo that I took today. It still isn't working, and I need to get to bed. Oh well... Since, I am so close to finishing the April Shower of Photos, and I don't want to miss a day, here are a few photos that were taken 2 years ago.

In 2006, we drove back to Nebraska for my brother-in-laws ordination. On the 36 hours straight in the car with 4 kids drive home, we stopped by Mount Rushmore for lunch!! It was so cool! The boys still talk about it.





I might try to upload the video again tomorrow... But for now, good night!

Mooovvviiing on...

We have been making very very slow progress on our history time line... That is why I haven't posted about it in awhile. We finally finished reading about the Pilgrims. It seemed to take forever to get through Stories of the Pilgrims. This was a BIG book (240 pages) for my little ones, but the boys really did enjoy it! After that, we all REALLY enjoyed Squanto and The Pilgrims of Plimoth. The boys especially loved that Daddy was able to read Squanto to them, for a change! (I got to listen in, since he was reading a couple chapters out loud to all of us each night--while I would get dinner on the table... This was very helpful!)

We have now moved on to learning about Ben Franklin. Did you know that he was the fifteenth child of seventeen children, and the youngest son (of ten boys) in his family!! Gotta love those big families!!! Anyway, the book we are reading is titled, obviously ;), Benjamin Franklin!!! It is yet another of the wonderful books by Ingri D'Aulaire. They are so great, and really capture all the children's attention, as well as my own!

The boys were excited to be moving on to another book by her, since they just love coloring the black and white pictures illustrated by her husband Edgar d'Aulaire.

The boys would really love to make another history lap book, so, I think we just might do one on Ben... We'll see!

Creative Cabins

Tomorrow is Abraham Lincoln's Birthday and next Monday is Presidents' Day. If you are looking for a fun craft idea to do with your kids, check out Martha Stewart's Presidents' Day Log Cabin! I think it looks like such fun to make. It is made out of pretzels, and will make a perfect Lenten snack! I am sure my boys will enjoy making a cabin out of something other than Lincoln Logs for a change--although, I have a feeling, they will probably want to do BOTH!

**UPDATE: Dawn has an AMAZING list of ideas to do for Lincoln's Birthday! I am saving it out to use in a couple months when we will be studing Abraham Lincoln in History. Thank you Dawn!

Jamestown Freebies

The boys just finished studying Jamestown, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. As I mentioned a couple days ago, I was searching online for a few resources for them to use in making a lap book for their final presentation, just like they had made for Columbus. I was getting so frustrated wasn't having very good luck finding lap booking materials, for Jamestown, that didn't need to be purchased. (If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way.) However, I did find a number of other cool things for them to do to help reinforce what they had learned. I thought I would share them here in case they can be of use to any of you.

First, I played let the boys play this great Jamestown Adventure Game over at History Globe!

The year is 1607. You are the captain of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in this Flash-based historical simulation. Will your colony survive and prosper or will it become another "Lost Colony"?

The boys both really enjoyed playing this, and they keep asking to play again. The results can even be printed out if you so choose. We added these to their notebooks.

I also ran across this link for a free Jamestown QuadPack of Resources. At this site, the boys listened to a short story about Captain John Smith while they colored the provided maps to add to their notebooks as well.

Both of those previous sites were neat, but I would have to say, the most enjoyment came from building this Jamestown Replica. It was a little too hard for my boys to build on their own, but they LOVED watching helping daddy build it. After you download the pattern and directions, all you need is some card stock paper, some colored pencils, a toothpick, scissors and glue. It turned out so cute! The boys pulled out their new Jamestown & Powhatan Indian toobs and the reenactments have begun!

More Lincoln Log Creations

Much to the excitement of the Captain & Rascal, we began our study of Jamestown.

We started with reading from Pocahontas, originally published in 1946.

Next the boys got to color a map of Virginia and label Jamestown. This was added to their History Notebooks.

Then, since this was our last subject of the day-- I save it for last, as motivation to get the other subjects done--I pulled out the main source of their excitement.

Our NEW Pohantan Indian Toob and Jamestown Settlers Toob!

We have many different toobs already... But when we were at Michaels a few months ago and I knew we would be studying Early American History this year, I just had to purchase them. The boys were with me and wanted to play with them right away... However, I told them they had to wait till we were studying Jamestown. They didn't forget :)

So during playtime, out came the Lincoln logs once again, and they started making an Indian camp. Here are a couple pictures of the project:

Hummmm...

Mom is wondering if anything can come of this mess!!
Well, look at that! Notice John Smith hanging out with Pocahontas?

And one last photo...


So there you go. More proof that learning can be fun!

Completed Columbus Lap Book

Here are the photos I promised of one of the boys' Lap Books on Columbus. I was really happy with how it turned out, especially being their first one!

Front Cover:

Inside View:

Flap with Acrostic Poem folds up to show even more info:

These are the Land & Water Form Cards that we made to insert into the pockets on the left side of their Lap Books.

I didn't realize there were so many different names for land and water bodies! I was learning right alongside the kids!

Sean was impressed... He's been checking on me lately, by asking the boys what I taught them in school... Today they were able to show him :)

Update: You can find links to what we used here.

Lap Books

I have been wanting to try to make a lap book with the boys for quite some time. 

Today, since we were wrapping up our study of Columbus, the boys were to prepare a presentation for the family. I decided this would be a great opportunity to create a lap book. But how? I have seen tons of cool pictures of lap books on other blogs, but I was unsure how to start. Are there special folders that are needed? Needless to say, my search began... 

I found this awesome link (update: removed) that was very helpful in showing us how to create our lap book. ALL you need is some card stock and plain ol' file folders. Both of which I had lying around. Pretty colored folders would be nice, but the tan ones I had on hand worked just fine. 

Then as I was searching the net for some activities for the boys to include in their books, I dipped into my leftover home-schooling budget and purchased a subscription to Enchanted Learning. I am constantly running across this site and the pages I am usually wanting to print are for members only. Well... NOW I'm a member :) 

We started with a Color by Adding Numbers activity page of Columbus' three ships. They had to add the fact, and use the sum to find the correct color on the key. Math and art combined, I like that idea! 

Next they learned about Acrostic Poems. They each made their own Acrostic Poem for "Columbus" using this printout. I have a feeling we will be doing more of these in the near future since we all enjoyed creating them VERY much! 

From there the boys learned of the different types of land and water forms, making cards from and online glossary. We then moved on to a Geography Review based on Columbus' travels that was added to their lap books, along with envelopes of their land & water form cards.

We added a couple fun activities from Enchanted Learning to fill in the gaps and that was that! Their first lap books are completed! 

The boys had a blast, and I liked that I was able to combine: History, Handwriting, Poetry, Art, Geography, Science and Math all in one little lap book. 

Here were the kids responses when I asked, "Did you guys like making these?" 

"I liked learning about Columbus so MUCH!! It was so MUCH FUN!" DS1 

"When can we make another one (lap book), Mom?" DS2 

"I want to eat more cookies." DD1 

"I WANT COOKIES!!!" DD2 

"Who said ANYTHING about Cookies?!" Mom 

We are now turning the page to the next chapter of our history study... The founding of Jamestown! But right now... I think it might be time for some cookies! 

Stay tuned... I will try and post some pictures later tonight! (It is also time for me to come up with some nicknames for my little ones... DS1, DS2, etc... is getting annoying!)

Happy Columbus Day!

The boys were very excited that today was Columbus Day! We are in the middle of studying Columbus in History. History has been their FAVORITE subject, and I promised them extra History time today. In addition, Daddy had the day off work, which was definitely a plus, as it always makes for a very lazy relaxed school day for ALL of us.

During teatime we enjoyed a treat of Spiced Apple Cider and Pumpkin Spice Cookies in honor of Columbus, while we read and discussed a number of poems, thanks to Regina.


Just leave it to Dawn to find a craft or activity for ANY occasion! The boys especially loved making ships out of the couch cushions... and my DH was just commenting on how the couches needed vacuuming.

**Note the different size ships, the Nina being the smallest, the Pinta with extra sails since it was the fastest, and the Santa Maria being the biggest at over a whole whopping 80 feet long!

Hope you all had a nice Columbus Day too!

Whale-wiches

The study of Columbus, earlier today, lead us to talking about the sea, and then to the fish/mammals that live in the sea... This eventually lead us to talking about whales--for some reason the boys have been very interested in whales lately. We discussed the different types of whales and tried finding pictures of them in a few of our Usborne books.

Any ways, when I went to make lunch I remembered a cool little whale sandwich the boys have been begging to make for quite some time. PLUS, I just happened to grocery shop last night and have everything to make it!! So we all made lunch together, and here are the results:


Overall, they were quite a hit, and VERY easy too!

A LOVE of HISTORY

Today we moved on from learning about Leif Erickson to Christopher Columbus. I can not say enough good things about the Early American History Course we are using. I am so thankful to my dear friend Trina who got me all excited about "living" history books this summer!

Right now the boys are working on their coloring/notebook page for the day, which is actually a page out of Columbus by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire. I love that some of the pictures in the book are black and white. They are perfect to color and paste into their History Period Notebooks.

We added a bit of Geography by finding Genoa, Italy (where Columbus was born) on the map. I also found this printout for the boys to add to their notebooks as well.

I am going to start looking for a craft to do on Monday, Columbus Day. If any one has any suggestions or ideas please leave them for me!!!