State-by-State Scrapbook :: Massachusetts

"B's the sound that can be found in

Boston town and Bunker Hill,

and bouncy, bouncy Basketball,

played first in Springfield --

What a thrill!"

~ M Is For Mayflower: A Massachusetts Alphabet

B is also for Brown!!

We ended our study of by listening to his victory speech last night.
Way to go Massachusetts!!

Captain and Rascal read the book on their own, before we read it all together, and they came and asked me to help them pronounce the name of a lake.  I told them to sound it out and then took a look:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Seriously???!!!???
Thank goodness for YouTube!

This project has been slow going, but it has been so much fun to learn all sorts of fun details about each state as we work our way through the Discover America Books!  We better pick up the pace though if we want to finish even half of the states this year... It's looking like this is going to end up being a two year project for the boys.

Next up is Maryland...

State-by-State Scrapbook :: Connecticut

"H is for Hartford
the capital of our state.
Inside the gold-leafed dome
is where we legislate."

~ N Is For Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet

It has been rather slow going, since we only dedicate one afternoon each week to United States Geography, but the boys have completed their Notebook Pages on the 5th State, the state of Connecticut to add to their State-by-State Scrapbooks.

In addition to reading the book N Is For Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet, making the pages, and completing a number of worksheets from the Study Guide, they were very excited to learn that Nathan Hale is a Connecticut State Hero. Apparently they already had learned all about Nathan Hale from Liberty's Kids. I love how much they learn and remember from that show!

Next we will be moving on to Massachusetts...

State-by-State Scrapbook :: Georgia

"A is for Atlanta,
It is the capital of our state.
Gold dome we see from afar,
where rules and laws we legislate."

~ P is for Peach: A Georgia Alphabet

I am *really* loving the Discover America State by State Series and so are my children. That said, they are expensive so I have been slowly purchasing them used from Amazon since I wasn't able to convince my library to purchase the set. Apparently I am purchasing then too slowly. I realized Monday that I had not yet found an inexpensive copy of P is for Peach... sigh... So, I decided to read what we could online through Amazon's "Look Inside" feature. By continually asking it to "surprise me" we were able to read the pages for the letters: A, B, J, K, L, M and N. Much better than nothing!

We then downloaded the study guide and worked on some of the worksheets as well as look up more information about Georgia online.   (Study guides for the entire series can be found here.)

Once again the boys did an excellent job on their Scrapbook Pages:

Since "the girls have been getting to do all the fun stuff in the kitchen," I decided to let the boys make one of the recipes suggested in the study guide, Pecan Clusters. They were super easy and turned out very yummy, though I think they would have been even better made with Milk or White Chocolate Chips.

"What has shells and is sold by the pound?

One grows in a tree and the other underground.

What makes peanut butter, the other pecan pie?

N is for Georgia Nuts, the good tastes that make us sigh."

~ P is for Peach: A Georgia Alphabet

Next week we will be moving on to Connecticut...

And we even have the book!

State-by-State Scrapbook :: New Jersey

"G is for Gardens
that fill the state's bowers
with color and fragrance,
farm vegetables, and flowers."

~ G is for Garden State: A New Jersey Alphabet

The boys actually finished these pages for their State-by-State Scrapbooks a couple weeks ago, and since they keep asking if I've posted pictures yet, so here you go.

I had to wait until "G" Week, right! ;)

Next up is Georgia (How Serendipitous!), just as soon as I upload the pictures!

State-by-State Scrapbook :: Pennsylvania

"K is for Keystone State,

Pennsylvania is said to be.

Like the center stone in an arch,

it was the central colony."

~ K Is For Keystone: A Pennsylvania Alphabet

The boys were very excited to learn more about Pennsylvania, the second state in our country.  Especially since it is currently home to one of their favorite uncles! 

~ By Captain ~ 

~ By Rascal ~ 

The boys are loving making their State-by-State Scrapbooks!
Our next stop is New Jersey...