During our great big ole trip out west, we scheduled into our itinerary a driving tour of the Badlands of North Dakota (aka Theodore Roosevelt National Park). At the South Unit Visitor Center, we visited the Maltese Cross Cabin where Roosevelt often stayed during his trips out to the western frontier. This cabin has quiet […]
The 20th Century in America: Hands-on History
Have you ever wished for a simple and engaging way to embark on a crafty, hands-on history study with elementary-aged children? Four years ago, our family pieced together a hands-on history unit study covering American events, people, and places of the 20th century. Now that we’re revisiting the 1900s with our memory work again this […]
Element Flashcards, Activities, and Notebooking Pages
Six years have passed since we first used this simple method of learning the first twelve elements of the Periodic Table. Our Atomic Cookies and Element Flashcards were a simple, enjoyable way to apply some of what we were learning about the elements a few years ago. Since then, I’ve added some simple notebooking pages […]
American History Spring Semester Plans (Cycle 3)
So here we are, the third leg of the school year. When running a race, the third leg is the hardest. Enthusiasm and motivation have waned, you’ve fallen behind where you want to be, you’re worn out and exhausted, and the end is not yet in sight. It’s so easy to give up in the third lap. […]
Mid-Year Reality Check: How it really panned out
Have you ever wondered how things really pan out in other people’s homeschools? Does it really look like the utopian pictures on the front of the A Beka catalog? Perhaps it does in others’ homes, but… not us. The more I learn to accept that it won’t ever look like that in our home, the […]
Christmas Wrap 2017: Our Year in Rhyme
As we look back upon the year 2017 And crank up our brains with a cup of caffeine. It’s time to wrap up the scenes that we’ve seen From January to December, and all the months in between. January found us in a state of despair As we rushed to finish Stephen’s Challenge B Science […]
Magic Tree House & Imagination Station Book List: U.S. History
During the early elementary years (1st to 3rd grade) our children have naturally gravitated towards the Magic Tree House and Imagination Station series. Our children have enjoyed these books even more than the Who Was… series. [Note that Magic Tree House is a secular series; Imagination Station is written from a Christian worldview.] I cannot […]
U.S. History Book List: Who Was… What Was… Where Was…
For a number of years, I’ve stored several book lists in my Amazon astore for quick & easy reference. Because Amazon recently discontinued the outdated astore feature, I’ve been transferring those lists onto our website. The first of these lists is the popular Who Was… What Was… and Where Was… books written for early independent […]
Script-n-Scribe Americana: American Art and Poetry Study through Copywork
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. -Robert Frost Every autumn and spring as I behold the beauty of the changing seasons, […]