Category: History: This is the United States-Unit Study (grade 1)

USA States and Capitals Packet 0

USA States and Capitals Packet

This new 100+ page packet will help your student/s learn the U.S. states and capitals. We are doing American History this year and I wanted to be sure the kids had a good foundation in U.S. geography. U.S. regions worksheets: The 50+ pages of geography worksheets are organized by regions: Northeast Southeast Midwest Northwest (plus Alaska and Hawaii) Southwest We’ll go over the state’s location and the capitals of the...

Then and Now Worksheets - Items from the Past and Present 0

Then and Now Worksheets – Items from the Past and Present!

Today I have some fun Then and Now worksheets to share with you!  These are currently FREE to download! 🙂  They include various items from the past and present… and are perfect if you are talking with your kids about the history of Thanksgiving! If your kids are a little older they can try to figure out how long ago these items were used – back in colonial days (1620)...

World Facts Packet 0

World Facts Packet

When we start off the new school year, I want the kids to go over some basic world facts again.  Do they remember… What are the four largest countries? (Russia, Canada, the U.S.A., China) What countries have the most people? (China, India, the U.S.A.) What are the world’s largest cities? (Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul) Which countries have the longest life expectancy? (Monaco, Macau, Japan) What are the major religions? The packet...

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Patriotic Songs for Kids

Earlier this week, I shared the 10-page packet of summer camp songs I’ve been singing with the kids.  With the 4th of July right around the corner, I also put together a set of patriotic songs to sing with them. If you are interested, here are some of the songs we’ve been singing (and learning):  American Patriotic Song Packet   Related Posts: You might also be interested in our free...

War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebrations and The Star Spangled Banner 0

War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebrations and The Star Spangled Banner

This June marks the bicentennial of the beginning of War of 1812. I saw there were some wonderful events this next week in Boston (I wish we could go!); I’ll share a few details about that below if you live in that area. Anyway, I’ve heard a few things about the War of 1812 on the radio lately and decided I should share some of that information with the kids...

Wright Brothers 1

Wright Brothers

In the late 1800s, a bishop and a professor were talking about the future. The bishop was of the opinion that everything about nature had already been discovered and all the useful inventions had been made.   The professor politely told the bishop that he was mistaken. In fact, the professor said, we’ll be able to fly through the air in a few years.  The bishop said that was nonsense....

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Preschool Geography

NAME THAT CONTINENT: One morning in collection (our group time) I brought out a beach ball globe. We took turns tossing the ball around the circle. Each time someone caught the ball they had to look at where their thumb had landed and had to name that continent. The kids quickly became silly, but we did manage to get a few rounds in for each of them. Another preschool geography...

Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s Home 4

Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s Home

A couple of weeks ago we lucky to be able to take a trip to see George Washington’s home, Mt. Vernon. It was a full day and the kids were asleep by the time we got home with the hours of walking we did (and the warm, cozy car ride home!) I hadn’t ever been there, but we were impressed with all there was to do there. The museum was...

Being a Tourist: Microbe Exhibit, Davy Crockett’s Cabin, the Parthenon 6

Being a Tourist: Microbe Exhibit, Davy Crockett’s Cabin, the Parthenon

Last week I took the kids on a trip down to Nashville to spend time with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids. They are homeschoolers as well. They are in 5th, 7th and 10th grades. A little bit more about them in my next post. We had a fantastic time with the family and also did a number of terrific outings.  Here are a few things we did: Microbe...

Frontiersmen Unit 2

Frontiersmen Unit

This past week the kids all came down with colds. As a consequence we did a lot of reading aloud and a bit less of the hands-on type stuff. We’ve been studying Appalachian music and decided to study some of the early frontiersmen in more depth. We spent a lot of time reading about Daniel Boone (one of the first to cross the Appalachian Mountains and one of the men...

Empty Skies Memorial 0

Empty Skies Memorial

Adjacent to the landing where we caught the ferry to Liberty Island we came upon the Empty Skies Memorial. This was beautiful site and an emotional place to visit.    We walked silently down the corridor with the kids.  When we came to the end I explained to DD why there were so many names on the walls we had just walked through.  She reached out and buried her head...

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American Landmarks and Symbols — The Real Thing!

Last weekend we took an extended trip to see some famous sites to go along with our studies of US symbols and landmarks.  We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in New Jersey and used them as a base to go into Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and to travel up to New York to take the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  And,...

Montessori Philosophy and our USA unit study 6

Montessori Philosophy and our USA unit study

I’ve been doing some reading and re-reading of Montessori philosophy this summer.  I thought I’d share my thoughts about how our studies — specifically our USA unit study — fits in with my interpretations of Montessori teaching in the early elementary grades.  As I have three kids spanning the two age groupings (both 3-6 and 6-9), I use elements from both. **We will be starting the year by creating paper...

US Landmarks and Symbols Cards 23

US Landmarks and Symbols — free 3-part Montessori cards

I made some Montessori 3-part cards for the kids for our study of some of the well-known landmarks and symbols of the United States. These cards include landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the White House, Mount Rushmore and more. You can download the  US Landmarks and Symbols Cards at this link.  We used these cards by talking about where they were located and placing them on our giant...