Category: History and World Cultures Units

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Native Americans of the Northeast Unit (Part I, Algonquian Indians)

This fall we are learning about different Native American groups. The past few weeks we learned about the two language groups of the Northeast — the Algonquian Indians and the Iroquois and some of the tribes that make up these groups. A few weeks ago, we went to Williamsburg, VA for homeschool week. That was truly wonderful and is the topic of another post!  We went with some friends who...

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Free Civics Materials

This fall, the kids are learning some of the basics about Civics… What is the Constitution? What are the Bill of Rights? What is an amendment and how many are there?  I found a series of flashcards put together by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that suits our purposes perfectly. They put together a series of 100 questions for those seeking US citizenship.  I printed out the flashcard series and we’ve...

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Tecumseh! — An Extraordinary Outdoor Drama in Ohio

Many years ago, a friend told me about an amazing outdoor drama called Tecumseh.  This is a 2 hour outdoor drama about Tecumseh, a Shawnee Indian who lived at the end of the 1700s and died fighting in the War of 1812.  His dream was to unite all the Native American tribes from Ohio all the way south to Georgia and Alabama.  For years, he traveled trying to gain the...

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Hands-On Geography Activities for Ages 4-10

There are so many fun things you can do with your kids to help them gain an understanding of the geography of our amazing world! Here are some of the geography activities we use in our homeschool. Over the years we have made maps… with sand, dirt and grass seed like our Nile River Valley Out of clay, like our Ancient Greece (and Mediterranean Sea) map  (Ancient Greece Geography Project, Ancient Greece...

12 Books Celebrating America 2

12 Books Celebrating America

With the 4th of July right around the corner, I thought I would highlight some books you and your kids can read that celebrate America. I’ve selected books about the American Revolution and Constitution, but also wanted to point out some books about our beautiful country. If I were to recommend just one book, it might have to be They Called Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell. It is the...

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6 Native American Picture Books to Share with the Kids

I was looking for Native American children’s books written by and about Native Americans.  I found Debbie Reese’s website, American Indians in Children’s Literature. What a great resource! Today I’d like to share some of the books we read together this past week.  I went with the books that were available at our library and that were appealing to the kids. 1) Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story (affiliate link) This is a...

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Marco Polo – Free Notebook Pages (Books and Resources)

While we were studying the Yuan Dynasty, we spent quite a bit of time learning about Marco Polo, his travels and his experience in Kublai Khan’s court.  To wrap up the unit, the kids tilled out these notebook pages to add to their history notebook.  The kids really enjoyed learning about Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and the adventures of Marco Polo.  We didn’t do any projects with this unit, but...

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Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan — Free Notebook Pages, Books and Resources

Most every kid has heard of Genghis Khan, right? Boy, do we have some good books and videos for you! Plus you can download our free notebook pages about Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan! If you are looking for an engaging unit to do with your kids this summer — this could be it! My kids LOVED this portion of our China unit.  We skipped forward almost 1,000 years (from 200AD...

Who Are You Remembering This Memorial Day? 0

Who Are You Remembering This Memorial Day?

Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day and started after the Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union Soldiers. By the 20th century Memorial Day was extended to honor all Americans who have died in wars. A couple of years ago, I had a long conversation with my Dad and extended family about the members of our family who have served in the U.S. military. As I asked for...

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Free Confucius Notebook Pages

Have you heard of these sayings? A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you. Respect yourself and others will respect you. Judge others by what you know of yourself. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. It does not matter how slowly you go...

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Chinese Brush Painting Lesson

Today was the type of day when everything pulled together beautifully!  I set up paper and paints on the kitchen table and had all our books assembled to talk about Chinese brush painting, read from our novel and read from our Chinese history book. The kids ate it all up! We started with a lovely picture book called Brush of the Gods.It was a legend from about 762AD about a...

Ancient China Worksheets 5

Ancient China Packet

We have been studying Ancient China this semester.  We are using  The Story of Ancient China (affiliate link) (see more about that below) as our spine, but also have read selections from the  Story of the World (affiliate link) and the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. This is the packet that I made to go along with some of our readings. These are now included in our 100+ page Ancient China Unit. Recently,...

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Preschool at Home: More Geography Activities

Yesterday, I shared a lot of activities that you can do with maps.  Today I want to share some other geography activities that my kids loved. After reading through Me on the Map (which is just perfect for the 4-6 year old crowd), I had ED do an activity that focuses in on where we live.  You have the kids color in and paste their location, pinpointing their location by going from...

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Preschool at Home: Geography Activities (Maps and More) Ages 4+

There are so many fun things you can do with your preschooler (or elementary kids) to help them gain an understanding of the geography of our amazing world! You can make all kinds of maps to enhance your preschooler’s knowledge of the world. Over the years we have made maps… with sand, dirt and grass seed like our Nile River Valley Out of clay, like our Ancient Greece (and Mediterranean...