Dawn K Homeschool

I have begun using primary sources in our history studies since Nathan is moving into the Logic stage. Here's an excellent art history activity for Story of the World, Volume 3, Chapter 1 "A World of Empires -- The Holy Roman Empire." Print out pages 28-29 of this pdf document. Go here for a better image of "The Abdication of Charles V" and click "extra large view of the image." You can scroll around to see more detail. The painting, though not painted at the time of the abdication (it was painted in 1620), is an "Allegory on the Abdication of the Emperor Charles V" and proves to be useful in discussing this historical event. You can also read about the abdication in this Baldwin Project link. Background Informtion: Charles V Charles V (1500-1558) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Duke of Burgundy and sovereign of the Netherlands. It was he who united the provinces of the Low Countries under a single crown, with an autonomous status w...

I received the following four books today.  Nathan has already begun reading the Queen Zixi one; this is one of the only L. Frank Baum he hasn't read.  Out of curiosity, I checked today to see how many books I've received from PBS since joining in March 2009.  The number is 391 ! Queen Zixi of IX or the Story of the Magic Cloak (L. Frank Baum) Knights (Usborne Beginners) Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln  (Jean Fritz) Explorers Wanted in the Jungle I also received another out-of-print book I ordered, Corvus the Crow from the "Out of the Pond" series by Franklin Russell written in 1972.  This completes my set of the trilogy.  The other two titles are: Lotor the Raccoon , and Datra the Muskrat .

Oops -- I already had this one! So, I am offering it up for grabs. I will chose from those who comment here on Saturday by midnight. If you'd like to win it, just leave a comment here. The Moon Seems to Change (Let's Read and Find Out) (Library Binding) Kimber, you won!  Email me your address, and I'll mail this.

I just returned from our library bookstore, which sells wonderful used and discarded children's books -- 50 cents for paperbacks; $1.00 for hardcovers. This is what I bought for $11.50: Read-Alouds Miss Pickerell and the Weather Satellite (Ellen MacGregor) Here's Pippa (Betty Boegehold and Cindy Szekeres) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics) Tell Me a Riddle (Tillie Olsen) Science Bird Watching With Margaret Morse Nice (Naturalist's Apprentice Biographies) The Moon Seems to Change (A Let's Read and Find out Science Book) History The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus  (Aliki) Hernan Cortes (Fact Finders Biographies: Great Explorers) The Importance of Charlemagne (Timothy L. Biel) As Far as the Eye Can Reach (Landmark book about Lewis and Clark) Lewis and Clark -- In Their Own Words (George Sullivan) Gold Rush (Bobbie Kalman)

My wonderful husband, who planted these, took the photos.

These are just quick photos of how I store the homeschooling resources we are currently using.  The shelf on the left holds resources we use all year through including my tabletop organizer. The binders include the following: 1. Recommended resources:  This is where I keep books, movies and other resources I hope to buy one day or borrow from the library.  It also keeps lists of items we own within series I am collecting.  There are dividers which keep math resources from language arts, etc. 2. Graphic Organizers/Notebooking/Lapbooking:  This binder holds general forms to use when lapbooking and notebooking. 3. Vertebrates - Nathan and Vertebrates Ben:  These binders hold all papers the boys have created related to our vertebrate study for science.  We are finishing up this month.  Next fall, they will have earth science and astronomy binders instead. 4. Story of the World Completed: This binder holds their completed SOTW work for the year, separa...

This is such a great addition to one's homeschooling library!  Nathan in particular begs to read this aloud to us -- using different voices for the various characters.  The book really does help understand the parts of speech that children are expected to learn.  You can view the entire book online for free here or you can buy it very inexpensively here in paperback or wait until September to order the hardback here .

1. Check your local library. Ours has a wonderful program which allows the child to choose one book from a wide variety of books. 2. Barnes and Noble Read any 8 books from May 25 through September 7, and choose one free book (selections can be seen here .) You can download the form here . 3. Borders Read any 10 books from May 4 through August 26. You can download the form here . Happy reading!

I just wanted to share these online games that reinforce the learning of Greek and Latin roots. Rooting out Words Greek and Latin Roots! Hooray! It's Greek to Me Finally, here is a list of the roots and affixes to study: click here .

These are similar in style to her books written for older student (such as World of Captain John Smith), but the writing is simpler. 1492 Year of Columbus Part One is titled "The Columbus Story." Part Two is titled "Artists and Scientists" and includes: Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo. Part Three is titled "Around the World" and includes: Ethiopia, China, The Spirit of Japan, The Incas of Peru, and the Aztecs of Mexico. Year of the Pilgrims 1620 Part One is titled "The Pilgrim Story." Part Two is titled "Artists and Scientists" and includes: Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Dr. William Harvey and Galileo. Part Three is titled "Around the World" and includes: Africa's Kingdom of Benin, Akbar of India, China, and Japan. I highly recommend these books by Genevieve Foster! I like to read her books before reading any other literature because they help set the stage.

On the Trail of Captain John Smith: A Jamestown Adventure This is an interactive video that will hold the attention of the younger crowd. The student will be able to make choices and find out how John Smith chose and the results of his choices. Official Jamestown Settlement Homepage You can access curriculum materials and video clips from the homepage. Primary Source Activity: John Smith’s Map of Virginia 1612 In this activity, teachers examine a map of Virginia drafted by John Smith around 1607 and engraved in 1612 in England. After discussing . . . [students will] learn more about the historical context of the early 17th century, compare this map with a 2004 map, and draw conclusions about John Smith and the Virginia Company. Time for Kids -- Analyzing Sources Pages 3 and 4 of this pdf document will prove most useful in identifying and analyzing primary source documents. The History Channel Jamestown Teacher's Guide and the accompanying exhibit and multimedia resources. Activiti...

Ben's Nathan's My boys made these this week.  I wouldn't necessarily require them to do hands-on projects, but they've never turned one down.  This 3-D map came from the book Easy Make & Learn Projects: Colonial America: 18 Fun-to-Create Reproducible Models that Bring the Colonial Period to Life  We used the Hands-on History: Explorers (Grades 4-8)  in a similar series and loved it!  You can see the sample of the windmill on the Amazon link. You can see inside here and here .

Over the next few weeks, I plan to share various websites and resources I have found for our homeschooling.  We are reading through Story of the World, Volume 3, and we are studying the early New World settlements.  I love studying this time period in history -- I think because there are so many fabulous resources available for children.  I really wish picture book and chapter book authors would expand their palate and write more pertaining to world history outside of the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Ancient American empires.  I'd love to see more Asian literature beyond Samurai and more African literature beyond folktales. Back to our current studies.  After reading Chapter 3 from SOTW, I read aloud Jamestown, New World Adventure (Adventures in Colonial America)  and The Lucky Sovereign  by Stewart Lees. We then read The Double Life of Pocahontas  by Jean Fritz.  We actually listened to a free audio download offered by our public li...

A Straight-A Semester

Foyle's War has returned to PBS, and for a limited time, you can watch the three episodes online. I've watched the first two, and as always, they're fabulous! I just love watching Michael Kitchen perform, but I am sad to say that we see very little of Paul Millner (I cannot remember his real name). He also played in Wives and Daughters (which you really must see if you haven't!). Watch here

I have a sale going on at My Paperbackswap Bookshelf . Request two items from me, and you may choose any two items for free.  Just request the two items as usual and send me a message on the PBS site telling me your two free choices. Happy Shopping!