Old time days festival
I am surely hoping that this week will be the very last of the cold weather here. We are due for rain storms and some parts of the state may even receive sleet, but by the weekend it’s supposed to be up to a high of 72 degrees F. I can hardly wait for that!
If the forecast holds true, we’ll be attending a little fun day at the feed store up the road from us. These nice folks put something like this on about 2 or 3 times a year. This one is called “Old Ways From Old Days”. Events will include spinning wool, twining, kraut making, cheese making, soap making, and so many more old time crafts I don’t dare try to name them all.
Along with those activities, they are offering free kettle corn and fresh pork rinds, and hamburgers and hot dogs to eat. There will be a live band (I really don’t know who it is yet) and local folks will have crafts for sale. The owner invited me to set up a table for free and offer homemade bread for sale, so that’s what I’ll be doing.
It starts at 10 AM and ends at 2 PM. Not a very long festival, but the feed store owners also run that business as well as own farm animals that need to be tended to. This isn’t one of the new, uptown feed stores that offers sparkling new riding lawn mowers for sale. These folks offer feed, seed, fertilizers, and groceries, along with a few animal meds and equipment. Oh, and they sell bait, too.
I hope there is a big turnout for this. I’d love to see children there, learning about how things used to be done and what kinds of entertainment there was before the invention of the video game and the i-devices. I think this could easily be rolled into part of their history lessons.
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festivalLabels: History, Homeschool families
Pioneer chores
I forget who showed me to this site, but it’s really pretty awesome. Pioneer Handbooks has tons of free, downloadable pdf books dating back to the 1800s. These little books teach all kinds of neat pioneer stuff such as bread making, building, cooking, gardening, medicine, hunting, and so much more.
Can you tell I’m pretty excited about them? I have downloaded and skimmed through the bread making book, since I love making breads of all kinds. I’m going to be downloading other ones, too.
What has this got to do with homeschooling? Well, just imagine you are studying history. What better way to “make it real” than to attempt some of the chores that are outlined in these handy books, and do them in the pioneer way!
Labels: Free stuff, History
Money and currencies
Microsoft has put out a pretty nice lesson plan on Current Currencies. With this, your middle school to high school age student will learn about exchange rates and the various forms of currency throughout history.
This lesson plan takes 3 days of 45 minute classes to complete and they have provided several good resources from online sources. The plan does say that you need Microsoft Office OneNote. I have this in my Office Suite but there could be a free application online that will work similarly.
This course may help your child not only in history, but also if they ever travel to another country, decide to buy gold online, or look at a career in currency exchange.
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money,
currencyLabels: Economics, History
Virtual tours and learning
It will soon be a new year, and with it come new learning adventures. It's winter now, which for some of you means not too many outdoor activities or learning opportunities there. Still, that doesn't mean it's always books and worksheets.
On days when the weather really is too bad to go out, use the internet to visit places like museums and parks. There are tons of great sites that take you on virtual tours, at places you might never be able to visit in real life. Use these sites as assignments relating to your current curriculum in history, science, and language arts.
A good place to start is Virtual Free Sites, which has hundreds of free virtual tours of museums and exhibits.
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museum,
virtual tourLabels: History, Language, Science
Cuba-US history
Fidel Castro has been in the news lately. He's quite elderly now and not in the best health. The U.S. has a long history with Cuba, dating way back. After all, Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida, which means that if it's an enemy, it's pretty close.
Discovery has a lesson plan about our history with Cuba which is pretty interesting. US-Cuba relations covers a time from 1492 to about 1999, giving resource sites, teaching plans, extension plans, discussion topics, further reading suggestions, timeline, and vocabulary.
Now your students can learn about trade relations, or lack thereof, with Cuba, the people and culture of Cuba, whether Mr. Castro smokes cheap cigar brands, and why their economy may struggle even more than ours does.
I found two interesting, though contradictory, quotes from Fidel Castro:
I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.
Capitalism is using its money; we socialists throw it away.
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Cuba,
Fidel CastroLabels: History
Using technology for social studies
I stumbled across a new experience with mrdonn.org. They now have powerpoint Social Studies lessons and activities your child can participate in from your computer. These files can be saved and played later or played as soon as you download them -- it's your choice.
After running the slideshow, there are activities your child can participate in to help solidify the lessons learned along with games to be played and clip art you can use in your printed materials.
The illustrations for the slides are charming and the lessons are simply written and easy to understand.
Labels: Free stuff, Geography, History
Fashion and history
A fun unit study to include in your history course might be fashion. As time progresses, fashion trends change and reflect the mood of the day. Including fashions in your curriculum, along with the economy of the day, events, and politics, could lead you on a very memorable unit study.
You could begin building the study by using Fashion Era as a springboard site. There, you can follow all the rabbit trails of fashion and history such as the use of corsets, hemline lengths, hats and hairstyles (both men and women), shoes, makeup or lack of it, sports attire, business attire, and so much more.
Every era has had fashions that meet the needs of the people who lived during that time. Why not pursue this as an integrated part of a summer history course?
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historyLabels: History, Unit Studies
Historical biographies
Reading and reporting on biographies can be pretty dry. But when those same famous biographies are associated with history and events, it becomes more interesting.
The U.S. has many famous people who have played important roles in shaping our history. From Rocky Patel in Hollywood to George Washington Carver in agriculture. Studying each person, how they were raised, the events of their time, the people they met and interacted with, and their personal impact on history helps a child to better cement historical events. Some of these people knew each other which means a child can get a double dose of knowledge about events that changed the face of our country over the years.
Try using biographies as a way to bring history home.
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history,
homeschoolLabels: History
History scrapbooking
If you have greeting cards leftover from various seasons throughout the year, you might try making festive door hangers or using some of the elements on the cards for scrapbook pages or new greeting cards.
Scrapbooking and making cards doesn't have to be an expensive venture. And, you can give yourself a little pat on the back if you reuse materials on hand to create new crafts. You can know that you are teaching your children to live a little greener by not just discarding cards and some advertising mailings you might receive.
Scrapbooking is also a great way to reinforce lessons that have been taught on vacations, camping trips, or museum visits. Try creating a history scrapbook with your children, using pictures not only from cards but from magazines, museum brochures, or old history books you find at flea markets or second-hand stores.
Technorati Tags:
history,
homeschoolLabels: History
History coming alive
Friday, July 17, 2009
Since today turned out to be such a beautiful day, we decided to go to a nearby town for a picnic at a historic park there. This was a place that was instrumental to the Civil War in that there is a river that runs through it that is navigable. There are also a number of monuments and informational plaques that share with visitors the history and ultimate restoration of the courthouse and adjacent grounds.
From the earliest settlers on, the river was used to bring supplies to the area and to transport raw materials back down the river. This continued until recent times, when other forms of transportation came into being.
We've visited there before and it's always very nice. Today, though, was especially nice because it was cool and breezy - unusual for mid-July. We had eaten lunch at home but cut up some fresh, locally grown watermelon to take to the park and enjoy.
A walk along the river and around the courthouse sufficed for my own daily exercise. In fact, short trips like this are exactly like the ones my kids and I used to take when they were still in homeschool. We'd pack a light lunch on the spur of the moment and head out to some beautiful state park or local museum. Back then, the only one who needed
weight loss supplements was probably me! After all, I was the Mommy teacher and I know I wasn't as active as I should have been.
Labels: History, Homeschool families
History trips
A number of you will still be doing some traveling this summer. Not only are trips a good way to get away, but they can also be relaxed ways to incorporate some hands-on lessons. Many
rv parks have their own small museums or can point you to local places of interest. I don't know of anyplace in the country that doesn't have some historical significance, so you don't have to wait until you arrive at Williamsburg or some other famous spot. Take those side trips to smaller communities and enjoy the local history that's available to you.
Labels: History
Historical architecture
Every era of history has had its own architectural styles. From the simple cave dwellings and thatched houses to Stonehenge to the great Greek and Roman columns that added to the grandeur of the forums and the cityscapes. Today, those great columns are often reproduced in modern materials to lend their elegance to homes of today.
When I was in school, I was fascinated with architectural history. I loved reading about and looking at pictures of Corinthian columns, flying buttresses, Gothic cathedrals, and other architectural elements. I think if I were building a large home today, I'd want to add
fiberglass columns either indoors or outdoors, to get a feeling of history and the grandeur that was the benchmark of historical architecture.
Labels: History
Learning from a fallen leader
Rarely do world leaders strike out to make a real difference in the lives of their people or the politics of their nation the way Benazir Bhutto did. She was a forward thinking woman who lived in exile from her homeland of Pakistan for many years because of her so-called radical political ideals. She expected change in her country. She expected her country to lay aside their radical Muslim ways and step forward into the new century and into the world as a nation which tolerated differences in beliefs and individual freedoms.
She wrote about this before she was assassinated.
Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the Westy by Benazir Bhutto opens up to us all her thoughts and plans for a modern Pakistan. Sadly, those who did not agree with this brave woman finally succeeded in taking her life after other attempts had failed. Attempts that did take the lives of her fellow countrymen by the hundreds.
I wonder how many of us would so courageously risk our lives to move the nation into a more tolerant era of human rights? Or would we shrink back and simply accept the status quo?
Labels: History, News
Saving energy
This is a really neat article about
Daylight Savings Time, including its history, why it was instituted, the amount of energy saved nationwide during the months DST is in effect, and even a timeline of dates for future DST clock changes.
Besides the good information available, there is a note at the bottom allowing you to reprint it for educational purposes. Now, get those brain wheels turning. I bet you can come up with a fun and interesting unit study for this!
Labels: History
Daylight Savings Time
I hope everyone who this applies to remembers to set your clocks
forward this Saturday night! I, for one, am glad to have Daylight Savings Time back again, even though it's earlier now than it used to be.
Maybe this year I can have a bit more of a garden, although I still won't be able to keep up with a full fledged garden the way I used to. My work schedule actually keeps me from getting outside and playing in the dirt as much as I'd like to. However, DST does at least give me a little extra time at the end of my work day when I work morning or midshift.
By the way, for an interesting history of Daylight Savings Time and its intent to save energy, take a look at
Web Exhibits.
Labels: History
Making history real
When my kids were younger and we were studying the various periods of history, we did things to make that history real - to make it come to life for us. Here are some of the things we did:
- Cook in a way they cooked during that time period.
- Cook foods they would have cooked.
- Find clothes in the closet or at second-hand stores that copy the types of clothing worn during a certain historical period.
- If the period didn't have electricity, try to go a day or two without using this convenience.
- Take names that would have been used during that time period.
I'm sure you can think of many more ways to make your history studies real to your children.
Labels: History
Historical buildings
During the summer, while visiting my Mother, we went on a little trip to a town not all that far from where she lives called Jacksonport. This town is right on a river and saw a lot of pioneer activity and played a part in the Civil war. This is a picture of the old courthouse there, a beautiful building inside and out.
Over the years, this building was used for many community purposes but at one point fell into disuse and disrepair. It's been fully restored, though, and is one of the few historical buildings I've visited that has installed
stair lifts to aid the handicapped in getting from the outside to the inside of the building and from the ground floor to the spacious second floor where the large courtroom is.
The first floor, you'll find several rooms which have been arranged with historical exhibits, some of which are interactive. A trip to an historical building such as this winds up being and excellent field trip for homeschool children. It can help bring history to life for them when they operate old tools or listen to the "voices" of historical characters.
Labels: History
Morgan Dollar history
Money or some form of exchange has always played a part in commerce. Whether people bartered goods and services or they used the "coin of the realm", there has always been some kind of financial gain to be had by one party or the other. Studying the history of coins and paper money can be very interesting.
For instance, the
morgan dollar was minted from 1878 to 1904, then again in 1921. This silver dollar was named after its designer, George T. Morgan. Lady Liberty is on one side, and an eagle holding olive branches is on the other. This coin was created after the huge silver finding called the Comstock Lode in Nevada. With this huge find, came the down-pricing of silver worldwide. In order to protect the western states, Congress enacted the Bland-Allison Act, requiring the federal government to purchase large quantities of silver and strike it into coins.
Because of this interesting history, this particular coin has become a much sought-after collectible.
Labels: History
History of American Cities - Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was first settled in 1889. Those early settlers began occupying lands that were known as "unassigned". That simply means no Native American tribes were assigned to the lands. With the land rush, about 10,000 settlers settled the area now known as
Oklahoma City. 10 years later, that number had doubled and the growth of the city was going well.
While the city suffered some lag in growth and prosperity from the 1960s to the 1980s, more recent years have show some revitalization of the urban areas and a renewed interest in the city.
Labels: History, History of American Cities
History of American Cities - Little Rock
Little Rock is the capital city of my home state. It has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, and it has a rich history behind it.
It was first explored by Hernando de Soto in 1541. He was followed by other explorers who found the Arkansas River and its tributaries, cutting the state nearly in half. The variety of landscape in Arkansas - from rolling hills and mountains to the flat, delta region - serve to accommodate a wide variety of industries and farms.
Arkansas was included in the Louisiana Purchase and the history and geography of the United States was forever changed with that transaction.
Little Rock grew from a crude, rugged settlement to a center of river commerce to the metropolis it is today. A very interesting aspect of the city is the state capital building, styled as a smaller duplicate of the United States capital in Washington, D.C.
Labels: History, History of American Cities
