It’s been a wonderful holiday break from homeschooling for us, but it’s time to get back into the swing of lessons and learning. New Year’s celebrations will be our last lesson focus of 2014 as well as our first lesson focus of 2015. Below are the online resources we’ll be using for our study.
As we move along on our “special days” studies through November, I see Thanksgiving looming coming up in the not so distant future. I thought seriously about not teaching Thanksgiving lessons this year. How could I not want to teach Thanksgiving? We’ve always had wonderful Thanksgiving lessons in November. Yes, that’s it. For 17 years – 17 Novembers, I’ve been teaching a week or two or three of Thanksgiving. The who, what, when, why, and how of those Mayflower pilgrims and the natives that they encountered, Lincoln’s proclamation to make a Thanksgiving holiday, Bible studies that focus on giving thanks and gratitude, nutritional studies of squash, pumpkins, turkeys, sweet potatoes, and corn, Thanksgiving celebrations around the world, tons of cooking projects, and craft activities to go along with it all – we’ve been there and done that over and over again.
In addition to my grumpy mood about Thanksgiving lessons, our primary history focus of the year is Modern World History so the Pilgrim/Indian theme just doesn’t seem to fit or apply. I look over the recent additions to our timeline and see WW1, the stock market crash of 1929, WW2 – hard and fearful times, but still were thankful times, too. Hmmm …
Below are some of the online resources we’ll be using as we begin a new Thanksgiving study with a modern history twist, and the cure for my Thanksgiving lesson planning grumpiness. I’m actually getting excited about these lessons now!
The common thread of Thanksgiving celebration during these times seems to be making the most with whatever resources were available and finding blessings in any circumstance. With this in mind, our Thanksgiving Bible studies will focus on contentment.
Philippians 4:11-12I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
1 Timothy 6:8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you.”
This National Geographic video is NOT for the squeamish! It is actual footage of the digestive process filmed by a scope procedure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYwscALNng
The topic of earthquakes came up back in August when we studied skyscrapers, then again in September as part of our disaster preparedness studies. Also, the third Thursday in October is the official Great American Shakeout (earthquake preparedness observance).
Since we live close to the New Madrid fault line, and the boys were interested, we took a bit of a detour from our regular lessons to focus on learning about earthquakes. As to be expected when the boys pick the topic of study, it was fantastic. Below are the online resources we used as we researched, experimented, and learned about earthquakes.
Live Earthquake Map and Stats From Around the World (Even now that our earthquake study is over, we’re still checking this site daily. We’re amazed at the seismic activity that goes on everyday!) http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/
I hadn’t planned on making a lapbook with this study, but Z asked if we could. So of course we did, and it turned out wonderfully. We made a few booklets on our own and printed off some of these resources too. earthquake lapbook printables http://www.homeschoolshare.com/earthquakes.php
“Earthquake Safety” video for kids and by kids and FEMA
“Deadliest Earthquake” Documentary (B and I watched this together without the younger boys. There’s some disturbing images shown.)
This interactive “Stop Disasters” game was tough! We were set up as city managers and assigned the task of building, upgrading, and educating the people on safety. We were given 25 minutes to get our city in order before an earthquake hit. The first time through the game, we were fired! And that was the “easy” level! http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/
October 2 marks the anniversary of the very first publication of Peanuts (1950)! This is one of the October “special days” the kids were interested in. Yeah, I’m interested, too. I grew up on Peanuts. Below are some resource links to follow as we learn and have fun with Peanuts.
And in case you’re wondering, I am going to give this study credit for literature (winks), art, music, history, and creative writing. We may get a PE credit too – football kicking and baseball pitching seem to go along with the whole Peanuts theme.
October is always a favorite time of the year for my family. It’s also a favorite month for learning! October has a good variety of themes, foods, and daily historic events. This link will take you to the list of Special Days in October, 2014 https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/09/27/special-days-in-october-2014/
Below are the resource links to take you to special day studies we’ve done with our homeschooling through Octobers in the past. I’ve also included some links that I’m thinking we’re about to use with this October’s lessons.
The Salem Witch Trials was one of our best studies last year. Though not a “special day”, it was a nice tie in with a Halloweenish theme. Also, this resource post has been one of the most popular posts I’ve put together. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/10/30/salem-witch-trials/
Oct. 4 – Fall Astronomy Day This link takes you to my “go to” site for all things astronomy. http://www.kidsastronomy.com/
Oct. 11 – Elenore Roosevelt born 1884 – Here’s a nice short biography, reading comprehension quizzes and language arts printables http://www.gardenofpraise.com/ibderoos.htm
Oct. 16 – Noah Webster born 1758 and Dictionary Day (this site has much more than a dictionary! You’ll find games, Webster biography, language history, daily buzz words, and a way to add your own made up word to a dictionary!) http://www.wordcentral.com/edu/index.htm
I’ll be posting some other resource links as our studies for October develop. I’m thinking owls and perhaps spiders. Haunted places and monsters are being considered, too. What are some of your October themed lesson plans? And got links?
How to Prepare for a Terrorist Attack and Links to Other More Detailed Preparedness Plans and Facts from The Dept. Of Homeland Security http://www.nationalterroralert.com/default/
“SKYSCRAPERS” is one of the themes for the month of June and September 3 is “SKYSCRAPER DAY”! Below are the links we’ll be following as we learn about skyscrapers. This study will cover the subjects of science, math, language arts, history, geography, literature, and art. Most of the resources will apply to all ages.
Another math lessons will be skyscraper word problems game. I’ll make up and write some math problems on cards. The kids will be making some too. For example, “If the elevator travels 30 seconds between each floor and does not stop until it reaches the 37th floor. How many minutes will it take to reach the 37th floor from the ground floor?” We’ll each be able to come up with construction time and cost problems too. Once there’s a stack of question cards, we’ll take turns drawing and answering. With each correct answer, the player gets a Lego block. The player with the highest Lego Tower will be the winner.
To add a Bible study to our lessons, I entered “skyscrapers” into the search feature at Bible.org. I was pleasantly surprised to see more than the Tower of Babel to choose from! https://bible.org/gsearch?search=skyscrapers
The Runaway Skyscraper , written by Murray Leinster, is a science fiction novelette , originally published in Argosy magazine (a general-interest fiction magazine) in 1919, now it’s a free read from Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17355/17355-h/17355-h.htm
Skyscrapers are tall. “Tall” isn’t a greatest choice of adjectives for describing a skyscraper. Here’s the link to synonyms and words related to “tall” for a grammar, writing, and vocabulary lesson. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/tall
A Word Mining Game will be another language arts connection. After we have as many words made as possible from the letters in “SKYSCRAPER”, we’ll categorize them into the relative parts of speech they belong to, noun, verb, adjective, etc. Then we’ll try to put those words together for silly sentences.
I’ve been on my local library’s web site and reserved a few skyscraper books to pick up this week and while we’re out, we’ll take a close look at our city’s 2 tallest buildings – 19 stories and 10 stories.
According to Special Days inAugust , “Aviation” is one of this month’s themes. And, “Aviation Week” is the week with the 19th. The reason behind “Aviation Week” is in celebration of the accomplishments of Orville Wright who was born Aug. 19, 1867.
The following links are to the online resources and activities to learn about the Wright Brothers and aviation.
We’ve been watching some of the animated series Adventurers – Masters of Time so we’re excited to see a Wright Brothers episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJud1QjUvo8&list=PL608A5B35B7419A93&index=15 If you haven’t seen these before, I recommend you start with the first episode so you’ll understand the theme, then you can skip around to match them with your studies.
Victory Through Air Power – by Walt Disney – A History of Flight from the Wright Brothers to WW2 Aerial Defense Campaigns – (produced in the1940s, this contains some war propaganda that may seem wrong by today’s standards, but adds another historic learning element.)
Back at the beginning of our summer break a couple of summers ago, J requested that we create a jungle mural on our chalk board wall. He made sure that it included an elephant.
Elephants happen to be one of our favorite animals and according to Special Days in August , the 12th is “World Elephant Day”! And, September 22 is “Elephant Appreciation Day”! I’m glad that we took some time to study these magnificent creatures.
Below are the resources we used as we learned about elephants.
A Song, Agony and Ivory, dedicated to the movement to stop the wholesale slaughter of elephants taking place as a result of the ivory trade. (the song and website is a project of a homeschooling family!) www.agonyandivory.com
Still Learning Something New 
