F is for First State ~

The other day Buck asked what the first state was.  Of course I knew the answer...  as I quickly Googled it - Delaware!  This reminded me of the geography study I've been wanting to do with the kids for a while using the Sleeping Bear Press series of Discover America State by State books!  I had wanted to buy these notebooking pages to go along with it, but never got around to it.  Then I came across these **FREE** Notebooking pages on Pinterest. 

So, I checked out F is for First State from the library and this morning after we were home from Mass we all gathered around the kitchen table and enjoyed it together.  As I read aloud they filled in info they heard like it's nickname is The Diamond State.  I printed off a state map and flag from Enchanted Learning and we glued them as seen below.

Then they colored in the flag to match.

Once they were finished we added the date to their time lines ~

and filed them in the back of their Book of Centuries.

Magic Tree House books, Geography and Much more

Buck, Honeybee, and I have started out on an adventure with Jack and Annie, characters from The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.  In her first book

Dinosaurs Before Dark, we are introduced to this brother and sister team.

I was sooo excited when I found CurrClicks Lapbook Study Guide for this book.

We have already read the first two books.  For this study we are going back and reading a chapter at a time and lapbooking it. 

Now I have to ask, have you read the cover story of the Spring 2011 issue of

Mater et Magistra magazine?

This is a magazine every homeschooler should subscribe to! 

The article is entitled, "Further Up and Further In" written by Jennifer Mackintosh.  You may recognize her name from her blog Wildflowers and Marbles.  As I read this article, I felt as though I was sitting at a homeschool retreat/conference listening to an awesome home educating mother's inspiring story of "real learning" in the home.  I have long shared her thoughts on giving our children room to build relationships and discover connections in the everyday rhythm of our home.   I found it most intriguing that we would have one of these experiences this morning.

Buck was a little restless in putting together his lapbook this morning.  He was wanting to color in a Power Rangers book I picked up for him yesterday.  We don't watch the show...  Anyway, as we were going through the lesson, we were asked to find Pennsylvania on the map.  I pulled out the globe to show them. Buck had a "light bulb" moment and asked, "Mom, do you remember that big map that used to hang on the girl's wall?  It's downstairs on Snuggle Bug's bookcase."  I ran down and got it and we opened it up on the table on top of all our other work.  We found PN and AL and they filled them in on the teeny map that goes on the lapbook.  Then he said, "Mom, we should color in all the states like they are on the map."

I could have had two responses here:

1. OK, we will do that after we finish this work for the lapbook. or
2.  That's a great idea!  I'll print out a map for you and you can get started right away.

Can you guess which one I chose?  If you said #2 you are right!  If I would have insisted on finishing the work I had "planned", I probably would have lost or at least dampened his interest. 

I printed off a blackline map for the two of them and they both sat with map spread out on the floor in front of them and we talked and talked.  They started coloring in the states according to the color they were on the map.  We discussed the abbreviations of the states, what it meant to be a bordering state, places we had been or are planning on going to.  We also called their grandparents, who are on a trip, to ask where they were right then so we could find it on the map.  These are just a few things we talked about. 

This was the best kind of study. 

It wasn't planned, it just came about naturally.

Wonder where tomorrow's adventure will take us??

Thank you, loving Father, for this amazing homeschooling journey we are all on!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Thank You Veterans!

Don't forget to call and thank all of the veterans you know today!

More WW fun...

God Bless the U.S.A.

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Composed by Francis Scott Key, "In Defense of Fort McHenry" in September 1814. Congress proclaimed it the U.S. National Anthem in 1931.

A must read article "What's right with America"

Never Forget The Price Paid For Freedom

Last night we caught part of The PBS Memorial Day Concert. It was truly moving. I cried about the whole time. It's amazing to me how we get so caught up in our day to day activities that we forget to remember those who have fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy. I'm so thankful I listened to my guardian angel tell me to turn on the tv and see what was on. Thank you God for all of the fallen soldiers and their families who have paid the ultimate price for America.

Enchanted Learning

Just a quick post to share some links to Enchanted Learning's printable sheets we will use in talking about today's Presidential Inauguration.

Barack Obama

The US Presidential Seal

The White House

Bald Eagle

I'd probably go on to include Hawaii and Kenya but the printer just ran out of ink. Let's see.... No ink in the printer, digital camera won't download pics, no money in the home school acct. HUM... Time for our tax return to get here!!!!

Thank You Veterans!

The name “Old Glory” was first applied to the U.S. flag by a young sea captain who lived in Salem, Mass. On his twenty-first birthday, March 17, 1824, Capt. William Driver was presented a beautiful flag by his mother and a group of local young ladies. Driver was delighted with the gift. He exclaimed, “I name her ‘Old Glory.’” Then Old Glory accompanied the captain on his many voyages.

Captain Driver quit the sea in 1837 and settled in Nashville, Tenn. On patriotic days, he displayed Old Glory proudly from a rope extending from his house to a tree across the street. After Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Captain Driver hid Old Glory by sewing the flag inside a comforter. When Union soldiers entered Nashville on February 25, 1862, Driver removed Old Glory from its hiding place, carried the flag to the state capitol building, and proudly raised it for all to see.

Shortly before his death, the old sea captain placed a small bundle into the arms of his daughter. He said to her, “Mary Jane, this is my ship flag, Old Glory. It has been my constant companion. I love it as a mother loves her child. Cherish it as I have cherished it.”

The flag remained as a precious heirloom in the Driver family until 1922. Then it was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it is carefully preserved under glass today.


The kids and I are off the surprise Pop-paw with some homemade goodies and a little presentation. The House Cat and Snuggle Bug are going to try their hand at makingOrigami Stars and I'm going to help Buck and Honeybee with Patriotic Candles. Of course we'll sing some patriotic songs and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The highlight I'm sure will be Buck and Honeybee's rendition of I'm in the Lord's Army!

Papa, we wish we could surprise you too! We can't wait to see you on Thanksgiving!

Election 2008 Work

We really enjoyed our D is for Democracy unit study. (see below for links)


Snuggle Bug(9-right) and The House Cat (12-below) learned about The Electoral College and how it works. Choosing the President 2008: A Citizen's Guide to the Electoral Process was an excellent resource for this.








Buck(4) did a great job on his first notebook page. He and I had such a good time working on it together! At the top of the page he drew George Washington's belt with his knife and money bag. I thought it was so sweet that he told me, "this is where he kept the money he gave to help people."





Even though the election outcome was not what we prayed for, we trust in God and continue to pray for an END to abortion. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.

D Is for Democracy Unit Study

We are gearing up for the election here with a unit study on our government and how it works. Thanks to Elizabeth over at In the Heart of My Home, we'll be using
D Is for Democracy: A Citizen's Alphabet with a
complete unit study to accompany the book.

We are also praying a rosary novena for this election, trusting God in all things! God Bless the U.S.A.!

An Election Prayer to Mary


Between now and thus critical election day on November 4th, Let us all pray to our Blessed Mother Mary who is the patroness of our nation for the guidance and motivation to vote to protect our nation and its people.

AN ELECTION PRAYER TO MARY

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care.
Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection.
Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom.
Free us from the Falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God's law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new culture of Life.

Lapbooking this week

Andrew Jackson lapbook by Snuggle Bug

American Presidents Lapbook

 by The House Cat