So much can be included under the umbrella of social studies. It includes anything that has to do with communities, cultures, and relationships among people. It includes history and government, and it certainly includes map skills general geography. Depending on your state requirements, you can include some or all of these social studies concepts in […]
Generating Interest in History with Educational Videos for Kids, History Field Trips, and Historical Fiction
“Can we go look for another history video?” my second grader asked me this morning. This was a bit unexpected. My daughter has not make it a secret that she is not interested in history. But since we found the Homeschool History website (created by the team at Notgrass history), I’ve found her more interested […]
Learning about the Declaration of Independence
We do not always do a lot of formal learning during the summer, but Independence Day is always a nice chance to review early American history. Yes, we did learn about it last year. But since learning is a Line upon Line process, we’ll keep learning a little every year until my kids fly the […]
Learning about the First Thanksgiving Story with Printable Puppets
In anticipation of the upcoming holiday, we read The Very First Thanksgiving Day. I made my preschool daughter a simple puppet template related to the traditional first Thanksgiving dinner with the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags. Although she is young, playing with First Thanksgiving Story Puppets is a nice start to understanding the meaning of the […]
Learning about Native American Homes
I first wrote the booklet about early Native American homes because I could not find something simple for a brief introduction to Native Americans for my son. I wanted him to understand that there was a variety of cultures living on the American continent before Europeans arrived. I wanted him to understand that the vastness […]
An Introduction to U.S. Geography inspired by folktales
Before we jump in to our lessons about American history, I wanted to make sure my daughter had a general understanding of the geography of the USA. The United States of America would be nothing without the land. Before we study the people who live here, we need to understand where “here” is! Our introduction to […]
Hands-On and Interactive Community Helpers Activities
Last week my daughter and I read some great books about community helpers and did some activities to recognize the community workers all around us. Now we are noticing all the people that help us on a regular basis. The librarian, the eye doctor, the worker at the dry cleaners, and the construction workers along the side […]
Ideas for Using Picture Books to Teach
For the last ten days I’ve posted about some of the ways that I use picture books to prepare creative learning activities for my preschooler. I love using picture books as inspiration! Picture books tell stories that children relate to and enjoy. Parents can use picture books to teach. The stories in picture books can be compared to […]
A Simple Continents Preschool Lesson to Introduce the World
It’s the beginning of Jamie Martin’s (from Simple Homeschool) Give Your Child the World book club! The book club goal is to read multicultural books about various parts of the globe to help our kids understand the big picture of the world. Yes, Jamie is doing this book club as a part of a promotion […]
Treasure Island-Inspired Compass Treasure Hunt
I’ve recently finished reading Treasure Island in the original and unabridged language with my son. In Treasure Island, young Jim Hawkins travels across the ocean to a remote island, where the crew of the ship mutiny and turn out to be pirates! They spent plenty of time on the beaches of Treasure Island, and both my son […]