|
May
1,
2008
Dear
Oklahoma Homeschool Subscribers,
Sorry
I'm late with this newsletter. I just finished semester
#3 of college and had to have a few days to unwind!
 The
first thing I did was go to the OCHEC Homeschool
Convention and visit with some
old friends! I
so enjoyed chatting with many of our wonderful homeschool
moms here in Oklahoma - some of you I hadn't seen in a
long while! I got a chance to visit with Sally Williamson
(current editor of The
Informer), Betty Smith (Considering
God's Creation),
and Linda Thornhill (TRISMS).
(I'll be writing a review of Linda Thornhill's new work
"Age of Revolution" later this summer.) And finally,
I was blessed to eat at Zios with
my friend, Ellen Latimer of OK
Homeschool Moms Info Network. I
also spent two hours looking around
at the new (and old) products, and I spotted several that
I will comment on in future
newsletters. All in all, it was a terrific, relaxing day!
The
next thing I allowed myself to do was to catch up on some
fun reading! I read Sophie's
Heart
by Lori Wick in one day. What fun to just read for pleasure!
An excellent book for teen girls and moms, by the way!
My next fun read is Day
of Infamy.
(I know, that doesn't seem like fun, but for me it's a
blast into my family's past. My dad, now with the Lord,
was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed.)
The
next thing I did was to finish putting in my garden. This
year, I planted a lot of butterfly and honeybee attracting
flowers as well as some tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and
peppers. I mostly did container gardening. My hubbie even
built me a raised bed that holds three self-watering containers
and one raised bed. Isn't he wonderful!
Now,
it's time to get back to some other work. My plans for
the summer are to write my newsletters, edit and add new
information to my Oklahoma
History Online Curriculum, take photos for my Oklahoma
Scrapbook, write
some new unit
studies, review some new (and some old) curriculum,
and work a new Web site I am putting together (secret!).
I'm also studying to CLEP out
of American History and American Government. When I have
completed that, I will receive my Associates Degree!
Whew!
I'm tired just looking at this list. I hope I get it done! I'm
sure you have a packed summer, also! I hope you will fill
it with fun, learn something new, and enjoy your family!
Have
a great summer!
Cindy
Downes
 Oklahoma
Homeschool Newsletter, May 2008
Index:
What's
New on the Oklahoma Homeschool Website?
Updated
Curriculum Reviews!
So you won't have to go to each newsletter
separately, I've recently updated my Curriculum
Review page with all my reviews from
past newsletters.
Back
to top
Curriculum/Book
Review:
1.
Review of Day
of Infamy by
Walter Lord.
I
started reading Day
of Infamy because my dad was at Pearl
Harbor when it was bombed in 1941. If you are studying
World War II and would like to know more about this subject,
this is a great book. It's easy to read and VERY interesting!
Highly recommended for high school and up.
2.
Review of
The
Declaration of Independence by
Syl Sobel.
 The
Declaration of Independence is not a very colorful book, but it does provide the
basic facts of America's fight for Independence. The
illustrations are black, white, and blue drawings. The
text is easy to read; however, there is a lot of text
on each page. Although I do recommend it as a good resource
for studying the Declaration of Independence, my one
disappointment is that it does not mention Federalists
and Anti-federalists nor anything about states rights.
I would recommend this book for 4th to 5th grade and
up to 8th grade as an introduction to the topic. Published
in 2008 by Barron's. 48 pages
3. Review
of Time Travelers by Amy Pak.
If
you're looking for a fun way to teach an introduction
to American History, look no further! The Time Traveler
series is the perfect resource for those of you who like
unit studies and prefer a visual, hands-on approach. I
can assure you that when your children are done with this
series, they will REMEMBER much more than we did with our
traditional history textbooks!
 Units currently available in the series are: New
World Explorers, Colonial
Life, The
American Revolution, and
Early 19th Century. I had a chance to review complete copies
of Colonial Life and Early 19th Century, as well as sample
pages from the other two.
I love how this curriculum is organized! It's easy to
find what you are looking for and the interface is pretty,
too! Each Unit comes on a CD that opens in your Internet
Browser. From there you can access all the instructions,
files, and templates. Each is easily opened and printed.
The art work and typesetting is excellent.
The "Introduction" provides
information on what each Unit will cover. The emphasis
of the course is on penmanship, creative writing and
composition, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
A
section called "Tips" includes printing tips,
a list of materials needed, and instructions on how to
put your projects together.
The "Teacher Helps" section
includes a day-by-day lesson planner, a list of additional
resources (such as books, videos, and audio resources)
for further research, printable binder covers in various
sizes, teacher answer keys, and photos of finished projects.
The "Lessons and Projects Pages" include
all the individual lesson plans and projects.
Typical
lessons include creating a Lapbook® containing
pop-up books, map work, and time-lines; learning vocabulary;
composition projects such as writing a newspaper; penmanship
lessons with copy work; and hands-on activities such as
making a rope bed with straw tick, stenciling a box, and
learning to weave using a loom that you build yourself.
The Lapbook® activities are especially fun for kids
who love to cut, color, and paste. The hands-on activities
are particular suited to kids who like to "build" things.
(There are more cut, color, and paste activities than hands-on.)
I
particularly liked the way religious leaders and missionaries
were incorporated into the curriculum. In the Colonial
unit, students even create a timeline on "The Progress
of Faith From Europe to the Colonies."
COLONIAL LIFE:
In
this course, your child will learn about Colonial homes,
clothing, food, family life, school, faith in the colonies,
pleasures and pastimes, villages and cities, health and
medicine, artisans, holidays, crime & punishment, and
plantations and slavery. There is some brief historical
information on how the Colonies were settled, how slavery
was introduced and about the Great Awakening.
EARLY 19TH CENTURY
In
this course, your child will learn about Washington,
Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates; the Louisiana Purchase;
Lewis & Clark; Inventions; War of 1812; Erie Canal;
Trappers, Traders and Mountain Men; the first twelve presidents;
other people of interest; Statehoods and the Alamo; Native
Americans; Pioneer Life; The Wild West; Trails; Mexican-American
War; and Ante Bellum.
Here
is how I recommend using these resources:
If I were a textbook person, I would use the activities
along with my textbook to make school more FUN! This alone
is worth the price.
For
those of you who prefer to do our own thing, this is
the perfect resource for helping you do just that.
You can pick and choose what you want to do when. You
can supplement it with more reading, research, and
term papers for older children or use the lessons
as a read-aloud for your youngest children.
And for those of you who want to have FUN without doing
all the work, you can use it just like it is!
For more information, check out the Homeschooling
in the Woods Web site.
Back
to top
Teaching
Without Textbooks -
 1. For
those of you new to homeschooling, here are some suggestions
to help you get started:
2.
NEW! Revolutionary
War Unit by Cindy Downes.
I thought this would help me study for my CLEP test
and help you at the same time!
3. And don't forget! When you're done, be sure to add what
your children did for the Revolutionary War Unit to your
copy of The
Checklist!
Back
to top
FREE
Forms:
1.
Thematic Paper. Use
these two forms (wide lines and thin lines) when teaching
about the Revolutionary War:
2. More free forms: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/forms.html
Back
to top
Oklahoma
Information and Resources:
1.
Oklahoma
History Online by
Cindy Downes. An online, multi-level curriculum for
teaching Oklahoma History.
2.
Oklahoma Scrapbook: A Travel
Guide and Memory Book for Exploring Oklahoma by
Cindy Downes.
3.
For more info and learning materials about Oklahoma
history, check my website at: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/teachOKH.html
Back
to top
Internet
Resources:
1. Primary
Sources. Lots of FUN stuff here for primary
grades! I love the tooth
record in the science
section.
2. Here's
another fun one: An
edible model of the earth!
3.
Notebooking
Nook has lots of free printables!
 4.
Free Hurricane
Unit from Treasure
Box Press.
5.
Highschoolers can get a head start on college by taking
CLEP tests for college credit. Here are some study resources:
Back
to top
Quote:
"Scripture
Tree." — Scripture Tree Web site
Back
to top
Please
feel free to forward this to anyone who may be interested.
Please forward in it's entirety.
If
you'd like to be added to the Oklahoma Homeschool Newsletter
mailing list, please email back with "Subscribe"
in the subject line, along with your city and state or country
and how long you have homechooled.
COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: This newsletter is ©Copyright
2007 by Cindy Downes. All rights reserved.
PRIVACY
POLICY. Your name and email address will always
remain completely confidential. I do not sell, loan, or share
any subscriber or customer information for any reason. Your
information will never be used for any purpose other than
delivery of my e-newsletter and to occasionally inform you
of updates to the Oklahoma
Homeschool website.
If
you want to be removed from this mailing list, please
send a blank email with the word "unsubscribe" in
the subject line.
Have
a great day!
Cindy
Cindy
Downes
OKLAHOMA HOMESCHOOL
Website: http:www.oklahomahomeschool.com
Email: newsletter@oklahomahomeschool.com
Blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/EmptyNestMom
Have
you seen The Checklist? It's
an assessment tool, lesson planner and K-12 Recordkeeper created
for Christian Home Educators: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/checklist.html
Oklahoma
History Online is
now available! Check it out at: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/okhist.html
Back
to top
. |
|
