American History Resources
We're using the free American history curriculum (Year 1) from guesthollow.com for our core this year in our homeschooling. The girls and I are really loving it. Even if you're not homeschooling, I highly recommend this resource if your kids are studying U.S. History. There are lots of recommended books, as well as links to online resources such as copyright-expired books, crafts, printouts and even games.
This week we're doing week 13 (Topic 12), studying the early settlements of Roanoke and Jamestown--and, of course, getting to know personalities like Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth, Captain John Smith (did you know he was considered a troublemaker by the other colonists and was imprisoned and nearly hanged before they finally realized he was the best leader they had?) and Pocahontas.
I thought it might be fun to link to some of the more interesting resources we've discovered so far this week.
Kidinfo page on Roanoke: Lots of good links here.
HowStuffWorks: My girls enjoyed the videos linked here. I enjoyed listening to the podcast about Roanoke on HowStuffWorks, and learned quite a bit from it, but decided it wasn't really young-kid-friendly--at least for my crew.
HistoryGlobe.com--The Jamestown Adventure: This game allows kids to make choices about things like where to build a colony, what type of food to plant, and whether and whom to make work. It explains what really happened historically, as well as how their choices probably would have turned out.
On the Trail of Captain John Smith: This game from National Geographic combines animated video segments with min-games that go with each segment. It takes a while to get through it all, but it gives a pretty complete history of Jamestown and my kids enjoyed it very much.
The Real Pocahontas: My girls loved this essay and chart comparing the Disney movie with what we know of the actual historical figure. In fact, they insisted on re-reading the entire thing to their daddy last night.
This week we're doing week 13 (Topic 12), studying the early settlements of Roanoke and Jamestown--and, of course, getting to know personalities like Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth, Captain John Smith (did you know he was considered a troublemaker by the other colonists and was imprisoned and nearly hanged before they finally realized he was the best leader they had?) and Pocahontas.
I thought it might be fun to link to some of the more interesting resources we've discovered so far this week.
Kidinfo page on Roanoke: Lots of good links here.
HowStuffWorks: My girls enjoyed the videos linked here. I enjoyed listening to the podcast about Roanoke on HowStuffWorks, and learned quite a bit from it, but decided it wasn't really young-kid-friendly--at least for my crew.
HistoryGlobe.com--The Jamestown Adventure: This game allows kids to make choices about things like where to build a colony, what type of food to plant, and whether and whom to make work. It explains what really happened historically, as well as how their choices probably would have turned out.
On the Trail of Captain John Smith: This game from National Geographic combines animated video segments with min-games that go with each segment. It takes a while to get through it all, but it gives a pretty complete history of Jamestown and my kids enjoyed it very much.
The Real Pocahontas: My girls loved this essay and chart comparing the Disney movie with what we know of the actual historical figure. In fact, they insisted on re-reading the entire thing to their daddy last night.
Labels: enjoying the ride, just life, kid stuff, kid stuff learning
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 10:17 AM[Permanent link]
1 Comments:
I was doing a vanity search and saw you are using my stuff (guesthollow). :) I am so glad!
I hope you enjoy 2010 and also enjoy your journey through American history.
Sincerely,
J from Guesthollow.comj
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