It's all about the states

So if you have read my previous Busy as a Beaver post, then you realize I have been working on the geography stuff for the up and coming year.  And I promised to do a geography post...so here it is.

I stumbled across this State Symbols USA site-and boy was I like whooping it up over the wealth of info and such here.  Good place to start.  I used this one to get the seals and other goodies to really make our state study "pop" with neat stuff! I noticed on the side-bar there was this book for Alabama (since we are going in alphabetical order here) and thought-could it be?  Could there be a book for every state? Yeppers!  Now, since I did the study before these were written with my older 3, I was unawares.  So stop giggling if you already knew about em.  The most exciting part-outside of the fact that now I can start each study with a book as the lead in and it fits the Charlotte Mason method, and it is just so beautiful and, and, and...can ya tell I am excited about it?  Best yet-our library has em all-now that is like a one in a thousand chance and I am so geeked!  So-then I searched and saw that they also have this baby available-so I put it on hold (since it was one thing our library didn't own) and got it today-not that I am big on teacher's guides (always seem to not follow em too closely) but figured I could glean some useful ideas to make this a great stroll thru the USA.  Take a look-see here...

Look how nicely each book is illustrated and ties into something major the state is known for!

The series is called Discover America State by State-but when I did the search thru the library-I had to look for each individual state's book-guess our library website is a bit fussy-LOL, so anyhoo-when you go to the State Symbols site-just look on the side-bar for that state and you will have the name.  

I will take some notes and let the rest be (in the guide) but I am always looking for ideas-now to find time to go thru it!

The HIP Pocket Change (US Mint) site has lots too.  I actually downloaded the quarter info-the background about the decisions behind the state's quarter design-look under the extra resources sections for each year...they are about 2 pages long each. I just ran those off.  There is also the full quarters listing in picture form under the 2008 stuff.  If you go thru the earlier years, you won't have em all.  I ran those 2 pages off and then cut out the quarters to add to the info packet for the individual states.  There are also coloring pages that you can run off (good for younger siblings to keep em busy) and lots of other links/activities.  

Found this one, but haven't explored it yet: Teacher Guide to the 50 States

A to Z Teacher Stuff has a recipe for edible state maps (why not enjoy a wee bit of food when doing this heh?)

Maps that Teach  offer up some good online links/activities

This 50 States Book List is going to come in rather handy during our study.  I will just use what I can get thru the library-on top of the cool state books noted above.

The US50 site offers up those stamps I downloaded. I did have to shrink the size of em a bit, and tried to fit as many as possible on the page too.  They have more state info to help you with your studies as well. The license plates are from MS Word-images, I think the only one I couldn't find was SC, so I searched the internet and found one that would work-sized it and added it to the document to print.  

I will also be using a few goodies I was able to review whilst being on the TOS crew:

The Little Man in the Map  This is a delightful way to learn the states and where they are located on the map.

My Review 

HS in the Wood Olde World US Maps  I will be using the states maps and notebook pages, and the brochure document too-I think that one is under the World maps tho.  I will have to double check-but these are sooooo nice and perfect for this study.  I am also the materials for the Geography Center.  But if you are on a super tight budget, you can find most downloads for free from various other sites-they simply won't be as detailed or have all the data, but they certainly can create a lovely notebook for your student.  I suggest Googling or doing Swagbuck searches, which frankly is a great way to get free $ (Swagbucks that is-you can join and earn-I have already earned $20 worth of free Amazon gift cards just by searching!) Click the icon below and it'll get you there.  :o)

 My Review

TOS Travel the World eBook I will pull some elements out of this eBook to help with our studies too.
My Review

I also have a mishmash of atlases, coloring books or map books about the states, and of course-where would I be if I didn't tie in some kinda lapbook to this?  Well-I purchased

Hands of a Child State by State lapbook  and will pull out components as needed. 

10 Days in the USA

This is on my wish list-a nice to have but not totally necessary...

I have found flashcards at the dollar section of Target, a poster listing the state names/capitals at the Dollar Tree and so forth. Been building the collection for some time and now when we get to it-I can draw from all sorts of good products to make this a fab project.  

HTH ya out too.  So that is the big stuff-I am sure I have more, but it gives ya a good idea of what one can use to pull together a study.  I have seen a few other great ideas from my pals via their blogs too-but since I am pretty sure I have enough to make this a detailed enough to remember kinda study-I am using what I have available.  :0)

Lots of neat form downloads for organizing your school

Found this link via the The Homeschool Mom Site (sign up for her free eNewsletter)-

It is a great place to download some most needful forms to help you organize your year:

Highland Heritage Forms

Enjoy!

For those who are FIAR rowers-esp. for bk 4, need help

I am compiling a listing of the locations of where these stories take place (well as close as we can get for some) and b/cuz I don't own them, and I haven't received them yet from the library inter-loan...was wondering if you all could help....

I need to know the specific/general location for these (BK 4)

Arabella (I know it is an island-does it pinpoint any specific region of the world?)
Roxaboxen (any place?)
Higgins Bend (?)
Hanna's Cold Winter (?)
Mailing May (I remember it being out west, OR or WA?)
Hickory Chair (southern USA?)
Albert (would NY be a good guess?)

Just leave a comment with the answer if you know it.  Thanks.  I will Scribd these for ya all later-I was trying to get a fix on where these books take place so I can pick ones that match our continent studies/state studies, etc. and will also need it for the new co-op, so I figured I would compile it and hey, why not share it too-just in case someone out there wants a quick rundown of where these take place...:0)

**Elinette at His Wonderful Works directed me to this lovely resource on Homeschool Share-not sure why I never thought to click that master link-thanks!  Because I need boxes and not so linear layouts for my info-I am going to still publish what I created, since I see theirs is hard for me to follow-but there are plenty of good links there at HSS's FIAR section, so do head there if you need more FIAR helps.

For those of you who have or will soon have high school aged students

I have now posted the lecture notes from my HOPE Ministries session.  There are 3 different documents...one with additional notes, the lecture notes themselves and then the resources listings.  Also, Leah has her notes there too. They fit so wonderfully with what I spoke on.  Her notes are pretty self-explanatory...just fill in the areas as you feel best answer the questions asked of you-it can be a great baseline for your homeschool career.  All of them can be found on our site.  I hope that this blesses you, helps to ease the fear of teaching high school, and offers you enough sources to get you started in your research.

HOPE June Lecture Notes

Oh, and I found a fellow TOS Mate has some good links to her article and more on high school too-take a look!  

All American Family