Hands On History Supplement

 

Many students learn better when their hands are busy.  Popular history curricula often includes hands on activities.

You can create your own hands on activities or purchase supplements.  

A nice addition for a study of American History is the God Bless America coloring book by Multnomah.





Click the link above to see examples of the coloring pages.  You will notice that the pages are not complicated, but are classy, with quotes from American history.

On the back of each coloring page is information about the quote and who said it.  The book covers a variety of people and quotes: Founding Fathers, historic documents, patriotic songs, or other American heroes (astronauts, generals,etc).

Even though it is called an 'adult' coloring book, I know it would be great for students of a variety of grade levels.  

In the back of the book is a link to a playlist to set the mood as well as a quiz to see what your student learned from the book.

This coloring book could be for students who like to be doing something during read aloud time or as a supplement to reinforce a time period or person being studied.

The pages are nice and thick, with images that your student will love.  You might even find yourself tempted to color a page.  Go ahead and indulge your creativity!

What are your favorite history supplements?


I received this book from Blogging for Books for my honest review.

Book Review: Born For This- How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do

 With the current emphasis seemingly on 'finding your passion', Born for This by Chris Guillebeau attempts to help people make a living while working at their 'passion.'  As Chris says, 

" Doing what brings you joy is great, but if you aren’t earning a living, it’s a hobby, not a career."

For students that will soon pursue a career, or adults needing a career change, this book has some practical insight and great tips.  
Some suggestions will require you to get outside of your comfort zone, but that is often when things start to happen to move you toward your goal.

The book does share practical tips and points out that the author does have a college degree and some skills that he used to get where he is today.

The book jacket says:
  Have you ever met someone with the perfect job? To the outside observer, it seems like they’ve won the career lottery — that by some stroke of luck or circumstance they’ve found the one thing they love so much that it doesn’t even feel like work—and they’re getting paid well to do it.

You’ll learn how to:
• Hack the job of your dreams within a traditional organization by making it work for you
• Find not only your ideal work but also your ideal working conditions
• Create plans that will allow you to take smarter career risks and “beat the house” every time
• Start a profitable “side hustle” and earn extra cash on top of your primary stream of income
• Escape the prison of working for someone else and build a mini-empire as an entrepreneur
• Become a rock star at any creative endeavor by creating a loyal base of fans and followers

Sounds great, right?  
If you follow the tips that Chris outlines in Born for This, you may find the job of your dreams -- the one you would do even if you didn't get paid.  But it will take dedication on your part.

Read the book for inspiration or read (and implement) the book to change your career path.
The choice is yours. 

I received this book free from Blogging for Books for my review. 

 CHRIS GUILLEBEAU  the author  of Born For This,  The $100 Startup, The Happiness of Pursuit, and The Art of Non-Conformity, recently completed a personal quest to visit every country in the world (193/193).

Book Review: The Water Saving Garden

Every year my husband asks, "What do you want to plant in the garden?  Should we plant a garden?"  

When he asks, I think of all the time he spends planting the garden, watering the garden and weeding the garden.

When I saw this book available for review, I thought it would be a great resource to find plants for our garden that wouldn't be so needy, especially since the author lives in central Texas.

 When I say 'garden', I think of 'vegetable garden'.  

This book has a different definition.

After reading the book, I remembered that there are flower gardens and people in Europe call their yard a 'garden'.

So, if you are looking for help with your vegetable garden, this is not the book for you.

If, however, you would like some ideas for your landscape, this might be a good resource for you.

This book, The Water Saving Garden, by Pam Penick  lists quite a few drought resistant plants as well as covers other ways to conserve water when landscaping.

There are some good ideas that would be fun family projects or experiments whether you homeschool or not.  Perhaps your family could implement some of her rain barrel ideas or plant something that doesn't require much water.

Overall, this book was not what I expected, but there is some good information in it.

I did receive this book free from Blogging for Books for my honest review.

Book Review: What Color is Your Parachute for Teens

I have had this book- What Color is Your Parachute for Teens- in my review stack for quite a while now.  I have procrastinated on writing my review because, frankly, I didn't even like the book enough to finish reading it!

"Capture the Moment" book review

I'm a sucker for a beautiful book cover, and Sarah Wilkerson 's Capture the Moment  captivated me

 

This book bills itself as "the modern photographer's guide to finding beauty in everyday and family life".

The World Needs More Love Letters Review

 
The world needs more love letters.

I don't think anyone would argue with that statement.

So, why doesn't the world write more love letters?

Historical Fiction Review: Where Treetops Glisten

Sometimes I like a light, fun story.   



Where Treetops Glisten, 3 stories by 3 authors about the same family during World War II, is a collection of heartwarming stories.  The first story, White Christmas, introduces the family through the daughter, Abigail.  Although the story is interesting, the conflict in the story isn't always believable.  

The second story, I'll Be Home for Christmas, was my favorite of the three stories. 

BOOK REVIEW: Your Family In Pictures

A DSLR camara is a fairly new addition to our family, so I was thrilled to find Your Family in Pictures: The Parents' Guide to Photographing Holidays, Family Portraits, and Everyday Life  to review for Blogging for Books.

More Books Children Love

 Today's post is another installment of books my children loved to read.  I originally said that I would not list a book twice if two different children chose it, but I have changed my mind.  One book on this list from my oldest son was also on my oldest daughter's list.  I have included it here because the 'why' they loved the book is different.

BOOK REVIEW: The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting & Running a Business

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business: Turn Your Ideas into Money!

This book is a very thorough guide for entrepreneurs, young or old.

Steve Mariotti uses very easy to understand language to guide you through the whole process of starting and running a business.  

  Beginning with creating a business, he guides you through all the steps you need to cover to be successful, including how to write a winning business plan.

Writing Enrichment: Make a Book

This post contains affiliate links.  If you choose to click on the Shutterfly link and purchase their great deals, I will receive a small percentage, at no cost to you.

A reader recently asked me if I have any suggestions for summer academic enrichment activities, specifically in the area of English, for her middle school age son. She doesn't want to send him away to a writing camp or spend money on an online writing course.

Coming up with a good writing enrichment activity is more challenging

Family Favorites Friday: The Ranger's Apprentice Book Review

Today, my son is reviewing a favorite book series:  The Ranger's Apprentice.  

The Ranger's Apprentice is a thirteen-book series written by John Flanagan. 

The first book was released in 2004 and the thirteenth and final book was released last year, 2013. 

The series centers around Will Treaty, an orphan boy who lives in a government-sponsored house for children who had tragically lost their parents. He lives in the fief of Redmont in the Kingdom of Araluen, which, although a fantasy world, is loosely patterned after medieval England.

Gifted Hands

When I had only a baby and a toddler, I did a lot of reading. This was mainly because the baby did not sleep well.  I tried letting her cry it out when she was 5 months old, but after 2 hours of non-stop crying, I gave in.  After that, I held her while she napped and I read a book.

It was during this time that I read Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Family Favorites Friday: More Favorite Read Alouds

When I started my blog, I asked all my children to be thinking about favorite books from childhood.  This provoked the questions, " What qualifies as a children's book?  Do chapter books count? Do series count?"

I let them decide the books to include since we did read some chapter books aloud and they did read some chapter books when they were fairly young.

The only stipulation I put on their choices was I wouldn't include the same book twice.  If they all choose the same book as a favorite, I will only include it once, but I might mention at some point that it was everybody's favorite.

Last month I posted a review of favorite books from my oldest child.  This week, I interviewed my youngest, Christina, to share her favorite book memories.  Even though she is 15 years old, she has fond memories of these books.   

Her favorite toys and favorite books included animals.

5 Children's Books You Should Read

 

 I read many, many books to my children.  Some of the books we owned, some we checked out from the church library or the public library, and some were from my husband’s childhood.  While we read many of the classic favorites, there are some that are not as well known that I 
 think you and your children would enjoy.

Family Favorites Friday: Children's Books

I have asked each of my children to tell us about five of their favorite books from childhood.  Today's Family Favorites Friday is from Hannah, who also happens to be having a birthday today.  Even in her late twenties, I think she would still be happy with a pile of books and a box. 

Books have been some of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I have far too many favorites to fit a list of five, but these are the ones I remember reading over and over between the ages of 1 to 10 or so.

HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE OK, Part 1

Now that I have your attention, let me clarify that I realize there is no ‘one size fits all curriculum’.  What I deem as “OK”, you may love; what I deem as “good”, you may not like at all.  Different curricula fit different learning and teaching styles.  You have to find what works best for you and your student(s). But, as homeschoolers, I realize we like to know what others have used and what they thought about it.

This will be a two-part post on curriculum. Check back on Saturday (or follow me) to get Part 2.

CURRICULUM – EARLY YEARS

For more than 12 years I had a student in the elementary grades. I used a variety of curricula over that time span. A few books made the cut to be used every time; some publishers were only used in the beginning of my schooling or later.

SAYING YES TO SAYING NO

Saying Yes to Saying No by Christy Baca opened my eyes to issues teenagers are faced with and the fact that they really do want parents to help them navigate their world.