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History Pop Up Printables, Ideas and Resources Roundup

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have collected some history pop up books, printables, ideas and resources roundup.

You know our love for paper folding in our lapbooks and who can resist the hands-on of a pop-up book? Tiny and I have had a hankering to do some in our upcoming unit studies.  To get us inspired, I have collected some history pop up printables, ideas and resources roundup.

Pop-ups are for any age and some of the pop-ups show that you learn other subjects beyond designing your pop-ups.

History Pop Up Printables, Ideas and Resources Roundup | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

This first picture I really love because the eyes are cut out and the creator placed a different paper behind it to make moving eyes.  Wouldn’t this make a nifty idea for a history portrait of a famous person?

History Pop up Themes

Then the pop-up book about Ancient Egypt made over at Guesthollow just looks too fun not to make and easy enough to add to a page.

napoleon moveable book

(Picture Attribution: CornerstoneLAE)    

egyptian pop up

(Picture Attribution: Guesthollow)

Grab this free printable from Teacher Vision for a pop-up book that reviews the origins of the Declaration of Independence.Add it to any American history unit study.

pop up history

(Picture Attribution: Teacher Vision)   

The next picture, which is pop up figures of the founding fathers looks like another easy project to make learning about history fun.  The founding fathers are simply glued on a page.  Wouldn’t this make a nice trade off to a boring report on any person in history?

Pop Up founding father

          (Picture Attribution: Students History)

Though this next pop up, which is a medieval castle by Pukaca and is sold on Etsy, it may be worth the bucks.  If nothing else, I am inspired by the paper engineering of it.

paper castle

History Pop up DIY

This next minibook of Leonardo Da Vinci’s invention is just way too cool.  It was created by Sara Alvarez at Chapurreao Blogspot.  The pop-up contains four inventions and a work architecture of Leonardo da Vinci, a flying machine, a boat hydraulics, a war machine and a mechanical man.

It measures 2.1 cm wide x 2.4 cm high. Many parts of the machinery of each drop are printed on both sides.

Leonardo 1
Leonardo 2
Leonardo 3

(Picture Attribution: Sara Alvarez)

At least we can draw inspiration from it even if to just drool at the pages.

This next pop up includes a free ship download (update no longer free) and it is from my very favorite pop up artist Robert Sabuda.  You know I have mentioned his books before because we collect them.  But this would make a great addition to an explorer’s unit or even to our World of Columbus and Sons unit study. There are step by step instructions on his page.

The second picture is a pop up of a castle and he has a template too, along with step by step instructions on the page.

pop up ship

This next pop up is about the the 7 wonders of the Ancient World by Arteascuola.  She uses felt tip pens, scissors, colored cardboard strips and a ruler to create this interactive way to remember history.

Then the next pop is a fun one to do for a bit of art history and it’s about Van Gogh and his chair.  Check out the instructions on the page Art with Mrs. Smith.

7 wonders of the world pop upart history_
(Picture Attribution: Arteascuola)    (Picture Attribution: Art with Mrs. Smith)

History Pop up Printables

And then I found one more castle that gave step by step instructions on Dick Blick. Too, like the website says this is not just for elementary aged children but also for junior because it promotes awareness of not just history, but geometry.

The next pop is a free printable too at Ellen McHenry’s Basement Workshop and it is a Pop-Up Bunraku Theater Scene to enhance your study of Japan.

castles_pop up
popupbunraku

The next popup is an easy one for the littles. It is a Paper Powhatan Pop-Up Village by Flamingo Fabulous.  Depending on the age of your child, you could even have them draw, write or label the geography parts of it and/or locate geographical features.  It can’t get any easier than this.

Then, I couldn’t resist sharing the pop-up matchbook sarcophagus by Small World Land where they share step by step how they made the pop ups. 

native american village
Pop-up Matchbook Sarcophagus

(Picture Attribution: Flamingo Fabulous)                         (Picture Attribution: Small World Land)

Remember, pop-ups are not just for young children. I am amazed at the feat of paper engineering if only we give it a try.  We will be trying one or two!  How about you?

Check out some of my other hands-on ideas.

13 Free Printable History Board Games

Lapbooking Resources

Bring History To Life With Historical Costumes: Fun, Fashion and Unforgettable

Easy Hands on Homeschooling Ideas When You’re Not the Bomb Mom

What If I Choose the Wrong Homeschool Curriculum

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

What if I choose the wrong homeschool curriculum is at the top of the list of worries for new and seasoned homeschoolers alike.

However, I think on the flip side of worry is getting a shipment of new homeschool curriculum. It can be one of the most pleasurable moments in homeschooling. Don’t you just love the smell of new books? It just feels like you have it all together now.

But then, worry sets in. Will this be the right curriculum for my child? Will this year meet my expectations? We spend hours reading every catalog and website that we can as we pore over curriculum choices.

Many times we still are not sure if we have the best curriculum. Then we read those emails or posts on groups where one mom used something that is working so “perfectly” for her and her children.

And then we wonder what’s wrong with us. Doubt sets in about the choices we made at the beginning of the year and we have a gnawing pain at the bottom of our stomach.

If you are teetering about making a huge change, there are a few things that I have learned about choosing the wrong curriculum. Look at these 5 tips below that I hope will help you.What If I Choose the Wrong Homeschool Curriculum

(Incidentally, I love ALL the curriculum in this picture above and highly recommend it.  It worked beautifully for me in the years that I needed it.  But, what works one year for me, may not work for you. That is the key to determining if it’s the wrong choice for you.)

1.  There is no PERFECT curriculum.  Some years it is just about trial and error. There will be times when you pick something that is not what you need for that year or does not meet your goals. You will make some mistakes. That is okay because at anytime during the year you can switch.

Before you switch though, be sure it is the curriculum that is not working and not issues of scheduling, discipline or being overwhelmed. We might mistakenly think that the curriculum is the culprit of our day when in fact it could be other issues in our homeschooling. So give new curriculum a fair shake so to speak.

The opposite of that thinking is sticking with a curriculum no matter what. I have tried to stick to a curriculum because I begged my husband that I just had to have it, so I felt guilty in not using it.  What I have learned is that this can have detrimental effects on my kids.

It is not a waste when you switch because this is a lesson well learned in how your child learns best.

I am not encouraging you to not be frugal and make the decisions you and your husband make work, but balance that thinking with the hundreds and hundreds of dollars you would have spent in public school on school supplies not used, countless clothes purchased and otherwise frivolous things like a school fund raiser.

Too, if you keep your curriculum neat and clean you can resale it and recoup some of your husband’s hard earned dollars.

2. Don’t forget to read homeschool curriculum reviews.   iHN, which I am a proud member of reviews homeschool curriculum.  So be sure to check out the reviews because in reviewing curriculum, I try to give an objective summary of each one.

This means that I try to recommend which group of homeschoolers that a particular curriculum will work for and what you may need to consider if you end up using it.

Look here at the homeschool curriculum I have reviewed so far.

It is important to read homeschool reviews that are informative instead of biased.  Why? Because what may not work for you this year may be the “perfect” curriculum for another year or different circumstance.

More importantly, try to determine why or why not a certain curriculum worked for a family and see if you have similar circumstances.

3.  Take advantage of talking 1:1 vendors at curriculum fairs or either on the phone.  They spend thousands of hours tweaking their curriculum to meet our needs and most vendors want you to understand how best to use their curriculum.

Too, companies like Rainbow Resource, which has been around for a long time have staff that is well educated in the differences between curriculum. Use these free resources by asking them questions when you can’t find the answer in your own research.

Just the catalog alone from Rainbow Resource is an education in the differences between curriculum with their mini-reviews or write ups about various curriculum.

4.  Children are pretty hardy. Homeschooling in fear is not a good place to be at.  So don’t fall prey to the idea that we will have huge gaps in learning.

The truth of it is, everybody has gaps in their learning unless we all learned at the same school at the same time with the same teacher and we still would come away with differences in our education.  Our educational background and differences are what makes each of us unique.  Embrace it.

If you use a curriculum and feel you are somewhat behind in what your goals are, just remember children have a great reserve to pick up at a new point in learning and move forward.

I have done this more than I can remember. I made a bad choice with Mr. Senior 2013 in math beginning his middle school years and he got behind.  By high school, he was well ahead. Why? Because having made a better choice with math, he was highly motivated to move ahead because he loved math.

The same thing happened with Mr. Awesome with a spelling program in his elementary years.  One spelling program was not clicking with him, but after I changed he went up two grade levels because he now had a much better fit with the way he learned.

Not seeing tears, but a return of their love of learning was well worth any money I had spent previously. Just remember, your time is well spent investigating another curriculum if the one you are using is not making sense to your child.

sharing homeschool curriculum

(One mom in our group ready to share her homeschool curriculum with the group.)

5. Look to your local homeschool support.  Many times in our local support group, we would plan a park day for the kids, but it would be a curriculum swap or show and tell for us as the moms. Don’t you wish you could just rent curriculum for a week or two to see if it will work for your family?

As long as you respect copyright laws of publishers, you can take the curriculum home and give it a test drive. Many of my favorite programs I first put my hands on at a park day with my group.  Looking it over for a week or two gave me a much better picture if it would work for my family or not.

Curriculum is our blue print to see how we want to build the education of our children, but it is not the final building.  There are always changes and adjustments to any construction job. Sometimes the adjustments are huge, sometimes they are trivial.

Most important though is that when you are enthusiastic about learning and teaching any subject, that is contagious and rubs off on your children.

It is your attitude toward learning that matters more than any curriculum you choose. Your children will adopt the attitudes and examples you set.

Share your enthusiasm and passion for learning and your children will remember their unique educational heritage and not the wrong curriculum you chose.

Check out the other stuff I have to say about choosing curriculum:

Stop Switching Your Curriculum, Switch Your Course of Study

 How to Choose Curriculum Other than the “Looks Good” Method.

The A, B, C’s of Picking Curriculum + {part 1}

The A, B, C’s of Picking Curriculum + {part 2}

SaveHugs and love ya,

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Everyday Life in Cuenca Ecuador

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m sharing everyday life in Cuenca Ecuador today.Also, look at my page Free South America Printable Lapbook and Fun Hands-on Unit Study Ideas

We have been on the house hunt this past week, but with no car to get around, location is going to be everything for us.  Each day has already proven to be an adventure though. 

We get ready to scout out the area and then have to stop to admire some of the everyday life in Cuenca, Ecuador. 

Calderon ParkPhone Charging

Calderon Park is one of the beautiful parks here in the center of town.  We have some research to do find out about the local statues and markers, but it has been nice to spend some of the day just people watching.

Even charging our phone is an adventure here. 

There are two companies for cell phone usage here, which are Claro and Moviestar. 

Finding a place to recharge cell minutes is an everyday thing.

Have you tried prompting along and following instructions on your phone when it’s all in Spanish? We are fast becoming immersed in the language.

Also, look at some of these books about South America.

Books for Kids About South America

13 Resources for a Study of South America

Add some of these fun books and resources to your study of South America.

Favorite Restaurant Don ColonFlower Mall

We have located one of our favorite places to eat at.  Don Colon is owned by a local who spends part of his time in the states and in Cuenca. 

He uses bottle water to make the local fruit juice so this place has been great on our stomachs. 

Too, you can beat the price of almuerzo (lunch) for $4.00. You get an entrée, soup, drink and dessert.  The lunch choices yesterday were steak, fish, chicken and pork loin, so we are not talking sandwiches.  

More Activities About South America

Then of course, I have been drooling over all the beautiful flowers offered here for just a few bucks.

I can’t wait to get our own place so I can have fresh flowers each day.

stunning architectTraditional Native American Dress

Just a walk down the streets and you are in awe of the dated architect. 

Then when we were out house hunting, we had to pause for this guy who was dressed in his Native American dress of Incan heritage as he played the flutes. 

The music filling the air on that block was beautiful.  It’s hard to house hunt with so many things to look at in every corner.

We took a tour too and I will share some of those pictures soon.  It has rained the last 3 days, but today is sunshine so we will be getting out again to learn some about the local customs.

Everyday life in Cuenca, Ecuador

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, in what you’ve got to know about teaching reading comprehension, I will share surefire ways to rekindle the love of reading. More important these tips will help your child understand what he is reading.

When I took Mr. Senior 2013 out of public school for the short time he was in Kindergarten and started homeschooling him again, I realized that he had changed from adoring his reading time to abhorring it.

Reading Material Matters. 

I am always astounded at how children naturally figure things out and they know when something they are reading matters.  One book I had chosen to focus on my son’s reading comprehension was called Bags The Lamb.

Okay, not very inspiring title and so I soon learned that my first mistake in helping my son to care about what he was reading was to make it matter. 

One stepping stone to having your child lap up reading is to give him a meaningful purpose.

For Mr. Senior 2013 that meant reading a comic book or a non-fiction book about science or history. 

If you are using a reading program that has dry, boring books that do not matter to your child, then use a book they choose so it matters to them. 

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

This is the first step to encouraging them to make meaning of what they are reading.

A Skillful Teacher Models the Process. 

Then there is one pet peeve of mine that we unknowingly do in a lot of subjects that we teach and that is somehow by osmosis we expect our kids to know what we want.

I too made this mistake in thinking my son knew how to skim the material, ask questions silently and look for answers in reading material.

Switching my approach, I focused on one paragraph in the book that he chose and talked out loud while he was sitting with me.

I would continue to talk out loud asking who is this character or I would say this reminds me of so and so whom we both know.

In talking out loud, I was helping my son to make a connection with what he knew right now and otherwise question what he was reading.

He soon learned that it was okay to have questions and that questions are the beginning to understanding what he was reading.  It is not necessary to

have all the questions answered, which is what Mr. Senior 2013 was doing.

Reading comprehension is about weighing and identifying facts though not always having the answers until the end of the story.

Slow Down Your Reading Pace Mama! 

Another mistake I was making was allowing my kindergartener to read the whole story in one gulp. 

What good did that do him if he didn’t understand the first paragraph?

He had me fooled because he was such a good reader, never mind the fact that he didn’t understand too much of what he read. 

I realized he was hyper focused on rapid reading and correct pronunciation instead of understanding what he was reading.

No wonder he didn’t like reading at the time because it became more about reciting meaningless chants instead of savoring the satisfaction that comes from filling his mind about the fascinating world around him.

From that time on, I assigned my 1:1 reading time with him for just one or two paragraphs each day. 

Implementing my tip on modeling the process, I read the paragraph or two aloud the first time. 

Pausing at commas, and emphasizing important words by the inflection in my voice helped him to see how he should be reading. 

This tip significantly improved his reading comprehension in the first few months.

Besides forming a close bond with him, to this day he has never forgotten the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from understanding what he is reading.

The rest of the day as a Kindergartener he spent with alone reading time, but I could hear him off in the room practicing some of what I had modeled.

By taking this 1:1 crucial time with him, my reader who once loved reading prior to sending him to public school returned to a love of reading.

Visualize and Imagine. 

Too, I had not tapped into my son’s love of visualization. 

Boys especially need to use this strategy. Again, he was a very visual person, but I had not helped him to see that he needed to use that strength to visualize the characters or place.

I had read somewhere that we should teach them like it’s a movie going on in their head. 

It’s true.  I helped him to see that if he could picture what a character wore, how he sounded when he talked and where he lived that those things would add to his understanding of what he was reading. 

It worked. Simply explaining that to my son and helping him to make that connection was all he needed to rapidly improve his reading comprehension.

I learned again that we need to tell and give our kids those strategies specifically instead of thinking or assuming they learn those things by absorbing them. 

Too, let them turn their imagination loose even if you don’t see a fact in the reading for their imagined thought. 

Just the fact they are imagining shows they are attempting to make connections with what they are reading. 

It adds to the intrinsic value too of making reading a lifelong habit.

Too, don’t break down every reading lesson into a chore, but choose carefully when you want to apply the strategies above. 

In the beginning, I did it every day, but after a few weeks, I applied these strategies about 3x a week so that it didn’t become boring. 

Remember, changing from repeating words or phrases over and over again because a child may be intensely focused on phonics or how-to ready instead of meaning takes time to slowly change.

Many children are afraid in the sense they think they are not pleasing you if they don’t read rapidly. 

Every bit of time I have put into helping Mr. Senior 2013 slow down and absorb what he was reading had paid off with tremendous benefits to him as a young adult now.

On many days, he reads more than I do and my heart leaps because of his fondness for reading knowing he has carried this into adulthood. 

There is nothing more satisfying to me as the teacher!!  Give one or two of these tips a try and you’ll see improvement.

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

Look at some of these other articles:

What You've Got to Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

How to Catch Up When Your Homeschooled Teen Tests Below Grade Level

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You have had some great questions lately and I can’t help but to ask you if I can share them with my other readers.  Today the dynamic reader question: when your high schooler tests below grade level is one I feel some of you may also be wondering about. 

Homeschool High School Teens

This is one of those questions that you may think that you are alone in asking, but you are not.

Check out Suzanne’s question:

Hi Tina. I just started this homeschooling adventure with my 16 yo/10th grade son…this week! My question is, his assessment says he’s at a 7/8th grade level in Language Arts! He’s feeling kind of bummed out about it. How do I get across to him that this is just the beginning, and he may breeze through this 8th grade work quickly as well as the next couple of levels to get him caught up with actual 10th grade work? I hate to say it, but I didn’t realize it was this bad and he had been “pushed through” these last few years! I’m very upset with our public school system here, and so glad to have this chance to help him. I just want to help him anyway I can.
Thanks for your advise!

First, thank you for asking me!  I know this can be a sensitive subject because as the parent, we may have a tinge of guilt feelings. 

But I am here to tell you that even if you rocked along happily homeschooling on grade level that life could throw you an unwelcoming event.  When the Mr. had his heart attack, I found it more helpful to focus on what I could do to help Mr. Senior 2013 get caught up in high school and not focus on what we had lost.

Help Your Child to See Not All Goes As Planned.  Your attitude in helping him to see that this was not all his fault will help him to not only cover language arts with more focus, but it teaches him that we have to roll with life’s punches. 

View this as an opportunity to turn this into a lesson about more than language arts.  How he deals with this set back is preparation for adulthood and high school. 

He is old enough to appreciate that sometimes because of no fault of our own, we can get behind.  This helps him to focus on a “fix” for the solution and keeps it positive.

Maintain Your Balance In Test Results.  Without knowing what type of test he took, it is hard to assess it (no pun intended).  Though a lot of research goes into standardized testing, there are some tests that are not worth taking.  Remember to not be so quick to assign them validity.

Too, curriculum providers vary from grade level to grade level when it comes to language arts. For example, Rod and Staff, which is one of the most rigorous grammar programs that I have used has a student completing grammar by eighth grade. 

It wasn’t until recently (say within the last 5 to 7 years) that they came out with a high school program. 

Other providers, like Bob Jones High School prefer to use a spiral method of teaching some of the same concepts taught since 4th grade all the way to high school.  Does he really need that much review?

Testing your son using various resources like both the online tests (free or otherwise) provided by language arts provider as well as standardized testing gives you a much more broader view of his capabilities and skills.

Dynamic Reader Question When Your High Schooler Tests Below Grade Level

Language Arts Consist of 4 Skills.  Then after having received a much more clear picture, it is important for you to understand that language arts consists of basically 4 different skills.  This will help you to hone in on the one or two skills that need immediate help. 

The 4 basic skills of language arts are Grammar, Reading, Writing(Composing), Spelling.

Others come into use too like vocabulary, which generally is best learned within a literature or reading program.  Sharpen the skills that are more vital now.

For example, though grammar is important, it is a tool that helps us to navigate while composing thoughts.  If a highschooler is behind in knowing how to master the basics of composition or how to communicate his thoughts effectively, then he will be hampered life-long.  So what I am saying is that not all skills, even under language arts deserve the same amount of time at this age.

It does not mean that he should not work on them, but give the best or earliest part of his day to the most critical skills that he needs so that he is able to master them quicker.  Spelling too can be learned right alongside what he is writing.  For example, hold him accountable to spell each word correctly that he uses in his essays. 

If you do this, (hold him accountable for each language art skills), you will see that on one essay, he will work on all 4 basic language arts skills more effectively. This is a feat to cover each week and he will make rapid progress.

In addition, an online course where a child can go his pace AND get credit is sometimes the solution. Look at this Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved) course that one of my teens did.

Set A Limit.  I found too in working with highschoolers that having clear cut guidelines as to when something needs to be completed by gives him the encouragement and hope to know that it’s not always going to be like this. 

Most teens like to know clear cut guidelines and a stopping point.  When a teen works with no clear cut goal, though we think we have a goal of catching them up, it’s not a finite goal to them.  Most teens will work harder knowing that they will accomplish their first goal.  Anybody works better knowing they have accomplishments.

If need be, cut the assignments in half and especially if he his quickly catching up.

Highschool Graduation “On Time” is VERY Possible.  I learned a very valuable lesson with my first son that I am now practicing with my second highschooler and that is to have a backup plan. 

With Mr. Senior 2013, I had planned all of his high school courses.  Then when we got side swiped, I didn’t have a back up plan.  We had to step rapidly to finish our set course by high school graduation.

With Mr. Awesome, I felt like I have had the best of both worlds,  which is where I lesson planned 2 years of his high school and used part planned for the other 2 years. 

Using an online school, I didn’t want Mr. Awesome to have the unnecessary stress that Mr. Senior 2013 did in that all his course planning came to a halt when I was at the ICU and taking care of the Mr. during Mr. Senior 2013’s high school years.

So what I am saying is that using a very basic high school program like Penn Foster or American School, where they review remedial skills can be a life saver when needed.  Most easy high school programs like that take only two years to do. 

Again, by using part of my courses I selected along with the ones the online school offered, I feel like Mr. Awesome still has a unique high school experience.  It was the perfect compromise for my situation.

Finite goals by both the online school and your courses gives your teen a goal to look forward to and can help close any gaps in his learning.

Being behind is a very grown up and adult issue.  It does not have to be a negative experience, but can be an experience for rapid growth and maturity in how to deal with what comes at us as adults.

Too, don’t forget learning doesn’t stop at high school graduation.

It has been my experience in helping hundreds and hundreds of homeschoolers that these kids are bright, caring and motivated when giving the right reason to be. 

He is not studying language arts just for the sake of catching up, but he is studying language arts because he needs those coping skills as an adult. 

And oh good grief, if I could only answer your questions without writing an online book then I would be happy.  I hope this helps you. 

Give your son a lot of praise, a great big hug and working hard never hurt anybody, but builds strength, character and determination.

You’ll love some of these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,