History Based

Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages

August 30, 2014 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I can’t help it. We love geography and we love starting our unit studies off with something about geography when we can. So in preparing the first set of the Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages, I started with a bit of easy geography.

Even easy geography is important to understanding the trek that not only the Cherokee made, but several other tribes took because it helps to build appreciation for the harsh conditions they endured.

Too, because I like big graphics for any age, young grades or middle school, it is good sometimes to add a few notebooking pages to your study because you can use the full page for a map.

You know I have never fallen for the popular homeschooling mentality that lapbooks are just for young learners and notebooking pages for older learners. I always try to incorporate the two types of pages when I can. Don’t limit homeschooling tools like lapbooks and notebooking pages to preassigned ages and you will be able to make a well rounded out unit study.

Back to what I was talking about. I also like to build background information first about any topic. Earlier, I had shared a minibook about the 7 Clans which is a minibook to build appreciation for the culture of the Cherokee.

Then today, I am sharing some notebook pages will which help with understanding about the different types of tribes that lived along the southeastern part of the United States. This will also help to build appreciation for the way they care for the land and depended on it for survival. They were hunters, farmers and they fished.

By locating the tribes on the southeastern part of the United States in their atlas, your children can understand that they lived in log homes, and planted squash, beans and corn in the rich soil. The land they loved and built on was wooded and had rivers. As they worked the land, they enjoyed the bounty provided by it.

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Trail of Tears Unit Study and Lapbook

August 9, 2014 | 13 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Before I tell you about the trail of tears unit study and lapbook that I have planned for fall, I want to say congratulations to Crystal Cook, our grand prize winner of the Explorers Basket.

All I could “hear” were squeals on the other side of my email. Too, I restrained myself from commenting on each reply, which you know is hard for me to do, but wanted you to know that I read each comment.

I value your input because though I may not get to do each suggestion, I sure do try to eventually.

Also, I may be wildly insane for even attempting to prepare the Trail of Tears unit study and lapbook about 14 days before we have to be out of our house and hotel hopping, but I would rather plan and have it than to not plan.

I am just giving you heads up now that this unit study, though I don’t want it to be, may stand half-baked for a while because our huge move overseas is here.

I can’t even begin to tell you all the details that are consuming when you don’t have a forwarding address yet, or will be totally mobile.

Too, I am still transferring files over to my laptop and by the way if you know of a good mini (and I do mean mini) printer that is easy to get cartridges for, let me know.

Back to my unit study, I pushed myself one more time to go ahead and at least get the printables started on this unit study because it really is a time period that I wanted Tiny to study at an older age.

Though we will focus of course on the culture and life of a few different Native American people, I wanted to expose the injustices and ugly side of American history.

Those are teachable moments too of examples that we do not want to be like.

The ugly side of history is something we do not shy away from, but I do wait to talk about it when each of the boys are more middle to high school age.

It’s crazy though how even very young children know when something is not fair and can have empathy for a fellow being.

It’s just when they are older they can value the model lessons.

Also, in preparing my lapbooks, as I talk about in the new The Big Book Of Homeschool Ideas where I am a co-author, one way to keep doing lapbooks for the middle to high school ages is to be sure clip art is not babyish. That is a huge turnoff to the older kids.

That is one aversion I have to many printables and that is the clip art outgrows your crew in about one year. It’s okay for sure if the focus is on the younger crew and sometimes it is.

But I mostly aim for middle to high school because there is so much content for younger kids and not much for hands-on and to keep learning fun through to the upper grades.

I think sometimes finding appropriate clip art is more time consuming than actually doing the unit study, but I find it so worth the time for our kids.

Today, I have two minibooks.

Well, actually one minibook and then a tear shaped printable to use either on the front of your lapbook or inside lapbook as a way to introduce The Trail of Tears.

Trail of Tears silhouette credit: Edees Crafty Corner

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

How To Make An Easy Ink pot & Quill Pen with Berry Ink

April 22, 2014 | 5 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If I do start a series called hodgepodge homeschooling it would include how to make an easy ink pot and quill pen with berry ink that Tiny did today. This is such an easy and fun hands-on activity that can go along with any topic on westward expansion, Lewis & Clark or just the life of a pioneer.

While I worked in the kitchen pricing my items for the moving sale this weekend, Tiny could do most of this on his own. Plus, this easy activity went along with the Free Westward Ho History cards he is memorizing right now.

How to Make an Easy Ink pot

The first thing we did was to make an easy ink pot so that the paint could dry while we made the berry ink.

Here is the list of what we ended up needing:

1 empty plastic bottle.
sharp craft knife.
1 small piece of cardboard.
masking tape.
black acrylic paint/paintbrush.
one sharpie.

Cut the top off the plastic bottle because the top is the perfect size for an ink pot. I actually did the cutting because the knife was just too sharp to let Tiny do it by himself.

Then place the cut lid on the cardboard and trace a circle or template out of the cardboard with the sharpie. The cardboard circle is the bottom of the ink pot. Using the craft knife, cut the circle out. Then start wrapping masking tape around the ink pot and taping the bottom round cardboard piece to the ink pot. We ended up not using the cap that is for the lid.

Then Tiny painted the ink pot with the black acrylic paint and set it aside to dry. How easy was that?

Easy Berry Ink and Quill Pen

The next thing Tiny did was grab some ingredients he thought he would need for the berry ink and quill pen. He was pretty close.

Look at this list for making the berry ink and quill pen.

1/2 to 1 cup berries. We actually had mixed blackberries, blueberries and some raspberries that were overripe in the refrigerator.
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt depending on how much ink you make. We used a full one teaspoon because he used a whole cup of berries. So about 1/2 teaspoon of salt for 1/2 cup of berries is the measurement.
1/2 to 1 teaspoons of vinegar depending too on how much ink you make. Again, we used a full one teaspoon because we used a full cup of berries.
1 feather. A contour feather is better. We had feathers laying around the house from some Native American head dress we had, but you could easily buy one or better yet, send your kids outside to find a couple of feathers.
1 small bowl for mixing.

First, he tried to smash the berries because I knew they needed to be strained and the pulp taken out. It wasn’t too easy and that seemed like too much work to me.

So I pulled out the hand held lemon squeezer and it worked much better. No need to mash, then strain because it’s all done at one time in the hand held lemon squeezer. So we added berries, squeezed and out came the juice and we threw away the pulp. The squeezer took a little bit more time, but I think that process helped Tiny to understand the effort the early pioneers had to put forth to produce ink.

Add the salt and vinegar and stir. That’s it. If it’s too thick, add a wee bit more vinegar. Our concoction came out just right the first time.

The feather required some kitchen shears to cut it to a point.

You probably have most of this stuff laying around your house like we did. It was a fun way for Tiny to spend the morning learning about the early pioneers and Lewis and Clark. He had to try his hand at writing a bit more like Lewis and Clark did. It makes you appreciate how fond Lewis and Clark must have been of journaling because of the sheer effort it took to make ink and then to preserve their writings for generations to come.

GRAB THESE OTHER RESOURCES AND HANDS-ON IDEAS

If hodgepodge homeschooling tastes like this today, we might add it a bit more. No complaints from Tiny or his mom on the fun we had today.

Hugs and love ya,

If you want some other activities to go with an early American history unit study, then grab these other ones too. Free Printable History Board Game – Learning American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp, make soap and make hardtack.

Check out some other fun resources for studying about Westward Ho, Lewis & Clark and Pioneer Life

French Revolution Minibooks

March 12, 2014 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I wanted to give you my next minibooks on our French Revolution Unit Study.

We have been milking this unit study out a bit because of the reading involved and I have been doing some more packing for our move too.

So today, I have minibooks 6 and 7 ready which are minibooks on Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI.

Because there is an abundance of information about these famous historical characters, I didn’t add any information about them.

This is a pretty easy research project for even your middleschooler.

So now, at this point, we have 7 mini books and I think I can squeeze into a few more. We need something about Napoleon Bonaparte too. So download the minibooks below.

And now, on to the party!

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party

What a great launch week!

A big thank you to all of the bloggers who linked up their fabulous posts, full of ideas and inspiration for homeschooling the older years.

And thank you to all of you who stopped by one of our co-hosts’ blogs to read all of the posts that were shared, as well as for liking, commenting, and sharing.

Your favorite post from last week:

Everyone loved Homeschooling Big Kids from Mary at Homegrown Learners. It is a round up of her four most popular posts focusing on teaching your middle grades student.

Our favorites from last week:

Weren’t last week’s posts great? Make sure you take the time to read them.

Eva from Eva Varga liked Coaching Writing with a Writers Workshop by fellow co-host Heather at Blog She Wrote.

She said, “Heather’s post really resonated with me because as a science teacher, I struggle with teaching writing. I have been looking for something fun and creative to put a spark into our writing curriculum and I know this is it!”

Blog, She Wrote: Coaching Writing with a Writer's Workshop

Another favorite of Eva’s was Biology Comedy Hour by Susan at Susan’s Homeschooling Blog.

Susan’s comedy hour was a very creative way to culminate a project. Eva said, “I love the homemade green screen and have added this to my ‘honey-do’ list. I can see so many applications of this in all subject areas.”

Megan from Education Possible was immediately drawn to Cherry Blossoms in Porcelain Vase Art Project by Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.

Megan loved how Jolanthe found inspiration on Pinterest, but took it a step further by taking parts of multiple pins to create her own Asian-themed watercolor project. “I can’t wait to use this project to teach my girls some water color techniques,” Megan said.

Cherry Blossom in Porcelain Vase art project from Homeschool Creations

She also liked Homeschool ‘Mommy Marks’ and Universities by Annie Kate at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Megan appreciated the advice Annie Kate’s gave to homeschooling families looking to have their “mommy marks” supported by a college or university. She said, “I’m going to have to keep very good records!”

French Revolution Lapbook Minibooks

Next, look at the minibooks which come in this free download.

Beethoven and the Revolution
The Guillotine – The French Terror
Timeline of Events Leading up the French Revolution
3 Estates – French Society
Causes of the French Revolution layered book
Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI
What is the Directory, What is the Reign of Terror and What is the Sans Culottes

How to Get the Free French Revolution Lapbook

This is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more.

So, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

Sign up again like you’re resubscribing, but you’re not. You get the freebie instantly when you’re a confirmed follower.

It’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below if you’re not a follower.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you.
►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

Follow Group Boards Linky Party Finishing Strong

Easy Details to Remember & Even Easier Guidelines.

The link up party goes live at 5:00 a.m. CST each Wednesday and stays open until the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m.
Each week we will pick our favorite links as features and share them.
You can link up to 3 posts. Please do not link up advertising posts, or other link ups, or parties. I will remove them. Homeschool related reviews are permitted and of course all topics related to homeschooling middle to high school students.
Grab a button to add to your post after you link up and if you were featured, grab an “I was featured” button.
By linking up with us, you agree for us to share your images and give you credit of course.
That’s it! Glad to have you here and let’s party!

Note: If the link up party is not showing, giving it a second or two to load.

<a href=” https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com”><img src=” https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-Button.jpg” height=”125″

<a href=” https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com”><img src=” https://tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Finishing-Strong-Button-Featured.png”height=”125″

An InLinkz Link-up

French Revolution Lapbook–Minibooks

February 22, 2014 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Start out a unit study or lapbook with something hands-on instead of something that could be boring. Necessary background information on your topic or even studying dates can come after you introduce something engaging.

I want my kids to learn those necessary facts of a topic like the French Revolution, but starting them out on things like the causes of the French Revolution or talking about the 3 Estates of French society may put them to sleep. It may put me to sleep too.

Hands-on Learning First

Make learning palatable by deciding the order you want to present printables and for most kids its normally after you have presented something that hooks them on the topic. It doesn’t have to be a hands-on project. When we started our FBI unit study we popped popcorn and watched a documentary on netflix to kick off our unit study.

That is why I delay some of the printables for the lapbook. So now my kids have had time to play a game about the French Revolution and make something sweet tasting like chocolate sandwiches. It just makes the formal part of learning a little more pleasant.

Today, I have minibooks 4 and 5 for you. The above picture shows you where we are starting to place our minibooks. Of course you can place them the same way or use part of our minibooks and others you find. But my books are pretty easy and I like it that way since we do lapbooks for enrichment.

French Revolution Lapbook

Also, sometimes we add recipes that we did to our lapbook, but Tiny hasn’t decided yet if he wants to add them. Even if you do add it later, you simply rearrange the minibooks.

Book 4 is an open face book to label the 3 Estates. Class distinctions was one of the problems of the French Revolution. The largest class was the common folks and most of them didn’t have the necessities of life, like bread. So we looked up some scriptures about partiality in the Bible and discussed some about equality for all man.

Download Label the Three Estates minibook here.

Book 5 is a small layered book about the causes of the French Revolution. You could add several more causes for the French Revolution than the 3 easy ones I included in this minibook. The French Revolution is certainly a high school topic but chisel it down to make it an elementary or middle school topic like I have done here. It certainly is easier to tweak it down for an age, than it is at times to flesh it out for a highschooler.

Causes of the French Revolution Minibook

Download layered book Causes of the French Revolution here.

We have at least one more hands-on project we did while on this topic and then the next minibooks to complete this topic will come.

Hugs and love ya,

If you missed it:

Grab Book 1 Beethoven & The French Revolution? Minibook

Grab Book 2 French Revolution Unit Study + Beheaded. The Guillotine Mini Book

Grab Book 3 Free Printable Minibook–Timeline of Events Leading Up to the French Revolution

History Based

Trail of Tears Notebooking Pages

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

Trail of Tears Unit Study and Lapbook

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

How To Make An Easy Ink pot & Quill Pen with Berry Ink

How to Make an Easy Ink pot

Easy Berry Ink and Quill Pen

GRAB THESE OTHER RESOURCES AND HANDS-ON IDEAS

French Revolution Minibooks

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party

What a great launch week!

Your favorite post from last week:

Our favorites from last week:

French Revolution Lapbook Minibooks

How to Get the Free French Revolution Lapbook

French Revolution Lapbook–Minibooks

Hands-on Learning First

French Revolution Lapbook

Categories

Archives

History Based

More Trail of Tears Activities

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

How to Get the Free Trail of Tears Lapbook

How to Make an Easy Ink pot

Easy Berry Ink and Quill Pen

GRAB THESE OTHER RESOURCES AND HANDS-ON IDEAS

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party

What a great launch week!

Your favorite post from last week:

Our favorites from last week:

French Revolution Lapbook Minibooks

How to Get the Free French Revolution Lapbook

Hands-on Learning First

French Revolution Lapbook

Footer

Categories

Archives