8 week plans

We are doing 1 and 2 simultaneously for a total of 8 weeks:

1)
A) Mythology (6 weeks)
Mythology D'Aulaires (this is my spine) Mythology (just a visual aid) Ancient Greece unit (unit study work) Greek myth mini books (just a little extra to add to the lessons) 

Mythology D'Aulaires activity print out Greek Gods family tree, print out images, place in proper places on the tree. (need poster frame).

B) Family Tree (2 weeks)
The Kids Family Tree (super excellent book!) - activites in the book

2)
Geography (8 weeks) 
The Complete Book Of Maps and Geography (spine). Geography Of The World, Everything you need to know about geography homework, Geography Wizardly For Kids List of activities.

Netflix videos will be added here:

Then we are off to explore Ancient History...

USA and STATE HISTORY:

I was recently informed that I have to come up with USA and state history this year. I REALLY am not interested in exploring this at any depth this year. We have enough on our plate for our first year return to homeschooling.
I have decided to have the kids explore a state for a week. Main goal is to memorize where it is on a map and have at least some background knowledge on each state. That should be a free and easy lesson plan to configure.
There are plenty of resources at the library, online, Netflix... have the kids do artistic activities to create the states shapes - to help cement what each state looks like, to make it easier to identify on a map.

I will list materials used for this:

Geography

draft...

Family Tree

History Lesson Plans

theme: family tree's (2 week study)

Monday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 4- 11

introduce vocab words pg 25
ancestor                       genes
archives                       head of household
auto biography              immigrant
biography                     maiden name
census                         maternal
descendant                   paternal
emigrate                       pedigree
fraternal                      relatives
genealogy                    sibling
generation                   spouse
                                  surname

Create a history notebook. Take notes on the info inside the book.

paint / draw a picture of themselves and other family members - write a few words around each person to describe them (talents, medical, looks, etc) - compare the differences and similarities.

Online activities: show them websites such as http://www.ancestry.com/  and even family on Facebook that live outside of the state.

Make a family history book - scrapbook (details) - but first, do research: will need a notebook, folder, and box (for anything given to you during the research phase).

Tuesday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 12-26

Do the activity on page 12

Online activities: look at birth announcements, marriages, divorces, obituaries in newspaper or online
Take a walk to the cemetery

Take notes for history notebook. Place images of different kinds of family tree graphs (this will also tie into math class where we are also studying types of graphs today).

Interview your parents and siblings for your family tree research.

study vocab words

Wednesday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 27-39

** page 28 has some interesting ideas that could be used for taking study notes. **

study vocab words

take notes for history notebook

Do activity on pg 30

Do activity on pg 34

Online activities: type in persons name for general search, vital records, census records

Thursday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 40-48

online activity: learn about Ellis Island http://ellisisland.org/ and Angel Island http://aiisf.org/
                      name genealogy: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/
                      coat of arms - learn about and look up ours
                      http://www.yourchildlearns.com/heraldry.htm
                      http://www.archives.com/genealogy/family-history-coat-of-arms.html
                                           

History notebook: Angel Island and Ellis Island Images for notebooks.
                          List family names and their genealogy
                          list or put pics up of foods / recipes of our ancestry
                          take notes
                          make a coat of arms pg51

Friday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pg 53-59

online activity:
                                           

History notebook: take notes
                         

Weekly Goals and Notes:

• This book "The Kids Family Tree Book" will take two weeks to complete. 
• do a time capsule the end of the two weeks.
• After this, do a brief week long exploration of Ireland and England (ancestry)
• Then jump into geography briefly 
• Finally, start on our History Odyssey (Ancients - level 1)

Monday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 60-70

Tuesday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 71-80

Wednesday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 81-90

Thursday

Read: The Kids Family Tree Book pgs 91-95

Friday

2013: Family Scrapbook

This will tie into history lessons, why history is important, how people research history...

• Put a picture of "child on first page - inside of first page, put the family tree graph.  

Second page - parents on top of page and the children of those parents below (oldest to youngest).
Third page - parents of those parents and their kids pictured below.
The organization can get complicated - so I will let the kids kind of have some say here.
Do they want pages for uncle /aunts - neices/nephews.
How do they want to organize maternal and paternal sides of the family.
I think this problem solving will help them analyze the parts of the family and how they fit together.

• The kids will eventually write about the family members (ask other family members for imput, when needed). 
• Put in maps of where people lived.
• "family treasures" - recipes...

Mythology

Mythology Lesson Plans

Monday

Read: "D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths" pgs 9-15
(Olden Times, Gaea - Mother Earth, The Titans)

Introduce the kids to the "Mythology" book and have them start a mythology notebook.
I need to collect printables for this. Have them color and paste them in their notebooks. ALong with their own notes about the book we are reading.

Keep a family tree of the "Gods" (this will tie into our history lesson).

Show the kids (just to look it over) the "World Mythology" book. Show that there were/are "creation" and "myth" stories all over the world. If I have time... pick out a few key elements from each one to discuss and label a map of the places where these myths come from.

Create the first mini book from the workbook - and do the vocab pg6

Tuesday

Read: "D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths" pgs 16-23

(Zeus and his family)

Wednesday

Read: "D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths" pgs 24-27

(Hera)

Thursday

Read: "D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths" pgs 28-29

(Hephaestus)

Weekly Goals and Notes:

• *D'aulaires' book will be a 45 day study. After it is complete - start on the "Ancient Greece" workbook (should take two weeks).