OLD HOMESCHOOLERS NEVER DIE . . . THEY JUST WRITE CURRICULUM


"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants."

Deuteronomy 32:2

Courses of Study

To view the Course of Study for each grade level, you can click on the "Course of Study" label
or "Search This Blog" for the specific grade level you wish to see.
To date, I have courses of study completed for kindergarten through fourth grades.

Newsletter Articles

In 2013 the Lord started me producing a newsletter for the homeschool group we are a part of. Every other month I write an article on a topic the Lord has put on my heart. I've decided to add these articles to this blog. I hope you will find encouragement through some of my ramblings. You can click on the label "Newsletter" to find the articles.

Friday, October 16

Fourth Grade, Math, Set Six

I discovered a series of math books at the library. The series is called Real World Math. The book we used in this set was Estimating with the Newspaper by Dawn McMillan. We took three days to read through the book and solve the math problems. It was fun. I've requested more books from the series for our seventh set of weeks of fourth grade. There are different levels of books for different grades.

Saturday, October 10

Fourth Grade, History, Set Six

Covering the years 1907 - 1913

Child's History - chapter 83 on the Industrial Revolution

Oklahoma admitted to Union

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established
  • The FBI by Terry Collins
  • The Story of The FBI by Jim Hargrove
Model T Ford invented
  • The Story of Henry Ford and the Automobile by Zachary Kent
William Howard Taft elected President
  • The Tafts by Cass Sandak
  • William Howard Taft by Mike Venezia
Robert Peary reached North Pole
  •  Polar Adventures by Catherine Nichols
  • Peary & Henson: The Race to the North Pole by Baron Bedesky
  • Robert Peary by Kristin Petrie
Boy Scouts was created
  • Boy Scouts of America by Robert Birkby
Standard Oil Company vs. United States
  • John D. Rockefeller by Susan E. Hamen -- pages 52 - 72 cover this
Indianapolis 500 first held
  • Xtreme Races Indianapolis 500 by S.L. Hamilton
  • Indy Race Cars by Janet Riehl
  • The Indy 500 by Mark Stewart
New Mexico admitted to Union
Arizona admitted to Union

RMS Titanic sank
  • On Board the Titanic by Shelley Tanaka -- very good book; I highly recommend reading this one
  • What Sank the World's Biggest Ship? and Other Questions About The Titanic by Mary Kay Carson
Woodrow Wilson elected President
  • Woodrow Wilson by Mike Venezia
  • Edith Wilson: The Woman who Ran the United States by James Cross Giblin -- I highly recommend reading this book; it was very interesting
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments to the US Constitution
  • The Constitutional Amendments by William Loren Katz -- this book looks boring, but it has just a few paragraphs and an illustration about each constitutional amendment. Highly recommend
Henry Ford developed the modern assembly line
  • Model T: How Henry Ford Built a Legend by David Weitzman -- great information and illustrations about the assembly line. We found out that it moved 72 inches a minute, so we measured out 72 inches and K tried to walk it in one minute. She had to try a couple times in order to walk it that slowly.
  • Economics Through Infographics by Karen Latchana Kenney -- pages 14 and 15
Federal Reserve System formed
  • Nickels, Dimes, & Dollars: How Currency Works by R.V. Fodor -- pages 46 to 50
 I stumbled across a series of books called Amazing Decades in Photos. It begins with the 1900s, and has one book per decade with two pages of information and illustrations for each subject. The books are 50 - 60 pages each. The author is Jim Corrigan.

Fourth Grade History, Set Five

Covering the years 1899 - 1906

American Samoa was occupied
  • Territories and Possessions by Thomas Aylesworth -- there were a few paragraphs on pages 78 and 79 about American Samoa becoming a U.S. territory
  • Samoans! by June Behrens -- easy reading, lots of pictures
Newsies Strike
  • American Story page 187
  • The Journal of Finn Reardon: A Newsie by Susan Bartoletti -- we didn't get this read, but it looks interesting
Boxer Rebellion
  • The United States in the Spanish-American War by Don Lawson -- pages 117 - 129 (first complete paragraph) and 121 (last complete paragraph) - 122 (first complete paragraph) are about the Boxer Rebellion and it leading to the Russo-Japanese War. It is written for older students, but we talked about what it meant
 Galveston Hurricane of 1900
  • World's Worst Hurricanes by Janey Levy -- has a couple pages about hurricanes and a page about Galveston's hurricane
  • Hurricane Harry by Kathryn Lay -- fiction book about kids in a hurricane on Galveston; we did not get it read
Theodore Roosevelt
  • Theodore Roosevelt by Mike Venezia
  • The President's Daughter by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley -- very good book; I highly recommend reading this book aloud as a family
  • Teddy Roosevelt by Edd Winfield Parks
  • The First Teddy Bear by Helen Kay
  • Young Teddy Roosevelt by Cheryl Harness -- good book; covers his life in a picture book format
The First Rose Bowl Game
  • Rose Bowl by Lauren Diemer -- it has a couple pages about the first Rose Bowl game
Henry Ford
  • We'll Race You, Henry by Barbara Mitchell -- easy reading, lots of illustrations, covers his life and inventions
  • Henry Ford and the Model T by Michael O'Hearn -- graphic style book
  • Henry Ford by Erika L. Shores
 The First World Series
  • The World Series: Baseball's Biggest Stage by Matt Deoden -- read pages 7 - 10, which tell how the first world series game came about
Wright Brothers
  •  Sky Pioneers: The Story of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Jeanne LeMonnier Gardner
Panama Canal Zone
  • Building the Panama Canal by Dale Anderson -- chapter 3 is about the U.S. getting possession of the Panama Canal Zone; depending on your child's age, you can read it all or pick and choose sections to read
 St. Louis World's Fair
  • Ice-Cream Cones for Sale! by Elaine Greenstein -- a book about the invention of the ice cream cone
  • Meet Me in St. Louis by Robert Jackson -- we read chapter 1 and then looked at the pictures in the rest of the book
  • Meet Me in St. Louis -- we watched the movie with Judy Garland; it doesn't show a lot about the fair, but it does communicate how excited people were about the fair
 Russo-Japanese War
  • The Russo-Japanese War 1904 - 05 by A. Ivanov -- this book seemed to be mostly about their uniforms. It has great illustrations.
 Food and Drug Administration founded
  • The Food and Drug Administration by William Patrick -- pages 29 - 31 are about how the FDA was started
San Francisco Earthquake
  • ,,,If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake by Ellen Levine -- good book
  • The Story of The San Francisco Earthquake by R. Conrad Stein -- a Cornerstones of Freedom book; covers the earthquake very well and is easily understood
  • The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Marc Tyler Nobleman -- a We The People book
  • Earthquake!: A Story of Old San Francisco by Kathleen Kudlinski
  • Lizzie Newton and the San Francisco Earthquake by Stephen Krensky -- a picture book format with a script at the end for a reader's theater; you can even download the sound effects from their website.
 Other People in this time period
  • Marie Curie: Discoverer of Radium by Joanne Landers Henry
  • Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson

Fourth Grade, History, Set Four

Covering the years 1891 - 1898

James Naismith invented basketball
  • The Man Who Invented Basketball by Edwin Brit Wyckoff -- information presented in an interesting manner; lots of photos
  • Hoop Genius by John Coy -- okay book; compared to the first one, the author seems to take some license with the facts; I didn't care for the illustrations
Land Rush
  • The Great Land Rush by Sally Senzell Isaacs -- 1889 - 1895; talks about the land rushes, American Indians, settlers, etc.
Chicago World's Fair
  • Fair Weather by Richard Peck -- a favorite book; we read this one last, so it was fun when it mentioned people or things from the other books
  •  The Summer of Dreams by Dorothy Hoobler -- a fun story with good information about the fair and the time period. There was something at the beginning that made me think that the book was going to push women's rights, but it settled down and was fine.
  • Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis -- good and informative
  • American Sisters: Exploring the Chicago World's Fair by Laurie Lawlor -- didn't get this one read
  • Electrical Wizard by Elizabeth Rusch -- about Nikola Tesla
 Pullman Strike
  • The Pullman Strike of 1894 by Michael Burgan -- a "We the People" series book; easily understood, lots of illustrations
Yukon Gold Rush
  • The Klondike Gold Rush by Marc Tyler Nobleman -- another "We the People" series book
  • A Tale of Gold by Thelma Hatch Wyss -- great book; lots of good information on the gold rush and the time period. It was fun to have a lot of the information in the first book in the story of this book.
  • The Gold Rush Kid  by Mary Waldorf -- did not get this book read
William McKinley became President
  • William McKinley by Mike Venezia -- good book; informative with entertaining illustrations
USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor
  • The Story of The Sinking of the Battleship Maine by Zachary Kent -- this is a "Cornerstones of Freedom" series book; good book -- easily understood with plenty of photos and illustrations. It actually covered the whole Spanish-American war, so I didn't read any other books I'd picked up about the war.
 Spanish-American War
  • The Spanish-American War by Mary Collins -- this is a "Cornerstones of Freedom" series book
  • Battles of the Spanish-American War by Diane Smolinski
  • The Spanish-American War by Kerry A. Graves
  • The United States in the Spanish-American War by Don Lawson -- this book is for upper grades
Republic of Hawaii was annexed
  • Little Princess Ka'iulani by Ellie Crowe -- a simple story about the princess
  • The Last Princess by Fay Stanley -- good book about the princess and the annexation of Hawaii
  • Exploring the Territories of the United States by Linda Thompson -- we did not read this, but I want to come back to it when K. is in high school
 Armenian Massacres and Exiles
  • Armenia published by Lerner Publications -- we read a section on the history of Armenia
  • Rooster Brother by Nonny Hogrogian -- an Armenian folktale
First complete performance of Swan Lake
  • Of Swans, Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers by Violette Verdy