Second Grade, History, Set Seven

We started with chapter 74 from Child's History. This chapter covers:

• Frederick the Great
• Maria Theresa
• Seven Years War

In addition we read:

• A Brief Political and Geographic History of Europe by Frances E. Davey -- actually we just looked at the pictures of Frederick and Maria Theresa on page 44.
• Ten Queens by Milton Meltzer -- we read the chapter about Maria Theresa, which also talked a little about Frederick the Great.
• Austria by Deborah Grahame -- we looked at the pictures and read short excerpts.
• Can't You Make them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz -- this book is available on an audio cd, so we listened to it while we were driving, and K. followed along in the book. It is interesting, informative, and short -- perfect for kids.
• Captain Cook, Pacific Explorer by Ronald Syme -- this book was very interesting. It covered Cook's life from the time he was eight years old to his death.
• The World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster -- this is the first of this series of books that I have actually read. I really wanted to read it to K. because it covered so many people/events we have read about and showed how they fit together and included some that we had not read about yet. This book was interesting to K. I let her color and draw or eat while I read it. She stopped me sometimes to ask what a word meant or to comment on something. I read about 50 pages each day and we finished it in a week.

Chapter 75 from Child's History covers:

• George III
• American Revolution
• Taxes
• Benjamin Franklin
• George Washington
• Thomas Jefferson / Declaration of Independence
• Lafayette
• Lord Cornwallis
• General Greene

In addition we read:

• Where was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz -- another audio book. Reading so many books, we start "bumping" into events that we've already read about and are able to "weave" a better understanding of the time. For instance, it mentions in this book that Patrick Henry met Thomas Jefferson at a house party. Well, we read about that in Tom Jefferson in the last set of weeks, so we had more information about it.
• Daniel at the Siege of Boston by Laurie Calkhoven -- this is a story about a fictional character, Daniel, in a factual situation. A lot of the books I've picked up are about the siege of Boston, and so we are getting a good understanding of it from many directions.
• Emma's Journal by Marissa Moss -- another book about the siege of Boston. Emma is sent from the country to be her Aunt's maid during the siege and is able to help the Sons of Liberty.
• Thomas Jefferson for Kids by Brandon Marie Miller -- we are using this book for some activities.
• We made the game "The Royal Game of the Goose". The Jefferson family enjoyed playing this game. We have played it once. It was fun. I think we will play it again. Here is a link to a printable version.
• We made a Compass Rose. Instead of painting with colors, K. painted with glue and then we spread colored sand on the glue. You have to do one color at a time, letting the glue dry between colors.
• We learned a new word game, "I love My Love with an A". To play this game the first person says, "I love my love with an A. I took him (or her) to the sign of the Arrow, and I treated him to Apples." The next person does the letter B, and so on through the alphabet. The phrase "sign of the . . ." referred to the sign on a restaurant or tavern.
• We were going to make the Macaroni and Cheese recipe for our celebration dinner on our last day of school, but we just discovered the K. is lactose intolerant, so we decided not to.
• Why don't you get a horse, Sam Adams? by Jean Fritz -- the true story of how Samuel Adams finally learned how to ride a horse.
• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz -- a witty book about the harrowing details and narrow escapes during Paul Revere's midnight ride.
• The Story of the Declaration of Independence by Normal Richards
• George Washington by Augusta Stevenson
• John's Story: 1775 by Joan Lowery Nixon -- this book deals with Governor Dunmore freeing the slaves if they would fight with the British.
• Did It All Start with a Snowball Fight? by Mary Kay Carson -- I used this book to learn about the end of the American Revolution, pages 27 - 29.
• If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution by Kay Moore
• Thomas Jefferson: Author of Independence by Anne Colver
• Meet Thomas Jefferson by Marvin Barrett
• What Are You Figuring Now? by Jeri Ferris -- a story about Benjamin Banneker
• The Winter at Valley Forge by James E. Knight
• Five Smooth Stones: Hope's Diary by Kristiana Gregory -- we learned about life during the time period, but the book does not have a conclusion
• Guns for General Washington by Seymour Reit -- this is about Henry Knox getting the big guns from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in order to break the British siege of Boston.
• Phoebe and The General by Judith Berry Griffin
• John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor by Armstrong Sperry
• Benjamin West: Gifted Young Painter by Dorothea J. Snow
• Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry

Notes:

1. The easy reading books I assigned for K. to read on her own.
2. We still have the last three books to finish, but then that is a reason we homeschool -- so learning is confined by walls or days.