1850-MOD - Weeks 1 & 2 (including studying the States)

[Marie]

1850-MOD - Weeks 1 & 2 (including studying the States).

[Julie in MN]

What a fun 2 weeks of learning -- singing & playing a game!

Week 1 - Patriotic song

(1) This song is also on the Adventures CD (Celebrate America by Twin Sisters). The Adventures CD includes all 3 verses (only the first verse is on the 1850MOD CD), and also has a small drawing of the 15 stars & 15 stripes flag inside the lyrics booklet. Might be worth digging out if you have the Adventures CD around.

(2) If you scroll down to the last section of this page http://lessonplanspage.com/LAMusicMusic ... ks210.htm/ , you'll find lists of some of the vocabulary in each verse of the song, with quick definitions to discuss with your kids.

Week 2 - Patriotic song

I wanted to find a version that was a little more of a folk song, like I remember it as a kid. So, I had ds listen to it sung by its author, Woody Guthrie, on utube (with an added country twang ). It was also done by his son, Arlo Guthrie. The most singable one we found by Arlo was with the Boston Pops Orchestra (if you don't mind the Moses look) -- it was on utube.

Week 1 - Prep for the game

For those teaching one child, don't forget to make an extra copy of the game cards for the parent to play with the child. (1st edition)

I didn't have matching yellow cardstock, so I wondered whether I needed to make two copies in the same color of cardstock, or whether I could mix a set of yellow cards and a set of white. After playing this game now, I think it could work either way. However, it would be less distracting if the cards were all the same color, since you are already keeping track of lots of different groups (northern states, southern states, etc).

Week 2 - Game Rules with full deck

When you get to the end of week 2, you are playing the game with over 50 cards per person & it's quite the game. Here are a couple of details that we decided on as we gained experience with the game:

* Find a roomy place to play, so you can lay out all different runs of cards.
* Adjust the rules to allow an occasional state to be added on top of a run, like a crossword puzzle with words both across & down. For example, my son had 2 Hawaii cards & no possibility of getting rid of them because both of the Californias were attached to just one other card, & it was Arizona.
* We allowed a copy of the words to the "middle states" song to be used during the game, since the song order was somewhat random so we might know where the state was in the US but not in the song. The words to the songs are printed on the edge of the giant map that comes with the CD.

[LA in Baltimore]

We finished EX1850 a few weeks ago and it's on to 1850MOD! The first 2 weeks were fun -- learning the states using songs & games. My son passed his 50 states post-test at 100%! Even *I* finally know those teensie Eastern states (sorry to you East coasters, but your states are HARD!).

Have fun!

Us teensie Eastern states don't take any offense, Julie...
as long as you remember we might be small, but we are BIG on American History.
It's only hard for you because you don't live here.
We think all those rectangles are hard to learn!

[mom2boys]

We had a fun 2 weeks learning the states. I agree with Julie's "even I know those teensie Eastern states now". My 10 year old was most improved of the family. I gave 1 pt. for knowing the state and 1 pt. for knowing the correct Postal abbrev. He scored in the low 30's on the pretest and 89 on the post test! He only forgot one state. The rest were incorrect postal abbrev. Wow! What an improvement.

For the game we did it a bit different than Julie and just let Hawaii and Alaska be a separate match.

We also did the optional Colonial review & recipes. I think we found 2 new recipes to add to our regular meals. Corn chowder - I already make this but this one is much healthier than mine - and Ham with Cherry Sauce. I was really surprised my 10 & 13 year old boys chose to make these over the desserts, but they were a hit with everyone in our family! I think this will be a fun part of our year.

We took Julie's suggestion and listened to Arlo sing the week 2 patriotic song on YouTube as the one on the CD was a little to "jazzy" for my memories of this song. The funny/sad side is that someone had posted alternative words to the song about private property and that is what my boys have gone around the house singing.

We off to a good start this year! Thanks MFW!

[cbollin]

Hello! In week 2 of 1850 to Modern times, we are encouraged to pray for the legislative branch of government. I was going to have my kids send letters of encouragement like we did in week one to the President, but since there's an election brewing (and I do mean brewing), I'm not sure to whom they should send them? Is anyone else doing this? Would you send them to all the candidates, or the ones you're endorsing? Any other thoughts/ideas on the subject? I think it's a great exercise to teach or children the importance of participating in our government!

Blessings!
Dorinda

That's an interesting question to think about. I mean, we're not scheduled to do 1850MOD (again) in my family until the 2012 election. oh boy.... oh boy. what to do?

here's the logical side of my brain answering and is just one way to consider it. Given how close it is to the November mid term elections (right at a month), I think I would hold off on sending the letters until after the election. Then, you send it to the winner. Or you could wait until January during swear-in to send it.

Also, for a candidate that you support, send a letter now to encourage. You might even get last might campaign letters to send more money, or even to be asked to have some kind of local participation to get out the vote for the person. Or you could offer, if those are things your family has a passion about.

But in terms of praying for legislative branch, I'd wait on those letters that you wish to write until post election given just how close it is to Nov. I would change the focus a tiny bit to pray for the elections in general.

We were thinking about that too Crystal. It is an interesting thought. I don't necessarily want to tell my children WHO they should support when they're older. But, I think it's important they know WHY we support who we do now. Does that make sense?

At any rate, I feel like if we either send the letters now, and we have to send them to everyone (as a lesson on praying for people we don't necessarily agree with), or wait and send them to those who are elected.

I'll let you know what we decide!

looking forward to hearing how it works out.

There's praying for all. and there's whether or not they get a letter.

story time...
I remember when I just decided to start serving Jesus. I was in college, my freshman year, and was attending church with some people in my dorm. They had a car and could go off campus. ooohhhh. anyway, There was this one Sunday, near the primary election, where the pastor went off of the standard service structure.

He asked this guy to come forward. He was up for re-election to the US House of Reps and even getting interested in a run for the office of President. I still remember the gist of the pastor's words before praying. he started off reading 1 Timonthy 2:1-3. He said "This isn't a time to say to to vote for or against. Or to comment on his opinions. This is a time to pray for our brother in Christ who is a member here and in town."

so we all prayed for him and prayed out of 1 Tim. then he sat down.
-crystal

[TrustingHim]

I think our pastor said something like, if we should pray for ANYONE, we should be praying for our politicians. They need it the most.

That's a great story Crystal ! And absolutely true.

Blessings!
Dorinda

[1974girl]

My $.02-
I am not doing that year MFW but if it said to send words of encouragement, then I'd only send it to the ones I want to encourage. BUT....I could send a note to them saying I am praying (I wouldn't be lying...I pray that they'll change their mind all the time!) Or "You were prayed for today". Anyway, we are to encourage our "brethren" and pray for our "enemies". We shouldn't encourage wrong behavior! So if you are to encourage people, then I'd send it to your guys.

[Mommyto3boys]

Did anyone else's kids have trouble with these? Maybe it's just the song. That threw us all for a loop here. Kentucky-West Virginia, Kentucky-Indiana, Kentucky-Illinois

Do you have any other good ideas for learning these states? I found a few online states games that we've been using. Any other ideas? Thank you

My boys have enjoyed the game, Stack the States, on the ipad. It has been helpful for learning the states, capitals, and other information about the states. Also, a puzzle of the United States has helped them.

HTH,
Debbie in NC
Mom to 3 ds (12, 9, and 7) and 1 dd (4)

[Julie in MN]

First of all, I got out everything around the house about the states -- games, flashcards, online activities, puzzles, etc. I think one of the online ones was from Seterra (I know we used their world game, but I think we used the US part for states?). I'm sure there are also flashcards online, at Quizlet & such.

We also talked about different clues, chatting as we thought it through.
- Shapes, like Louisiana is an L and Michigan is a mitten.
- Pairs, like North & South Dakota, the Carolinas, the Virginias.
- States touching the Mississippi River, & that also helped us remember which states are "not" touching the Mississippi.
- States on the routes we take (or would take) to visit different family members.
- Some of the other ideas in the guide, like the 4 corner states, and the states touching our own.

Julie

[momofsix]

Also, a puzzle of the United States has helped them.

Oh, I just remembered we have a magnetic US puzzle! Where did I put it?? Hopefully all the pieces are there!

I think one of the online ones was from Seterra (I know we used their world game, but I think we used the US part for states?).

Thanks for the lead

Thanks for the ideas
We'll keep practicing!

[Calicokat7]

Suggestion if you've got more than 2 kids playing this game together. .....have each kid put a unique colored mark (i.e., yellow star, or purple heart) on their deck of cards. It helps when you're finished and trying to clean up with 5 kids and 5 decks! One of my kiddos had hers marked like above and she was the first done.

[Julie in MN]

Does anyone have a good way to help our kids remember the 50 states and their locations? I see quite a few songs on youtube, but most of them are rhyming or alphabetical, which doesn't help with location. Thank you.

What year are you in? MFW teaches those in 1850MOD, using a CD of songs, a set of blank maps, and card games that are in the student sheets. Will that work?

Julie

[4Truth]

You also cover the 50 states in Adventures, if your children are all younger.

[momonthemove]

This isn't exciting or flashy, but my kids would always have a notebook in the car on long car trips and they would ask how to spell the states. That's how our love of the states started. Then, I printed off a blank map and made them write them in. They know their states and still love filling in blank maps. LOL

[klewfor3]

When my son was 8 I downloaded an app to our ipad called Stack the States. It was highly recommended by a number of people. He enjoyed playing it and that's about where it stopped for that year.

This year, my now 9 year old, stunned me when we were doing exploring countries and cultures and we had to start learning the states (they give you a blank map to work with). Day 2 with me trying to figure out the best way to learn the states, my ds asked if he could "just try it by himself".....five seconds later I sat there with my jaw hanging as he correctly identified each state. What was really crazy was that we had never worked on that together before...and he didn't know them in any particular order, just by the state SHAPE!

I can't sing the praises of that game any more than just to say it is FANTASTIC! It sure saved my ds and I a load of "boring" work as I had no ideas myself how to make it fun. Plus he is so proud that he shocked me...it was DEFINITELY worth the 99 cents I paid for it. Not sure if you can download it to your pc....but it would be worth checking out!

Hope this helps!
Kathy
Mom of Tyler 9, Paige 6, and Brooke 5
Homeschooling for my 2nd year!

[cjgrubbs]

A Journey Through Learning has just released a new lapbook on the topic of Chemistry geared for grades 2-7. It was only $10 and I think it might be a nice addition to use during the first 6 weeks of 1850 to Modern. I went ahead and ordered it to use at our house as my kids like lapbooks!

Just a suggestion for those might like to add an inexpensive hands on activity! I've been trying to keep the kids out the box we rec'd in the mail this week. My 6 year old just proclaimed that school this year is soooo boring but that (pointing to new box of MFW books) looks so fun! I hope his enthusiasm holds!