Term Three Review - Including Book List 2014-2015

We wrapped up our third term of the school year a few weeks back.  Here is the list of our history read alouds for this final term of the 2014-2015 year...

Story of the Oregon Trail by R. Conrad Stein
Pioneer Sampler by Barbara Greenwood
Attack in the Rye Grass by Dave & Neta Jackson
Narcissa Whitman: Brave Pioneer by Louis Sabin
Wagons West, Off to Oregon by Catherine Chambers
West by Covered Wagon: Retracing the Pioneer Trails by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
A Frontier Fort on the Oregon Trail by Scott Steedman
The Stout-Hearted Seven, Orphaned on the Oregon Trail by Neta Lohnes Frazier
Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr
A Nineteenth-Century Schoolgirl, The Diary of Caroline Cowles Richards edited by Kerry A. Graves
**The Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers
By the Great Horned Spoon by Sid Fleischman
California Gold Rush by Catherine Chambers
Elizabeth Blackwell, First Woman Doctor by Carol Greene
Mr. Blue Jeans, The Story of Levi Strauss by Maryann N. Weidt
The Story of Gold at Sutter's Mill by R. Conrad Stein
Snowshoe Thompson by Nancy Smiler Levinson
Abraham Lincoln by James Daugherty

** Indicates books I read excerpts from, not the entire book. 

We didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped this term historically.  But this is OK since we will continue to read aloud over summer.  Some additional books that I have planned are...

All Set Sail by Armstrong Sperry
The True Adventures of Daniel Hall by Diane Stanley
a couple books on the Pony Express, which I haven't settled on yet
Go Free or Die by Jeri Ferris
Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington, 1837-1865 by Cheryl Harness

Below are examples of notebooking pages the kids completed throughout our third term history study....

Check out Term One and Term Two book lists with links to reviews.

Children of the Covered Wagon....Life on the Oregon Trail...

Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr is a sweet story with high adventure telling of pioneers heading west on the Oregon Trail.  Carr has woven her historically accurate tale around three children in a wagon train, Jerry, Myra, and Jim, who's families have set out for the Willamette Valley in 1844.  From the dust jacket flap...

Jerry was not so very big, but he was brave.  Jim was resourceful far beyond his years, and even being captured by the Indians did not daunt him.  Myra was thankful more than once for his quick wit and nimble feet.  

Young and old will delight in this classic novel, first published in 1934.  Levi was enthralled by Bob Kuhn's black and white illustrations, which add to the adventure.  Children of the Covered Wagon is recommended in the TruthQuest History guide and by Veritas Press.  I was blessed to find an old 1943 hardback copy with dust jacket years ago.  However, Carr's book is more readily available as a reprint from Christian Liberty Press.

I'm linking this post the 2015 Back to the Classics Challenge in the Forgotten Classic section. 

Beautiful Feet, History of California...

Beautiful Feet History of California offers a literature approach on the history of the Golden State.  I'm using the guide this year as part of our 1800-1865 American History study, more particularly while studying the settlement of the western region of the United States.  Books used in the guide are:

Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The Cruise of the Arctic Circle by Scott O'Dell
Zia by Scott O'Dell
Patty Reed's Doll by Rachel Laurgaard
Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody
Jessie Benton Fremont: California Pioneer by Marguerite Higgins
By the Great Horned Spoon! by Sid Fleischman
Blue Willow by Doris Gates
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

I do not plan to read all the books recommended in the study this year.  We've read Columbus in the past and did not reread it.  Some of the early exploration material covered in The Cruise of the Arctic Circle we've also covered in the past so we will not be reading it at this time, though possibly in the future.  In the interest of time and ages of the kiddos, I'll be saving Riders of the Pony Express for our second rotation of this time period.  I'm looking instead at substituting other options regarding the Pony Express.  I will also hold off on Blue Willow since it's set in the 1930's and is beyond our time period for this year. 

History of California was designed for use with 4th through 6th graders, though I could see easily adapting it to older grades.  This guide meshes nicely with Beautiful Feet The Western Expansion, which I am also pulling from as part of our history study this year.  It too uses a plethora of wonderful literature. 

Whether you're looking for an in depth study of California or just supplements to your American history westward expansion study, I recommend Beautiful Feet History of California.  I trust Beautiful Feet's literature choices as they've proven to be some of the highest quality literature.  Many of the books recommended by Beautiful Feet are also included in the TruthQuest History guides.  In addition, some of them are Sonlight, WinterPromise, Heart of Dakota, and Veritas Press suggestions. 

Term One Review - Including Book List 2014-2015

After having some minor panic attacks from feeling overwhelmed while planning last summer, I decided to cut back on the number of books we read per term.  Instead, I'm working hard on choosing the best of the best.  There really are many great books and a part of me still longs to read them all...ha!  However, I was starting to feel burn out and that's a bad feeling! 

Thankfully, our kids' favorite subject is still history and I want to continue to fuel that passion.  I believe Beautiful Feet, TruthQuest, Veritas Press, and Sonlight can take much of the credit for this.  Their book lists/suggestions haven't let us down.  I will continue to pick and choose from their recommendations.  Here were our 2014-2015 Term 1 read aloud picks... 

The Story of Eli Whitney by Jean Lee Latham
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry
A Head Full of Notions by Andy Russell Bowen
The Year of the Horseless Carriage by Genevieve Foster
The Louisiana Purchase by Gail Sakurai (Cornerstones of Freedom)
Open the Door to Liberty by Anne Rockwell
Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane
The Lewis & Clark Expedition by Richard L. Neuberger
The Story of Sacajawea, Guide to Lewis and Clark by Della Rowland
The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Peter F. Copeland (Dover Coloring Book)
My Name is York by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk (wonderful picture book about William Clark's slave)
The War of 1812 by Rebecca Stefoff
Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship by David Weitzman
James Madison by Mike Venezia (Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents)
Abigail's Drum by John A. Minahan
Cornstalks and Cannonballs by Barbara Mitchell
The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier
By the Dawn's Early Light by Steven Kroll
Samuel F. B. Morse: Artist - Inventor by Jean Lee Latham
Pioneer Plowmaker: A Story About John Deere by David R. Collins
Mill by David Macaulay - (We started this, but will not finish it at this time.  The kids simply were not interested....and that's OK.  Every now and then this happens.  We usually make an honest attempt, but there are so many great books that I don't push through something they are not ready for.)


We are also doing our notebooks a little different this year.  Rather than printing pages of activities, copywork, and coloring pages, I've resorted to composition notebooks.  I do print an occasional page, but for the most part, Riley and Ruben create their own drawings.  Copywork is taken from our reading.  We like the way they're turning out....

 

After finishing our first twelve weeks of the 2014-2015 school year, we are taking a break this week to refresh, give thanks, and reevaluate our curriculum.  Stay tuned for a few changes I am making....