Hi and welcome to our week on Alabama! We’ve just finished learning all about the northeastern United States in our Road Trip USA curriculum, now we’re starting on the southeast!
Here are some of the things we learned about this week:
- Located Alabama on our wall map
- Read our National Geographic Atlas and located Montgomery, AL using the map coordinates.
- Worked on our 50 States and Capitals song
- Learned about the state bird: The Yellowhammer
- Learned about the state fish: The Tarpon
- Classified the animals of Alabama
- Learned about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Learned about Helen Keller, and tried our hand at reading braille.
- Visited the Middle Bay Lighthouse
- Made our own version of a light house
- Continued reading If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy
- Food: Tried some yummy pulled pork bbq sandwiches and peach cobbler! (Recipes in the Road Trip USA curriculum)
Here are some of the things I managed to get pictures of for the week!
Each week we learn about some of the state facts and fill in a worksheet to add to our US Geography notebook. Here is Turbo’s Alabama page:
I started putting up a white board for each state so we can quickly review the facts to help us learn them.
The Teeny Tot likes to be involved so we let her help Strawberry Shortcake add our state animals to our classification wall.
We ordered a free braille card from www.afb.org ahead of time. When we hit Alabama, we learned about Helen Keller, then I pulled it out so the kids could get a sense of what it is like to try and read it. They were amazed that people can learn how to do that and I think it really got the point across much better than me trying to describe it to them.
We added Alabama to our map.
We also added the state to our bulletin board collection. I find these cards nice because they have the shape of the state, the capital, and any main items the state is known for which make them great for a quick review. (I apologize, I haven’t been able to find this anywhere, I’ve had it for a few years and I’m not sure if they still make it or not. It’s made by Creative Teaching Press if that helps your search. )
We took some time to look online at the Middle Bay Lighthouse. It’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975! I love the unusual hexagon shape of the lighthouse, and since it’s completely surrounded by water it is only accessible by boat!
After learning a bit about the lighthouse, we did a fun and easy light house craft. (This craft and instructions and template are included in the Road Trip USA curriculum.)
Of course we made sure to stamp passport with the state flag to commemorate our visit to the great state of Alabama!
And that wraps up our Alabama study! If you’d like to come along with us on our Road Trip USA journey, click the image below to learn more!
This curriculum looks so fun. I am so happy to see kids love learning. Sometimes I think I am doing something wrong. I’m working on it though. So, how do you do it with the same subject and many ages? Do you just let them do what works for them?
They all do the same things, they just do them at different levels. So I expect better quality of work out of my older ones, but really they can all do everything.
Do you do all these activities on one day, or do you space out learning the state over a whole week?
KIds would probably also be excited to learn that Huntsville is home to Space Camp: http://www.spacecamp.com/
there will be a movie on ABC on Sunday 29 January about a special needs class that goes to space camp – true story. My daughter (and many other folks we know) are extras in the film
I am from Canada and I love this study of the states, I wish I could find one like this for Canada!!! Is anyone else from Canada and have found a similar study for our country??
Melissa,
I just came across this homeschooling site today and read your comment and felt compelled to write. I am from Canada as well. Have you heard of Donna Ward? She has EXCELLENT resources for a study across Canada. http://www.donnaward.net is her site. I have personally used Canada, My Country and just last week ordered Geography, Province to Province. She also lists recommended books to use with her books for a complete curriculum. I LOVE resources. Go check them out.
Hi Erica! I get so excited about your studies everytime you post! I am thinking about curriculum for this coming year. We will have a 1st grader and Kinder. Are they old enough for either the Expedition Earth or the Road Trip US? My original thought was Road Trip US because we are missionaries and will be traveling quite a bit this coming year as we raise support! Thought it might be a great way to learn about some of the places we might see! But I wanted to ask what ages work the best for your curriculum! Thanks so much for all you do! My preschooler loves your stuff and I am a very thankful mom! =-)