Did you know that Thomas Edison obtained 2,332 patents worldwide for his inventions? 1,093 of Edison’s patents were in the United States, but other patents were approved in other countries. I think Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Alexander Graham Bell are the most important Americans inventors. Thomas Edison is…
In a civil war, states, not countries, fight. At the time of the America Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the president. When the war ended, 620,000 had died. In addition, the war cost 15 million dollars. So why were they fighting? The south feared that the government would take the…
John Miller and Mary Miller anxiously stared at their message wall, a wall that automatically showed all of their announcements. It read “Gold in California, Chicago, Planet Texas.” In 3160, which was five years before, they had moved to Boston, Illinois, Planet Texas. “Oh no!” explained Mary “Bob will power…
Native Americans will never forget The Trail of Tears. In the late 1820s, more than 100,000 Native Americans lived in southeast America. It had been their home for generations before the white men came. The white men desired this land because they had found gold in Georgia and because they…
Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd president, got a great deal for America! When he became president in 1801, the United States only included the land from the east coast to the Mississippi River. Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France, owned the land on the other side. Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy…
The Declaration of Independence made America free from King George III. Before, English soldiers had reinforced the many taxes. The colonists protested, which resulted in MORE taxes and MORE soldiers. The colonists thought this was not fair because they wanted to be free! A congress with at least one man…
Church was important in Colonial America. Men, women, children, slaves, and Native Americans all sat in their own sections. One sermon lasted 2-5 hours. After lunch, there was another sermon. Nobody could leave church except for lunch until the minister and his wife left. To strictly enforce the seriousness of…
Law and order were vital in colonial America. A person paid a fine for lying, calling somebody a name, or being rude. If someone committed a crime, he was whipped or had his crime burned onto his hand. Others were placed in stocks with a card around their necks with…
In 1775, King George III sent soldiers to Boston and the surrounding cities to reinforce the numerous taxes. There were taxes because King George spent his money furiously fighting in the French and Indian War(a) from 1754 to 1763 and wanted more. The Patriots did not like the taxes. Samuel…
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is George Robert Twelves Hewes. In 1770, I suffered an injury in the Boston Massacre and I took part in the Boston Tea Party in 1773. English colonists did not want to buy English tea, which England had taxed. The colonists angrily thought…
It was a chilly, snowy afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1770. Two anxious British soldiers, who were known as Private John Goldfinch and Captain Hugh White, stood in front of the Statehouse on King Street. The colonists were mad about the taxes that King George the III placed on them. They wanted to…
In 1620, a group of English Puritans, who wanted to freely worship God, boarded the Mayflower to America. Then, the sailors saw dark clouds up ahead! The lightning flashed. The thunder crashed. Wind and waves rocked the boat. The Pilgrims stayed below on the crowded gun deck. The Pilgrims were…
In 1607, more Englishmen went to the New World to find riches. They landed in Virginia, and named the town Jamestown, after King James. The land was a swampy wilderness. The men lazily did not want to work. Captain John Smith said, “No work, No food”. They did not find…
An Indian boy, who saw a young cottonwood sapling, was both happy and surprised to see the tree because there were no other trees around him. But buffalo were coming to drink in the lake next to the tree. Although the tree was planted in rocks, the thirsty beasts would…
Bent’s Fort was a trading post created from adobe blocks, which were (and still are) mud bricks dried in the sun. It had massive wooden gates and was surrounded by a sage brush prairie. At Bent’s Fort, people happily trade furs and trinkets. All people stop at Bent’s Fort, even…
In 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates from each of the 13 colonies met to fix the old government. George Washington, who was president of the convention, had a sun on the back of his chair. Benjamin Franklin wondered if the sun was rising or setting. Many doubted the crumbling old…
Prairie tornadoes, which are very powerful, break things in their path. They quickly slurp up strong wagons and break ox yokes off! The tornado may cut trees in half. A tornado spins like a top across the ground. If you see one, get out of the area! Tornadoes are powerful!
Flames crawl nearer and nearer to the water. There was no escape by land because of fire on each side of the water. Rabbits quickly hopped out of the brush towards the beach, but they didn’t move when a lynx ran past. Two does gallop past timber; a fox and…
Flames crawl nearer and nearer to the water. There was no escape by land because of fire on each side of the water. Rabbits quickly hopped out of the brush towards the beach, but they didn’t move when a lynx ran past. Two does gallop past timber; a fox and…
Summer came. Paddle was halfway up the Michigan coast and lots of things were happening. Cows and horses grazed in green meadows. Cool breezes ruffled the grain and slowly turned windmills. Wagons of hay creaked into old barns. Soon summer turned into autumn, and grapes, corn and apples needed to…
But a lighthouse signaled that help coming! The tired-out men fought towards the new hope of land. A lifeboat slowly crawled towards them. A cord shot towards the boat and caught it. The lifeboat sailed away with the other end. The ship reared up and crashed down. The men ran…
We don’t remember the occasion but it sure was fun to have Letter Pancakes!
Paddle might had been caught in the marsh forever, except that one night no stars came out. Thunder cracked. Lighting split the night like fire. An owl searched for shelter in the forest, ducks gathered their tiny babies under mossy banks, and a muskrat plopped down in a hollow log…
On the first day of school, we always walk to Colonial Cafe for ice cream once we are done with our school work! This year, Caroline (preschool at home) and Paul (3rd grade/4th grade) begged to start school sooner so we could get ice cream sooner!!
For Caroline’s preschool, we explored where our food comes from (and learned about the geography of the world) by making a map on our driveway. As we read How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World, we acted it out as we traveled to the different places that…
We went on a family hike near our home! <2341> We saw an interesting pump. We walked a long way. <2342, 2347, 2357> We saw lots of pretty flowers and plants. <2345, 2349, 2351, 2354, 2355, 2356, 2361, 2367, 2372, 2374, 2375, 2376, 2377, 2379> There were good views too….
Paul is great at helping to make granola! Paul teaches Caroline how to measure. “Can I stir it?” Honey! Then we mix it all in to the oats…. WITH OUR HANDS!
Paul made starburst rocks.
We played a game to practice reviewing the facts we learned about the Coral Reef.
We were sad when Kaleb and Shaylie moved to Utah!
We met with homeschool friends at the library to read poems together.
We drove up to Wisconsin and saw pretty water and light houses. Paul’s pictures to come.
We went to Grandma’s house before Easter so we could decorate Easter eggs! Cousins Noah and Jessica came over too for the fun.
We love to finally get outside to play. Mary loved watching her big sister playing!
Here are the kids gathered at bedtime!
The Robot Book by Heather Brown. This book is a board book about robots. I like this book because it has some parts of a robot and it shows a little of the inside of a robot. It has one flap and moveable gears and arms and tools. It is…
It snowed on 5/16/14. That’s today! I was reading and Caroline looked out the window. Mom came in. “Oh goodness! It’s snowing! ” she said. “It’s snowing?” came a voice. Dad came in next. I looked out the window too. Caroline and I were both looking out the window. The…
Hooray for Bread by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman. This book is about making and eating bread. The bread gets eaten by the baker and his family. Also, dogs and ducks and birds and a mouse eat some bread. The mouse eats a crumb. All of the animals say “Hooray…
Hail! Hail Hail! The hailstorm was on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Dad told me to clean up my room, and then Dad looked out the window. Dad it was going to rain. We could not work in the yard. While I was cleaning up my room, I heard thunder. I…
Can you find the banana in this picture?
Some of the first people were nomads. Nomads did not live in houses or apartment buildings like we do. Nomads lived in caves and tents. Nomads wandered or roamed around instead of staying in one place. Nomads hunted for food. They ate lizards and snakes and fish. They ate fruit…
Here are some maps we made for school. North America South America Pooh Stick Island I have a second Pooh Stick Island! Pooh Stick Island is an imaginary world of mine. It is a big place in real life, but I call it Pooh Stick Island. I pretend that the…
Story the Letter Once upon a time, there was a letter sitting in the window. Then the train took the letter and put it in a box and the train put the box in a treasure chest full of bones. The train put the treasure chest in the caboose of the…
Today I finished my puppets and I did a puppet show for Mom and Caroline! Here it is! (Do you remember my puppet show when I was two years old?)
Tuesday night, I went to a dissection party! Mrs. Williams had a Frog, cricket, starfish, fish, crayfish, pig, and a worm. I saw the frog’s heart, dissected a cricket and worm, and saw the pig’s spinal cord. The starfish was hard. Mom cut out the crayfish eyeballs. I liked it because it was…
Viking Ships at Sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne. At the beginning of the book, it was 5 A.M. In this story, Jack and Annie went to ancient Ireland. In ancient Ireland, to make a book, they needed sheepskin, goose quills, earth and plants. They saw Vikings and monks. The Vikings came…
Last week, we learned about butterflies and caterpillars. I got to see a caterpillar. It was in a jar. It was sticking to the top of the jar because it was making a cocoon. It will be a butterfly. We went into the backyard and saw the plants. Here is…
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Ralph is a mouse. Keith is a boy. Ralph and Keith meet in a hotel. Keith gives Ralph a motorcycle. It is a toy motorcycle. If Ralph makes a sound, it moves! I like this book because at the end of the book, Keith…
