We hope you and yours have a great Thanksgiving holiday! We’ll be back on Monday, Nov. 26th — see. you then!
The Thanksgiving Story
The Thanksgiving Story by Teri Ann Berg Olsen
Knowledge House is offering this free PDF history of the holiday which includes lots of original Thanksgiving-related documents & stories, including:
The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving, The Mayflower Compact, The First Ever National Thanksgiving Proclamation, Continental Congress Thanksgiving Proclamation, Washington‘s Thanksgiving Proclamation, Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, The First Thanksgiving (from “Stories of the Pilgrims”), Thanksgiving Picture Study, Pilgrim Timeline, Pilgrim Trivia, Thanksgiving Poems, Prayers, Quotations, Scriptures, Worksheets, Activities, and more. Whew!
Click here to go to their download page!
No Prep Math Games Freebies
Here are some quick printable games that help you review multiplication and division facts. All they need is a pencil and dice.
MULTIPLICATION NO PREP GAMES FREEBIE
DIVISION NO PREP GAMES FREEBIE
These downloadable printable games are free on TeachersPayTeachers, but do require you register with the site.
Being a Boy
Being A Boy, by Charles Dudley Warner (PDF ebook)
Today’s resource is this absolutely delightful and entertaining book about the life of a farm boy in New England in the early 1800s. As we go through the seasons of the year, we learn of the hard work, play, holidays, interests and pasttimes of farm boys of the day, and also of their family and community life in those bygone days. Written in the later 1800s with a realistic but warm and nostalgic style, this would make an excellent read aloud, and is also a great “living history” book that captures a glimpse of childhood and rural life in pre-Civil War days. What an eye opener. Highly recommended!
Excerpt:
One of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no experience, though it needs some practice to be a good one. The disadvantage of the position is that it does not last long enough; it is soon over; just as you get used to being a boy, you have to be something else, with a good deal more work to do and not half so much fun. And yet every boy is anxious to be a man, and is very uneasy with the restrictions that are put upon him as a boy.
And a review from a mom from a few years ago when we first featured this story:
Great book! Am nearly finished reading it aloud to my 11 and 12-yr-old sons. They’re enjoying it, and it has helped to increase their vocabulary. Extremely well-written although some sentences are a bit run-on. The author is not just a writer, but a poet, a wordsmith. My sons’ eyes have been opened to the hardships of late-1800 farm life, but also, they joyfully relate to the boyish, wildly imaginative heart of the boy and the self-made adventures he enjoys which transcend generations. The boy freely admits his boyish misbehavings and offers excuses, but the reader knows that the heart means well; it’s just that there’s a huge, wonderful, delectable world all around him to explore and savor, and it continually tugs him away from his chores. All-the-while, though, he is growing (sometimes relunctantly) into the mind and responsibilies of an awkward young man. I hope you offer this again for everyone who missed it. – Karen
To download this PDF ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE and save to your computer. Mac users, press the control key then click the link and save to your mac.
The Gettysburg Address -155th Anniversary
November 19th is the 155th Anniversary of The Gettysburg Address, which President Abraham Lincoln originally gave on November 19, 1863. Educator Larry Ferlazzo has put together a wonderful collection of links to resources, lesson plans, virtual tours and videos in honor of the day on his website. There is loads of great history material here!
CLICK HERE to go to the website!
Crunchy Bunny
Another from Jess at CrunchyBunny.com
Johnny Crow’s Garden
“Johnny Crow’s Garden” (PDF ebook) – By request, today we feature this absolutely delightful vintage children’s picture book illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke, featuring all kinds of animals cavorting in this classic nursery rhyme. Many color plates & black and white illustrations suitable for coloring by little hands.
To download this scanned PDF ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE and “save link” to your computer. Mac user, press the “control” key then click the link and save to your mac.
The First Book of Water
The First Book of Water by Jo & Ernest Norling (PDF ebook) – Today’s resource is a volume in the “Giant Nature Library” series, this GREAT science picture book for young readers all about water – what it is, what it does, why it is so important for all life, and much more. There’s biology, meteorology geology, physics and a whole lot more bundled up in this very informative and wonderfully illustrated text. Again, highly recommended for your homeschooling library!
This is a scanned copy of the original book, and is best viewed on a computer.
To download this PDF ebook, RIGHT CLICK HERE then “save link” to your computer. Mac users, press the “control” key then click the link and save to your mac.
Adventures in Jamestown
Two fun interactive history sites for you today, about the settlement of Jamestown:
In 1606, some 105 adventurers set off from England to try and establish the first permanent English colony in the New World. They settled in what is now the state of Virginia and called their colony first James Fort, and then James Towne, in honor of James I, the King of England. The early years of the colony were nearly a total disaster. Almost half of the settlers died due to poor choices in settlement location, management of resources, and quarrels with the indigenous Powhatan Indians.
What if you were the Captain of the Jamestown Colony? In this simple interactive online game, you can make your own decisions and see where they lead you. Can you do any better than the real colonists? You will have a copy of the London Company’s Instructions to help guide you. Also, you can ask your fellow colonists and the Native Americans for advice. Be careful, though, because some advice is better than others!
CLICK HERE to go to the site
ON THE TRAIL OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, from the National Geographic for Kids website, follows Captain Smith and the other settlers as they journey to the new world and found Jamestown. There’s several mini-games and videos about the challenges they faced in this fun interactive adventure.
CLICK HERE to go to the site
Ancient Greece Unit Study for Kids
Here’s a creative and fun “hands on” unit study on Ancient Greek culture from adventuresinmommydom.org. In this set of studies for younger kids, she offers some great ideas for learning about Greek architecture, the ancient Olympics, Greek mythology, Greek artwork, small arms combat (using Legos) and more. Obviously put together by a mom who loves history, this study has lots of interesting ideas and would be great for primary ages.
CLICK HERE to go to the site!