We love studying about American history. It has quickly become one of our favorite subjects! For the last few weeks we have been working on a fantastic hands-on history program. Make-a-State, which is part of the Activity-Paks, from Home School in the Woods has been so much fun to use!
I have used Home School in the Woods products in the past and have really loved them. They are a Christian based company and of course homeschoolers themselves!
Activity-Paks have all of the projects that you will need to complete a lapbook. I love that they include step by step instructions so that even someone who has never completed a lapbook can do it easily. Other than Make-a-State, they offer others such as The Old Testament, The New Testament, Composers, and Artists.
In the Make-a-State Activity-Pak your student will have a great hands-on activity to accompany their text. The students will basically be constructing lapbooks for each state that they want to study. If you are new to homeschooling or have never heard of lapbooks, let me explain a little bit about what they are. A lapbook is kind of like a collection of little pieces of information, which are called mini-books, and they are all combined together to make one big book. This is normally done by using file folders. They can be very fun, and you can get very creative with them. Lapbooks can be used for almost any subject and also for any age. I love them because in our house, they turn into a wonderful study tool, but it's also something tangible that the kids have made, and can go back and review it at any time.
This Activity-Pak will include these activities:
- Key State Facts
- Origin of State Names
- State Motto
- State Symbols
- State Song
- State Wildlife
- Regions
- State Geography
- State Government
- State Seal and Flag
- State History
- Famous People From...
- Native Tribes
- State Industry/Agriculture/Climate
- State Landmarks
- Sports Teams
- State Quarter
- Recipes
- State Vocabulary
- State Timeline
What we received:
We received the digital download version, but they also offer a CD version. The recommended ages for this program is grades 3-8, but it could be adapted for older students as well.
How did we use this and what did we think?
When I got the download in the email, it was super easy to get started on. It takes you to a main screen where all of the activities are listed for each state. Some of the forms can be used for multiple states so that makes it easier for printing.
We decided to start with New York because that's where we are in our other studies. I printed out all of the mini lapbooks, and we got started. We decided that for pieces that needed to be filled out with specific information we would turn to the books we checked out from the library that were specific to the state of New York. If we couldn't find what we were looking for, then we would go to the Internet. We didn't have hardly any trouble finding the information that was needed to complete our book. It actually led to some great conversations with the kids on things that were different to Texas.
The illustrations with anything that you get from Home School in the Woods will be fantastic. They always seem to go the extra mile in making sure that the pieces are original and fit perfectly into the lapbook. If you use colorful folders and add a little bit of card stock, you can really bring this project to life. If you go through and do every state, you will have a very nice collection of books that your children can always reference back to.
I absolutely love this company and the products that they produce. Not only do they have the Make-a-State collection, they also have many others. Our crew reviewed several different products including Time Traveler American, other options for the Activity-Paks, Lap-Paks, and the Timeline Trio which is pretty amazing.
Home School in the Woods have also started offering A-La-Carte projects! This allows you to select a few projects for topical studies without having to buy the entire Unit. Right now if you use the code alacarte, you will get the Erie Canal project on that page for FREE! They currently have 50 projects available, and considering hundreds more. Go check it out!
If you are looking for hands on history projects, Home School in the Woods is what you're looking for!
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