American History/White House Resource

I picked up a book for school at a Borders closing sale the other day. It is called "Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out" While not a perfect book it has a lot of things going for it and would make a wonderful addition to your school shelf expecially for doing American History. It has numerous pieces of various length, some prose, some poetry, some pure fact, some historic fiction. The pieces are written and illustrated by 110 different authors and illustrators. So right there you can have lots to talk about while looking at the different art styles and writing styles independantly of the story/history itself. It also does a good job of covering the known and unknown people and stories of history as connected to the white house. There is also a wonderful seeming website linke to the book (which quite honestly could be very useful even if you don't have the book).

http://ourwhitehouse.org/intro.html

This site includes lots of teaching tips, links to related sites, info. on civics and how elections work, links to our countries important documents and a wonderful chart with info. on all the presidents.

So take a look and use it as a resouce for teaching about our country.

Various Field Trip Possibilities, both near and far

Submitted by K. Moyer

Colonial Williamsburg and Homeschooler opportunities:
http://www.history.org/homeschoolers/

(It looks like this years programing may be past but you can get an idea of what they offer and check back for future programs. note by S.D.)


Valley Forge Program opportunities:
This program is designed for home school students who would like to
visit Valley Forge and get a unique
educational experience. Park rangers and costumed interpreters will
bring the past to life with special
programs and hands-on activities.

Program is offered on Thursday October 22, 2009 and Thursday May 13,
2010 from 10 AM-2PM and meets at the Visitors Center. Please reserve in
advance- no fee.
http://www.nps.gov/vafo/forteachers/edprograms.htm



Field Trips in the State of Virginia:
Here's the link for VA field trips, if you ever want to visit.
http://www.heav.org/resources/fieldtrips/index.html

Bartram Garden Field Trip Opportunity

Just letting you know about a homeschooler opportunity.

At Bartram's Garden they are having homeschooler days monthly, there is more info on their website. http://www.bartramsgarden.org/

There is a cost, but we went last month, and it was very worth it for us. October 14 will be the next date.

Sent in by Rachel O.

Added info. From Sylvia D.

Jen C. and I took our kids to Bartrum's Garden last year and we all had a blast, even without a special program. It was like being in the country without leaving the city. It is located at 54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd. here in SW Philadelphia.

There is also a wonderful children's book about young William Bartram called "The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturaslist" by Deborah Kogan Ray http://www.amazon.com/Flower-Hunter-Americas-Naturalist-Outstanding/dp/0374345899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254572978&sr=8-1

This book would be a perfect addition to a visit to the Garden. It may be available at the library, I also own a copy that I would be willing to lend.