Homeschool Unit: State Study

My family and I have officially relocated to North Carolina from Montana and our twins will be entering the 3rd grade, which is often when schools start introducing local geography so I figured I'd start our year off with a unit of study on our new home state: North Carolina. If you're not located in North Carolina, don't fret! You can still follow the model, but plug in your home state's information.

My mother asked me once, "Is that what they teach in 3rd grade? I'm not familiar with the state standards for elementary," to which I replied, "I don't care about the state standards. The whole point of homeschooling is teaching what you want, when you want and how you want!" Mamas, am I right?

So, please look at my lesson plans as "guides", but allow your child the freedom to choose when and how! Outside of Main Lesson I include Math taught as a hybrid between Singapore math and Waldorf math imagery/song. We also practice cursive through journal entries, seasonal Waldorf verses, mantras, or songs. Spelling lists are given to each child on Mondays and assessed on Fridays. I teach "Main Lesson" through story as I create a colorful image on our chalkboard to introduce a new topic or concept and ask my children to draw along with me using their block crayons. EVERY page has a border, a title and a background. There is no wite on the page unless intentional and purposeful.

This unit only includes "Main Lesson" which is an interdisciplinary approach to a single topic.

First, check online resources or your local library for books related to this topic. Hopefully by this age your child is an avid reader. I recommend keeping a few books in the car, by the bed and in a designated book bin so your child is encouraged to explore this topic independently.

BOOK LIST:

North Carolina, The First Golden State By: Tricia Martineau Wagner

T is for Tarheel

Rescue on the Outer Banks

Poetry for Kids By: Carl Sandburg

Serafina and the Black Cloak By: Robert Beatty

Roanoke, The Lost Colony By Jane Yolen

Salt in His Shoes By Delores Jordan

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane

In traditional Waldorf schools, students create their own textbooks known as "main lesson books". You can purchase Waldorf-style books through Palumba or Mercurius USA or buy a set of these blank notebooks from Amazon (you'll use them ALL, trust me!). I also recommend Stockmar block crayons, watercolor, modeling beeswax, and colored pencils.

Start your book with a title page and be sure to give the page a border and soft background.

Getting to Know You, North Carolina

Use a map of the state and have your child draw the outline of the state in the center of the page. Illustrate around the state the state flag, state flower, state animal, state gemstone, state bird, state tree and then write (in cursive if possible) the state motto in both Latin and English. Let your child take their time adding great detail, color, and shape to their illustration. In Waldorf, imagery and creativity helps connect the child to the material. Model the state flower or bird using modeling beeswax.

I'm not going to write the answer to the state facts here, nor should you give your child the answer, but rather have them find the answer through online resources or books you've brought into the home. Using colored pencils, create a compass rose and identify the directions to inclde N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SE, SW. Label major cities, landforms and bodies of water and discuss the features of each. Perhaps you could ask your child to write a story about a curious child arriving in the state by boat...

Salt Dough Map

• 2 cups flour

• 1 cup salt

• 1 cup water

Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes adding water or flour slowly until you get the right consistency. Then, on parchment paper, let your child shape the dough into the shape of North Carolina. Feel free to make the salt dough map topographical and shape mountain ranges, cut crevices for lakes and streams, and even add the islands off the coast if you like. Using watercolor, paint the map to showcase the various regions: coastal plains, Piedmont, mountains, oceans/lakes, etc. Again, give your child the space to find the answers.

BONUS: If you want to add miniatures to the model such as local plantlife, tiny trees, sculpt landmarks, add Native or colonial figurines, go for it!

Who, What, Why, How?

Let's find out who came to North Carolina and how did they arrive? Who were the first settlers and how did they survive? What made them want to stay here?

Create a Table of Contents and if your main lesson book is unlined, let your child use a ruler to create lines for this page and add page numbers as you go along documenting your learning. This helps children become familiar with the features of a non-foction book, which they're now the author of! In fact, they can create the cover on their own time as well using a multi-media approach should they choose to use local magazines, newspapers, brochures to decorate it.

Glossary: I alsways have my children/students add a glossary to the front OR the back of their book and underline the word they're definning. For more advanced kids, these vocabulary words can also be their spelling words each week (or bonus words).

Vocabulary/Glossary Examples: settlers, colonists, Quakers, revolution, patriot, rebel, pioneer, loot, aviator, inhabitant, import, export, Piedmont

Natives

The Natives were the first inhabitants of North Carolina. Identify the tribes and learn about their culture to include a study of art, music, food, clothing, shelter and traditions. Perhaps you can plan to attend a Pow Wow this month as well. If you cannot attend a Pow Wow, I highly recommend learning to make a drum, moccasins by hand, leather stamped jewelry, or traditional ribbon shirt with your child. Perhaps your child would like to study one of the many local tribes of North Carolina in more depth and create a diorama of their shelter and daily life.

If your child is mature enough for the dark side of the state's history (8y+), feel free to include a discussion of the Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson and the tragic truths about The Trail of Tears. Write a journal entry from the point of view of a native on the trail adding tribe, date, location and encourage your child to use native tongue by learning a few words or phrases.

Books for Reference:

Only the Names Remain, By: Bealer

Soft Rain By: Cornelia Cornelisson

Thirteen Moons on the Turtles Back

The Sign of the Beaver By: Elizabeth George Speare

Explorers and Settlers

Ask your child to read the story of Sir Walter Scott as well as stories about The Lost Colony of Roanoke. Have them write a summary of the events and illustrate thesetales in their books. Also, be sure to start a timeline, perhaps at the back of the book you can add to frequently.

Things to include in this section through illustrations/explanations :

• Shelters (illustrate in your main lesson book using block crayon Waldorf-style and explain how they were built in a How-To from the perspective of a colonist)

• Crops (Tobacco/Cotton...visit the Duke Homestead or the Horne Creek Historical Farm)

• Mineralology (visit the Reed Gold Mine)

• Climate

• Threats to survival (Roanoke Island Festival Park)

• Transportation (visit the N.C. Transportation Museum)

• Tools

• Clothing

• Entertainment (games, toys, songs)

Additional Activities:

Shelter Building: build a log cabin out of wood, popcicle sticks, pretzels/cereal, or lincoln logs

Carve/Whittle a spoon together

Sew an apron and embroider it

Learn to make biscuits from scratch

Watercolor painting of grain or tobacco growing

Wildlife

No geographical unit is complete without getting a firm grasp on the local plant life and wildlife!

Offer your child a camera and/or binnoculars and either go hiking or overnight camping in search of local wildlife and plant life. Have your child sketch their discoveries in their main lesson book using charcoal or colored pencils and detail their observations of animal behavior or plant/animal activity the way John Muir famously did in his journey around America. Feel free to pick up books at the library about bears, fish, beavers, raccoons and bird species to compliment the learning. Also, be sure to visit the West North Carolina Nature Center!

War and Peace

Not every family, or every child, is the right age for introducing war, but without knowing war, we wouldn't have a concept of peace. Unfortunately, our nations have all experienced war. We're a military family so war is a topic of discussion day and night, but it's up to each family to decide how they introduce this topic and when. If you're up for it, add a discussion and study of the Revolutionary War and add important dates to your timeline. Ask your child to write a summary of this war in their book including important leaders and key events. Or, you can introduce both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War simultaneously and compare/contrast these wars using a Venn Diagram. Again, fight the urge to assist your child with this and give them the space they need to discover and document their learning independently.

Illustrate the flag during this time period or do it the "Waldorf way" and sew one! I'm going to watch "The Patriot" with my boys who are almost 9y and are very mature for their age, but it is rated R so each parent must decide their own comfort level.

Older children could watch "Harriet" or read "Before She Was Harriet" and map out the Underground Railroad on a map of the southeast United States. Illustrate the Union flag and soldier's uniform as well as the Confederate flag. Discuss the leaders of both forces and the role of Abraham Lincoln in the end.

The Biltmore

The Biltmore is the infamous estate of George and Edith Vanderbilt located in Asheville, North Carolina. No study of North Carolina would be complete without a study of The Biltmore and a tour if you're in the area. Read Serafina and the Black Cloak By: Robert Beatty about a little girl living in the basement of the estate. Here's a fantastic article if you're short on reading time: The Vanderbilt Family Encourage your child to write a summary of the Vanderbilt family and their experiences at the Biltmore estate.

NOTE: The Biltmore hosts homeschool days year round so I've registered my boys for Sept 5 homeschool day at the homestead so they can not only learn a few handicrafts and trades, but immerse themselves in their new homestate's culture and history. They've sold out already, but I highly encourage you to book an estate tour if you're in the area. Pack lunches, snacks, waters, and plan to stay ALL day! There's SO much to see and do. Wear comfortable shoes!

Families, remember these lesson plans are to serve as a guide. If your child is inspired by a certain topic, person, event, or animal and wants to learn more- go for it! This isn't prescriptive so follow your child's interests.

Be sure you're editing writing with your child so that they can learn grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing format simultaneously. It's okay to model drawing/sketching side-by-side or hire an art tutor to assist them with their illustrations so they're developing artistically as well. Perhaps your child is musically inclined? Write the lyrics of the state song together and learn to play it on the guitar or piano.

If you're a member of our local tribe: Epoch Waldorfy Life, feel free to join me and my twins throughout the month of September as we hike, bake, create, play, field trip, and travel to various historic sites in the area. I'll post each week who, what, when and where so please enroll as a member and find us on Facebook. Here's my Pinterest board of imagery inspiration for this unit.

Also, I'd love to see photos of your child's work and main lesson books so be sure to tag us on Instagram @Epoch_Waldorfy_Life

Be well, Chelsea