Almost Unschooling Grama

Do you live in an older home or is there a building in your town that you find intriguing? Hunting down the history of buildings is a great way to learn about the history of your town with lots of fascinating rabbit trails to go down. To start with, you will need to make a list of questions you would like to know about the building. As you investigate, you will think of more, but try to start off with at least 3-5.  You might want to know: When was the building was constructed? Who built the building? What is the style of architecture? Has it been remodeled or added on to? Who was the original owner and how many owners has it had? Are there any interesting events that happened there? What was around the building when it was built and how has that changed through the years? Has the building had different functions over the years? What was the original cost of the building and how much is it worth now? There are a variety of resources to help you answer these ques...

Do you homeschool? If so you have the perfect opportunity to mix up those boring categories that traditional schools use to compartmentalize learning. Here are just a few ways to get some hands-on learning that mixes up the subjects. Feel free to count the time spent doing these activities as History, Language Arts or both! Stage a debate between George Washington and King George! (Or any two opposing historical figures.) Choose a historical event. Pretend you are a director who is casting the actors for a movie about it. Then choose people to play the characters. These can be anyone! – Friends, historical figures, actual actors, even fictional! Explain who you would choose and why. Make a comic book depicting an event you are studying. When studying historical conflicts such as the Civil War or the Civil Rights Movement, have your kids write letters to the editor written from the perspective of someone on each side. Create a classified ad to promote a historical event....