Summer Studies

Along with 3 days of math a week (I know, I'm a task master), we started a 6 week Texas History summer course last week (just 2 days a week). While at the museum several months ago, I found this book, Texas Stories (from 1901) , 

(then went home and purchased it for the kindle at a much lower price!)  and a curriculum starting forming in my brain.  I then asked my trusted go-to-homeschooling-guru friend GFG what it was she did for Texas History during the summer.  Following her 3 week plans (and book suggestions) to a degree, and adding in a few of my own, I came up with what I hope is an in-depth, focused, but relaxed summer Texas History course...Part 1 :-)

Here are a few of the other books we are using (along with a few more adult reference books I found while packing my parents' bookshelves)...

 

 

So each week, we are reading one of the stories out of Texas Stories.  This summer we will be covering Cabeza de Vaca, La Salle, Ellis P. Bean, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett.  We will read the last 7 stories next summer. We are also covering many of the Texas Indian tribes as well as learning mottos, interesting facts and we are mapping several cities each week (complete with a Texas road map hanging on his bedroom wall).   And while J doesn't know this yet...he will be creating his first power point presentation at the end of the summer!


And of course, what homeschool lesson is complete without a fieldtrip or two?  Our first trip was today, to the Caddo Mounds. Perfect as we are finishing week 2, La Salle (who camped around the Neches River at one time) and the Caddo Indians. We learned quite a bit and while we were the ONLY crazies at the park on a 91 degree Friday, it was great! 


Did you know that the Caddo Indians were thought to be the most advanced tribe in Texas?  Did you also know that it is believed they introduced the bow and arrow to this part of Texas?  And something I thought was cool...the museum has a magnetic ground image on which you can see where some of the  "beehive" homes (and their hearths) once stood...as in once stood between 700 and 1200AD!  You can't see anything with the naked eye on the ground.  Way cool!

Ok, enough facts...how about some cute pictures? :-)

He is simply captivated!  Or maybe I should say captive? ;-)  We both got a bit too sweaty too quickly with him on my back so he moved to brother's lap after this.

Can you tell how AMAZINGLY hot it was? Poor sweaty boys.

We took this self-portrait overlooking the Borrow Pit, one of the places from which the Caddoes would move dirt by baskets to build their mounds.  

Learning to throw an Atlatl.  A perk of being the only visitors, we were able to get a bit more info and hands on fun!