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Where do you find resources for state history?


blue daisy
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I want to do a quick overview of our state history this summer.  I didn't grow up here, so it will be a learning experience for me too.  I'm starting with Minn of the Mississippi (our state is the beginning of the Mississippi River, hint, hint), and then not sure where I'm going from there.  LOL

 

Basically, I'm wondering if there are any great online resources or books that cover general state history.  Thanks so much!

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Well I feel kind of silly for even asking now. Lol

Don't feel silly, ever, for asking a question about resources. Seriously. Information is key and knowing how to find resources is one of the the most important roles of a homeschool teacher.

 

Fwiw, my mom used to ask our librarian about everything. I think she thought she was a living google back in the days before the internet!

Edited by 8FillTheHeart
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We did a year long study of state history when my kids were in 4th & 2nd grades.   Here in FL, kids in elementary school study state history in 4th grade, so by googling "Florida 4th grade state history" and "Florida 4th grade social studies," I got a tremendous amount of material - book lists, a series of articles that we used as a spine, field trip ideas, and craft ideas.   I also found a publisher (Pineapple Press) that specializes in books about Florida or set in Florida, and they had a section of Florida juvenile historical fiction that we added to our year.

 

Local history centers and museums will often have a book store, and they can be a great source of material.   Once you know where to look, you'll most likely be overwhelmed with material.   Field trips to visit different parts of your state are SO much fun!   

 

I assume you live in Minnesota?   Don't forget about classics like the Little House books or Betsy-Tacy series, which are set in Minnnesota.   You can also spend a lot of time studying Native American tribes and their way of life, which might be more interesting to your oldest child.

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The Alphabet Series is really beautiful and amazing. There is a book for each state and they cover a good deal of history and interesting tidbits from each state. You can get them used on Amazon and I have found a few at the Goodwill. We are doing US history/geography next year so we are compiling books, a US History Cookbook and State by State cookbook, there are websites of state songs and creeds that work great for copy work, Cantering the Country is a really fun and useful resource as well.

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Our state history musuem has a great selection of books too. We used a college textbook that we got at a garage sale for some chapters when we did state history. I noticed that the library had the same textbook and that our state history museum sells it as well. So I figured it is pretty much the standard one to use, lol. 

 

We also did (and still do) lots of field trips. I have the kids add brochures, pictures, summaries of what we learned there, etc. and add to our state history. That way it is kind of ongoing. 

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