MFW Adventures users help!

[joyfulhomeschooler]

We are bored stiff with the state sheets and the way the states are studied I don't thyink we are learning much from it either. Any ideas?

[LAmom]

I just have my daughter color them and put the sticker on, read what she wants from the back. I am skipping all the books for the remaining states. I think we are on Michigan? :001_huh: I got bored teaching them, too (though my daughter didn't complain...). I am finishing up the year with focus on Abraham Lincoln, Oregon Trail, California Gold Rush, Morse Code, etc. Skipping the states except for CA (where we live). I may just review where each state is located, see if she remembers the abbreviations, etc.

 

OK, not much help, but I know how you feel!! Others will have good ideas.

 

Hope I don't get this bored next year with ECC!! :001_smile:

[kandty]

We are bored stiff with the state sheets and the way the states are studied I don't thyink we are learning much from it either. Any ideas?

 

No ideas, but we are feeling the same way too. I thought our problem was that I just have not had the time to follow the lesson plans and we were just not doing everything recommended.

[Donna A.]

Are you doing any state-related activities as you go through them, such as cooking special recipes and looking up information on the web, or reading fun stories that are located in that state? For example, Lentil takes place in Ohio and Very Last First Time takes place in Canada. Canada isn't technically in the U.S., of course, but it makes a good go-along when studying Alaska for geography, climate, and lifestyle. You can do some spin-off activities from those books, too.

 

Are you using much from Book Basket?

 

I don't know what week you're in, but let's just say it's Week 21 and you're doing Mississippi -- Marie mentions the spelling of the name, but she doesn't give any specific creative ways to spell it. My dad taught me to chant "M-I-CROOKED LETTER CROOKED LETTER - I - CROOKED LETTER CROOKED LETTER - I - HUMPBACK HUMPBACK - I". Sounds silly, but kids have a ball with this! :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's a quick link which has some of the same information that's on your state sheet, but there are links to go to other places, too. For example, state quarters. I know some people collect those. And I see there's a link to a state song there, too. http://www.50states.com/mississi.htm

 

Their state motto isVirtute et armis - "By valor and arms". Maybe you could talk about the meaning of those words and have your child create a picture symbolizing the meaning.

 

The official state website has some things to look at and maybe do, as well. You could collect travel brochures, pictures, postcards... either add some or all of these to your dd's 3-ring binder, or create lapbooks... one lapbook for all 50 states, or depending on time and motivation, maybe a separate lapbook for each state. http://www.mississippi.gov/ms_sub_template.jsp?Category_ID=6

 

Here's another link with some ideas and printouts: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/

 

Marie doesn't give recipes for every state, but she does sometimes. I know that later, in 1850-Mod, she has a recipe book included in the package ("The U.S. History Cookbook"). You could either go ahead and get that now, or get something similar if you think that will help. I know my girls love to cook and spend time in the kitchen with Mom every chance they get! (Maybe you're already doing this... I'm just throwing it out there in case you're not.)

 

I do wish Marie gave more 'activity' ideas to go along with the states, but maybe she felt there was already a good bit of hands-on with the science and Bible part of the program. Anyway, it's easy enough to come up with activities to make it a little more fun and varied as you finish out the year.

[Donna A.]

Hope I don't get this bored next year with ECC!! :001_smile:

 

The thing to keep in mind is that a state is a state is a state. While each state is unique in its own way (history and culture), it's still a state. The key is to look for the uniqueness of each state and the people that live there. That's where storybooks come in (either from Book Basket or other sources). And the same is true with ECC. Even though a country is a country is a country, and there's some sameness with all of them, there's an exclusiveness to each one as well, and that's the main goal of the overall study. ;) (Especially in ECC where you're learning about those people groups and praying for their needs.)

[sassenach]

I pieced together my adv used, so I didn't get the state sheets. Instead I bought the Dover state bird/flower coloring book, which have intricate drawings for each state. My kids have really liked those. I just use state sheet days as light days. We will log onto all about birds to see/hear our new bird, and color the page while I talk about anything of interest about the state.

[LAmom]

The thing to keep in mind is that a state is a state is a state. While each state is unique in its own way (history and culture), it's still a state. The key is to look for the uniqueness of each state and the people that live there. That's where storybooks come in (either from Book Basket or other sources). And the same is true with ECC. Even though a country is a country is a country, and there's some sameness with all of them, there's an exclusiveness to each one as well, and that's the main goal of the overall study. ;) (Especially in ECC where you're learning about those people groups and praying for their needs.)

 

Good points. I am excited to teach my kids about each people group and focus on praying for them!

[Daisy]

We are bored stiff with the state sheets and the way the states are studied I don't thyink we are learning much from it either. Any ideas?

 

We felt the exact same way. They moved through the states so fast that we didn't learn anything, but going any slower would have proven even more torturous when it came to coloring the dumb state sheets.

 

We ditched it and didn't look back.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Are you doing any state-related activities as you go through them, such as cooking special recipes and looking up information on the web, or reading fun stories that are located in that state? For example, Lentil takes place in Ohio and Very Last First Time takes place in Canada. Canada isn't technically in the U.S., of course, but it makes a good go-along when studying Alaska for geography, climate, and lifestyle. You can do some spin-off activities from those books, too.

 

Are you using much from Book Basket?

 

I don't know what week you're in, but let's just say it's Week 21 and you're doing Mississippi -- Marie mentions the spelling of the name, but she doesn't give any specific creative ways to spell it. My dad taught me to chant "M-I-CROOKED LETTER CROOKED LETTER - I - CROOKED LETTER CROOKED LETTER - I - HUMPBACK HUMPBACK - I". Sounds silly, but kids have a ball with this! :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's a quick link which has some of the same information that's on your state sheet, but there are links to go to other places, too. For example, state quarters. I know some people collect those. And I see there's a link to a state song there, too. http://www.50states.com/mississi.htm

 

Their state motto isVirtute et armis - "By valor and arms". Maybe you could talk about the meaning of those words and have your child create a picture symbolizing the meaning.

 

The official state website has some things to look at and maybe do, as well. You could collect travel brochures, pictures, postcards... either add some or all of these to your dd's 3-ring binder, or create lapbooks... one lapbook for all 50 states, or depending on time and motivation, maybe a separate lapbook for each state. http://www.mississippi.gov/ms_sub_template.jsp?Category_ID=6

 

Here's another link with some ideas and printouts: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/

 

Marie doesn't give recipes for every state, but she does sometimes. I know that later, in 1850-Mod, she has a recipe book included in the package ("The U.S. History Cookbook"). You could either go ahead and get that now, or get something similar if you think that will help. I know my girls love to cook and spend time in the kitchen with Mom every chance they get! (Maybe you're already doing this... I'm just throwing it out there in case you're not.)

 

I do wish Marie gave more 'activity' ideas to go along with the states, but maybe she felt there was already a good bit of hands-on with the science and Bible part of the program. Anyway, it's easy enough to come up with activities to make it a little more fun and varied as you finish out the year.

 

It would be great if there was enough time to do these activities along with each state. Some weeks there are four states other two or three. It would be nice if it was a week for each state lol. I know that would take too long but I just feel there isn't enough time to make each state unique. I will try some of these ideas as we have time though.

Thanks! I think this will help. We may not be able to do this with them all but it should help when we can do it. We are on week 23.

[Mom-2-7]

We got bored with the state sheets too. We gave up somewhere in the first 13!

 

We did, however, read library books about the states and discuss them. We found as many people as we could from the states we were studying. The kids asked everyone! You could track them on a map. You could take a poll to see what each person's favorite thing was about that state.

 

The MFW boards are also a wealth of information.

 

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewforum.php?f=24&sid=0884fc812064b9dae34cfda9410b4e5d

 

I also had the kids practice their states on the computer rather than doing the state game they have. Here's the link to the game we played. The kids competed against each other to see who could learn the fastest.

 

http://www.purposegames.com/game/states-of-the-usa-quiz/info

 

(There are also games on this site to learn the countries of each continent. Useful when you start ECC)

 

Don't worry about being bored with ECC. There is so much to learn/study/do that you can't get bored!

[Samiam]

Hhmmm, we are kind of the opposite here...welll kind of...."I" personally am bored with the state sheets, BUT DS8 LOVES THEM! It is one of the few things each day that he takes his time at, and puts his best effort into it when coloring the bird and the state.

 

About halfway into it, I contemplated ditching the state sheets, and just doing the history part. I mean, how much is DS8 REALLY getting out of a 10 minute talk about a state and then doing that 3-4 times a week. But ya know, DS8 loves to look at the U.S. Map that we color as we do each state, and talk about how many states he has left to color etc. He does remember some facts about certain states.

 

 

Then I remembered the POINT of Adventures. And WHY I chose it: It is supposed to be a brief introduction/overview of U.S. History and the states are way to add the to overall historical aspect.

 

For 2nd-3rd graders, the point is not to memorize the capital, or even memorize which state is which on the map (although if they do, even better!). It is to just get an overall feeling of the U.S., the immediate world around us. Honestly I don't see how one could get through 50 states in 34 weeks, along with the other history that is studied, at this age, without lumping many states in a week.

 

For that purpose, ADV does it's job well. At no point does ADV mean to , or advertise itself as, a "in-depth study of"......that is not how the CM philosophy, that MFW follows, works either.

 

So while I get your point, my adult mind finds the states mind-numbing, I understand why ADV is set up the way it is. My DS8 enjoys the state sheets, and thus we are doing them, all of them, :D

[Donna A.]

Great points, Samiam. The states and the history will all be covered again more in-depth when they're older. ;)

 

I know of another (stand-alone) state study out there that's meant to be done (in-depth) over TWO years. Just.That. Now THAT would get old. :tongue_smilie:

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Hhmmm, we are kind of the opposite here...welll kind of...."I" personally am bored with the state sheets, BUT DS8 LOVES THEM! It is one of the few things each day that he takes his time at, and puts his best effort into it when coloring the bird and the state.

 

About halfway into it, I contemplated ditching the state sheets, and just doing the history part. I mean, how much is DS8 REALLY getting out of a 10 minute talk about a state and then doing that 3-4 times a week. But ya know, DS8 loves to look at the U.S. Map that we color as we do each state, and talk about how many states he has left to color etc. He does remember some facts about certain states.

 

 

Then I remembered the POINT of Adventures. And WHY I chose it: It is supposed to be a brief introduction/overview of U.S. History and the states are way to add the to overall historical aspect.

 

For 2nd-3rd graders, the point is not to memorize the capital, or even memorize which state is which on the map (although if they do, even better!). It is to just get an overall feeling of the U.S., the immediate world around us. Honestly I don't see how one could get through 50 states in 34 weeks, along with the other history that is studied, at this age, without lumping many states in a week.

 

For that purpose, ADV does it's job well. At no point does ADV mean to , or advertise itself as, a "in-depth study of"......that is not how the CM philosophy, that MFW follows, works either.

 

So while I get your point, my adult mind finds the states mind-numbing, I understand why ADV is set up the way it is. My DS8 enjoys the state sheets, and thus we are doing them, all of them, :D

 

You know, you are absolutely right! I hadn't really thought of it that way. My children haven't actually complained about them. It just seems like busy work to me. Maybe if I made a copy for me to color along with them I wouldn't get so bored lol. I have also been forgetting to have them color the state on the map as we do it too... oops. Thanks!!!