Our 6th Year Begins!

• Our new school year begins today, Monday, August 13, 2007. I am very excited for this new year!
  
  Entering our 6th year of homeschooling, I feel more relaxed than ever before.
  I don't think it's about getting easier, though. I think it's about finally learning what kind of teacher I am and having developed a deeper understanding of how each one of my dc learn best.
  
  This year I am trying something new. I created my own American History study for high school. I'm using a collection of books for the girls to read that combine classics with some non-traditional non-fiction books from the library. They will also create a notebook timeline and notebook pages that draw out specific events and people. Along with this they will have essay questions to dig deeper and develop critical thinking and reasoning skills.
  
  1st Semester Reading List:
  
  A Land As God Made It, Jamestown and the Birth of America by James Horn
  The Proceedings of the Virginia Convention
  The Dredd Scott Case by D.J. Herda
  Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  1776 by David McCullough
  The Scarlett Letter or The Witch of Blackbird Pond
  Johnny Tremain or Calico Captive
  The Matchlock Gun
  The Bulletproof George Washington
  
  Movie: The Last of the Mohicans
  
  
  2nd Semester Reading List:
  
  Movie: A More Perfect Union
  Summer of 1787 by David O. Stewart
  True Tales of the Wild West by Paul Robert Walker
  Civil War: A to Z by Norman Bolotin
  Cause: Reconstruction Amercia 1863-1877 by Tonya Bolden
  Caddie Woodlawn
  The Spanish-American War by Edward Dolan
  Journey to Ellis Island: How my Father Came to America
  
  Movie: Gods & Generals