BRIGHT IDEAS PRESS E-ZINE VOLUME 2 ***************************************** Thank you for subscribing to the Bright Ideas Press E-Zine. Our mission is to make available practical, fun, and affordable geography, history, and science materials. Bob and I want to encourage and equip you with news, information, and ideas to make your homeschooling journey easier. Each issue (sent sporadically!) will have tips and suggestions that will be both informative and FUN. We know how busy you are, so we'll jump right in! ***************************************** Table of Contents ***************************************** 1. History Quizzes 2. This Day in History 3. 20th Century History 4. Historical Fiction 5. Ancient Civilizations 6. They Mystery of History 7. Treasure Hunts for Entire Families! 8. Talk-A-Latte 9. Homeschool Chat 10. Quote of the Month 11. Hands-On Geography Group 1. History Quizzes Try this American history timeline quiz: http://quizhub.com/quiz/f­history­1900.cfm or this site with dozens of history quizzes and the option to make your own: http://www.syvum.com/squizzes/history/ 2. The History Channel online has a page called This Day in History. Its filled with interesting facts about todays date, organized by subjects such as: Civil War History, Viet Nam History, Literary History, etc. This kind of information can be used as a conversation starter, notebook entry, research project, or simply an interesting tidbit to share around the dinner table. 3. www.About.com is a megasite with many different subject areas. Under History, 20th Century youll find numerous articles, links, quizzes, etc. Sometimes homeschoolers neglect 20th century history. At this handy site, youll find good information to print information and further resources for teaching this important time period. http://history1900s.about.com/index.htm?terms=history 4. Looking for a good read? Well written historical fiction adds flavor to our history studies. If you want a nice list of books, organized by time periods, try Paula's Archives. Paula, a Sonlight curriculum user, has developed a large site with many useful and easy-to-navigate links. http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/history.htm is her section on historical fiction. While you are there, dont miss her fabulous section on timelines! http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/timeline.htm Her main site address is http://www.Paulasarchives.com 5. Lets talk about Ancient History. Have you tackled this subject yet in your home? From talking to so many each year on the homeschool conference circuit, I know this is a subject which intimidate some parents. Why should we teach about Ancient Civilizations? So that we have an understanding of the people and events of Old Testament times; an understanding of earlier societies from whom we have learned much in sciences, languages, etc.; and an understanding of the flow of history. Teaching chronologically helps students to see the big picture and to grasp cause and effect of important events. It is difficult, if not impossible, to have a solid understanding of current events without understanding something of the history that led up to today. When I was in grade school I had never heard of Ancient Rome. I would not have been able to tell you if it was before or after Christopher Columbus's voyages! I had nothing but American History until highschool, and even then what I had was not chronological but seemingly hit or miss. If one is to teach chronologically, it only makes sense to start at the beginning, with the Ancient Hebrews and the accounts told both in the Bible and in archaeological evidence. 6. The most compelling new book on teaching Ancient Civilizations, in conjunction with the people and events from the Old Testament, is The Mystery of History by Linda LaCour Hobar. This book provides a historically accurate, Bible- centered approach to learning ancient history. The completely chronological lessons shed new light on who walked the earth when, as well as on where important Bible figure fit into secular history. Written by a proponent of making the classical method easier to use, the work has been done for you. This is a parent's dream course. Written for 4th - 8th graders but easily adaptable up or down. 496 pages. 44.95 Includes: Detailed text Week-by-week lessons Unique cumulative review system Cool projects and activities for each lesson Timeline and mapping assignments Distinctive Memory Card method User-friendly Systematic Quizzes Answer keys Outline Maps The projects and interesting text will have your whole family eating up history! For more information and to read a sample chapter go to... http://www.BrightIdeasPress.com While there, check out the Historical Atlas of World History and the most awesome new set of timeline figures! FYI - there is a dynamic yahoo discussion group for those using or interested in the Mystery of History. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MysteryofHistory/ 7. Treasure Hunts for Families! I learned about this awesome hobby/sport/obsession from our yahoo group about hands-on geography. Tracy, who lives near the Grand Canyon, wrote the following message: "Another geography idea is also a hobby. It's called letterboxing and it uses a lot of latitude and longitude co-ordinates. You really have to know your maps and compass for this one. It also includes hiking and back country exploring! It's soooo much fun! It combines all that and rubber stamping (make your own custom) and is sort of like treasure hunting, too! I don't think I'm doing the description justice, here, so you can go to the main site -- www.letterboxing.org" I cannot wait until it warms up around here enough to participate in this! A group of us are planning on doing some Delaware letterbox hunting! http://www.letterboxing.org 8. Looking for fun, fellowship and a homeschooling pick-me-up?! Think Talk-a-Latte! Terri Camp and I have had great fun doing the last two Talk-a-Lattes together, first in Nashville, then in Wilmington, DE. Our next Talk-a-Latte is scheduled for March 14 & 15 in Jacksonville, FL. For more info or to register, go to: http://www.talkalatte.com (We are looking for someone to organize one in Michigan this summer. If interested, email me.) 9. Homeschool Chat is another way to share with homeschooling parents, without ever leaving home. At www.homeschoolchat.us you will find a safe, supportive Christian environment for homeschoolers only. There are different topics each night and lots of time for just plain fellowship. I have regular chats on Saturday nights at 9:00 PM EST as well as occasional special topic chats. Monday, February 10th, I will be hosting a chat for parents of gifted children at 10:15 PM EST. Its easy to use and we will help newbies feel welcome! http://www.homeschoolchat.us 10. I found an interesting quote yesterday Id like to share. It comes from research done by Professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I Sutton of Stanford University and is in their book The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action. They say, "Knowledge that is actually implemented is more likely to be acquired from learning by doing than from learning by reading, listening, or even thinking." Sounds like hands-on learning to me! 11. History and geography are so closely intertwined. Understanding the geography of a region helps make the history come alive. But none of us likes boring textbooks or dull explanations of geography. Besides, a hands-on approach is much more fun and better for long term retention! Thats why we created a yahoo discussion group for hands-on geography. This is a place where parents can share their great ideas or geography questions. Come join us, read back messages, and pick up cool ideas for making geography meaningful in your home. (I just started participating in the Flat Travelers project, as described on one of the recent emails. Very cool!) Interested? You can sign-up now by sending a blank email to: Whole_HOG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com We appreciate you, our customers. Feel free to contact us: Bright Ideas Press 877.492.8081 contact@BrightIdeasPress.com http://www.BrightIdeasPress.com Blessings! Maggie Hogan