President's Day Unit Study

We LOVE studying our Presidents.  Wait.  Let me rephrase that.  I LOVE teaching about our Presidents.  How do I instill that love to my children?  Sometimes I think I over did it.  Sometimes I think I didn't make it fun enough.  Sometimes I think I want a do over!

Over the years, I have amassed enough material to teach about our Presidents ALL year long.  To make it more palatable to those of you who only want to study Presidents for one week, here are some suggestions.

And if you do want more, I have more book suggestions at the end.  And please know that this list isn't exhaustive, it's just a sampling.  A quick search on the Internet, and you too, can have as many books as me!

One year we did a George Washington unit study field trip while we were visiting back east.  We started at Valley Forge and moved on down to Mount Vernon.  I don't remember how old the five of them were.  I just remember the two eldest asking the docents at Mount Vernon about other aspects of George Washington's life, and the docents only knew about his life at Mount Vernon.  They were pretty disappointed that they didn't get their questions answered, but I had the sense of pride knowing that they probably knew more about George Washington's life than the docents did!

Anyway, here is a sampler for teaching 5 hours worth of Presidents.  And the reason I picked these Presidents is because 4 of them were born in February and John F. Kennedy because he is on so much of our money.  He is one that our elementary age children can see repeatedly.  As I tried to upload it, a lot of my formatting didn't come out.  If you want my "worksheets", just leave your email address.

President’s Day Unit Study

1 hour study for 5 days + Family Movie Night ideas

Additional resources for the month

Day 1 – Monday – George Washington

Go to the website:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington - read about George Washington

Read 10 Rules from George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

Read:  George Washington, Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

Write facts about George Washington using the quarter page

Practice this phrase about George Washington – “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen…”

For dinner have pancakes (hoe cakes)

Family time movie:  George Washington’s Home Town, by Miss Betty’s American History Tours – 50 minutes

Day 2 – Tuesday - William Henry Harrison

Go to the website:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/williamhenryharrison - read about William Henry Harrison

Read William Henry Harrison:  Young Tippecanoe

Craft:  How to Draw the Life and Times of William Henry Harrison

Learn this quote:  “I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.”

Count out M&M’s – one for everyday he was President

Day 3 – Wednesday – Abraham Lincoln

Go to the website:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln - read about Abraham Lincoln

Read  Abraham Lincoln, Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

Visit this website:  http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/birth.htm

Copy the Gettysburg Address on the penny page.  Put a piece of paper with lines behind the penny page, to allow your student to draw on the line.  Only have them copy what they are able to read.  The first sentence is enough.

                Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

                Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

                But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

For snack, make a log cabin out of pretzels, using Cheese Whiz as mortar.

For movie night watch:  You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, by Charles Schulze – 30 minutes

Day 4 – Thursday – John F. Kennedy

Go to the website:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy - read about John F. Kennedy

Read A Picture Book of John F. Kennedy

Learn this quote:  “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Write facts about John F. Kennedy using the quarter page

Day 5 – Friday – Ronald Reagan

Go to the website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ronaldreagan - read about Ronald Reagan

Read  The Remarkable Ronald Reagan:  Cowboy and Commander in Chief

Watch this Youtube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSu5TTKGcJw

Write some of these favorite quotes:

1.   A people free to choose will always choose peace.

2.   Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.

3.   Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

4.   Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Family movie night:  pick a Ronald Reagan flick!  Some of my favorites:  Knute Rockne All American, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Santa Fe Trail

Eat Jelly Bellys for dessert!

For more in depth study, try some of these other resources (*required for this unit study):

Books:

George Washington’s World, by Genevieve Foster

Abraham Lincoln’s World, by Genevieve Foster

First in their Hearts, A biography of George Washington, by Thomas Fleming

*George Washington, Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

*Abraham Lincoln, Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

*Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, by George Washington

Ronald Reagan:  How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, by Dinesh D’Souza

When Character Was King:  A Story of Ronald Reagan, by Peggy Noonan

*The Remarkable Ronald Reagan:  Cowboy and Commander in Chief, by Susan Allen

*How to Draw the Life and Times of William Henry Harrison, by Hilary Barton Billman

*William Henry Harrison:  Young Tippecanoe, by Howard S. Peckham

*A Picture Book of John F. Kennedy, by David A. Adler

Movies (appropriate for elementary age)

*You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, by Charles Schulze – 30 minutes

*George Washington’s Home Town, by Miss Betty’s American History Tours – 50 minutes

George Washington:  American Revolutionary, documentary – 50 minutes

* Knute Rockne All American, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Santa Fe Trail – all over an hour long

  

Links:

http://www.MountVernon.org – George Washington

http://www.ushistory.org/ValleyForge/ - George Washington

*http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/birth.htm

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSu5TTKGcJw – Ronald Reagan

Peep Wars

This morning, on my drive to Laguna Niguel Regional Park for my walk with Linda and Carie, I heard of "Peep Jousting". The idea was to take left- over peeps, put tooth picks in their beaks, put them facing one another in the microwave, and let them rise until one launches the toothpick into the other one. Sounds like something Stout boys would want to try.

I only had to suggest it once. They got two blue peeps (all of the yellow peeps are gone) and put in the tooth picks. Andrew says his was the one with the poison tip. (The poison tip was actually the residual plastic on the fancy toothpicks.) They worked at it, until the toothpicks were pointing directly at one another.

I recorded the action in the microwave. Too bad my camera decided to focus on the microwave dots! It didn't work as we expected, but we had fun none-the-less. Now we're working on ideas to tweak the experiment and make it work. Any suggestions? There are more peeps in the house to try another day!

OK, when everyone got home tonight, they decided to include dad in the fun. We're not convinced that it worked the way advertised, but it sure made the house smell like roasted marshmallows!

Holy Week

In an effort to make sure that my children understand the meaning and significance of Easter, I have worked very hard to put in place family traditions that hopefully will not die in the next generation. When the children were younger, I remember saying to Don, "I have managed to make this week more stressful than Christmas!" Now, it is not stressful at all, but a week that I, too, anticipate. I am realizing that this week I am breaking away, but it is not intentional at all!

Palm Sunday we were in Santa Barbara. Monday evening held a beloved small group faculty meeting. Wednesday we will back in Santa Barbara for a wonderful occassion of watching our son get the Westmont Warrior Golden Eagle scholar/athlete award. And throughout this week, the three who remain at home are taking their standardized tests. So, the challenge here will be to integrate the traditions as we have time.

After Palm Sunday, I like to decorate the house for Easter. Then it is on to preparing our hearts.

On Monday, we watch the Disney movie Prince of Egypt.

On Tuesday evening we watch The Ten Commandments, you know, the one with Charlton Heston.

On Wednesday evening, we have a "Chametz" ceremony where we clean our house of all leavened bread. It is actually a Jewish tradition that reminds us of the flight from Egypt, where the Israelites fled without their bread rising. It has double significance for us as the leaven reminds us of our sin and how we need the Messiah to take our sin away. After the ceremony we eat with matzo until Easter morning.

On Thursday we used to do a Passover Seder, but because of events in recent years, we save our Passover Seder until Good Friday.

On Friday, I prepare all day for the Seder. I set the table with care, a full formal setting for whoever will be spending the evening with us, along with a place setting for Elijah. We follow a Haggadah that I purchased years ago. I prepare a matzoh tosh, though I'd like to make or purchase a real one some day. I also prepare an afikoman bag, charoset, the Seder Plate, and the items that go on a Seder Plate: lamb shankbone, roasted eggs, parsley, and maror (I try to find the hottest I can find). We typically have lamb for dinner, with butter beans, carrots, potato latkes, a green salad, and then Passover cake with strawberries for dessert. Of course, we drink enough grape juice throughout the ceremony to make that a meal all by itself!

As we go through the ceremony, from the hand washing to the singing to the reading to the teaching, we are reminded each year of how God always comes through for us. Our Seder has become as a meaningful a meal to me as I can imagine. I think it is good to reflect on what God has done.

On Saturday, we dye eggs. We watch The Jesus Film and we go to bed early. Earlier in the week, I will have gone to purchase some special, meaningful Christian gifts for my loved ones to put in their Easter baskets.

On Sunday, we go to sunrise service. As the sun rises and I sit in the amplitheater with 5000 other people, and I watch the cars pour in, I always contemplate how wonderful it would be if Christ would come back right in that moment. The amplitheater would be empty except for all of the blankets strewn all over. The cars would all be neatly parked and left there to be removed by someone else. I enjoy the worship, the teaching, the Word, and the whole service, but I always think how wonderful it would be if....

Typically on Sunday afternoon, we have all of the cousins over where we have the most awesome Easter egg hunt I have ever seen. Everyone brings the eggs that they took home the prior year, and this year they are filled again. The dads and the bigger cousins hide the eggs and the moms go through the Resurrection Eggs with the little ones. Then there is eating and swimming. And, by the way, we eat leavened bread and ham - not kosher!

That is how we spend Holy Week, and I love it!

Thanksgiving Dinner, Stout Style

One year, I can't tell you which one, I was pretty smart and organized. Since I feel like I'm regularly losing brain cells, it must have been quite a while ago. Anyway, I typed in our Thanksgiving menu into the computer. I also added the recipes, and on the second page I added the shopping list. For the last few years I simply hit print and my menu comes out, along with the shopping list.

~The Stout's Thanksgiving Menu~

Appetizer platter: stuffed celery (cream cheese or peanut butter), carrots, pickles, nuts, Aunt Christina's eggs

Roast Turkey

Stuffing with onions, olives and celery (Nana Hill's recipe)

Plain Stuffing (for the picky)

Cranberry jelly (out of the can, for Don's comfort)

Cranberry Jell-o Salad (Nana Hill's recipe)

Green salad with raspberry dressing, dried cranberries and pralines

Spinach and Artichoke casserole (from the year the Crouch's didn't have a kitchen and this was their favorite and we didn't want them to miss out, but we thought we should adopt it as a regular)

Carrot/Cheese casserole (Nana Hill's recipe)

Macaroni and Cheese casserole (Nana Hill's recipe)

Green bean Casserole (Mom Stout's recipe)

Sweet Potato Souffle (Grandma Hattenfield's recipe)

Pumpkin soup (My own recipe!)

Garlic mashed potatoes (for my niece, Christen's delight)

Turkey gravy

Cranberry juice with 7up (Nana Stout's mixture)

Egg nog (A recipe I adopted while in college from my Campus Crusade for Christ staff member)

Fresh baked bread

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie (I prefer Dutch Apple or French Apple, so I make one of those, and then a traditional for everyone else!)

Each year, we host a different crew. And I see, as the years go on, that it will continue to be different people for the rest of my life. Tomorrow we are hosting 21. But every year is different. I input all of the casserole recipes into a calorie counter a few years ago, and figured I ate 3100 calories in one meal! On Monday of this week, I boiled and peeled everything. Yesterday I mashed everything. Today, with the help of Priscilla, Philip and Andrew, we mixed everything. Tomorrow we will put on the toppings and bake everything, after the turkey is done, resting and waiting to be carved. I love to have a clean kitchen when I serve dinner. I like the dishwashers to be empty and ready to be loaded with the dinner dishes before we eat dessert. That's why I trash my kitchen the day before! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Fourth of July

How nice to have Fourth of July fall on a Friday! We had a great time with our friends. Did I ever mention that we have a great backyard? We have a pool with a rock slide, a basketball court, a ping pong table, a fire pit, a play structure, a gas barbecue and a big covered cabana with fans or gas heaters, whatever you need to keep the temperature the way you want it. The sad part about our back yard, is that so many times we have big events here, that we never just hang out with our friends. We use our backyard for book club meetings, high school events, baptisms, game nights, interviews, meetings, you name it. But it all seems that it is a big production and we never just have fun.

Well, this summer is different. The boys said that they didn't want to do ANYTHING this summer. They didn't even want to sign up for AWANA Scholarship camp, which they typically LOVE. No surf camp, no baseball camp, no Junior Life Guards camp, no tennis camp. They just wanted to hang out. We do school work until noon, and now they go into the backyard and play. They've also been able to go up to the local park and play baseball, or just go up the cul-de-sac and play whiffle ball with the neighborhood boys.

This Fourth of July was different. We had dear friends over and we just hung out. We made it simple. Hot dogs on the barbecue, green salad, watermelon, apple pie. I got in the pool with my girl friends. Me. The one who NEVER swims when we have company. My friend, Linda, and I got in the pool and floated on rafts while the kids played all around us. Of course they tried to cannon ball as close to us as they could, or bounce the ball to splash as close to us as they could. But we didn't mind. After dinner, Carie got in with us, but the kids were too rowdy to let her (or any of us) float in peace, so we got in the spa. We have lived here over 10 years. I don't ever remember getting in the spa with my friends. My sister-in-laws, yes, my kids, yes, my husband, yes, but never with my friends. And then about 5 of the kids joined us in the spa and we had nice conversations with them. The three moms decided we didn't want to be too aggressive in hunting for fireworks, so 15 minutes before the local fireworks show started, we got out, changed into dry clothes and climbed our back slope to watch the fire works that were about 3 miles away. We all had glow-in-the-dark necklaces (of course) and we sang all of the patriotic songs we knew.

When the fireworks show was over, we climbed back down our slope, lit the fire pit and ate apple pie that Holly had made or roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Everyone went home about 10:30 PM.

The boys were right. We needed to have a slower summer, where not everything is a production. We have enough productions slated anyway, so what better day to celebrate with good friends than the Fourth of July. Without the production.