Learning About Cousin Henry + Printable!

Right now Big Brother is enjoying reading biographies for our history studies. He finished his 2nd grade ABeka history before Christmas break, and now we are choosing interesting people to read and write about.

My mother was recently studying our family tree and discovered that we are distantly related to many famous historical figures! Big Brother has found this facinating! One of these distant cousins of ours happens to be The Great Compromiser himself, Kentucky's own Henry Clay!

When we visited our KY State Capitol building, he saw the statue of Henry Clay in the rotunda and was eager to learn more about him...especially with him being our kin and all! :)

So we are currently reading through the book Henry Clay: Young Kentucky Orator which is part of the Childhood of Famous Americans series. We are both learning more about this great man!! I would love to get to visit his estate called Ashland in Lexington, KY perhaps this spring or summer!

As he reads about different people this year, I am having Big Brother write me up a few sentences about the person. I created a simple notebooking page for him to write about Henry Clay, and I am offering it now for you to download. :)

Click here to purchase your printable Henry Clay notebooking page! (This is a pdf file.)

I am working on lots more downloads and printables to offer here for you.


(This post contained affiliate links. I receive a small commission when you make purchases through those links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for blessing our family this way!)

Learning All About Fossils! - Notebooking 2nd Grade Science

This week Big Brother is loving learning all about fossils in science!

(This post contains affiliate links. Making purchases by clicking on these links helps to provide our family with a small extra income. Thank you so much!)

I have posted before about how we are notebooking our way through all kinds of interesting topics this year for his 2nd grade science. Rather than just following a dry textbook and doing boring Q&A, we are finding excellent, engaging resources; looking for hands-on learning opportunities; and documenting what he discovers in his science notebook!

Some of the best resources we have used this year in science have come from the Answers in Genesis Bookstore

In our fossil study this week, we are loving the two books pictured above! They are both written by Gary and Mary Parker. On the left the green book is The Fossil Book from the Wonders of Creation Series, and it is available in [the Answers in Genesis Bookstore] for $15.99. If you have an older student who really wants to "dig deeper" into studying this book, there is a companion study guide workbook also available in the Answers in Genesis bookstore for $3.99. The book on the right is a fun one called Dry Bones and Other Fossils also available from the Answers in Genesis Bookstore for $13.99.

Big Brother has learned how fossils are formed,what different kinds of fossils there are, and where they can be found. The books above have some awesome pictures and information, and Big Brother is excitedly planning to go fossil hunting (as soon as we have some warmer weather around here!).



In the meantime, here is a fun, simple project we did while learning about a kind of fossil known as an impression(Once again, out comes the trusty Play-Doh!)



1.) Choose any color lump of Play-Doh.



2.) Find a flower or leaf. Remember, fossils come from things that were once alive. This includes plants!



3.) Press the flower or leaf carefully into the Play-Doh.



4.) You now have an impression in the shape of your flower or leaf!

5.) Allow the Play-Doh to dry, and you have made your very own "fossil!"

Big Brother was intreaged to learn that fossilized ocean animals have been found here in land-locked Kentucky! And these ocean fossils can also be found on the tops of the tallest mountains in the world! When I asked him how this might be possible, knowing what he had learned about how fossils are formed, his big blue eyes just lit up and he said, "Noah's Flood!! The Bible is TRUE!!" :)

I absolutely LOVE how these resources from Answers in Genesis not only teach fascinating science, but they actually use science to point to the Savior! We've learned that the fossil record is a reminder of God's judgement of sin during Noah's flood. But we know how God provided Noah with an ark, and for us He has provided salvation as well through His Son, Jesus Christ!

I will leave you now with a fun song about the fossil record! The song is Billions of Dead Things by Buddy Davis.

What are some of your favorite resources for studying science? What has been your child's favorite science topic to explore this year? Post a comment below and tell me about it!!!

It's a Frog's Life - Notebooking 2nd Grade Science

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were notebooking our way through Big Brother's 2nd grade Science. I am nowhere near as fancy and creative with this as some others, but I thought I would share something we enjoyed!



Big Brother had fun doing the work for this page! We read and talked about the life cycle of a frog from several different sources. Then he used PlayDoh to create an example of each stage of a frog's life from egg to adult frog. We took pictures of his creations and used them to make this simple page in his notebook.

Here were his frog eggs:




Tadpoles:



Tadpoles grow back legs:




Front legs grow:




Now a froglet with a tail:



Finally we remove the tail and have a grown up frog:



So much better than just reading dry text and answering questions, don't you think?

What do you do to make learning fun and interesting in your homeschool? I would LOVE to hear your ideas!!

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