Beginning the 18th Century Study

We are halfway through our first week of study on the 18th century. So far things are going well. Here is what our weekly plan looks like:

Math (individually) Monday through Thursday

Language: Monday is Bible dictation from Matthew 5:14-16. The rest of the week, they are working on memorizing this verse. Tuesday is copywork from the Mayflower Compact. Wednesday through Friday we work on their individual spelling lessons from All About Spelling. Because we are using a more unit study approach, this is all the dedicated language we are doing. However, there is more writing and reading included in the rest of their work.

Monday through Wednesday are focused on history, and Thursday and Friday are reserved for science. Our unit study is called A Journey Through the 18th Century. I have scheduled three weeks to get through this study. This week is covering the slave trade, the French and Indian War, Daniel Boone, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, American Revolution, Patriots, and Loyalists. Yes, it seems pretty quick, but it is just an overview. We will go into many of these topics more in depth later.

We are also using Drive Thru History America: Foundations of Character. On Monday, we just watched the introduction. This is a 9 week study. Also on Monday, we read from "A Child's Story of America", chapter 7 Royal Governors and Loyal Captains. It went very well with our reading today from First Course in American History. We read Chapter 13 on Nathaniel Bacon. Yes, I know this was actually in the 17th century, but the events were essential to the understanding of the Revolution.

My favorite resource so far is George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster. It is quite a long book, so it will take us the full 18 weeks to get through it. The book looks at the life of George Washington, and then gives a snapshot of others that lived alongside him. I can't remember how I came across this book, or who I got it from. But thank you to whomever it was. This week, we read about when George Washington was a boy. The others we read about were Daniel Boone, John Adams, John Hancock, Abigail Smith (Adams), Pontiac, and Benjamin West. I can't wait to read this one again next week. I also just noticed another book by the author on Abraham Lincoln. I'm going to have to see if I can find that one before we get to the next century.

Our science lesson is from God's Design for the Physical World: Inventions and Technology. We will study the telegraph and Samuel Morse. (I have an older edition, but you can see the newest edition here)

In the evenings, we are doing our Bible reading from 1 Samuel. We are also reading a story of John Wesley.

So far I am very happy with the plan. I still have tweaking and weekly planning to do as I go. I also am going to be looking for some more readers and maybe some movies or shows from the library. I hope maybe all my hard work and planning, can help some of you, and make your planning not as difficult. I am putting links to many of the resources I am using. Note, that I am in no way compensated by or associated with these companies.