Yup, parents always have a favorite and mine happens to be Social Studies, that fascinating study “of the organization and development of human societies.” To study societies, Social Studies draws on topics from history, government, economics, civics, sociology, geography, and anthropology, the same topics I studied in college and graduate school. My background may be one reason that Social Studies has become my favorite home school subject. However, the ability to supplement the lessons with engaging activities and amazing books is another reason.
In our state, the grade 4 Social Studies curriculum focuses on the United States and its geographic regions. Units cover map skills; United States people, land forms, climate, and natural resources; United States government and democratic values; and United States regions and states. I had so much fun preparing our first few weeks of lessons.
Map skills paired nicely with orienteering and geocaching (or what my kids like to call treasure hunting) activities. Orienteering is using a map and compass to navigate from point to point, while geocaching is using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or a mobile device to find hidden containers or “caches.” My kids were familiar with both from our years of hiking, but the unit gave us a chance to delve deeper into the concepts of latitude and longitude and to begin practicing some new survival skills. We used the following resources to enhance our lessons.
- Introduction to Geocaching
- Introduction to Letterboxing (an alternative to Geocaching)
- Bear Grylls Adventure Books Survival Skills: Maps and Navigation
- Bear Grylls Adventure Stories The Desert Challenge
- Jennifer Thermes Gramma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail
The unit on “People of the United States” began with with an exploration of early American inhabitants. A number of wonderful books helped us learn about the cultures of native people located in various regions of the United States. Yasuda’s book even provided craft projects to go along with our lessons. My child had fun making an Iroquois turtle shell rattle, a woven basket, a sand painting, a bison shield, and a Haida button blanket.
- Cara Ashrose The Very First Americans
- Carole Lindstrom We Are Water Protectors
- Anita Yasuda Explore Native American Cultures: With 25 Great Projects
I can’t wait to see what books and activities we discover in the coming weeks.