Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Time Travel Unit Study

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I’ve always had a fascination with the possibility of time travel.

I read a lot about black holes and strange phenomena. Maybe it was a safety net to attempt to learn about the unknown and unexplainable when I felt my life was falling apart. I found refuge in books. I escaped into worlds that seemed safer than my own.

As a kid, I really thought I’d have more Bermuda Triangle issues than I’ve had in my lifetime. I even panicked a bit as I flew along the edge when I was 14 on a trip to Puerto Rico.

As an adult and parent to four children, I am coming to terms with my fascination with myth, legend, unexplained phenomena, and even new and experimental science. I am remembering my hobbies and loves of my childhood and youth and I feel safe to impart the appropriate parts on to my kids.

We watch a lot of movies and shows. I love having film night with pizza each week. We read lots of books in our homeschool. There is no such thing as twaddle. Everything has its place. I often include fun books in our morning read alouds to break up the seriousness and often tragedy of history.

I refuse to just leave it alone. We discuss and analyze and compare and contrast what we read and watch. I love cinema history.

Many of these shows and books flashback to 1989 or thereabouts – and I remember suddenly how I felt, what I experienced, how I lost so many parts of myself in the rush to grow up, trying desperately to live up to expectations and make money, to become successful and stifle who I am.

I often fantasize to the point of anxiety what I could say to myself if I could travel back to make corrections.

We laugh at the potential paradox in shows and books. We wonder how things would be different if history were changed.

Time Travel Unit Study

My kids haven’t seen or read all these in the list. Use discretion and preview for content.

Resources

Do you think time travel is possible?

Linking up: Anita Ojeda, Marilyn’s Treats, April Harris, Little Cottage, Mostly Blogging, InstaEncouragements, LouLou Girls, Suburbia, Our Three Peas, Grandma’s Ideas, Anchored Abode, Soaring with Him, Girlish Whims, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap, Ducks in a Row, OMHG, Ridge Haven, Katherine’s Corner, Penny’s Passion, Crystal Storms, Debbie Kitterman, Slices of Life, Mommynificent, Imparting Grace, Simply Sweet Home, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, CWJ, Inspired Prairie, Try it Like it, Being a Wordsmith, Create with Joy,

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Mice Unit Study

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My son loves books about mice.

I think I understand the attraction of anthropomorphic mice in adventure stories. I enjoy reading them aloud at bedtime.

When we feel small, powerless, invisible, and lonely, escaping into a magical world of talking mice with happy endings is a great way to cheer up as we experience their fun adventures.

There is catharsis and safety in lovely fairy tales. I’m so glad my children love to hear and read stories.

My son and I look forward to bedtime and another chapter about mice escaping and outwitting enemies, cats, and people, philosophizing about power and control and whether they even matter in the grand scheme of life.

He’s almost 11 this year and I cherish these moments together, reading and snuggling, and giggling over animal antics.

Mice Books We Love

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck

Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

The Adventures of Henry Whiskers by Gigi Priebe

Poppy series by Avi, illustrated by Brian Floca NEW: Ragweed and Poppy!

Ralph Mouse (3 book series) by Beverly Cleary 

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

Stuart Little by E. B White

Mouse and Mole by Joyce Dunbar

The Mouse Mansion series by Karina Schaapman

Chester Cricket and His Friends (7 book series) by George Selden

Rats of Nimh Trilogy by Robert C. O’Brien 

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Library Mouse (5 book series) by Daniel Kirk 

The School Mouse, A Mouse Called Wolf, and Martin’s Mice by Dick King-Smith

Geraldine Woolkins (3 book series) by Karin Kaufman

Mac and Cheese by Sarah Weeks

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood

Geronimo Stilton series

Word of Mouse by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem

Frederick, Geraldine, Alexander, Matthew, Tillie, Nicolas, The Greentail Mouse, and MORE by Leo Lionni

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books by Laura Numeroff

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Mouse’s First Spring by Lauren Thompson

Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly

Chrysanthemum books by Kevin Henkes

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

Maisy books by Lucy Cousins

Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman

Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Mouse Tales and Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel

Angelina Ballerina books by Katharine Holabird

By Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw Barnes:

Of course we love the animal tales from Beatrix Potter too!

Want to extend the lesson?

What is your favorite story book for this season?

Linking up: Anita Ojeda, April Harris, Marilyn’s Treats, Little Cottage, Create with Joy, LouLou Girls, Our Three Peas, Suburbia, Grandma’s Ideas, Grammy’s Grid, OMHG, Anchored Abode, Soaring with Him, InstaEncouragements, Ridge Haven, Girlish Whims, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap, Ducks in a Row, Penny’s Passion, Crystal Storms, Debbie Kitterman, Slices of Life, Mommynificent, Chic Shoestring, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Katherine’s Corner, Simply Sweet Home, Lyli Dunbar, CWJ, Imparting Grace, Being a Wordsmith, Try it Like it, Everyday Farmhouse, Mostly Blogging,

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Vincent van Gogh Unit Study

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I have always loved Vincent van Gogh and his paintings. I am thrilled to share that love with my children.

I love teaching art history and about art even though I don’t consider myself a creative artist. See how we do art in our homeschool.

I would love to travel to southern France to see all the places he painted and walk in his footsteps.

We find it interesting all the different way to pronounce his name:

van-GOH (the most common in North America)

van-GOFF (in England)

van-GOKH and vun-KHOKH (which comes closest to the Dutch).

He’s one of our favorite artists.

As my kids get older and we revisit lessons every few years, we discuss mental illness and STI. We know that van Gogh suffered and committed suicide. He had tinnitus and other health problems like scurvy, perhaps epilepsy. Some speculate he may have contracted syphilis and certainly had mental health problems. We know that his brother Theo died from complication with syphilis.

The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant…And we definitely added to his pile of good things.

The Doctor in Vincent and the Doctor – Doctor Who: Season 5, Episode 10

When we got to visit The Netherlands, we knew we wanted to see his paintings in person!

When we went to Keukenhof, the entire theme was Vincent van Gogh and there was a floral mosaic, a selfie garden, and static displays of his paintings.

The mosaic hadn’t bloomed yet in March. I’ll bet it was amazing!

We had so much fun in the selfie garden.

The static displays recreated the paintings and were absolutely magnificent!

We went to the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. It holds the most van Gogh works.

Some favorites:

My son loved seeing the boats from his Art Ditto card game.

The kids got to see Sunflowers!

They were so jealous I had seen it the year before when I visited London for a conference.

My youngest daughter’s favorite is The Potato Eaters.

We were thrilled to see the Impressionist exhibit, including many van Gogh at the National Gallery when we visited London the next year.

van Gogh’s Self-Portrait and The Bedroom is at the Art Institute of Chicago and we loved to see it when we moved back to The States!

The goal now is to travel to New York to see Starry Night.

Art Projects

I allow my kids freedom of expression and making messes to learn and experiment and play with arts and crafts.

I love how my middle daughter made this scene out of Wikki Stix!

We drew sunflowers with chalk pastels.

We practiced drawing with pots of petunias and a still life of our breakfast table.

My girls have gotten very talented with watercolors, but we haven’t ventured into oils yet.

Resources:

Books

What’s your favorite van Gogh painting?

Linking up: Random Musings, Create with Joy, Mostly Blogging, Kippi at Home, Marilyn’s Treats, Anita Ojeda, Home Stories, LouLou Girls, Purposeful Faith, Mary Geisen, Our Three Peas, Anchored Abode, InstaEncouragements, Soaring with Him, Ridge Haven Homestead, Welcome Heart, Ducks in a Row, Girlish Whims, Ginger Snap Crafts, Fluster Buster, April Harris, Grandma’s Ideas, Katherine’s Corner, Penny’s Passion, Mommynificent, Debbie Kitterman, Creative K Kids, Slices of Life, Life Beyond the Kitchen, Chic on a Shoestring, Answer is Choco, Simply Sweet Home, Embracing Unexpected, Pieced Pastimes, Fireman’s Wife, CWJ, OMHG, Momfessionals, Every Day Farmhouse, Being a Wordsmith, Little Cottage,

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Hawaii Unit Study

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We lived in Hawaii for three years. We loved it.

But we realized we were temporary, other, haoles in Paradise, and it wasn’t our land. Looking back, I realize there was so much more I could have learned, done, thought.

My girls were very young and I can make amends now as we learn about the history and culture of Hawaii. The kids don’t even remember it.

Our Travels Around Hawaii

My son chose the place of his birth for our homeschool geography fair.

We still had a lot of Hawaiian items from when we lived there.

He was so happy to talk to people about his birth place!

Hawaiian history and culture is complicated. We watched the news and social media with trepidation as the National Guard moved in on protestors at Mauna Kea for the site location of the Thirty Meter Telescope. We agree with Native Hawaiians and feel love and aloha in our hearts for them and their land. Some books may seem offensive to people unfamiliar with Hawaii and colonialism that has affected these beautiful islands and people.

Book List:

Keiki (Kids) Books:

Activities:

Resources:

Hawaii is magic. It is paradise. We left a piece of our hearts in the Islands.

Linking up: Grammy’s Grid, Being a Wordsmith, Life Beyond the Kitchen,

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Constitution Unit Study

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I want to teach my kids US history, government, citizenship.

I don’t want the US government curriculum to be nationalist, fundamentalist, or evangelical.

I’m not sure when many Americans began equating white Republican Jesus with the white male president, right wing government officials, and media, with removing or reducing social programs, but that’s not my religion.

I want unbiased materials and we’re leaning more and more towards secular curriculum to get the true picture of history.

On September 17, 1787, the Founding Fathers signed the most influential document in American history, the United States Constitution.

As we approach Constitution Week, September 17-23, here are some fun educational materials available at no cost to homeschoolers.

A More or Less Perfect Union is a three-part PBS series hosted by Senior Federal Appeals DC Circuit Court Judge Douglas Ginsburg. The series features 17 Constitutional experts weighing in on hot button topics around the document that governs those who govern us.  It aired earlier this year and is schedule to re-air on public television on Sept. 13 at 9 p.m. ET. It is also available on Amazon Prime and PBS.org, if you are a member. It can be watched for free now. It is best suited for high school level students.

Imagine having a discussion with George Washington and Ben Franklin today. Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg sat down with each historic figure to discuss the Constitution, what succeeded and what failed, slavery, education, and even air conditioning and deodorant! Meet the Framers are fascinating, educational and entertaining conversations that shouldn’t be missed.

Judge Ginsburg worked with izzit.org, an online teacher resource, to develop civics educational materials to teach about the Constitution.   The materials include a week-long course on The U.S. Constitution & Black History, a 16-minute teaching unit, Becoming Equal Under the Law, and a number of Teachable Moments (short video clips designed to encourage discussions).

For younger students, the Pups of Liberty series (The Boston T-Bone Party  and The Dog-claration of Independence) are delightful.

A new teaching unit on the First Amendment is recently released.

This is all available to educators at no cost!

Constitution and Government Resources

Favorite US History Books

Linking up: Random Musings, April Harris, Create with Joy, Welcome Heart, Anita Ojeda, Marilyn’s Treats, Little Cottage, Kippi at Home, Home Stories, Mary Geisen, Purposeful Faith, LouLou Girls, Grandma’s Ideas, Anchored Abode, Soaring with Him, Ridge Haven Homestead, InstaEncouragements, My Girlish Whims, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap Crafts, Ducks in a Row, Our Three Peas, Katherine’s Corner, Penny’s Passion, Mommynificent, Slices of Life, Creative K Kids, Imparting Grace, Life Beyond the Kitchen, Oh My Heartsie Girl, Answer is Choco, Simply Sweet Home, Momfessionals, Embracing Unexpected, Pieced Pastimes, Fireman’s Wife, CWJ, Being a Wordsmith, Mostly Blogging,

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Labor Day Unit Study

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Labor Day is not just the official end of summer.

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday. Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.     

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Because we have suffered, and we are not afraid to suffer in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything — even our lives — in our struggle for justice. We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure. When a man or woman, young, or old, takes a place on the picket line for even a day or two, he will never be the same again.  

Cesar Chavez

Topics for Discussion

  • The Modern Labor Rights Movement
  • The Power Of Agitating & Organizing
  • Child Labor
  • Minimum Wage
  • Maternity/Paternity Leave
  • The Gender & Race Wage Gap: Glass Ceilings
  • The US Economy Runs On The Backbone of Exploited Black Labor
  • The Effect of Exploitative Migrant Labor On Families

Resources

Book List

Labor Day movies

I learned the value of hard work by working hard.

Margaret Mead

How can you support workers?

No one really cares what you post on social media or clapping or being honored at a parade or event. Workers need and want tangible rewards for doing what they do – better conditions, higher pay, protections for illness or injury, security. Respect their dignity.

Make sure you tip well. More than 20%. Don’t be insulting or rude. Service is a very difficult job.

Gifts for the services you use and appreciate most. Keep in mind that most workers can technically only accept gifts equally up to $20 or less. Don’t embarrass them or put them in an awkward position. A gift card, a homemade treat, a caffeine drink, a token is much appreciated.

Vote. Protest. Support public officials, government agencies, and private organizations who protect wage workers and their benefits.

Speak up and teach. Our kids need to see us fighting injustice. They need to know we are not silent and complicit.

Linking up: Random Musings, Welcome Heart, Anita Ojeda, Marilyn’s Treats, Little Cottage, Mostly Blogging, Kippi at Home, Purposeful Faith, LouLou Girls, Our Three Peas, Grandma’s Ideas, Anchored Abode, Soaring with Him, Ducks in a Row, Fluster Buster, Girlish Whims, Ginger Snap Crafts, Katherine’s Corner, Penny’s Passion, Mommynificent, Debbie Kitterman, CKK, Imparting Grace, Ridge Haven Homestead, Slices of Life, Life Beyond the Kitchen, Answer is Choco, Simply Sweet Home, Momfessionals, Embracing Unexpected, Create with Joy, OMHG, Being a Wordsmith, InstaEncouragements, Create with Joy,

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Japan Unit Study

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We love learning about other cultures.

We review history and geography each cycle/year and assimilate our learning with current events.

I want to learn real history along with my kids, not just an American perspective.

Japan Unit Study

Topics

  • Feudalism
  • Samurai
  • Imperialism
  • WWII
  • Anime
  • Technology

Book List

Movies

Use discretion. Some of these films are just ridiculous.

Resources: Printables, Units, Lessons

We would love to visit Japan someday!

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling
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Asian Pacific American Resources

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May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month. 

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success. Check out this teacher resource page.

It’s a great month to focus our studies, our reading and watching materials on Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Often in our curriculum, the white narrative dominates and I must be diligent to seek out sources and materials to honor all cultures and peoples.

I try really hard to teach my white children about other cultures, about immigrants, and the experiences of people not like us. Sometimes, it’s uncomfortable and that’s where the learning happens.

I update our studies every history cycle, adding more inclusive material to our lists each time. Lots of book lists and more here:

We lived in Hawaii for three years. We loved it.

But we realized we were temporary, other, haoles in Paradise, and it wasn’t our land. Looking back, I realize there was so much more I could have learned, done, thought. My girls were very young and I can make amends now as we learn about the history and culture of Hawaii. The kids don’t even remember it.

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Maya Angelou

Our Hawaii Travels

Reading List

I believe in exposing young children to other cultures and getting them familiar with differences so they don’t feel uncomfortable. The first time I had Asian food, I was twelve! I don’t think my parents did a good job on some aspects of my education.

Activities:

Dine out at an Asian restaurant and try new foods. Research before you go so it’s not an expensive waste since the flavors and presentation are very different than typical American food. Some foods are very spicy to a white palate used to bland food!

Learn to cook Asian food! Sushi, stir fries, and soups are easy first steps.

Visit an Asian festival to learn more about the culture and support immigrants.

Go to museum exhibits on Asian art.

How do you celebrate Asian Americans?

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Earth Day Unit Study

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It’s our 50th Earth Day and we’ve been watching the reduced carbon emissions while in quarantine.

Perhaps Mother Earth wanted to heal Herself?

I remember being a child growing up in the 1980s and learning about Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! But it never seemed to really catch on. It just wasn’t a dire issue and my county/city didn’t offer weekly service. No one wants to pay for something extra that doesn’t directly affect them.

I want to do better as a family now, but it’s really hard when the eggs come in styrofoam and so many other grocery and takeout items are in lots of unnecessary packaging.

We clear up the trash at our neighborhood ponds and backyard creek regularly. We feed the birds. It seems so little.

Our country is behind many others in earth stewardship. We are vast and huge and populous and no one really seems to care about climate change or protecting the environment.

When we lived in Germany for three years, we separated our waste into refuse, organic, and recycling every week.

We have curbside recycling service every other week now in our suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

But is recycling all we can do?

I want my kids to be better stewards of the Earth since it’s our only home and we must take good care of it for future generations.

Earth Day Unit Study

Ideas

  • Gardening
  • Recycling
  • Reduce waste
  • Try to go plastic free for a period of time. It’s really hard!
  • Reading about nature, natural history, environment, climate change, earthjustice
  • Clean up trash in your yard, a local park, local waterway
  • Feed the birds in your yard
  • Go on a nature walk or hike
  • Plant native trees, bushes, plants in the yard
  • Watch nature documentaries

We did a small focus on female environmentalists:

  • Anna Comstock
  • Rachel Carson
  • Dian Fossey
  • Caitlin O’Connell
  • Patricia Medici
  • Kay Holecamp
  • Jane Goodall
  • Wangari Maathai
  • Isatou Ceesay
  • Evelyn Cheesman
  • Eugenie Clark
  • Katherine Olivia Sessions
  • Sylvia Earle
  • Greta Thunberg
  • Jennifer Mather
  • Jenny Graves
  • Kimberly Stewart

Tips to celebrate Earth Day from home:

  1. Get outside. Your backyard is an outdoor living room and safe place for pets and kids to play. Science proves spending time in your family’s yard is good for your health and well-being, and so important today as everyone looks for creative ways to stay well while being confined to the home. Researchers have found that people living in neighborhoods with more birds, shrubs, and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress.
  2. Make the outdoors a family project. Take your loved ones outside to assess your space. What’s working well? What could be improved? What can you plan to do together in your backyard? Anything needing to be cleaned up? Make a plan to expand or spruce up your yard.
  3. Connect kids to nature. The environmental education program resources and activities, based on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) principles, give kids the prompts they need to have fun learning about and exploring the nature and science in their own backyards.
  4. Know your climate zone. Learn about climate-zone-appropriate plants, the importance of pollinators, and how backyards can support local wildlife. Conduct a plant inventory to determine what’s currently thriving in your backyard. Match that up against the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to determine the best types of turf, trees, shrubs, and plants for the climate zone. 
  5. Keep pollinators in mind. Your yard is an important part of the connected ecosystem providing much- needed food and shelter for pollinators, such as birds, bees, butterflies, bats, and other creatures. Select a variety of plants that will bloom all year long. The Audubon Society’s database can help determine which birds will be attracted to which plants for unique regions so you can make good choices about what to plant. 
  6. Plant, prune, or mow. Staying confined to home base doesn’t mean gardening and yard work have to stop. Order garden supplies online or have them delivered from a nearby nursery. Mow the lawn and trim bushes. Research shows people who gardened for at least 30 minutes a week had lower body mass indexes (BMIs)—a measure of body fat—as well as higher levels of self-esteem and better moods overall. They also reported lower levels of tension and stress.

Books:

I have been in love with the sky since birth. And when I could fly, I wanted to go higher, to enter space and become a “man of the heights.” During the eight days I spent in space, I realized the mankind needs height primarily to better know our long-suffering Earth, to see what cannot be seen close up. Not just to love her beauty, but also to ensure that we do not bring even the slightest harm to the natural world.

Pham Tuan, Vietnamese astronaut

Videos:

Resources:

How do you celebrate Earth Day?

Linking up: Welcome Heart, Anita Ojeda, April Harris, Marilyn’s Treats, Create with Joy, Mostly Blogging, Mary Geisen, Little Cottage, LouLou Girls, Our Home, Our Three Peas, Grandma’s Ideas, Worth Beyond Rubies, Soaring with Him, InstaEncouragements, Ducks in a Row, Girlish Whims, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap Crafts, Suburbia, Heartsie Girl, Penny’s Passion, Katherine’s Corner. Crystal Storms, Debbie Kitterman, Slices of Life, CKK, Ridge Haven Homestead, Anchored Abode, Life Beyond the Kitchen, Chic on a Shoestring, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Simply Sweet Home, MareeDee, Fireman’s Wife, CWJ, Kris and Larry,

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Black American History

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It’s hard to teach my white kids about Black history and Civil Rights in America.

I can’t just begin in the 1960s with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Act. I can’t just teach about this in February: Black History Month.

The fight for civil rights began long ago and continues today.

No one really wants to discuss the creation of the idea of race surrounding the colonization of Europeans to the New World.

Pioneer days are lauded as an exciting time when white Europeans claimed Manifest Destiny and took land from the Natives who had lived in America for hundreds of years. Theses times are glorified in skewed history books with white saviors “evangelizing and rescuing people of color from themselves and their savagery.”

The Civil War didn’t end slavery. It made slavery illegal, and other later court decisions made Jim Crow Laws and segregation illegal, but discrimination and stereotypes in the media, schools, and our own homes uphold racism.

The Ku Klux Klan was and is hateful toward anyone who is not a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

This is hard and necessary history to teach my white children who have been mostly oblivious in their sheltered lives. It’s hard history for me to revisit and enlighten myself so I understand true American history.

Civil rights are human rights.

It is my duty to learn and teach anti-racism. All year round and not just one month each year.

Studying Black American History

Our favorite history texts:

Topics for Discussion

I know this is an incomplete timeline. We discuss issues as I learn about them and we read about them in our studies.

  • Colonialism
  • Enslavement
  • Underground Railroad
  • Harriet Tubman
  • Fugitive Slave Act
  • Nat Turner
  • Abolitionism 
  • John Brown
  • Dred Scott
  • The US Civil War. See my unit study.
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • Juneteenth
  • Reconstruction
  • Freedmen’s Bureau
  • Black Codes
  • Jim Crow
  • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
  • 14th and 15th Amendments
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • Tuskegee Institute
  • Ida B. Wells sued the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  • Plessy v. Ferguson
  • Woodrow Wilson orders physical re-segregation of federal workplaces and employment
  • Marcus Garvey and UNIA
  • Great Migration
  • Harlem Renaissance
  • East St. Louis massacres
  • Red Summer
  • Tulsa Race Massacre
  • Tuskegee Airmen
  • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
  • Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin
  • Negro League Baseball
  • Jackie Robinson
  • Brown v. Board Of Education
  • Recy Taylor
  • Emmett Till
  • Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
  • Little Rock Nine
  • Sit–in Movement 
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
  • Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
  • Freedom Rides
  • James Meredith integrates Ole Miss
  • 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, bombed
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Freedom Summer and the “Mississippi Burning” Murders
  • Selma to Montgomery March
  • Malcolm X
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • Black Power
  • Fair Housing Act of 1968
  • MLK Assassination
  • Shirley Chisholm Runs for President in 1972
  • President Jimmy Carter appoints Andrew Young to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations
  • The Bakke Decision and Affirmative Action
  • Jesse Jackson and People United to Save/Serve Humanity (PUSH)
  • Oprah Winfrey Talk Show
  • Los Angeles Riots
  • Million Man and Woman Marches
  • Colin Powell becomes Secretary of State
  • Barack Obama becomes 44th U.S. President
  • Civil Rights Extensions
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Colin Kaepernick

February 1976: Black History Month is founded by Professor Carter Woodson’s Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

November 2, 1983: President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday to honor MLK.

January 20, 1986: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is first celebrated as a national holiday.

Resources and Reading List

I prefer to read works written by Black people about Black people. Some other books we’ve read and discussed, but they had problems.

Anti-Racism Books

Some of these are on my list to read. Some I’ve read and liked or disliked. It’s frustrating when white people write about anti-racism from a place of socio-economic power and white savior stance.

Movies

Obviously, some of these are not for young children. Use discretion.

I love movies and I love using movies to teach history and culture. Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, and Jordan Peele have great films.

Music

I love music and I love the rich history that African Americans have brought to our musical repertoire. See how we learn about music.

  • Spirituals and Folk Songs
  • Jubilee Singers
  • Barbershop quartets
  • Blues
  • Jazz
  • Soul
  • R&B
  • Rap
  • Hip Hop

The removal of racist songs from children’s music programs is long overdue.

Celebrate Black composers, singers, and musicians throughout history.

Musicians We’re Listening To:

  • W.C. Handy
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Teddy Wilson
  • Robert Johnson
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe
  • Marian Anderson
  • Chuck Berry
  • Nat King Cole
  • Miles Davis
  • Duke Ellington
  • Count Basie
  • Charlie Parker
  • Cab Calloway
  • Nina Simone
  • Billie Holiday
  • Sarah Vaughan
  • Bessie Smith
  • Florence Price
  • Dizzy Gillespie
  • John Coltrane
  • Scott Joplin
  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Mahalia Jackson
  • Etta James
  • BB King
  • Otis Redding
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Diana Ross
  • James Brown
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Charley Pride
  • Ray Charles
  • Isaac Hayes
  • DJ Kool Herc
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Sam Cooke
  • Fats Domino
  • Little Richard
  • Bob Marley
  • Whitney Houston
  • Michael Jackson
  • Prince
  • Lauryn Hill
  • Chuck D
  • Blackstreet
  • Snoop Dogg
  • Nicki Minaj
  • Beyoncé
  • Childish Gambino

Field Trips

We live in Ohio and we’re learning local history along with world and US history.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati

Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati:

Underground Railroad Walk in Springboro, Ohio:

Quilts often were maps for the Underground Railroad.

It’s important to revisit history lessons again and again. I learn so much while researching to teach my children Truth.

I’m constantly revisiting my upbringing and the stereotypes I was washed in during my Georgia public school education. I want to do better. I want to do better teaching my children.

How do you teach Black History?

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