All American History Projects For Homeschool Enrichment

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All American History Volume II continues to rock our homeschool-now with history projects! My boys and I are thoroughly enjoying our homeschool time using All American History text, Student Activity book, and Teacher's Guide/Answer Key. We continue to delve deeper into our history studies of Civil War (and eagerly await post-Civil War studies too!).

To find out more about why Busy Boys Brigade is enjoying this homeschool history curriculum, check out these posts:

As my school-age boys and I have progressed through their All American H\istory lessons, we have discussed several options for history projects. I find that involving my boys in decision-making with projects and other major assignments helps to increase their participation and engagement. I knew that Professor, our history buff, would be on board for any of the history projects presented in All American History. I wanted to make sure that the first selected project would be of interest to all my boys and their different learning styles.

All American History Project Possibilities

One of the History Project Possibilities suggested in the Teacher's Guide was a creative writing project with option to perform a reenactment. Professor often directs his brothers in Civil War reenactment during their play time (yes, we are that family!). They have recorded several short "Civil War" movies on their iPads. We talked about other ways the boys could reenact this time period.

During a car trip to the grocery store, Professor and I both had a Eureka! moment. The boys would create a salt dough map to duplicate a map from their All American History text. They would mark an outline of involved states and battle areas.

Professor also suggested that using a salt dough map to recreate a specific battle scene would be fun. He strongly felt that the Battle of Manassas was a perfect choice with its topography, bridge, and outcome. We decided that the boys would create the salt dough maps, let dry, and then use water color paints and markers to denote certain areas.

For the salt dough map of the states, the boys painted the Union states blue and the Confederate states gray. Well-known battles were marked with a star and labeled with a fine-tip black Sharpie. Additional labels for states and water ways were also applied.

The salt dough map of the Battle of Manassas was created to show a small scene. Professor formed the river in the middle with room to add a bridge when salt dough was dry. Smiley, the big helper in this project, pressed in an area to later hold the Union flag.

The boys waited patiently for the salt dough to dry. When ready, they used watercolor paints to add a touch of color. Professor, Smiley, and Captain then had fun using Professor's Civil War figures to reenact this bloody battle. (His Civil Wars set is shown below.)

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As I observed my boys plan and complete their salt dough history projects, I smiled at their creativeness and expression of what they have learned. I am so glad that we have included All American History in our homeschool. The project and enrichment ideas within the Teacher's Guide and Student Activity Book provide numerous options for hands-on, visual learning that help my boys thrive.

To learn more about what All American History has to offer, visit Bright Press Ideas. The All American History Volume II set that we are using includes Student Reader, Student Activity Book, and Teacher's Guide/Answer Key. We feel like we have finally found a homeschool history curriculum that meets the needs of all of our school-age kids!

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