Will You Like Winter Promise? 

You will probably like WP if you agree to most of these statements.

• Learning is best using living books.
• Hands-on crafts and projects are important for learning and for making learning fun!
• Gentle learning, done at a child's own pace is best.
• A notebook timeline is a valuable way to learn history.
• Notebooking helps students learn material and document their learning.

Winter Promise 

Winter Promise Official Website

Winter Promise Publishing offers themed homeschool curricula packages, language arts programs, and more.

Winter Promise Forum

Visit the forum for support and ideas.

Winter Promise AS1 Crafts 

from weeks1-8

A major plus of WP AS1 is the great crafts! Here are simple crafts my 8 year old daughter made as part of the regular scheduled AS1 curriculum.

Log Cabin

Pueblo Village

Wigwam

Hopi Diorama

Hopi Diorama

Navaho weaving

Zuni Pot

Jamestown Model

Apache Wikiup

Week 2 

The Vikings

How the Vikings of Old Sought and Found New Lands

This Country of OursPart 1, Chapter 1, written by H. E. Marshall.

This book is in the public domain. An engaging story of the Vikings' explorations of the New World.

How the Vikings of Old Sought and Found New Lands

MP3 recording of the chapter.

Viking Paperdolls

Look on the left side column for Viking Paperdolls.

Week 3 

Discovering America

Stories of Columbus, Vespucci, and Cabot

This Country of OursPart 1, Chapters 2-6, written by H. E. Marshall.

Follow the links to these chapters
2. The Sea of Darkness and the Faith of Columbus
3. How Columbus Fared Forth upon the Sea of Darkness
4. How Columbus Returned in Triumph
5. How America Was Named
6. How the Flag of England was Planted on the Shores of the New World

Stories of Columbus, Vespucci, and Cabot

MP3 recordings of the chapters.

Draw Write Now 

Draw Write Now, Book 2: Christopher Columbus, Autumn Harvest, Weather (Draw-Write-Now)

by: Marie Hablitzel, Kim Stitzer

Amazon Price: $12.99 (as of 12/02/2008)
Used Price: $4.83

I bought the entire Draw Write Now set a couple of years ago. They are adorable handwriting (or dictation) and drawing books. Each page features step by step directions for drawing the picture. Then there is a sentence or two about what it pictured.

This volume features a section all about Columbus's explorations in the New World.
By the way, Book 3 in this series features Native Americans, North America, and Pilgrims. It's another good resource.

Week 4 

Exploring the Americas

This image is of DeSoto.

Aztec Coloring Pages

Great, realistic coloring pages of the Aztec civilization.

Aztec Puppets

Full color male and female Aztec puppet templates.

The Men Who Found America

This is a great book in the public domain written by Frederick Winthrop Huchinson. It has 12 engaging stories about explorers: Columbus, Balboa, Cortez, Pizarro, De Vaca, De Soto, Raleigh, Pocahontas (not sure how she's an explorer!), Hudson, Champlain, Joliet & Marquette. The ones in italics are the ones I chose to read to my daughter. These stories really bring the explorers to life and tell a lot of details that I'd never heard before. I strongly recommend these!

Week 4 Extra Book 

Let me be honest with you. Don't buy this book. Please don't buy this book. If you want to check it out of the library or borrow it from a friend, that's okay. But it's not worth much more than 25 cents in my opinion.

I added this book here on this webpage when I'd pulled it down off the shelf to read. I kept thinking it would get better and could offer a raving review. It didn't.

This is a Sonlight title, and it was given to me as a homeschool hand-me-down. A big thumbs down! We plodded through the whole thing. Although it does offer a lot about Incan culture, it's a confusing book with riddles to decipher and strange behaviors on the parts of the main characters -- all two of them. It's got a decidedly spiritual side (Incan worship of Sun) that was not enjoyable for us either. Altogether this one is not a good choice. The freebies at Mainlesson.com are a so much better investment of your time.

Secret of the Andes (Puffin Book)

by: Ann Nolan Clark

Set in the Andes Mountains, young Cusi learns the secrets of his Incan heritage.

Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/02/2008)

Week 5 

Establishing Colonies

About Sir Walter Raleigh's Adventures in the West

This Country of OursPart 1, Chapter 12, written by H. E. Marshall.

This chapter recounts Roanoke and the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

About Sir Walter Raleigh's Adventures in the West

MP3 recordings of the chapter.

The Pilgrims

This Country of OursPart 3, Chapters 22-23, written by H. E. Marshall.

22. The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers
23. The Founding of Massachusetts

These chapters recount the Mayflower landing at Plymouth, Samoset,and Roger Williams.

(Librivox has not yet released audio recordings of these chapters.)

Jamestown Rediscovered

Sign up with WOWIO and you can download a free issue of DIG magazine -- a periodical for children all about archaeology. This one is all about Jamestown, the first settlement in America. Fascinating!

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England -- A Poem

This poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) emphasizes the Pilgrim's desire for religious freedom.

Week 7 

Colonial Life

Richard of Jamestown

by John Otis. This novel was written to explain to children what daily life in the colonies was like.

Richard of Jamestown

MP3 recording of this novel. My 8 year old daughter listened to this novel over the course of one afternoon as she sat and did crafts. She loved it! It has a lot of historical fact -- Captain John Smith, relationships with Native Americans, Roanoke, and daily colonial life. A very quaint and wholesome story!

Ruth of Boston

Another novel for children writen by James Otis. In this one, you learn about the life of girls in Colonial America through an engaging story. Download a free MP3 audio file of the entire book for recreational listening.

Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself

This is another free download available from WOWIO. (You must have a USA address to register.) From the website: "Great Colonial America Projects looks at everyday life in early America. More than 30 hands-on building projects and activities ranging from dyeing and weaving to toymaking and weather forecasting help bring the American colonies to life for kids 9 and older."

Colonial Food and Diet

Scroll down to #9 Colonial America for fun fact sheet about Colonial foods and another PDF of easy, Colonial recipes to make!

Week 7 Extra Book 

History Pockets: Colonial America, Grades 4-6+

by: Marc Tyler Nobleman

Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 12/02/2008)
Used Price: $9.55

This is one book I can recommend! Evan Moor's materials are always quality! This volume is no exception. Whether you like lapbooking or notebooking or just want some extra printables, this is the book for you! Easy, easy, easy! Copy and go!

Colonial America Lapbook 

Relying heavily on the History Pockets title above and the Scholastic Easy Make and Learn Colonial America book that is part of WP AS1, we made this lapbook. At the end are the notebooking pages that go along with Colonial America. Some are from the WP program, and others are from History Pockets.

Books We Added for the Revolutionary War 

We are currently studying the American Revolution. This is a notebooking page we designed to help us keep track of the various terms for all the different groups of people involved in the war. The visual representation is much more effective than a simple vocabulary list.

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Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady

When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen more...0 points

When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen Toliver replaces him on a top-secret patriotic mission. Disguised as a boy, she manages to smuggle a message to General George Washington.0 points

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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz

This humourous biography of King George III introd more...0 points

This humourous biography of King George III introduces the American Revolution from another perspective -- the King of the rebel colonies.0 points

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Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, Lynd Ward

Johnny Tremain, a young apprentice silversmith, is more...0 points

Johnny Tremain, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught up in the danger and excitement of 1775 Boston, just before the Revolutionary War. But even more gripping than living through the drama of Revolutionary Boston is the important discovery Johnny makes in his own life.0 points

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Phoebe the Spy by Judith Griffin

Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and more...0 points

Someone is planning to kill George Washington, and young Phoebe Fraunces is trying to save his life. Phoebe gets a job as George Washington's housekeeper, but her real job is to work as a spy. She listens and watches very carefully, and she meets her father every day to tell him what she has learned. One day Phoebe's father tells her that Washington is planning to leave town in a few days, and the person plotting against him will act before then. Phoebe is very frightened, but she is determined....0 points

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Revolutionary War On Wednesday (Magic Tree House 22, paper) by Mary Pope Osborne

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to more...0 points

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to Colonial America. They arrive just as General george Washington is planning the crossing of the Delaware. Before they know it, Jack and Annie are in a boat with the Father of Our Country as history is made!0 points

Weeks 8-12 Free American Revolution Resources 

American Revolution Paper Dolls

Drawn by a homeschool mom, these free black and white images are great for narrating, play, lapbooking, or notebooking!

The Darkest Hour-Trenton and Princeton

Washington's Crossing the Delaware. We read this chapter from This Country of Ours. I felt that the story is important enough to emphasize with a bit more detail.

The Story of a Great Crime

I added more about Benedict Arnold. I love these chapters from This Country of Ours.

Free Independence Day Notebooking Pages

A freebie from Notebooking Pages.

FREE Pocket Constitution by MAIL

Wow! The Heritage Foundation will mail you a pocket sized Declaration of Independence and Constitution for free! This would be great for a lapbook. Too bad I'm all the way in China.

Time Traveler The American Revolution 

The American Revolution CD (Time Travelers History Study)

by: Amy Pak

Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Used Price:

Amy Pak from Homeschool in the Woods is a creative genius! This CD is a thorough unit study. If you are looking for a lapbooking and/or notebooking supplement for the American Revolution, this is a great bargain! Here is a blog that shows a completed lapbook created with this CD. WOW! It's wonderful!

Liberty's Kids Videos 

You don't even have to spend a penny to watch some of these episodes!

Visit Kewl Cartoons for free online viewing.

Liberty's Kids - The Boston Tea Party (Vol. 1)

Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)

We all know that the Liberty Kids cartoons are great educational entertainment.

Don't miss the chance to view some of these episodes online for FREE at Kewl Cartoons

Winter Promise AS1 Crafts & Notebooking 

from weeks 9-20

Philadelphia diorama...

paul Revere's ride m...

American Revolution

Iroquois diorama

Iroquois diorama

Iroquois diorama

Iroquois diorama

Philadelphia noteboo...

Sauk Diorama2

Pequot 4 seasons1

Pequot 4 seasons2

Pequot 4 seasons3

Pequot 4 seasons4

Pequot 4 seasons5

mosaic pequot dioram...

salt dough medalions

making mask

sprite with mask on...

sprite with mask

MASK and book

making travois

making travois

plains indians travo...

plains indians travo...

American Revolution Lapbook 

As we studied the Revolution, we made minibooks about what we learned. It turned into a HUGE lapbook!

Weeks 13-15 Extra 50 States Study 

As each state enters the Union, we add a page to our 50 States notebook.

We also used resources from Notebooking Pages.com USA Notebooking Pages set.

Online 50 States Game

Learn the 50 states with this fun online game!

50 States Notebook

Loads of resources for a 50 states notebook. Our own notebooking template is linked here.

Weeks 13-16 How our Government Operates  

Free Resources

Kids in the House

Learn about the US House of Representatives!

Pictures of the Documents

Coloring pages representing the three branches of government!

National Archives

Download-able & printable images of our country's three main documents -- Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (and other amendments).

Constitution and Bill of Rights Notebooking Pages

These are some pages I made for our own study. You can use them too!

White House Papercraft

A paper model (tiny) of the White House.

If You Lived With The Iroquois Lapbook 

I designed this lapbook to go along with If You Lived With the Iroquois. The printables are all available for FREE at Homeschool Share where there areover 25 minibook templates to accompany this book. There are also notebooking pages as well.

Click on the pictures to see more detail or to see the rest of the set at Flickr.

Weeks 17-20 Jefferson, The Louisiana Purchase, & The Lewis and Clark Expedition 

Monticello

Official link of Jefferson's home.

Jefferson Memorial

Learn how Jefferson is honored at this memorial.

Lewis and Clark

This is the website strongly recommended by Winter Promise in the teacher's guide.

Printable Lewis & Clark Route Map

A wonderful free map -- one blank and one with notes.

Printable Map of the Louisiana Purchase

A free map to print and use. We labeled the states inside the Purchase.

American Trail

This is an old radio show (back in the days before TV). These recordings are in the public domain. There is one about Lewis and Clark free for the listening.

Frontier Fighters

Another old time radio show. Look for the program pertaining to Lewis and Clark. These make for good review since they tie together many of the facts we studied about the Expedition.

Note -- this one begins with Sacajawea's husband beating her. Lewis and Clark come to her rescue. Preview this to make sure that it's okay for your family.

Lewis and Clark Lapbook 

Many of the minibooks are from the free lapbook at Homeschool Helper Online.For the cover, Sprite used coloring pages found here.

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Lewis & Clark DVD 

This is the DVD recommended by Winter Promise for this unit.

Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

Amazon Price: $22.99 (as of 12/02/2008)

Your Chance to Speak 

Comments?
Suggestions?
Questions?
This is your chance to speak.