Homeschool Recap 2023/24 – Decade by Decade

Pierce – 4th, Aliza – 2nd

Having studied early American history and European history the previous two years, it worked out perfectly to study the late 1800’s-1960’s this year. It’s right where we had left off with both American and European history! This year was a bit different since we were making our own curriculum as we went, but the foundation of it all – living books, notebooking, hands-on projects, and field trips – remained the core of all we did.

In lieu of timeline cards this year, and instead of notebooking on loose paper, I decided to combine them by keeping them both in a single notebook. Since the nature of this curriculum was to move decade by decade in chronological order, it just seemed simpler. And at the end they had a beautiful book of decades and notebook entries!

We studied dozens of inventors and their creations, looking at why that product was needed and how the inventor came up with the idea. We learned that persistence was key and that it was often a race to see who would complete a product that worked first! We looked at the artists, musicians, and poets that helped form the culture of the times: Frank Lloyd Wrights homes, Dorothea Lange’s heart breaking photographs, Scott Joplin’s exciting new music called ‘ragtime.’ We stepped into the Harlem Renaissance and learned the Charleston. We memorized poetry from Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes. And we attempted to paint and draw like Virginia Lee Burton and Horace Pippin.

We learned about key presidents and what made them important. We studied WW1 and 2, discussing what led to each war, and how kids and women in particular contributed. We learned the history of libraries in America, and watch as they changed decade by decade. We studied the great American sport – baseball! Studying key players and how the game lifted spirits in hard times. We took a look at the building of some of America’s impressive structures – like the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. And so much more!

Each decade contained a craft/activity and a simple experiment related to the decade currently being studied. As well as family movie night suggestions, a book list for mama’s who want to read along in their own spare time, and field trip suggestions.

The year was great fun, each decade had a flavor of its own, and the kids really embraced each one. We had a great time creating a ‘Decade Dinner’ at the end of each unit and trying new recipes. Aliza especially enjoyed decorating for the dinner and getting dressed up. Some dinners we went all out, and others we kept it simple. But the best part of the year was the discussion that took place at the table and throughout our day… Questions about hard topics like wars and racism. But also great conversations where they started to link together themes from the past with what we have/do today, etc.

This year I enjoyed reading through the decades myself in my own reading time, one of the great (unexpected) joys of homeschooling is redeeming your own education along the way. I read books I probably never would have picked up other wise and the kids frequently asked me what I was learning in my own reading. Even though a large percentage of the books on the mama booklist are fiction, it led to so many instances of me putting my book down and researching the topic myself. Post cereal will never be the same to me again…

On one of our field trips to Thomas Edison’s home in Cincinnati, the tour guide kept quizzing us, hoping to stump us. But he couldn’t! And as we walked to the car when it was over, talking about how much fun we had and how great the tour guide was, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself – every bit of information we knew, we knew from picture books. That’s the power of a good book!

(If you think your family would enjoy Decade by Decade, jump over to the shop to get more information!)