Paths of Exploration

Supplemental Hands-On Resources

We will be starting Paths of Exploration in April of 2013. We homeschool all year and as the boys wrap up their annual curriculum for language arts, geography, spelling, vocabulary, science, etc., we try to add in an all-inclusive curriculum for the summer. This year Paths of Exploration by Trail Guide to Learning is that curriculum (although it may take longer than the summer to complete volume 1…. we can and will fluctuate as needed to complete the study). I will be adding resources to each Unit before and during our study, so be sure to subscribe to the site to continue to receive the updates. We are really looking forward to this curriculum! In pulling all this together, I want to emphasize that education is NOT just a matter of being able to regurgitate information spoon fed to the learner! If you are not familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy, here are a few charts (chart and a more detailed chart 2 and chart 3) to help you start to understand what it means to really learn.

Volume One – Columbus Unit 1 :

Required reading: Meet Christopher Columbus (Landmark Book);
Required reading: Christopher Columbus by Bennie Rhodes;
Required reading for Middle School Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Lesson 1

Lesson 1, Part 1: Compass Rose Free Montessori Print Shop; Label your classroom with Cardinal Direction Labels or use this set
Lesson 1, Part 1: Make a compass
Lesson 1, Part 1: Research and Discuss the difference between a Compass and GPS; between Orienteering vs Geocaching.
Lesson 1, Part 1: Live the difference: Orienteering Scavenger Hunt; GeoCaching Scavenger Hunt
Lesson 1, Part 2: Rug Design: Weaving activity 1, Weaving Activity 2, Hula Hoop Rug;
Lesson 1, Part 3 and Part 4: Syllable Work (Free Montessori Syllable Counting Work);
Lesson 1, Part 3: Globes vs. Maps; Create your own globe using an orange
Lesson 1, Part 4: Geometric Figures. Congruent, similar and Equivalent study. Free 3 part card definitions; GREAT Montessori study on Congruent, similar and equivalents by Cultivating Dharma; Free Worksheets; But it is far more fun for your students to make this Geometric Stick Material and let them explore this concept more fully!
Lesson 1, Part 4: Map Activity; Graph Paper;
Lesson 1, Part 5: Nature Journaling: Teach your children how to create a nature journal (it’s not hard)
Lesson 1, Part 5: Continent Outline Maps; Map Marco Polo’s Route on a Felt World Map that you make with your child;
Lesson 1, Part 5: Various Spanish Dishes to cook
Vocabulary: Cartographer, Orienteering, sloop, schooner, square-rigger, privateer, bazaar, terrestrial, celestial, spherical, mathematician, astronomer, indentured, venn, navigator, passage, explorer, worldview, admiral, climate, geography, population, comparison
Make your own Montessori Landforms; Free Montessori Landform 3 part cards; and to help teach children where they are in relation to the world… Make one of these Me on a Map works with them.

Lesson 2

Lesson 2, Part 3: Spices Free 3 part cards; Make your own Montessori Smelling Bottles;
Make Saltwater Crystals and you could even add another variable such as yarn thickness by sure to do a Scientific Speculation Sheet with their hypothesis
World Oceans Free 3 part cards from Montessori Etc (BEAUTIFUL)!!
Continent and Hemisphere Study Free also from Montessori Etc.
Sailing Ship Vocabulary Nomenclature Cards
Types of Clouds Nomenclature Cards, again from Montessori Etc. and Free
Types of Weather Nomenclature Cards from Montessori for Everyone
Geometric Solids 3 part cards from Montessori Etc and Free.
Planets 3 part cards Free from Montessori Mom and Online Planet study and another
Label Dolphin Anatomy
Parts of the Sun Nomenclature from Montessori For Everyone and make a Model of the sun out of playdoh
Constellations Study: Montessori inspired solar system / constellation studies for younger children

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Jamestown Unit

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Pilgrim Unit

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Volume 1

Required Resource List

Meet Christopher Columbus by James T. de Kay
Christopher Columbus by Bennie Rhodes
Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret Pumphrey (2nd Edition, Christian Liberty Press)
Stories of the Pilgrims Answer Key
Squanto, Friend to the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
Surviving Jamestown: The Adventures of Young Sam Collier by Gail Karwoski
Profiles from History by Ashley Strayer Wiggers
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock
North American Wildlife Guide published by Reader’s Digest
Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini
Intermediate World Atlas published by Rand Mc Nally
RealEarth®GlobeMap™
Large-Scale U.S. and World Outline Maps
Student Notebook pages (printed from CD-ROM included or available separately)

Volume 2 Required Resource List

Daniel Boone, Frontiersman by Janet and Geoff Benge
Daniel Boone, Young Hunter & Tracker by Augusta Stevenson
Munford Meets Lewis and Clark by Jamie Aramini
Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark by Gail Karwoski
Trouble for Lucy by Carla Stevens
Johnny Appleseed by David Collins
1911 Boy Scout Handbook
United States History Atlas
Going West!: Journey on a Wagon Train to Settle a Frontier Town, a Kaleidoscope Kids book
Student Notebook pages (printed from CD-ROM included or available separately)