March Units and guide for studying states

Here are the units we are doing for the rest of March: Ireland, Alaska, Vermont, Family History, Florida, and Easter. If I get the chance to tweak the first two units we did, the Iditarod and Dr. Seuss, I will post those as well. You may notice that we study a lot of states. I have included the states as options for the kids during the months they joined the United States. My children have a great interest in other places, so they often choose the states. I figure we will have covered all 50 of them within 2-3 years. Here are some tips for what we are doing in general with the states:

- We will color or make a replica of the state flag. These will be stored in a binder that also has the flags from countries we have studied. On each flag, we write the state name, the abbreviation, the capital and the state motto. If we revisit the state later on, we will probably add the state bird and tree, on the back of the flag. The binder will be divided by continent, with the US states in the front.

- I try to order vacation guides for each state we are going to study, so that they arrive in the child's name no later than the week we are studying the state. I encourage the child to look it over and plan a dream vacation to the state.

- If the state is known for regional food items (such as maple syrup for Vermont), I will include a recipe for the child to make. My goal is one recipe from each state that we will then gather in a cookbook for their "hope chest".

- Unlike when I posted New York state, these are more generic studies. We live in New York and I feel it is most important that they learn the history of their home state at this time and a general knowledge of other states. I encourage you to research your own states history and teach that when that state is studied.