Studying Georgia

On our mind....

It comes around to all school children... the year of studying your state. Unless you are homeschooling and then studying your state will probably take more than one school year.

And it may have a different approach at home than is doable in schools. In our case, we decided to approach studying our state using a field trip basis to encourage, inspire, reinforce and fill-out the reading, map work and other lessons. Georgia is divided into five different physiographic regions and our goal is to manage field trips to each of them within this and next school year. In addition, we are taking shorter day trips to make the most of the nearby historical resources from native Indian sites to museums and battlefields.

So far we have camped in the Piedmont region, studying the flora and fauna of Georgia.

We've camped in the Appalachian Plateau region studying the geological interests of the region.

And we have taken an whirlwind tour of points of interest in the Upper Coastal Plain including a visit to Andersonville (Civil War era POW camp), Americus (Habitat for Humanity Global Village), Plains (39th President Jimmy Carter's birthplace and hometown), Westville (a 1850s Georgia town recreation) and Cloudland Canyon (Georgia's Little Grand Canyon).

In addition to these longer trips around the state, we have made day trips to learn about history, nature and enjoy the arts at:

The Southern Civil War and Locomotive History Museum

Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park

The High Museum of Art

The Chattahoochee Nature Center

Opera at the Cobb Energy Center

The Booth Western Art Museum

Ballet at the Alliance Theatre

Red Top Mountain State Park

Theater at Georgia's Shakesepeare Festival

the Etowah Indian Mounds to name a few.

I don't know if Cornflower will remember everything we have seen and done this year in relation to Georgia studies (and I know some of it will stay with her!) but in any case I believe she will remember that learning it was a lot of fun and interesting and left her eager to learn more.

And, we are not done yet....