books – Page 2 – Pollywog's Place Blog

It’s that time of year when the cooler weather seems to make us crave some hot cocoa. We have set up our ‘Beverage Station’ at home and the kids asked for cocoa. It just happened that we had some packets in the cupboard so I added them to the assortment of things they could choose from along with some marshmallows in a jar for them to use.

These recipes would be great for taking along with you on a car ride to look at Christmas lights. Many of them could even be used to make Gifts in a Jar to give away for the holidays. These would even be good to sip and snack on while snuggled up with your favorite book on a cold winter evening… mmmm.

You can create some really wonderful memories with your kiddos or grandkids as well by letting them help to make cookies and cocoa… these would be memories that stick with them!

Here are some of our All-Time Favorite cocoa recipes:

Cocoa In A Crockpot

Hot Cocoa (Powdered)

Single-Serve Hot Cocoa

The Best Hot Cocoa

You could easily replace the sugar with another sweetener if you are trying to eat healthier.

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Here are our Lesson Plans For Geography and History

These lessons were made to go along with ‘On The Banks Of Plum Creek‘ written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are planning to go through the whole series and I am keeping track of the different topics we are learning about here on my blog. We hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

On weeks where there are several activities listed just choose a couple that interest you the most to work on.

We will also be using this People Long Ago Resource Box from Lakeshore Learning to go with our lessons.

There are also some other resources available here:

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

We also like to use this song during our ‘Morning Time’ to help the kids learn the 50 States.

Memorize the Continents and Oceans using the videos below to help:

Week 1: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

1. State Study

Print out this map HERE or this one HERE. You can color in the states as you learn them and track Laura’s journeys.
This week we will study Minnesota.
Complete your notebooking pages.
Older kids can write a report about the state.

Mark the route that the family may have taken on your map.

2. Landforms & Mapping

Maps:

Discuss what you have learned.
Globes Worksheet
Finding Places on a Globe Worksheet
Can you find where you are?
Where are your ancestors from?
Do one activity from:
- Landforms & Mapping Resource Box

Landforms:

You can print out a lapbook HERE.

Plateaus (tableland p.22)

Valleys

Discuss what you have learned.
Work on your lapbook.
Read 4-5 pages from Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary
Do one activity from each of the following:
- Properties of Earth Activity Tub
- Instant STEM Activities

3. Bonus

Research Dugout homes

Discuss what you have learned.
What are the pros and cons of a dugout home?
Compare this to your home. Make a Venn Diagram to compare/contrast the two.

Extra: