Resources for Fifty State Fridays

As many of you know, last year, we began our "Fifty State Fridays," in which we learn about a new state each week. Yes, it takes awhile this way, especially since we don't get around to it every Friday, but I decided that, hey, we're homeschoolers, so we're on no one's timetable but our own. Now that we've been doing this awhile, I thought I'd share some of my favorite resources -- thirteen of them to be exact.


1. 50 States Book List -- We don't always choose a book off this list, but it's often a good starting point.


2. State Quarters -- We often simply use the quarters themselves, finding out what is on the back and why, then, whenever possible, reading a related book. Josh recently saw a California quarter and said, "Hey, that's that guy that would go to that pretty place and learn about nature." Yeah. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. I had no idea who he was before we started this study, but we read a very interesting book about him and the details stuck.


3. The U.S. Mint -- If I have no idea about the significance of the picture on the back of the state quarter, I like to go to the U.S. Mint site and find out more.


4. Jimmie's Squidoo Page -- Jimmie, of Jimmie's Collage, has put together a wonderful Squidoo page about her family's state study. It's her notebook page that we use for our state notebooks.


5. Crayola's State Coloring Pages -- These are beautiful coloring pages that always feature the state flag and the outline of the state. Other features vary, but often include the state bird, state flower, state fish, sate butterfly, and more.


6. Five State Rummy -- A really fun (for Mom, too!) game for learning which states border one another.


7. 50 States Fast Facts and Trivia -- This is probably my favorite website for our Fifty State Fridays because it lists random trivia for each state, which, for us, provides the most memorable learning. I try to come up with a craft or activity for at least one random fact for each state.


8. States by Statehood Date -- This site simply provides a chart listing each state in order of when it was admitted to the Union. It makes a handy reference tool for filling out our notebook pages.


9. Learn the States and Postal Abbreviations -- This week, I'm giving away a copy of this brand-new eBook by Joy Miller, which provides a variety of activities for helping families learn the state locations and postal abbreviation. I can't wait to use it with our state studies next year!


10. The {State Name} Facts and Symbols series by Emily McAuliffe -- This great little series of books, one for each state, provides details and big, colorful photographs about various state facts and symbols, such as the state bird, the capital, the location, and more. They're a great, quick reference tool for our studies.


11. America's Story -- Another fun website for finding fun trivia about each state.


12. State Recipes -- We look for foods to make (because you don't have to find a place to store them like you do a craft) for each state based on either an interesting piece of trivia or a state symbol. This list of state recipes is a good place to start.


13. State Flag Stickers -- I picked these stickers up at a local teacher supply store and the kids really like them. They draw a lot of the things that go on their state notebook pages -- such as the state bird or the state flower -- so it is, for some reason, a fun treat to add a state sticker.


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