Marcia Schonberg: Wonderful Ohio books

I was looking at books in my favorite resale shop, and I came across The Ohio Reader by Marcia Schonberg.  Ms. Schonberg has also written B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet Book, and Cardinal Numbers: An Ohio Counting Book. 

I love using this book to teach Ohio History.  It is a great book with nice pictures and short stories about Ohio.  There is poetry, biographies, timelines, and facts about Ohio.  If you check out all three they would be a great read for kids 6-12 years old.  

I enjoy learning about Ohio, and must admit that finding books about Ohio has become a past time.  Ms. Scholnberg's books are a wonderful way to incorporate Ohio history and facts into your home education curriculum. 

~Becky

Ohio History :Oliver's Travels: An Ohio Adventure

We found the book Oliver's Travls: An Ohio Adventure at our public library.  My kids enjoyed reading it.  It is a story about a mouse named Oliver who travels around Ohio with a map from his Grandfather.  He visits various historical sites and landmarks.    It was written by Cynthia Furlong who has a blog, and illustrated by Bruce Langton. My kids agreed probably a 3-5 th grade book.

I think it sounds like a great way to get some Ohio history into your curriculum that does not involve a large project.  Your student could read this to fulfill the Ohio history requirement.  An excellent resource.

Some great ideas to expand on the book would be to print off a map of Ohio and fill in where Oliver Travels.  Here is a web page with many Ohio maps for you to choose from.

Happy Ohio History!
~Becky

Ohio State History

First, a random tour of my state history growing up.  I grew up mostly in Ohio except for the three years I lived in Kansas during which Kansas history was taught in the curriculum.   Kansas history includes  Wyatt Erp, western towns, outlaws like Jesse James, and wagon trains. There is rarely a dull moment in Kansas history.

Wyatt Erp

When I started teaching grade school I was in Georgia and was required to teach Georgia State history.  I had been in Georgia a year, had learned about Kansas history growing up, and had spent most of my life in Ohio.  Needless to say, I quickly learned about the Cherokee Indians, the Trail of Tears, the importance of the Fort Pulaski in Savannah and the history of the state flag.

Fort Pulaski

 Now I am teaching my children Ohio history which honestly, I know little of as you can see.  But, luckily I am a creative home educator and am plowing ahead. This is what I have learned along the way.

I discovered the Ohio Historical Connection. which is a great site to visit to locate historical places in Ohio to visit. I also found the book  A Guide to Historic Houses in Ohio.  I checked the book out from the library. 


I bought these simple coloring books with many facts about Ohio.  I bought mine from Rainbow Resource.    They are for grades PK-7.  They are very simple, but I think they cover a great deal for the price.  They sell some other items dealing with Ohio history as well. 

Another option for learning Ohio history is a lap book.  Hands of a Child has one.   When I had less children, I completed this one, and the kids really enjoyed it.

Front of book

Inside of Ohio Ebook

Lastly, I found this little Ohio ebook for $1.  I downloaded it to see what it was about before posting.  It is about 10 pages long including a cover page and the last page that discusses other items on their site.  It is a nice little book for the price.  You can print it multiple time for many kids.  You put together a simple lap book on card-stock with it.  It includes places of interest, symbols, a map, and flag information.

If you have any ideas for Ohio history please put them in the comments.  Since I don't believe Wyatt Erp has much connection here, I would love to learn some more.
~Becky