My mother's family comes from "The Sunflower State", so it is important for us to learn about our heritage and the great state of Kansas. What was wonderful about using Joy Dean's State History from a Christian Perspective was that even though I have children in grades second through tenth, we could all learn together! We used the Kansas State History Student Booklet and the Master Lesson Plan Book, which are designed to work together. In fact, the Master Lesson Plan Book contains instructions for multiple study options for ages three to grade twelve!

The first step is to determine your notebook option. For younger students, it is recommended that you use Abeka's My State Notebook, which is what I did for my second grader. My older sons used option two, which is to create their own notebook. Next, we determined our course length. This study can be done in six weeks (with daily class time without Expansion Suggestions) or in up to as long as a one year course (with weekly class time). There are 30 detailed lessons in all. These cover interesting facts, land and geography, state motto and symbols, explorers, weather, history, people, landmarks, major cities, government, industry, and more! There are several Expansion Suggestions for further study. These include: trivia questions, research, writing exercises, field trip suggestions, art, and craft projects. The appendix includes independent study guides for grades 7-12, as well as a ten day plan for younger children ages 3 to grade 2. Another great feature of this lesson plan book is that it can be used again and again with any state! As I mentioned, we studied Kansas, so we used our Kansas State History Student Booklet.

All of the materials that you need are listed in the beginning of the Master Lesson Plan Book and in the Kansas State History Student Booklet as well. This booklet is filled with interesting Kansas facts, activities, maps, state history, government, weather, agriculture fand industry and more! The appendix lists U.S. state mottos, symbols, statehood facts, population and land area, weather data, and many more interesting charts. It also includes a supplement on the State Constitution, the Kansas state quiz and test. We were very impressed with this curriculum. Each book is reasonably priced, with the consumable student booklet at $13.00 and the reusable Master Lesson Plan Bookbeing only $10.00. We look forward to using more of these student booklets and will be studying Ohio next year. I would recommend this curriculum to anyone who is planning an in-depth study of the states, especially if you desire a Christian perspective.

Product Review by Amy Christy, Marketing Assistant-Special Projects Team, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2009