National History Day - Get Involved!

I just learned about a drive to get students involved in real history study disguised as a contest. The tagline at National History Day reads It's Not just a Day, It's an Experience! In this event, the contest is downplayed in favor of the process and the learning which suits me just fine.

The initial information came through a local homeschool list and I immediately got excited about it. I have bribed my history loving son into doing a project by promising it would also count for part of his english credit this year since there is a 500 word process paper involved. Advanced homeschool mom tactics in action.

My son's project will naturally include some aspect of military history which won't be difficult to fit into this year's theme of Conflict and Compromise in History. He is already scheming to use this as an excuse to build a diorama of trench warfare in WWI.

You can get involved as a student, a parent or a teacher so check it out! It is open to all students, public, private or homeschooled, in grades 6-12. You can get more information from your state coordinator. Projects can be started by teams or individuals and the final presentation can be in a variety of forms as shown in this introductory video.

In Their Own Words: George, John, and Abe

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. Like these new resources I found at Rob Shearer's blog, Contending With the Culture. Imagine learning about George Washington, John Adams and Abraham Lincoln completely from their own words! Along with some photographs, prints, and artifacts. I can't wait to see these books with my own eyes. In the meantime, look at what Rob has to say about them...

57th History Carnival

Jinkers! My post on "Peter the Great...Right Brained Learner?" was selected to be in the 57th History Carnival over at the Official Osprey Publishing Blog. Here is what they say about themselves:

Osprey Publishing is an illustrated military history publisher, and we see our blog as a place for interested people to come together and talk military history – about anything and everything to do with it. We love it and we know you do too.

I am really jazzed to have my post included - even if they did put it in the evolution section - smile. The first entry in the carnival is from their own blog but very interesting...Why Study Military History? I am not going to duplicate the whole carnival - just want you to get a taste of the entries to pique your appetite. I am still browsing through the selections myself!