Helping Children Get to Know the United States of America: Book GIVEAWAY

This is it. This is the year MacGyver will learn, or at least get to know, all 50 States.

Our Book of the Week GIVEAWAY has been the perfect way to begin: The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller. This fun and quirky book, and game, peeked MacGyver’s interest. Miss Enigma, age 4, has even gotten in on the action. Last night she came running with one of the Scholastic book videos we checked out from the library, “Look! Look! We can get the States movie! Really, we can get the States movie!”

We’re also GIVING AWAY: United States Coloring Book by Winky Adam

Why we love this book:

A coloring book about the 50 States might not sound exciting but the simplicity is what I like best about this coloring book. Arranged in alphabetical order, each page includes a big black-line outline of one of the 50 states. Captions beneath each illustration identify state’s nickname, motto, flower, bird, tree, capital, main rivers, mountains, and other facts. Perfect introduction to the 50 states.

I’ve reviewed many, many almanacs for children and in general I really dislike them. They are overly busy with pictures and text scattered all over the pages, making it very difficult for beginning readers to sort through all of the disjointed information. This simple book is neatly organized with all of the important information easily accessible. MacGyver will actually be able to use this book as a resource for many years. He’s already using it as a dictionary for spelling the State’s names.

So don’t let the title “Coloring Book” scare you away. Every homeschool and public school child should have a copy of United States Coloring Book.

Can you guess where we began our study of the 50 States? Texas, The Lone Star State, of course!

Next, in preparation for our annual pilgrimage to the beaches of the gulf, MacGyver learned each of the states we would be traveling through.

During our loooooooong drive, he actually inquired through his sleepy eyes, “Have we passed into Mississippi yet? Look now we crossed into Alabama. I know it won’t be long now! Soon we’ll be in Florida.” MacGyver actually knew each and every state we were traveling through.

I’ve actually made copies of the pages as MacGyver colors them. Not because I’m trying to break copyright laws! This simply allows us to rearrange the pages as necessary. The coloring book is neatly arranged in alphabetical order; however, sometimes we might want to sort them by geographical regions or put them in order by the date they became a state . . . Having the pages loose allows us to use the pages many different ways.

Helpful Internet Links:

Interactive Maps & Quiz: teaches children the states and their capitals

USA Printable Maps: I searched high and low for a US map that worked for us. I liked this one the best for teaching the 50 states!

US and World Geography Maps: Spend some time on this site. You can find all kinds of printable maps and interactive learning tools.

We’re GIVING AWAY one copy of by United States Coloring Book by Winky Adam.

To enter this contest, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

In which state did you grow-up?  Do you have a “home” state? (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

One entry per person, please.

No entries after 8:00 pm Central Time, Monday, October 3, 2011

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Tuesday, October 4, 2011. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

In our “at school” section, We’re also GIVING AWAY: The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller