On Monday I wrote Delaware and Maryland on the chalkboard under the verse, lit the lamp in the reading nook, and my five-year-old walked over to the cubbies and pulled out the big United States map before I had even said the word "geography." That is what a ready room does. Week 2 of our 50 states study had begun, and I had not raised my voice or hunted for anything.
Here is how we actually use the Delaware and Maryland week, so you can borrow whatever fits your house.
Why two small states make a good second week
Week 1 is the shock of the whole country. Week 2 is the relief. Delaware is one of the smallest states and Maryland sits right beside it, hugging the Chesapeake Bay, so a five-year-old can hold both in his head at once. Pairing them also means the pages are short, and short is a gift when one of your students is three.
I teach both boys together, but they are not doing the same work. My five-year-old is the one the state pages are made for, since our state worksheets in the shop are written for Kindergarten. My three-year-old has a smaller job beside him, and I will tell you what it is below.
Our Monday to Friday, about twenty minutes a day
Monday: find it and say it
Before any pencil comes out, we find Delaware and Maryland on the map with one finger each. I say, "Delaware was the first state to say yes to the Constitution, so we call it the First State." Then the five-year-old says it back. That is the whole lesson. I clip the week's pages to the wall in our classroom so the work is simply there, waiting.
Tuesday: the worksheet page
We sit at the big shared table, which is counter height with stools, and he works the Delaware and Maryland page while I sit across from him. I keep a pencil cup in the middle and nothing else. If you are working at a kitchen table, clear one end the night before and set out only the page and a pencil. That one habit does more for you than any fancy setup.
Wednesday: the bay and the crabs
Maryland is known for the Chesapeake Bay and its blue crabs, so Wednesday is a talking day. We look through a picture book or two from the basket in the nook and ask, "What do you think it would be like to live next to the water?" He answers, I write his words on the chalkboard, and I do not correct the spelling of a three-year-old's contribution either.
Thursday: say it all again
Review without pressure. I ask three questions: "Which one is the First State? Which one has the bay? Which one is bigger?" If he misses one, we look at the map again together. No quiz face from me.
Friday: put it in the basket
The finished page goes in his cubby basket and the map goes back. Friday is also when we read a psalm and thank God for the places we have not seen yet.
What the three-year-old does
A three-year-old does not need Delaware and Maryland explained. He needs a job. Here is what mine does, and it takes about five minutes:
- He traces the outline of each state on the map with his pointer finger while his brother says the name.
- He picks a crayon for each state and colors a plain blank scrap, so he has his own "map" for the wall.
- He holds the picture book up and turns the pages when I say, "Next."
When he feels included, he sits. I have found this works better than handing him something to keep him quiet.
A script you can use tomorrow
If your morning needs a way in, try this at the start: "Today God is going to show us two of the places He made. Whose turn is it to find the map?" It gives the first job to a child, it names whose world this is, and it keeps you from having to announce that it is time to start.
I will be honest, there was one Tuesday when my five-year-old decided he was done after four minutes. We did not push. We put the page on the wall, read in the nook, and finished it Wednesday. A state study is not a race. Fifty weeks is a long, lovely road.
Where to go from here
Worksheets here are print-at-home PDFs on US letter paper, $4.00 each or $2.00 for members. Joining is free, stays free, and takes half off every worksheet, plus you get the 38 free printables, including the weekly rhythm chart that helps me keep this whole routine light. When you finish Delaware and Maryland, the next stop is Our 50 States Weeks 3 to 6, which begins with Virginia and North Carolina, and later weeks are bundled as well, like Weeks 7 to 10.
If you are still deciding how to arrange the place where you teach, designing your homeschool classroom walks through how I built ours. Questions about requirements where you live? They vary by state, so start at our resources page. And if you want to talk through a slow week with other mamas, the members' forum has a room for it.
Whatever size your map and your table, the lesson underneath is the same one on our chalkboard each week: every state, every bay, every small peninsula belongs to Him. The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
