Remembering 9/11: The Pentagon

O n 9 / 1 1, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon at 9:40 am. Aboard the plane are Fifty-three passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers.
In 2008, The Pentagon had a temporary memorial called the Field of Flags called the Healing Field that consisted of 3,000 American Flags. Now, there are several permanent memorials. One is a chapel inside The Pentagon where the plane crashed into it. Another is a memorial inside The Pentagon. There is also a public memorial outside, on the grounds of The Pentagon where the plane crashed into the building. It consists of a stream of water and illuminated benches. Each bench has the name of one of the victims that perished at The Pentagon. It is a quiet area that allows visitors a peaceful place to contemplate.

Lest We Forget!

9/11 First Responders

I have been doing a lot of reading and listening about 9/11 to prepare to teach our son about 9/11. After all, it is the 10th anniversary of the event. I have found an issue that is really bothering me about what I have read. What is the issue? The first responders to The World Trade Center. From what I understand, there are a lot of them that are being diagnosed with some form or another of cancer. Now, that's pretty bad but, what's even worse is that their health care is supposedly not being taken care of! I know I read about one of the men who came down with mouth cancer that had grown down one side of his neck and into other areas of his body. When he asked for health care, from what I understand, he was told it was because of the work he did on 9/11. They know this because a lot of them are being diagnosed. He has had to pay for a majority of his health care from out of his own pocket! I think this is a horrible shame! I wish I knew something to do to help but, besides sending an email to the president is about the only thing I can think of besides sending an email to my Senator. So, I was thinking that if others would do the same, wanting these brave men and women to have their health taken care of.

Pictures of 9/11

I would like to post at least some of the pictures that I have downloaded from the internet. I don't know, there are probably millions out there but, here are the ones I found so far. The reason I'm doing this is because I had to look here and there to find them all so, I'm hoping this will help someone, somewhere. I have a couple in mind that I remember seeing but haven't found. If I do, I'll add them when I do found them. So, here they are:

Remembering 9/11

I tried and tried and tried to get a message posted to my blog! Don't get me wrong, I was able to get the words to post but, I was unable to get the pictures on. Whether it was being able to add some of my pictures or whether it was getting the ones I was able to post where I wanted them! So, look to the right of my page and click where is says "Remembering 9/11." That is where you will be able to read my blog about the great lapbook my son and I made about 9/11. It even has the pictures I wanted, not quite where I wanted them but, pretty close to where I wanted them!

Getting Better with Each Lap Book

Now that we have made two more lap books and working on our fourth, I can say that we are getting better as we go. I'm learning all the different flaps, booklets, folds, and things you can cut out or fill in.
I like to research on the internet the dinosaur we are studying, especially for information that may not be included in the book we have to read. I then take the information, edit it so that it flows and doesn't say something over and over. With my wordprocessing program, I pick a small font, move my margins, use columns, and make each page so that I can fold it into pages of a small book after I print it up. This sounds like it's time consuming and difficult but, I use a program I pick up at Wal Mart a few years ago for about tem dollars called Open Office and it's so easy! I use it all the time.
I've joined a couple Yahoo Groups for lap booking and they have some great printables that I use for my lap books that are free. There are also some great sites on the internet that also have a lot of free stuff that can be used to make lap books. I really like three out there so far...TheHomeSchoolMom.com, Homeschoolshare.com, and especially Currclick.com.
Since Martin is still learning to read, I usually read with som "help" from him on the words he knows. Then, I like to find a picture or two (some great dinosaur ones are at Enchantedlearning.com) and let him color it. Then, we figure out what can be put on a flap or card that can be put into a pocket.

Lap Booking?

My husband, Martin Sr. and I have been homeschooling our son , Martin Jr (Boo) for three years now. We have had successes like adding, subtracting, learning about money, and beginning fractions. Unfortunately, we have also had failures, like trying to learn how to read using phoenics.

I have been reading about how great lap booking is in homeschooling for a while now. I hadn't been able to figure them out. Recently, I found a really great article on Currclick.com where I read they are pretty easy. It even had pictures included to make it easier to understand. So, Little Martin and I have been trying our hand at it. The only thing is, I misunderstood that we were supposed to actually glue two file folders together! Our first lap book wasn't very good, just a page about the dinosaur I found somewhere, a page I printed out from one of the downloads I bought and we filled out, and a picture I printed from zoomdinosaurs.com that Martin Jr colored. The next one we made was better and the next one was better still! I think they are turning out pretty well anyway and since we are making one for several dinosaurs, maybe having the smaller space works out anyway. I am including pictures of the first lap book and who knows, I may add pictures of the others next time, it depends if this works out.