Fascinating, Exceptional, Fun, Exciting, and Powerful sum up Land That I Love, its content, and its style. It takes readers into parts of American history most Americans do not know. It gives readers an insight into how students can look at America's past and then see their own exceptional futures.
The book is set in a classroom in a small American town to give it a real-life feel instead of just being about facts, dates, and teaching methods.
Here are some of the fascinating discoveries you will find reading Land That I Love -The five possible ways and the four likely languages that gave us the word America. Did Matthias Ringman decide to name this land after Amerigo Vespucci? Was it a Viking word? Was America named for a Welsh merchant? Or is it a Carib word? Let's find out. -The reason no other country has a name that suits it so well, and how what America means, can be summed up in The Theorem of Pythagoras. (So, now we know why everyone learns it.) -The Irishman who came to America before Leif the Lucky, the Irishman who sailed with Christopher Columbus, and the Irishman who named the USA. -What the Vikings called the land south of Vinland that was occupied by the pale-skinned tribe who herded deer. It wasn't Choctaw or Creek. -Why "Tell it to the Marines" started with The Duke of York. -How America's game started (and was it really played by a girl?) -How poles, chains, furlongs, and acres come to be, and why an acre is such a strange number of square feet. -The English queen, who said there should be 12 inches in a foot. -The greatest invention of all time. (No, it isn't the wheel!) -George Washington's Scottish ancestor and what his name means. And why there is an extra 'l' Lincoln. -The guy who first took tobacco to the Old World, and why he was jailed. -How history can be found in place names. American exceptionalism really is summed up in the name of our country. Wow! No other country can say that. The young students in Land That I Love, have a teacher who is on a mission for them to become exceptional. She uses history as their beacon and their guide to explore America's real past and to see their own futures as they have never seen them before. And those futures are exceptional.
Evelyn Jones, their teacher, focuses on three actions and six words to deliver on her mission. Teaching strategies developed by David Kolb, Mumford and Honey, and Maria Montessori are an integral part of the book. Teachers will recognize them, and homeschool parents will see how easy it is to introduce effective learning into their own lessons. Every teacher and every homeschool parent is on a mission. Tried and true teaching methods are part of the story of Land That I Love. They add enjoyment to lessons, and they help students to learn more and to understand more. When they do that, they can see their futures more clearly. Land That I Love is about American history, powerful teaching techniques, and helping students to become exceptional.
The author is very grateful to all his readers, and especially for these reviews: "Greatest history book I have ever read. Every parent, every teacher, everyone should read this book, so they really understand America. This book will help my children become exceptional." "Not only is this an inspiring book that every American should read, but every teacher could learn from this book." "This is the first history book I've read where I learned a lot, laughed a lot, and cried when I got to the end." Thank you!
