The Gallatin Historical Society, founded in 1977, moved into two rooms in the county jail building in 1979. Built in 1911, the jail was already considered an historic structure. When prisoners were moved to new quarters in January 1982, the county commissioners granted the Society use of the entire building for the Pioneer Museum. Since 1982, the Pioneer Museum has offered a variety of changing exhibits portraying earlier days in the Gallatin Valley. The Society sponsors various programs through...

The American Computer Museum in Bozeman showcases the evolution of the information age with an emphasis on the United States. Their displays are designed to appeal to the beginner through the expert in computing. Over 1,000 artifacts are displayed in a timeline fashion.

About 640,000 years ago a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western U.S., much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific. This was one of many processes that shaped Yellowstone National Park--a region once rumored to be "the place where hell bubbles up." Geothermal wonders, such as Old Faithful, are evidence of one of the world's largest active volcanoes. These spectacular features bemused and befuddled the park's earlie...

Every two years in Montana, the legislature convenes in Helena to introduce and pass new laws. In a typical session, over 2000 bill draft requests are submitted by 150 legislators. Few of those bill requests (and ultimately actual bills) introduced are given any attention by the press. After every session, someone discovers a bill that got signed into law that nobody knew about. And what many do not realize, is that there are a lot of bill draft requests that are really bad. The goal of this web...

The Crazy Mountain Museum is a historical museum featuring exhibits that reflect the history of Sweet Grass County and the surrounding area. The museum is maintained by the Sweet Grass Museum Society, a non-profit organization. The Sweet Grass Museum Society has its roots in the Pioneer Society founded in the early 1900's. A permanent home was built and completed 1992 and named Crazy Mountain Museum. It is located south of Big Timber on Cemetery Road southeast of the west Interstate exit to Big ...

The 38 sites of Nez Perce National Historical Park are scattered across the states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana and have been designated to commemorate the stories and history of the Nimiipuu and their interaction with explorers, fur traders, missionaries, soldiers, settlers, gold miners, and farmers who moved through or into the area.

Big Hole National Battlefield is a memorial to the people who fought and died here on August 9 and 10, 1877; combatants in a five month conflict that came to be called the Nez Perce War of 1877. Like other Indian Wars in the late 1800's, the Nez Perce War involved two very different groups with very different outlooks on land rights, civilian authority, government powers, social organization, and the responsibilities of the individuals to society.

The Western Heritage Center is a regional museum that interprets and reflects the life and culture of the Yellowstone River Valley. Located in downtown Billings in the former Parmly Billings Library, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Western Heritage Center cares for a collection of over 16,000 artifacts, including over 1,000 photographs that document the social history, architecture, public events and the development of the Yellowstone River Valley. Recent oral hi...

On a scorching June Sunday in 1876, thousands of Indian warriors converged on a grassy ridge rising above the valley of Montana's Little Bighorn River. On the ridge five companies of United States cavalry,including officers and troopers, fought desperately but hopelessly against many times their number. When the guns fell silent and the smoke and dust of battle lifted, no soldier survived. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes the epic Battle of the Little Bighorn fought on J...

The Museum of the Rockies is the largest natural history museum in the region with 94,000 square feet under roof. It includes the only Digistar planetarium in the Northern Rockies and has developed a fully interpreted Living History Farm on 11 adjacent acres. Exhibits include the Hall of Horns and Teeth, One Day 80 Million Years Ago, the Bowman Fossil Bank, Enduring Peoples, Montana on the Move, the Martin Discovery Room, and many temporary exhibits. The museum is located on the south side of th...

Bighorn Lake extends approximately 60 miles through Wyoming and Montana, 55 miles of which are held within spectacular Bighorn Canyon. The Recreation Area is composed of 70,000+ acres, which straddles the northern Wyoming and southern Montana borders. There are two visitor centers and other developed facilities in Fort Smith, Montana and near Lovell, Wyoming. The Afterbay Lake below the Yellowtail Dam is a good spot for trout fishing and wildlife viewing for ducks, geese and other animals. The B...

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center is a Bear and Wolf Preserve, located in West Yellowstone, Montana just a block away from the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The Center offers an up close view of live grizzly bears and a pack of gray wolves.

The Peter Yegen, Jr. Yellowstone County Museum in Billings collects, preserves, researches, and interprets the natural history and diverse cultures fo the Yellowstone Valley of Montana and the Northern Plains. The museum focuses on the prehistory of the plains through the 1950's. Exhibits include materials specific to ten Northern Plains Indian Tribes, western expansion, mining, cattle/sheep herding industries, transportation industries, military (1870-1950's), various medical fields, music, tex...

The Children's Museum of Montana is located in Great Falls and features lots of hands-on, interactive exhibits. Some museums ask their visitors not to touch the exhibits. "Look with your eyes, not with your hands," they say. That never happens at the Children's Museum of Montana. In fact, every exhibit in the entire museum is designed so that kids can touch, poke, raise, lower, push and examine to their hearts' content.

Step into history with a one-hour guided tour of the Moss Mansion Historic House Museum. The tour captures early turn-of-the-century life as the Preston Boyd Moss family lived it. Visitors see original draperies, fixtures, furniture, Persian carpets and artifacts displayed in the 1903 red sandstone structure. Designed by the New York architect, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, designer of the original Waldorf Astoria, Plaza Hotels, Williard Hotel, and Copely Hotel. The home is listed on the National ...

English from the Roots Up explores the Latin and Greek roots of words. Many people haven't realized how valuable the Latin and Greek vocabulary is in the formulation of the finely structured English vocabulary of today. Even learning a few Latin and Greek root words gets you hooked and you want to learn more. Why? Because you can move from "what words mean" to "why words mean"&mdashin short, a thinking vocabulary. You'll find product information here.

Grades 1-5. Tub of over 500 manipulatives includes Pattern Blocks, Connecting People, Cuisenaire Rods, Coins, and Bean Counters and can be used with the Flip Over Math Books. This 49 page book (others sold separately) is written to NCTM Standards and provide hands on activities from basic math skills to advanced problem solving.

Bob Books are organized into sets that progress in level as your child learns. They have cute stories and darling illustrations. These books are perfect for children ages 4 to 8.

• Bob Books First! Level A, Set 1
• Bob Books First! Level A, Set 2
• Bob Books First! Level B, Set 2
• Bob Books First! Level C, Set 1

Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a fully integrated language arts program that teaches grammar, reading, spelling, vocabulary, writing mechanics, creative writing, thinking skills and more.

Create! Press carries creative approaches to teaching creative writing and composition. Their products include the Create-A-Story game, Writing Adventures, Stepping Stones, and more.

A Reason For® Handwriting provides a fun, meaningful approach to developing effective handwriting skills. Each lesson is built around a Scripture verse chosen not only for proper letter combinations, but also inspirational content. “Border Sheets” encourage students to share God's Word with others. You'll find product information about A Reason For® Handwriting here.

Explode The Code provides a sequential, systematic approach to phonics in which students blend sounds to build vocabulary and read words, phrases, sentences, and stories. Frequent review of previously learned concepts helps increase retention. Each workbook in this series contains exercises that incorporate reading, writing, matching and copying. The consistent format of the books helps facilitate independent work. This series includes primers—Get Ready for The Code, Get Set for The Code, and Go for The Code—which introduce initial consonant sounds. In addition, Beyond The Code provides a comprehension component introducing basic comprehension skills with phonetically controlled stories. You'll find product information here.

MCP PLAID Phonics from Modern Curriculum Press incorporates best practices for teaching essential phonemic awareness and phonics skills with lots of flexibility. Find information on these products here.

A Reason For® Reading offers a series of over 100 Leveled Readers that provide small increases in difficulty from level to level. These colorful books feature Scripture stories and Christian value themes. Story Guides include high-frequency words, teaching ideas, discussion questions, and much more.

Stack the durable, brightly colored wooden beads on 5 hardwood dowels in sequence to match the design on one of the pattern cards. Builds complex reasoning skills as well as sorting and coordination. Includes over 45 brilliantly colored beads, 5 dowels, and 10 patterns that increase in difficulty.

Phonics Pathways begins with short-vowel sounds, slowly progressing to whole words, phrases, and sentences of gradually increasing complexity. Special teaching tips, extensive examples, and 100% decodable practice readings reinforce each lesson. Contains all spelling rules with a spelling index, spelling charts, spelling short-cuts, diacritical markings, and a wealth of inspirational proverbs. The new 9th edition of Phonics Pathways features many new enhancements including a wealth of reproducible games, a step-by-step spelling guide, teacher/student record sheets, a Dewey-the-Bookworm Bookmark and a new carefully-researched appendix detailing how Phonics Pathways aligns with most State Standards. Supplements to this program include The Train Game (to teach letter sounds), WordWorks (a set of cards used to reinforce phonics reading skills), and Blendit! (a set of eleven board games that reinforces knowledge of specific begining spelling patterns). For product information on Phonics Pathways, click here or visit their website.

Montessori Reading is a beginning reading and writing program for elementary aged children. This series of books introduce phonetic letter sounds, phonogram combinations, reading simple sentences, and reading and writing words that name everyday objects, animals, etc. A teaching guide and a child's journal are included.

Grades Pre K & up. An economical way to bring rods into the classroom. Pack contains six sets of 74 rods, six trays with, and Teacher's Guide. For use with 12-18 students.

Happy Phonics uses games to teach early reading skills. Simple yet entertaining and educational, these phonics games are printed on colorful, sturdy cardstock ready to cut out. Included is a mother-friendly guidebook which contains details on how to teach phonics and reading, how to pronounce and teach the phonics sounds, how to make your own simple beginning readers, and step-by-step teaching information for each phonics sound. Happy Phonics covers beginning to advanced phonics.

At Last! A Reading Method for Every Child offers a balanced approach with intensive phonics and literature-based reading instruction. This is a simple method of teaching reading, with lots of supplemental materials. Get product information here.

Grades 2-5. Idea Book designed for use with Cuisenaire Rods.

Shurley English maintains that effective instruction in English must be founded upon an understanding of how the parts of speech work together in a sentence. A good grammar foundation gives students the skills to improve writing. Grammar is the structure of sentence composition. Through grammar, students learn how to write, improve, and expand sentences. After they have an understanding of sentence structure, students are then able to combine sentences successfully into paragraphs, essays, and reports. For product information on Phonics Pathways, click here or visit their website.

Alpha Phonics is a primer for beginning readers. It features 128 self-explanatory lessons, printed in large, clear calligraphy suitable for beginning readers. You'll find product information about Alpha-Phonics here.

Sing, Spell, Read & Write is a phonics-based program that uses a 36-step program of carefully sequenced steps to teach reading, writing, and spelling. More product information can be found here.