Week 3 of Exploring Countries & Cultures

This past week was filled with several activities and assignments that helped the kids and I learn more about North America, the United States of America, the names and locations of the states, and different kinds of forests and trees.

I am using GEOGRAPHY SONGS to help us learn the locations of the states. It’s a great CD that is filled with short little songs to help us remember locations of different places in the world.  This week, we focused on learning the states on the Northern border and Southern border of the USA.

For Art class, we chose a “sand art” project from the book GLOBAL ART. Both kids enjoyed this project, but Coyote (our hands-on learner) really enjoyed it the most. In the picture below, Road Runner's picture is on top, Coyote's is below it. We used colored sand to make the pictures, then filled the little bottles with the leftover sand.

We also began reading HERO TALES, by Dave & Neta Jackson, this week. It’s a book about true stories from the lives of 15 different Christian Heroes. What a great book this is! The stories are short and interesting, and have questions and a Bible verse at the end of each chapter. We are all enjoying it.

For those of you with active children who have trouble sitting still while you read to them, here is a neat little idea you may want to try... Earlier this week, my mom sent each of the kids a little dry-erase whiteboard to draw on. Our kids love to draw so, as I was reading aloud from Hero Tales, our 2nd grader (who seems to have a need to keep his hands busy while he listens) came up with the idea to draw pictures that coincide with the paragraphs. At first, I wasn’t too sure about it, but it turned out to be exactly what was needed.

I was so amazed at how well this technique helped Coyote to pay attention better and to really comprehend what I was reading. After finishing a chapter on Dwight L. Moody this week, his whiteboard was filled and he was able to tell me all the main points of what had happened in the story. It was certainly a “God thing” and not something I could have ever come up with on my own.

On Friday, we took a field trip to an apple orchard with several other homeschooling families. A great way to end our week.

Maps & Globes

In our school room, we have a large map of the world attached to the wall. This week, with the use of this map, along with various other books (such as "Maps & Globes" by Jack Knowlton), we have learned about the 7 continents, the 5 oceans, elevation & depth, how to locate a place with latitude and longitude, the need for directions, and how there are different kinds of maps used for different purposes.

We ended the week by making a large sugar cookie and decorating it like the world. Here is Coyote decorating the cookie with blue frosting...

Then, I did my best to draw North America and South America on the "globe" with a tube of green frosting. Its not perfect, but you get the idea.

The kids enjoyed making it with me. But, of course, we all had more fun EATING IT!

On another note, I previously mentioned I would list the curriculum we are currently using for this year. So, for those interested, there is an updated list towards the upper RIGHT of this page.

School is out for the week! Everyone have a great weekend!

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