Show & Tell: ECC Weeks 3 & 4—United States

Greetings  from the great melting pot known as the USA!  This year we're trekking the globe with Exploring Countries and Cultures, and our first stop wasn't so much a "stop" as it was just a "continue to stay right where you've been staying."  Yep, we were in the United States for two weeks.  But even after coming out of a year of U.S. history, we learned a lot and reviewed a lot, so it was two weeks well-spent.

I know I said it in my last weekly report, but we're really enjoying doing Bible in the evenings with Greg.  During the course of the past two weeks, we read about Dwight Moody's repentance, boldness, and strength and Harriet Tubman's compassion, joy, and perseverance.  We also finished the first book of Tales of the Kingdom, which was much-loved by everyone in the family, and we read about Navajo Indians and missionary kids from Window on the World.  Did you know that many missionaries have to send their kids off to special schools for missionary families?  I had no idea!  I guess I just assumed they either went to school where they lived or they homeschooled.  I can imagine the kind of dedication to the Lord it takes to pack up your family and head to a foreign country.  I cannot imagine the kind of dedication to the Lord it takes to do so knowing that your family will not be intact once you're there.  This really touched a tender spot in my heart and has been a topic of prayer in my life over the past two weeks.

Next week we begin reading through the book of Matthew, so Hannah made a bookmark for us to use as we read. 

In geography, we really focused on getting to know how our little area fits into the world.  First, we labeled a map of North America so we could see what all borders the United States.  We also labeled two major U.S. landmarks:  the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

Next we did a map of the United States.  We labeled the "four corners" of the U.S., as well as all the states that border our home state of Texas.

Hannah's friend Rachel spent the night one night, and we had fun reading How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. together.

I had printed up little cards with pictures of the cherry pie "ingredients" on them. 

Front of the cards

Back of the cards

As we read the story, the kids looked at a U.S. map to find where we were supposed to go to get each ingredient.  When they found the right location, they would place the card for that ingredient in the correct spot on the map.

When we finished the story, we baked (of course!) cherry pie.  But this time I took Erin's suggestion and bought some frozen pie crust.  It saved me a good hour's worth of work and, if I'm really honest with myself, it tasted better, too.  Thanks, Erin!  :)

We bought a 2-pack, so we cut the second one into strips to give it that "woven" look.  Go ahead and say it:  Cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater!  :)

Then the kids raided Millie's kitchen and found some cookie cutters to use on the leftover dough.

Very proud of their hard work!  :)

 While the pie was baking, the girls went into the school room and put together a North America GeoPuzzle.  It was a lot of fun watching them work on this.  They delegated tasks and got straight to work.  They changed strategies a couple of times, but they really worked well as a team.  And that's a good thing because someone in that group tends to be a weeeeee bit bossy.  But I won't say who.  ;)

Mission accomplished!

One of our goals in geography this year is not just to learn where the states and countries are on a map, but to try to learn about the culture in each area.  So far, our art projects have been a great way for us to accomplish that.

Because the United States was first inhabited by Native American Indians, the first art project we did was to make sandpaintings similar to those that the Navajo Indians made.

Sketching out her design

Adding the sand

Think she's tired of having her picture taken?  ;P

Some neighborhood kids that were walking the street even stopped in to join us.  That was kinda fun! 

And since Hollywood is such a major influence in the United States today, we went back to the roots of motion picture and examined the old-fashioned flipbook.  Actually, we were supposed to have the kids make their own flipbooks, but after seeing the amazing video Pauline's hubby did with their kids, we decided to skip the flipbook and go straight for the motion picture.  :)  The kids were super-excited about this one.  Rachel and Hannah came up with a storyline and gathered their props, and we got busy taking pictures.  Here's what they came up with.

Now, granted, it isn't nearly as good as the one Jason and the kids did.  But still, I thought it was pretty clever.  Greg, however, thought it was much better when I was telling him about it than when he actually watched it.  :P  But the girls did walk away understanding that motion pictures are made up of a series of still images, and that was the main idea, so I'm gonna call it a success.  :)

In science, we've been looking at deciduous and coniferous forests.  One of our assignments was to map all of the coniferous, deciduous, and mountain forests in the entire world. 

It doesn't look that hard, does it? Try it sometime. You'll be ready to rip your hair out by the end of it. But at least I learned from it, and was able to adjust as needed a couple of days later for another assignment.  We were supposed to draw a sketch of six different plants that were listed on our worksheet.  Instead, we googled them and printed them out. 

Something we did that was better-suited for Hannah was searching for different kinds of leaves.  We learned that leaves are used to help identify trees and plants, and if you learn to look for certain attributes of leaves, you can compare your findings with a field guide to identify your tree. 

Some leaves are broad, flat leaves with smooth edges.

Some are needles that grow in clusters of 2 or 3.



Some are broad, flat leaves that have toothed edges.

Some are broad, flat leaves that have lobed edges.

Some grow in an alternating pattern down the stem.

And some grow straight across from each other.

We also learned about several different landforms.  Over the summer, I googled images of all the different landforms she would be learning about throughout the year so she could see what they really looked like.  Each week, two landforms are introduced, and she chooses one of them to draw herself.

Here's an isthmus in real life ...

... and here's the isthmus Hannah drew.

Here's a butte in real life ...

... and here's a butte Hannah drew.  Looks like some guy is sweating trying to climb up it!

The kids know that our next stop is Mexico, and they can't wait to go!  Their bags are packed ...

 

... and waiting by their beds for an early pretend flight to Mexico City.

Our little Indian won't be alone much longer!

And we'll give you all the details in our next weekly report!  :)

Feel free to visit the My Father's World Weekly Highlights or Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others did this week!  :)