Geography and Ceramics Mug-Making

At the start of the week, we decided to play our American Trivia board game that covers history, geography, art, and "general," and I realized that the kids, especially the girls, needed to learn a lot more about their geography.  Jaden William knew far, far more before their ages, and I knew not only all my states before Elizabeth's age, but also all the capitals.  By Olivia's age, a child should be learning more world geography, in my opinion.  So on Monday, both the maps came down from the boys' room to be washed, and I hung the world map on the dining room wall.  Trusten put the states one back up in his room. 

 I am glad Sheppard Software is still up and running.  I used that a lot in my home school. 

I introduced the kids to "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"  I looooved that game when I was a kid.  That was back when my home computer operated on MS-DOS.  I became an expert and learned so much.  I told the kids how I'd used hardback encyclopedias (which we now have in our home) to gather all the information I needed to catch the criminals. 

To play, visit this link and choose to play in your browser.

I brought out the old, worn place mat of the world flags for the kids.  I'd used the 'F' encyclopedia as a kid. 

I got out our copy of My First Atlas by (Katie John Sharp, 2005) and the 'M' encyclopedia so they could access a list of the countries' currency to assist them.  My First Atlas is a good book of geography that lists important agricultural resources, exports, the capital cities, etc.  I remember spending so much time engrossed in the encyclopedias. I also remember something I accessed on the computer, too, though, that helped me memorize various other data, like important exports and whatnot. 

The game was a big hit.  Learning is most effective when it is fun and engaging.

They will continue with geography learning.

We still got outside plenty and engaged in fun exercise. :-)  I'm so happy it's spring and that so many lovely flowers are blooming.  Our lilac bush smells so wonderful, and plenty of butterflies and bees are enjoying it.

Elizabeth enjoyed a Zoom meeting with her teacher and a few of her classmates last week, though I didn't take any pictures.  Here is Olivia chatting with her teacher and some classmates.

Carissa and I started making our mugs. 

My first mug is for Trusten, decorated with tigers. I think he is going to want it to be blue.

I find it ever so difficult to get things to be perfect.  Oh well, I guess it's got that homemade look!

I am about to start reading Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen to the kids. 

I found a recipe so that we could use some of our chicken maple sausages with some leftover rice to make a lunch.  Carissa fixed it, and it was pretty good. :-)  The red pieces are red bell pepper.

Next week, I will be making some teaching videos based on past learning with the kids.  I'll be using them for my field experience hours, but maybe it will also help inspire some parents out there who are struggling with the pandemic homeschooling they've been thrown into.

Until next time...

What We Did... (March 2015)

Learning and Play:

That plush dinosaur has been Elizabeth's favorite possession since she picked it out at Barnes and Noble, over all the super soft unicorns and dragons and such.  It's name is "Dinosaur."  Liv is looking at Lizi's dinosaur book and playing on the Kindle.

The girls playing with some of Elizabeth's dinosaurs in my windowsill.

Trusten reading about geography

I'm likely taking an exam here.  William took the picture.

Ingredients and supplies for an experiment.  That's not contact solution; it's just the bottle.

 The youngest three playing while I am getting my cranial-sacral therapy for my TMJD while William sits outside the playroom and watches them and reads on his iPad.

Research Studies:

 

As a member of the Personal Genome Project, I was invited to participate in an unpaid study done by Harvard University, exclusively among members of PGP in which differences in human areolas are being studied for fertility, breastfeeding and infant weight gain, and breast disease. It has been entitled "Circles in Evolution."   I was mailed the packet, after I enrolled, and I had to measure my breasts, areolas, and nipples, and answer a lot of questions online also about the number of births, length of breastfeeding, history of breast disease or lack thereof, and so on.  It was optional to take pictures of my breasts with labels affixed, and I chose to participate.

William and I both participated in a paid research study at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, in which anxiety in adolescence is being studied.  This was a three-part study with homework included. Part 1 and 3 took place on campus, and we had to answer questionnaires, answer questions that were recorded, and watch a presentation.  William also had to take part in a stress test involving breathing for two minutes through a coffee stirrer.  He had to do that weekly at home, also, between visits, and part 2 only involved him filling out a questionnaire online.

I really look forward to receiving the results to both these studies after they're completed.  

Bird-watching:

 Hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus)

 Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

 

 Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis)

Nathan's favorite, an American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Fun and Adventure:

 My babies and I!  I was trying to get Elizabeth to lie down above my head and look at the phone, but she kept kissing my head, instead.

Copy-catting big sister. ;-)

 My sweet girl at the window again

 This was taken with my iPhone in the dark.  We were on the UofA campus in Fayetteville after attending a percussion recital so that I could write one of my two essays for my music appreciation course.

Food:

 Homemade, whole-grain chocolate-chip cookies (with gluten added)

 Homemade buttermints

A Greek pasta dish that wasn't to our liking.  If only I'd have left out two ingredients, maybe...

 Yogurt and fruit breakfast

Until next time...