Down in the Bayou

 To start our tour of the Southeastern U.S. we went next door to Louisiana. We began by drawing items we would want to pack in a suitcase, specific to each state. This time we packed a pot (for cooking gumbo) a saxophone (for playing jazz) and rain boots (for navigating the waterways). I had them draw each item but let them discover along the week why they actually packed them.

 We sewed a little trail into Louisiana and will keep this up for all the state studies.

 We examined Louisiana's vast amount of waterways and compared it to the road map. We discussed routes we might take driving to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This was a good brush up on using a compass and knowing directions.

 We talked about deltas and how they came to be. We used an old drain pipe and scooped up some dirt to pour in. Then we let the hose run through the "river."

 The kids got to see how the water washed away, but the sediment was left over. I was pretty proud of coming up with this on my own although it's probably been done a hundred times. We of course learned about the indigenous plants and animals. Who doesn't love reading books about alligators? We also read a poignant book about Hurricane Katrina.

 It's tough to get too in-depth about the history of a place with young kids who understand history as "last week" or "last Christmas" so I focus more on the migration of people to show how New Orleans in particular developed such diversity. I used our world map and little figures. We moved them around the board and talked loosely about who came from France, Germany, England, and Africa.

 We read several books about jazz musicians and Hannah has mentioned  Louis Armstrong a couple of times since then. I even found a picture book/cd set in the library about "Duck" Ellington they liked a lot. Of course their dad loves jazz and tried some jamming with them.

 In general I gave Hannah more written work this time around. She filled out chain reaction charts and wrote about all of Louisiana's unique characteristics. Once again, I learned quite a bit myself, which always keeps me motivated.

 To help Hannah practice counting money, I put up some items for sale and she put down the correct amount.

 I found a great dry erase chart for discussing elements of a story. We read Harold and the Purple Crayon and talked about all sorts of things from character traits to comparing settings, and discussing problem solving. I probably harped a bit too much on how Harold was amazing at solving his own problems without bothering an adult! : )

 Eating most of our lunches at home means the kids miss out on sack lunches, which they think are really special. They asked for a sack lunch the other day and had a great time seeing what I packed. Seems a bit elementary for something to get worked up about, but I tell myself I'll miss all that innocence later.

 Hannah needed some good hands-on math time this week.

She completed her 1st grade Horizon Math books! 

 This past week we focused on our new badges and read a few books about camping before our trip. I particularly loved these three. The Last Badge had a surprise ending and even brought me to tears! Because Your Mommy Loves You really spoke to the kids because it showed how although a mom can certainly step in and help you do a lot of things, she shows love by letting you figure things out on your own. Are We There Yet was a surprising culmination of many things we've been learning. This family took a road trip around the Australian continent amongst other things, so the kids were familiar with many of the landmarks, following a map, and of course looking forward to camping.

 We're also working on Love and Kindness badges. Chloe loved The Kindness Quilt so much, she raced to make one of her own. I'm a little confused as to why these badges have been particularly difficult for the kids. Of course they are loving and kind kids (most of the time) but to apply the concepts in a meaningful way doesn't seem to be grabbing their attention. And a couple of the requirements are outside their box as far as speaking to people they don't know well and thinking consciously about performing kind acts and keeping a chart. It seems strange to them to write it all down.

 Chloe and Hannah have been writing their own books lately. Hannah wrote one each for Dax and me to read specifically before we go to bed each night. Chloe wrote books for her teachers as an end of year gift. She also wrote cards for each classmate. She was upset to find she had forgotten someone when she passed them out so she went straight home and mailed him his card.

 Chloe had her final program at school and they sang lots of cute songs.

 We're so proud of all her work this year! Time to start Kindergarten very soon!

 We're also so proud of Hannah who gave a beautiful performance of Clementi's Sonatina No.1, Mvts. 1 and 2 at her piano recital.

 She had some proud siblings, too.

 Kit Kat piano!

 We had an awesome time on our first camping trip. The kids had to help set up and break down in order to count for their badge. We also learned about First Aid before they went, which was good because we had to use the kit twice.

We joined our good friends, the Benton Family and challenged each other to make a family crest- mainly because Megan and I were joking around. This turned out to be a great learning opportunity. We looked up all sorts of emblems and coats of arms. They voted very democratically on what would be included and what colors we would use. The symbols they chose were pretty funny- basically their favorite foods and a pair of dice, which looks like we like to gamble, but it's really that we like boardgames. : ) I love that they got creative with the animals, too. The chose black, orange, and rainbow as our signature colors. They helped draw and color and I think it turned out great- we plan on using it for all our future camping trips!

This week is our last week of school. We'll probably wind down with a lot of reading and some review of skills while finished up the last badge requirements. On Friday I'm "planning" on a family fun day with some outdoor activities and Saturday they'll have an Achievement Banquet with the church co-op.