Homeschool Week(s) in Review---America the Beautiful

Founding a nation is hard work. That's why we've been busy, busy, busy learning all about the nuts and bolts of how our great country was molded into the land of the free!

We read about the battle in Quebec between the British and the French and how the British flag still flies there.  Then Gabby designed her very own flat using white construction paper, markers, and a paper towel tube.

Then came the Boston Tea party!  For artistic expression after our history readings, Gabby drew a sailboat on paper using crayons, then painted over it with blue watercolors.  Finally, she sprinkled tea over the whole picture while the paint was still wet to symbolize how the colonists threw all of the tea on king of England's ship to protest unfair taxation.

When the king of England tried to take the people of Connecticut's charter, some cunning men hid it in the knothole of an old oak tree.  We rolled up some paper to be our charter and Gabby had some fun practicing gross motor skills by tossing it into a basket ("tree") on the other side of the room.

Freedom!  We spent time reading about the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.  This solidified the explanations I had given a few short weeks ago about why we celebrate Independence Day!  We segued from how the Declaration was signed in the summer into some fun learning about the different seasons and the activities that occur in each. 

We had our own reenactment of Washngton crossing the Delaware in the bitter cold of night by using some tupperware as a boat, unifix cubes as the passengers, and filling the sink with water.  I dumped in some ice cubes and some blue food coloring and Gabby navigated the frigid waters of the river.

While talking about George Washington, we read the book George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz in which a curious young boy  (also named George) searches tirelessly to discover just what our first President dined on for his morning meal.  In the story, he visits the Smithsonian and views a suit that was worn by President Washington.  I asked Gabriella if she remembered seeing that very same suit herself when we visited my mother a year or so ago.  She didn't, so I pulled up the picture to show her:

There it is!

She was really tickled by looking at actual garments worn by someone we were studying.

Then came Ms. Betsy Ross and her great sewing skill.  We flipped through pictures of how the flag appeared prior to Betsy's flag and after and then Gabby drew and cut out a star in which I punched holes.  Then she practiced "sewing" by lacing yarn through all the holes. 

We read of a brave little girl named Cynthia whose cow, Free'n Equal (named after the Declaration of Independence) was stolen by General Cornwallis' men.  This spunky child, determined to reclaim what was rightfully hers walked into the redcoats camp and asked for her cow back.  

Then we simulated milking a cow using a ziploc bag with a pin prick in it.

You can't learn about George Washington without donning a hat and powdered wig, now can you? :)

Finally, we read about Alexander Hamilton and how he planted thirteen gum trees in a circle to represent the strong thirteen states, tying that into reviewing how leaves are vital to a tree receiving food and nutrients.

We made our own gum trees using blocks with sticks up gum taped to the top. :P  Then Gabby cut red and yellow leaves from construction paper and arranged them in a circle, just like Alexander Hamilton's trees!

Phew!  And that was mostly just our history lessons!

We've been reviewing addition and subtraction, time, and perimeter in math using both Singapore and Horizons math.  Gabby is doing really well and still asks for more, and more, and more math nearly on a daily basis.

We learned how to properly set a table and Gabby made a reminder place mat, tracing our own cutlery.

For our story time, we are nearing the end of The Adventures of Buster Bear by Thornton Burgess (which you can get FREE for your Kindle here). We have been enjoying these Burgess animal stories so much that I've purchased several more in the series for us to read for fun!  I'll miss them next year during our school time (although there are some GREAT books on the slate for then too!).

Gabby has also polished off yet another emerging reader.

Her reading level is beyond these, but they are still great stories to practice applying her phonics skills.

Only a few more weeks to go and first grade here we come!!

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Homeschooling Link Up Fridays, Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, and Back to School Monday.