Tour 1 Week 8

When I was in high school, I lived away from home at a dance conservatory in Florida. While it was the opportunity of a lifetime, I missed not only my family, but the usual signs that mark the changing of seasons.  I enjoyed evening bike rides to the beach and the occasional day at the pool, but as the school year marched on, I lamented the unchanging weather. No crisp, fall air. No changing colors of leaves. As the holiday season approached and strands of Christmas lights appeared on the palm trees, I longed for snow and cold. Fortunately, I spent holiday breaks back home in the Midwest - my parents at the ready with my winter coat when they picked me up from the airport. 

All this to say that my appreciation for the seasons has remained and I've come to relish the changing weather that each time of year brings. 

I could do without summer though. You know, if we could pick a season to get rid of. Fall, Winter and Spring are really all we need, right? 

Proof that sometimes they get along...

Indiana weather can be predictably unpredictable.  We have consistent, seasonal weather that's punctuated by days of unseasonably warm or cold weather.  It becomes necessary to take advantage of the pleasant weather days whenever possible because you never know when they will return. 

Mother Nature likes to keep us on our toes like that. 

Since we recently had a bout of beautiful weather, we headed to a nearby park to spend time fishing on a small lake. 

In November.

The youngest boys had been begging for this activity and when Mother Nature provided some unseasonably warm, sunny weather, we quickly ran out of excuses. The Pandemic Situation has forced most of us outdoors (a good thing!) but as fall turns to winter, such opportunities might become few and far between.  

We were also able to spend some of our school time out in our enclosed patio/sun/don't-know-what-to-call-it room.  

Our science adventures took us into the rain forest this week and we learned about Sloths, Toucans and Howler Monkeys. 

I found the above book at the library - it's a fun resource to add to our Zoology studies.  I might have to add it to our school Amazon wish list. 

For geography, we added some information about geographical features to our Southeast States lap books. 

One highlight of the week was attempting to recreate J.J. Audubon's Common American Swan drawing. 

We tried to use the sketching techniques we've been learning. The six year-old stuck with it for a little while, then quickly lost interest. I reached a point where I thought adding color might help disguise my non-existent drawing skills (upper left corner). The ten year-old completed his and did very well with the basic shapes of the swan then sped through coloring the whole thing. And the teen demonstrated his true talent with drawing, but took so long perfecting his swan that he didn't feel like completing the scenery. 

I'm sure we all gained an appreciation for the original artist and his ability and patience at drawing the 435 paintings in his "Birds of America" book. 

This week we also learned about The War of 1812, The Missouri Compromise, The Erie Canal, The Trail of Tears and The Underground Railroad. We also continued learning about Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and musical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven.  For some reason, I tend to forget how much of his music I thoroughly enjoy ("Oh, yeah - that one's Beethoven. And that one too!").   I have fond memories of playing Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata on the piano. I may dust off that sheet music and give it a try again. 

We're also still firmly in a Puzzle Phase. Currently four different family members have four different puzzles going...  I've gathered that other families are in a similar phase of their pandemic experience, as evidenced by the empty shelves at the Dollar Store where the puzzles are supposed to be. 

Because of course after I get rid of boxes of puzzles we've had lying around that went untouched for months, if not years, everyone in my family simultaneously decides that they NEED. MORE. PUZZLES. 

This is the way.  

Sorry. Mandalorian reference. 

Anyway.  

Here are some resources we used this week:

Books:

• Catholic Schoolhouse Tour Guide and Art Book
• DK Encyclopedia of Animals
• Sassafras Science Adventures Zoology
• Lego Animal Atlas
• Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth
• Do You Really Want to Visit a Rainforest?
• Toucans, Too
• We're Roaming in the Rainforest
• Toucans
• Baby Sloth
• The Star-Bangled Banner
• The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
• Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
• Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells
• Beethoven for Kids: His Life and Music
• The 29 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven
• Go Free or Die: A Story About Harriett Tubman
• The Underground Railroad for Kids
• Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad
• Who Comes with Cannons
• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
• James Madison
• The Trail of Tears
• Freedom Over Me
• Before She Was Harriett (I really liked this one!)
• Little House Series (we're doing Little House in the Big Woods as our next read-aloud because I've done Farmer at least twice already)

Other Resources:

• Brainpop - Napoleon, Trail of Tears, Slavery, Underground Railroad
• YouTube US History Crash Course
• Peg + Cat The Beethoven Problem
• PBS Learning Media
• Catholic Schoolhouse Blog (lap book)
• Supercoloring.com (animal pictures to color)

I think that covers it!  We also went on a great field trip this week, but I'm going to make that a post of its own. I hope you're well and staying safe!

~ Dori

College Boy blowing off steam