Day 73 To be continued....

Hello All and Happy New Year!
I have created a cool Power Point presentation that wraps up the work Sophie completed the month of December but I am experiencing technical difficulties with the upload process...will consult Kevin when he gets home and hope to have it up on the blog soon!

I am happy to say in the meantime that Sophie did a fantastic job with all her presents and creations and we are so very proud of her accomplishments! She learned a lot of new crafts and the importance of the true meaning of giving gifts.

Stay tuned for details and pictures!

Day 74 starts the next unit: Colonial America 1607-1750ish

We will begin by going back a bit to our visit to Plymouth Plantation and the founding and failures of Jamestown. We will also consider Popham and Pemaquid Colonies, which are actually just down the road from us. We will learn and discuss the difference between an outpost or military fort and a colony and what that difference meant in the America and to its native inhabitants.

We will also spend some time early on in the unit learning about (in general) what's going on in Europe and clarifying the notion of the "Old World" and "New World."

We will map and timeline the establishment of the 13 colonies.

She will learn about indetured servantude, the slave trade, the trade triangle and its economic impact on both the American colonies and their masters in Europe, as well as its terrible result in the forced migration of Africans to the New World.

We will learn about the conflicts between England and Spain and France, both in Europe and America.
We will learn about the pushing of the American frontier and the unbelievable population growth in the colonies over a short period of time and the establishments of Land Companies and their relations with the Native Americans

Sophie will spend some time researching and learning about her own lineage through her father's family to the Aldens of the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony. We will plan another trip to Plymouth in the Spring.

Sophie will learn about the Colonial American family and their struggles with health, education, religion, mortality, and war. She will develop and write a series of 20 letters between two historical "characters" in an effort to really learn about what life was like during the exciting but difficult time in our country's history.

For science, Sophie will start her Human Body unit, which I think is appropriate and relevant to the scientific discoveries. We have a great book that is a condensed and readable Gray's Antatomy Coloring Book, which she will work through. A friend of mine gave me a great idea for a project for this unit that I can replicate for Lily too, which will be fun. More on that to come.

For math we are rethinking our approach. Today we will venture out to Borders to see about purchasing a good math textbook/workbook that Sophie and I can work through together page by page start to finish. The 5 math problems in her 5 x 5 will consist of more "everyday" and conceptual math that she needs to learn and get really comfortable with for her daily life--money, time, basic measurement, word problems, distance, etc. We will also spend more time with basic math games and flashcards to improve her math recall for the simple figures, which she struggles with. My goal for the next unit is to really reinforce that math recall.

So we have a lot to learn and look forward to! Now we have to start day 74 and the new year! So glad to have had the break and so glad to have my girls home for school instead of cold at the bus stop!