Posted in Galloping the Globe

Africa was full of surprising discoveries for us!  We chose not to do all of the countries in GtG, again because of the availability, or lack thereof, in our library's collection. 

But we did find some great resources! 

Literature:

• Verna Aardema is *the* children's author for Africa.  Her stories, based upon African folktales from around the central region of the continent, are full of wonderful sound effects and clever characters.  Most are "porquio" tales - stories that explain why things are as they are.  A good bibliography of her works can be found here.

Hands down, our favorite Aardema book was Travelling to Tondo.  We also read and enjoyed How the Ostrich Got its Long Neck, The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks, and Anansi Does the Impossible. 

From South Africa, we enjoyed a couple of interesting tales:

• Jubela - Kessler.  The story of an orphaned baby rhinoceros. 
• My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me - Maya Angelou.  This is a delightful introduction to the Ndebele people of So. Africa.  We were inspired to make Ndebele style art from the vibrant pictures in this book.
• Safari Journal: the Adventures in Africa of Cary Monroe - Hudson Talbott (Kenya). Twelve-year-old Casey is unhappy about being sent on a trip to Kenya with his wacky Aunt Elaine, until he encounters fascinating customs, endangered animals, and wild adventures. 
• Master Man - Aaron Shephard (Nigeria). A boastful strong man learns a lesson harder than his muscles when he encounters one of Nigeria's superheroes in this Hausa tale which explains the origin of thunder.  A "comic book" style that was a nice
  break from our usual literature format.
• Bitter Bananas - Isaac Olalaye (Nigeria). When baboons begin stealing the sweet palm sap that Yusuf sells at the market near his Nigerian village, what is he to do?
• My Great Grandmother's Gourd - Kessler.  Residents of a Sudanese village rejoice when a traditional water storage method is replaced by modern technology, but Fatima's grandmother knows there is no substitute for the reliability of the baobab tree.

In Egypt, we limited our resources somewhat by avoiding most of the
mummy/tomb/pyramid books.  We'll be studying Ancient Egypt this fall and wanted to save that good stuff for that time period.  This really made finding literature for Egypt difficult, but a few things did surface.

Posted in Galloping the Globe

Readers (for those just beginning to read independently):

• South America - Allan Fowler.  A "Rookie Read-About" book
• South America - Mary Fox.  A "First Library" book

Literature:

Art and Extras:

Posted in Galloping the Globe

We found North America to be the most difficult in terms of what to choose to cover! We know our own region so well and it's difficult to decide what needs to be highlighted.

In the end, I decided to focus on geographic and cultural literacy, especially when it came to the United States.  This seemed like a logical way to narrow down what we covered.

Canada

General Topics:

• Welcome to Canada - Robert Barlas
• Festivals of the World: Canada - Robert Barlas
• Exploring Canada with the Five Themes of Geography - Nancy Golden
• The Inuit of Canada - Danielle Corriveau

Readers (for those just beginning to read independently):

• Farm Animals - Gillis
• Living on Farms - Fowler
• If it Weren't for Farmers - Fowler

Literature:

• Wilderness Cat - Natalie Kinsey-Warnock

Science:

• The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular and  the experiment on yeast found on the MSB website.

 

Art and Activities:

• Make Your Own Inuksuk - Mary Wallace.  An Inuksuk is an Inuit stone marker that is a form of ancient signpost and message.  These really captured my kindergartener's imagination.
• We made pancakes with maple syrup from Canada.

United States

With the United States, there were clear decisions that had to be made regarding what we could feasibly cover regarding our history, culture, and literature.  The options seem endless. 

In the end, I chose to use this as an opportunity to introduce my daughter to some aspects of our history and culture that would enable her to be more "culturally literate." So, we covered some extreme basics about George Washington, Paul Revere, the Revolutionary War, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, some easy Little House picture books, major landmarks, and the like.  It was by no means comprehensive, but I've seen her put some of these bits of knowledge into practice since then, which is gratifying!

General Topics

• A is for America - Devin Scillian.  Unlike other, more simplistic, alphabet books, this one has many cultural details woven into the illustrations.  We spent a lot of time looking through this one and discussing the images.

Literature:

• Going to Town and Going West - Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Adaptations of the Little House books in picture format. 
• The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
• Story of the Lady Slipper
• The Tales of Uncle Remus - read by Julius Lester

History:

• We the People - Peter Spier.  A cartoon rendition of the opening lines of our Constitution, illustrating the enormous meaning of these words.
• The One and Only Declaration of Independence - Judith St. George.  A factual, yet humorous, account of the physical history of the Declaration.  Goodness, it might have gotten *folded*! 
• The Story of the Liberty Bell - Natalie Miller. 
• Washington, DC - American History for Children video.  A isual tour of the primary monuments of our capitol.

Mexico
Mexico was made more interesting by the addition of lots of fun salsa music!  We also explored classical guitar music as well, which was a review of some things we'd covered while studying Spain.

General Topics:

• Exploring Mexico with the Five Themes of Geography - Nancy Golden.

Literature:

• The Legend of the Poinsettia - Tomie DePaola
• The Flame of Peace - Deborah Nourse Lattimore.  We really
  enjoyed this folktale from the ancient Aztecs.  The illustrations were wonderful and we re-read it several times, even checking it out as recently as summer 2009.
• Adelita - Tomie DePaola.  A Mexican Cinderella story.
• Pancho's Pinata - Stefan Czernecki

History:

• Hill of Fire - Lewis. An "easy reader" story of the formation of the Paricutin volcano.  It became apparent I needed to purchase this book when I found Kate trying to copy it so she could have "one for [her] own."
   

Art and Activities:

• Tissue paper flowers are easy to make and very decorative. They are used in several Latin American countries to decorate for festivals.
• Mini Pinatas are perfect for those who want an easy way to recreate these fun party treats.  A "no papier mache" version is found here. 

Posted in Galloping the Globe

Here are some of the wonderful things that we used in addition to the suggested texts in GtG for the Polar Regions:

General Topics

• From the Artic to Antarctica - Rod Theodoru
• March of the Penguins DVD - Lives up to the "hype."

Readers (for those just beginning to read independently):

• Living in the Arctic
• These Birds Can't Fly
• It Could Still be a Bird

Literature

• The Magic Tree House: Polar Bears Past Bedtime - Mary Pope Osborne
• My Season With the Penguins - Interesting, factual account of a study of penguins.
• A Penguin Year - a realistic portrayal of a year in the life of a penguin.  (Note, parents may wish to "pre-read" this book as there is one page with a tasteful, but visual, drawing of penguins mating.  It took me by surprise!)

Science

• We read Polar Bear Patrol and Penguin Puzzle which are both Magic School Bus chapter books.
• We read The Magic School Bus In the Arctic and did the experiment on insulation found on the MSB website.
• The Best Book of Polar Animals - lives up to its name
• How to Hide a Polar Bear and Other Mammals - Ruth Heller
• Zoobooks magazines - Polar Bears, Penguins, Seals

Art

• We really enjoy fuse beads (see Perler Beads).  They have a penguin fuse bead form and free patterns online.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Posted in Galloping the Globe

We have completed the following countries in our Gallop through Europe! We have chosen to use many of the listed in the text, but our library, while wonderful, is small.  However, we have found some wonderful things there that were in addition to the suggested texts in GtG and are listed below: 

Sweden

General Topics

• Welcome to Sweden - Alexander Vimala
• Fiesta! Sweden - Grolier
• Usborne Round the World Songbook

Literature

• "Thor's Hammer" - Usborne's Stories from Around the World
• Boo and Baa - Olaf Landstrom - adorable illustrations and simple text about two sheep and their domestic adventures.
• The Queen's Necklace  - by Janet Langdon

Posted in Galloping the Globe

We did several countries in Asia, spending the most time on China.  Actually, our exploration of China encultured a love of that country's culture and history in Kate. Nearly four years later, she still loves to read Chinese folktales and wants to visit China someday. 

So, our extra resources for Galloping Asia:

China

• Festivals of the World: China - by Colin Cheong
• Passport to China - by Stephen Keeler
• The Great Wall of China - Leonard Everette Fisher
• The Usborne Introduction to Asia IL
• Usborne's Peoples of the World
• Usborne Round the World Songbook

Activities

• We made a Chinese New Year dragon with instructions from Enchanted Learning.
• Enchanted Learning also has a nice print-out of a 16th century Chinese
  Emperor as a coloring page. 
• We made red paper evelopes (with gifts!) as found in the Festivals of the World: China book by Cheong.
• We've eaten a LOT of Chinese cooking from Cooking the Chinese Way (a GtG listed book).  We highly recommend the recipe on page 48 (pork with green pepper & pineapple.)

Explorers and Biographies

• The Adventures of Marco Polo- by Roger Smalley
• Confucius: Golden Rule - by Russell Freedman

Posted in Galloping the Globe

Many (many) moons ago, I had a website.  This was before blogging became the preferred method of web-self-publishing, of course.  It's come as no surprise to me, having not updated that website in over two years, that old "free" website hosting sites are shutting down, mine included.

We did Galloping the Globe for Kindergarten.  Kate just started 4th grade, so it's been a while.  But, I did have a pretty nice list of things we did for the various countries all outlined on the old website. 

So, as an effort to "rescue" this data before it disappears into cyber-nowhere, I'll have a few posts here pertaining to our "gallop."  Hopefully some of this information will still be useful. 

Introduction

General Activities

• Maps and Mapping - by Deborah Chancellor. 
  In addition to reading the text, we did the
  "Treasure Map" and "Compass" activities from
  the back. I tried burning a hole into my map
  for effect - Kate still remembers how well *that*
  turned out!
• DK Eyewitness: Explorers - by Rupert
  Matthews
• Usborne Children's Picture Atlas
• We made a paper mache globe with instructions from Enchanted Learning.
• We made honey buns to go along with our study of bees (suggested by reading the Magic School Bus in a Beehive book).  The recipe for these can be found in the July 2005 issue of The Baking Sheet. 
• Butterfly waxed paper crafts from Enchanted Learning.

Explorers (we added the following texts about some of those featured in GtG):

• Leif Erickson - by Dan Zadra
• Ferdinand Magellen - by Claude Hurwicz
• The Voyage of Columbus: In His Own Words - a pop-up by Stacie Strong
• Sir Francis Drake - by Tanya Larkin
• A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus - by David Adler
• My Best Book of Pirates - by Barnaby Howard (a Kingfisher Book)

Literature:

• And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon - by Janet Stevens (what happens in the nursery rhyme when they get lost and don't come back!  Cat, Cow, and Dog use a map - drawn by Fork - to find their way around fairytale land.)
• The Once Upon a Time Map Book - by B.J. Hennessey.  (A fun book!  Travel through six "once upon a time" places, like Oz or the top of Jack's Beanstalk, in search of treasures. For more skilled map readers or learners with lots of help.)
• Madlenka - by Peter Sis (a little girl loses her tooth and travels around her block to share her good news with many ethnic neighbors.)
• Mapping Penny's World - by Loreen Leedy (a child makes maps of the many places that she and her dog visit.  Covers various types of map styles.)
• Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive - by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degan (One of the books from the popular series.)
• Waiting for Wings - by Lois Ehlert

Science:

Posted in On Our Journey

One of the very things that makes homeschooling attractive to many people is the ability to instill in their children their family's religious and moral views.

And yet, it seems that the next "trap" in this project is to treat our faith as though it's another school subject.  In fact, in my tracking program, I have "Bible" listed, and it's the first "course" of the day. 

Now, I realize that making a place in our daily/school schedule for some sort of Bible study is a positive thing.  It instills good habits, it's a good way to start the school day, and with, young children, it's how any sort of regular devotions are going to get accomplished.

But, it's so easy to let it become another checkbox for the day, as opposed to a way of life that should be lived each and every minute. 

This all sort of fell together for us recently, as we went through the difficult decision to leave a church we'd been with for several years. 

In our area of the country, church attendance isn't ubiquitous, but it certainly is expected of folks at a certain social level.  In fact, we joked that when we moved back to Indiana from Texas, the top two questions we were asked were, "Are you originally from __________?" and "What church are you attending?" 

Church is a social event.  It's, as Rayford Steele (for you Left Behind fans) puts it, "Where we found our doctor, our dentist, and the pediatrician."  It can become a surrogate country club. 

But, as we matured in our faith, it became clear that we needed more from our church.  Not just for the adults, but also for our DD. 

Counter-intuitively, what we were NOT looking for were more "children's programs" or a "children's church."  In fact, we were hoping to find a church where we would be encouraged to worship as a family and where we would *all* be challenged to live out our faith.

I had considered that DD would miss seeing some of her friends from our old church.  And I'd assured her that we would still go there, on occasion, to touch base.  Plus, we'll see them anyway - it's a small community.

What I had not counted was how much our conversations about this change, which transpired over the course of about 18 months, would interest her.  Or how much she would understand and consider what we were discussing.

Nor had I counted on how important it was for her to witness the importance of this decision to us.  It made the whole "going to church" business real, not just something we do on Sunday.  Suddenly, what went on in church meant something to her beyond being part of our weekend ritual.

And, unsurprisingly, it also seems to have caused her to take our daily devotionals more personally.  Suddenly, this, too, wasn't just something to study, but something that adults discussed, questioned, prayed about, and took into consideration in their daily lives. There's a new focus in her study, new questions that she has, and a new awareness of the importance of faith in our daily lives.

We won't be giving up our morning devotionals or our Kay Arthur studies.  But, it is gratifying to know that, through God's grace, we've managed to disciple our daughter by living out our convictions. 

What an awesome gift to all of us.

Posted in Reading

(List updated 6-24-09)

I love books.  I think that's already been revealed, so there are no secrets here. 

But, there are books and there are living books. 

In history and literature, living books are original works that explore the age-old conditions, problems, and joys of humanity.  They inspire or chastise us, make or break us, illuminate and sometimes confound us.  They stir up righteous anger and bring us to tears.  Living books are those that define us as human beings. 

The term "living books" has taken on some new connotations lately, especially as it becomes applied to books in the fields of science or math.  In these areas, living books are books that explain the concepts of these fields within a literary framework. 

There are many, many lists of "great works" online.  Ambleside, A Book in Time, and Classical Christian Online all have lists that provide a good classical foundation in literature and history.  Most of these lists have overlap; some more than others, of course.

But, sometimes there are books out there that are just a bit outside the pale, or that are a bit more obscure, yet deserve mention.  Sometimes, folks just like to have others provide some feedback on books they've actually read, as opposed to just going by the title.  Sometimes, the classics are unfamiliar and the "hidden surprises" are unpleasant - it can help to know this if your child is sensitive to certain things. 

So, here are my lists.  I intend to update this as time, and serendipity, afford the opportunity.  Everthing herein may not be a "true" classic in the cannonical sense, but in our experience these books were worthwhile.  Enjoy!

Geography - Admittedly, geography is often studied alongside history.  But some books align themselves more with place, or mapping skills, than time.  Here are a few:

 Abbie Against the Storm, by Marcia Vaughan.  A young woman keeps the light at Matinicus Rock, Maine, going through the worst storm in 200 years.  Based upon a true story.  This book would also work well with a unit on weather. 

And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon, by Janet Stevens.  What happens in the nursery rhyme when Dish and Spoon get lost and don't come back!  Cat, Cow, and Dog use a map - drawn by Fork - to find their way around fairytale land.  There are so many levels to this story.  It's a great introduction to the notion of puns, the use of a map, and the application of cultural literacy to a story.

Boxes for Katje, by Candace Fleming.  Based on a true story from WWII about an exchange of "care packages" between two post-war children.  Katje's generosity is exemplary.  (This one brings tears to my eyes each time we read it.)

Clever Ali by Nancy Farmer.  Told in the "Persian style" with wonderful aliteration and repetition, plus beautiful Arabian inspired illustrations, Ali has just turned seven and joins his father at work as a "keeper of the pigeons" for the cruel sultan.  The sultan is known for his "oubliette" - a hole into which he throws people he doesn't like.  Guess who ends up in the oubliette?  But all is not lost, because Ali is indeed quite clever.  [Parental warning - at the bottom of the oubliette may be a demon and the anticipation of the existence of this demon builds through the story.  We learn the demon is real and is ugly, but not unkind, and he proves very helpful.]

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Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat, by Jennifer Armstrong.  Set in China, the illustrations are engaging and depict interesting details about Chinese culture.  The story is wonderful, teaching that kindness and friendship can change the heart of a proud, rich, and vain individual. 

The Flame of Peace, by Deborah Nourse Lattimore.  A folktale from the ancient Aztecs.  The clever hero must return the "flame of peace" to his city after the death of his father.  The illustrations are heiroglyphic in nature and invite closer examination.

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The Legend of the Kite: A Story of China, by Chen Jiang Hong.  A Chinese Romeo and Juliet story, except no one dies!  Gives one cultural tale of the origin of the Chinese kite festival.  An unusual focus and one that children seem to enjoy.

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, by Maya Angelou.  This book was a visual delight - the painted houses of the Ndebele women of South Africa are amazing.  Told from the perspective of an eight year old Ndebele girl, it captures both the interesting differences of these people, as well as the similarities of children the world over.  A very "good" book.

Travelling to Tondo, by Verne Aardema.  Sometimes consideration for friends can go a bit too far...espeically when a civet-cat bride is waiting for her intended to return.   Aardema's tales, primarily set in Africa, are full of wonderful "sounds" that go with the characters.  For instance, in Travelling, the bird as he travels goes "Bwa-wha, bwa-wha" - it's a read-aloud for sure!  Aardema is better known for her Anansi tales - also great reads.  But this was our personal favorite! 

History - These are titles that we've discovered while doing our classical rotation in history.  I'm organizing them by major topics, in order to help others doing a similar history format.

Ancient Egypt

Tutankhamen's Gift, by Sabuda.  Sabuda is best known for his amazing "pop-up" books.  This book, however, is a typical picture book, focusing on one possible interpretation of the King Tut story.  The young Tutankhamen is small and often overlooked as his father and brother work to change the religious traditions of the Egyptians.  When Tut suddenly comes to power, it's with a gift that is all his own.  Looking for the cats throughout the tale is an added bonus to enjoying the rich illustrations of this text.

Egyptian Diary: the Journal of Nakht, by Richard Platt.  A contextual view of life in Ancient Egypt.  Surprisingly, it also contains a bit of a mystery...something we really enjoyed and kept us reading beyond the explanation of Ancient Egyptian culture.

Ancient Greece - The stories from this time period are priceless and endlessly referenced in Western Culture.  However, all too often libraries rely on anthologies of the stories, or older volumes that lack engaging illustrations.  Here are some newer versions.

Atalanta's Race, Shirley Climo.  This was a great find for two reasons.  I'd not really heard the story of Atalanta before this.  And, she was singled out in another book as being the only woman warrior who went to the Battle of Troy! 

Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff.  An excellent re-telling of Homer's epic poem, The Illiad.  Not heavily illustrated, but very true to the original.  A reasonable, long, read-aloud for younger students.  Sutcliff handles the battles very well, even for younger children, and doesn't gloss over details that make this story so very rich.

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D'Aulaire's Greek Myths by Ingrid and Edgar D'Aulaire.  This was a real treat and a real surprise.  Just about any Greek story (not just myth) that you have ever heard, and maybe a few you haven't, are found in this compendium.  It includes the basics of the Odyssey and the Illiad as well as the stories of the Greek pantheon of gods, the sub-dieties, and primary mortals.  For those concerned about presenting the Greek gods "favorably" - the D'Aulaires do a spendid job of making these mythic beings more "human" than humans.  Occasionally, you laugh out loud at their foolishness, though it's not unduly silly.  Really, a great re-telling and very thorough.

King Midas, by John Warren Stewig.  The illustrations in this one are fabulous and offers a visual treasure-hunt for the reader.

Pegasus, by Jane Yolen.  Aside from beautiful illustrations, this is an excellent cautionary re-telling of the story of the winged horse and his mortal rider, Bellerophon. 

Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff.  The companion volume to the Black Ships listed above, this, too, holds true to the original epic poem on which it is based.  Sutcliff handles some of the quirks of Odysseus quite well, using parenthetical asides to explain his actions when his trickster nature might otherwise be confusing. 

Middle Ages - Most folks are familiar with the Arthurian legends, but there are many other books set in this time period that are worth a read, especially as they exemplify how people lived.  From here on, the books also become longer chapter books, reflecting my daughter's progression in listening skills and levels of detail.

The Door in the Wall, Margaret De Angeli.  Abandoned by those charged with his care, a young boy learns that he can still serve others despite his seeming inabilities, because there is always a "door in the wall." 

The Great and Horrible Quest, Margaret Lovett.  A fascinating story, in which the "secret" becomes clear to the reader long before the main character. 

Posted in On Our Journey

Too bad I'm not into customizing my blog with music.  I'd find something really bluesy to go with this post because, like all good blues tunes, we saw it comin' and we couldn't stop the train wreck. 

We survived a week of DD attending summer day camp.  Sigh.

Without a doubt it was a great experience for her.  It was a drama camp, held daily for one week, from 9am to 5pm.  Monday morning they auditioned parts and Friday evening they put on the performance.  It was intense, but the participants - all 45 of them - did an amazing job!

However, and it's probably just me, but I don't quite see how families survive this, especially if one extrapolates it from one week to nine MONTHS of the year.

And, in fact, I'm quite sure it was *much* better than a typical school year.  Except for the exhaustion (more on that later), DD was quite happy to get up and go again the next morning.  It was all fun and she was enjoying it with two friends while she was there.  I didn't have to beg her to get up at least.

But, oy vey!  The evenings were terrible! 

I finally figured out that we were all suffering from "re-entry" issues.  At first, I only applied my thinking to DD, but later I realized it was all of us.

Of course, on a daily basis, DH has to adjust from being at work, where he's the "boss" and pretty much able to control all the details and issues, to being at home, where *I* have been the "boss" for the majority of the day.  Handing over control to him, yet retaining some consistency, has always been a bit of a challenge for all three of us.  However, it comes down to having DH come home to DD and myself.  So, it's one person re-entering the family unit.

However, for this week, we had DD off doing her thing as well.  And for the day, she was, essentially, one of "many."  Yes, she was assigned specific tasks, a group to work with, etc.  But, for the most part, she was autonomous and one of a group.  Even the ride home, with two friends and another parent, she was still in a different, though transitional, dynamic. 

But, then, as soon as she hits the door, she's our daughter, with all the usual, normal, routine expectations.  And, being an only child, the focus of many questions, hugs, and general, pointed, interest.  As she later pointed out, "It's a shock to the system." 

And, let's not forget.  For the week, she was keeping the hours of a full-time job - 9-5.  While I tried to get her into bed early enough, there was the conflict with finding time to do things with us in the few hours we had.  Many of our usual family bonding activites, like a trip to the pool, were out.  There simply wasn't time and, as the week wore on, DD was simply too tired to add that extra exercise into the day. 

And, there's Mom. Here I am, suddenly, with time.  Time that DH insists that I view as, predominantly, "free time."  And, I tried.  I really did.  I read books - in the daylight, with no booklight!  I watched two (2) movies.  I caught up on some paperwork, did some research on various household matters, and held conversations with myself, and God - without interruption.  I drank a whole Starbucks Mocha without having to share.

It was an eerie preview of the "empty nest" as well as a welcome break from the routine.  I commented to DH later that it was a bit scary how easy it was to get used to having DD gone for the entire day.   

However, the circumstances also created for me a time of transition as well.  I found that having my "peace and quiet" suddenly shattered by folks coming home, bringing mail to deal with, questions to answer, and with demands to fulfill, was jarring.  It's not that I didn't welcome my family home; I just needed time to adjust to their presences after nine hours of being alone.  I never quite figured out how to make that adjustment easily.

So, it was rough.  We squabbled a bit, I'm sorry to say.  DD was *extremely* defensive about anything that suggested she wasn't "autonomous" and able to do things for herself.  Surprise.  She'd spent all day "doing for herself" and suddenly it seemed she was no longer capable.  DH expected "normal" and got anything but, which is always upsetting.  And I seemed unable to shift gears, finding the continual distractions and disruptions of my lines of thought just so "rude."  :)

However, it's over.  [Insert happy dance here.] 

The performance was wonderful.  DD had a great time and learned quite a lot.  Hopefully, her parents did, too.

And, if time helps us to forget some things (though I distinctly remember loads of details regarding labor and giving birth to DD, so I'm dubious), perhaps we'll let DD do another week-long camp next year.

Perhaps....