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Dangerous Wonder
Jun. 13, 2008
History Pockets: Moving West Part 3
Our long journey west was completed a few weeks ago. We were all very happy to finish this journey of 10 weeks together. We had tons of fun and loads of adventures.
Week 8 we studied the Gold Rush. The older kids "panned" for gold outside and did a few other activities. The younger kids hunted for gold in my home after we read stories, colored pictures and talked about fools gold and real gold.
True treasure in the hands of a child!
Week 9 we talked about homesteading on the prairie and I had the pleasure of teaching the older kids that week. I shared portions of a wonderful historical diary called Butter in the Well by Linda K. Hubalek. I had read the entire thing to my kids a few days before the class in 3 or 4 hours because it was so fascinating to all of us. They didn't want me to stop reading! I highly recommend it!
Our 10th and final class was about the Railroad expansion to the west! We talked about Casey Jones and John Henry and watched the classic Disney film about both of these characters. We also looked through a lot of books about trains (especially steam trains) and played with our Thomas the Tank train set and made a humongous track! It was a fantastic time with the little ones!
The final "program" for this year wasn't a festival like we have done in the past with the medieval and renaissance studies. We went to a nature center in a nearby city and explored with the nature center guide about pioneer life. There was a camp fire and hot dogs (before the rain down poured!) and then all sorts of fun with pioneer games and hands on learning. We made butter, saw baby chicks, touched turtles and bunnies and shared all our projects we had made over the previous 10 weeks. The dads and some grandparents were there to share in the excitement as well! It was a wonderful ending to a lot of learning!
 My ds and his friends around the campfire. I love this picture! It cracks me up!
Here's my dd5 (in brown dress) with some of her friends.
DD9 playing with a pioneer toy of some sort.
Our nature guide talking about bunnies.
DS7 playing with a noise maker.
DD5 wearing a dress I wore when I was little.
After the rain had cleared we headed out on the fishing dock.
Saw a rainbow!
An end to a wonderful time together studying the pioneers!
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Jun. 17, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Annette