Grade 3 - Week 9

Week 9 - Brazil

We have taken our first trip out of North America and landed in Brazil.  This is a fascinating country with the Amazon River and the Rainforests.  We have big sheets of paper up where we are writing the names of plants and animals for the different layers of the Rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory, Floor).  Two weeks ago our Magic Treehouse book was on the Rainforest so I saved the Research Guide book on Rainforests to read while we are in Brazil.  I am amazed at how much the girls know about the Rainforest, especially the animals.  Diego (TV show for kids) has been quite educational. 

We have also learned a couple of songs that South American kids sing.  They are quite catchy and I have this song (Brown Girl in the Ring) going through my head much more than I want.  Singing and dancing are a favorite part of their day. 

We started reading a new Read aloud (a book where I read to the kids).  It is a biography on Nate Saint, a missionary in South America.  It has been a fun book to read so far but unfortunately he had a tragic death and we will be reading about that soon.  Although, Anna has figured out already that he dies at a young age.  So, I think that this has helped prepare them.  It is a great book that I would recommend to anyone, not just kids.  I also was able to get a free book about his life, with great pictures so I will be supplementing our study with this. 

Our Magic Treehouse book this week is on Space.  These books are nice because they are each a separate story but they tie together.  The girls have figured out that we are reading the books in order so they don't need to read the Prologue to each one.  Also, since they fit in quite well because they are traveling around the world too, just not in the same order as our trip.  Unfortunately, the books really need to be read in order.  The only downside is that they are not Christian based and their have been a few references to evolution and stuff so just another thing to explain. 

The girls got new bibles in Sunday School this year and have been using these for bible readings.  It is nice that they have a more advanced bible than before but still not quite as difficult to read as my bible.  Plus, we have two now which makes it easier.

Grade 3 - Week 8

Week 8 - Still in Canada

We are continuing to study Canada.  This is our final week in North America and both girls know the countries, including most of the islands, in North and Central America.  They also know major physical features (Rockies, Applachians, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Great Plains, Great Basin, Mississippi River, Rio Grande River, Florida Peninsula, Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Carribean, Gulf of Mexico).  We have a game we play to learn the countries and I created a laminated file folder to learn the other physical features.  This way they could reuse it many times as we used a dry erase marker to label things.

We had a "high" tea one day when the girls had some friends over.  I served fancy sandwiches (what can you do with PB and J), fruit kabobs, and veggie sticks.  And, of course we had tea (the chai variety).  They had a lot of fun. 

Of course I forgot to take a picture until after they had started eating so the fruit kabobs looked like this:

The girls made a couple of crafts:  an igloo (on paper) and we carved a bear out of soap.  Somehow this was much more difficult than I anticipated.  I need to take pictures of these and add them.

Another week over.  The time is going so fast.

Grade 3 - Week 7

Week 7 - Canada

Back on our Plane to Canada!    Time to pull out some Canadian money, t-shirts that Scott brings us every year on his Canada fishiing trip, etc. 

In Science we are studying the Food Chain and Food web.  I made some cards that had various animals and plants on, and they could create food chains and than interlink them into webs.  We also matched definitions to:  Producer, Consumer, and Decomposer and filed the plants and animals under the appropriate category.  I think this exercise helped them remember better.

Grade 3 - Week 6

Week 6 - Mexico



We are continuing our study on Mexico. I have brought out my Mexican Blanket and we sit on this for devotions and reading time. I also have a chicken from Mom that reminds me of a trip to Mexico where we ended up in a restaurant (outdoors) where the chickens were walking around right by the tables. So I told the girls this story and now we "hide" the chicken every day for them to find.



We have also started playing a geography game. Right now we are working on learning all of the countries in North American. The girls are getting pretty good at this and I have learned the names as well. Study a map before you decided to play this with them. As we study other continents, we will be learning the names of most (not all) the countries. This is something Scott has played with them too, which is good.



Our Bible Verse this week is Matthew 4:19



Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."



Anna was excited about this verse as she remembered learning it for Sunday School last year. The girls also got new bibles at church on October 4th. Our church gives all kids children's bibles at age 3 and than a more advanced bible in Grade 3. They are excited about having their own bibles and now read the Bible selection for the day.



We are continuing our Animal study and this week learned more about Bears. They are really enjoying this book.



We continued working on our Pinatas. They are a slow messy process.....  But here is the end result:

The girls enjoyed breaking one and we are saving the other for when we have friends over. 

In Science, we are continuing to study Deserts. Did you know there are hot and cold deserts? We have made a list of the differences and mapped the major deserts.



We also reviewed some Spanish words, in addition to their normal Spanish lessons. Choco, our friend in the picture, helps us with Spanish. Choco is a puppet and the girls love them and always want me to "be Choco".


We are supposed to have a fiesta at the end of our travels. I think we will be making fajitas one night and call it a day. But, if you have any good Mexican recipes send them my way!

Update:  Scott decided to make us a Fiesta one night.  We started out with homemade Guacomole (Anna's favorite of the meal) and Salsa. 

Next we had some cheese and sauce thing in a tortilla.  Scott had a name for it, but I have forgotten:

Next up was stuffed peppers:

The last course (Emma's favorite) was tacos. 

Grade 3 - Week 5

Week 5

We are off on our trip around the world. This week the girls got their "passports" and we boarded our plane for Mexico.

Okay, not a very fancy plane but the girls thought it was cool. I had hoped to paint it but the rain has not given me many opportunities for this.

On our plane ride to Mexico, I read about the history of Mexico, geography, and some science. After they left the plane they had to get in line and have their passport signed and stamped (a Mexican flag sticker). We than continued on with the rest of our day.

Our Bible verse for this week is Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

We are studying deserts in science. There were a couple of experiments to do but we needed a sunny day so this didn't happen. Can you imagine how long it would take to melt ice cubes outside in this weather? I still hope to do some on a sunny day.

For our craft, we have started on a pinata. These are time consuming as they have to dry in between time. We will finish them next week.

Here is our "board" for these two weeks.