Lapbooks!

OK. So I have been really excited to try some new things this year. One of the things I have really been wanting to do, and decided was a must during our first week of school, was to combine Z's and J's Science and History classes into unit studies. I wasn't really sure how to go about doing this because Z is in first grade and J is in fifth. I decided to go with the curriculum J is using for both History and Science (gearing it down a bit for Z) and use a method called lapbooking. If you haven't heard of it I highly suggest you Google it. Lapbooks are a great way to offer a variety of activities about a subject and keep it organized. It is highly customizable and kids love it!

These are the ones we created for our Unit on Christopher Columbus. The first one is Joshua's. We are using the book series A History of Us by Joy Hakim for History. I used some materials used in our workbooks but then had J and Z pick out other things that stuck out to them. Then I created some quick mini books or journaling pictures for the kids to fill out. Not all of them are done. There are completed pages I haven't added and some unfinished ones that go with chapters we haven't read yet.

Activities include:

Make a list of supplies you would take on a voyage?

How did a lunar eclipse save Columbus?

The Columbian Exchange. List supplies exchanged between the New and Old World

Map Columbus's first voyage

Flash cards of navigational instruments used by sailors of that time period

Evaluate Christopher Columbus's Performance in eight areas. Give him a rank from 1-5

What were some fears sailors of that time period had?

A New Land. 1. Describe the New Land discovered by Columbus. 2. What were the people like who lived there? 3. What happens to the Taino people because of the arrival of Columbus?

Z's lapbook is much simpler. So far it consists of a coloring page, a maze, a compass picture Z drew as well as an activity showing some goods exchanged between the Old and New world.

Don't they look like fun? I am so excited and can't wait to start on our next unit. Basically anything that makes my kids excited about learning is fun for me and totally worth the paper, glue and assembly time. On a personal note I have also been bitten by the felt bug. I ran across a site that advertised felt food and toys for kids and decided that I needed to give it a go. I am totally hooked! I love coming up with ideas and seeing them come to completion. Here are a few of my first attempts.

Little Dinosaur for baby.

Dragon Finger Puppet from my Castle Collection

Lovey Elephant toy for baby.

Back on track

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling my brood is taking field trips. Anytime my husband has a day off we usually hop in the car and take what we lovingly call a "McClary family adventure." Sometimes we just end up in the car for hours driving around and exploring new parts of our beautiful state of Utah, but most of the time we plan ahead and find national parks, historical sites, or places to hike and let the littles run around. If we go too long without a field trip, I mean adventure, my husband and my kids get restless.

We kicked off this school year with a family adventure to the Golden Spike National Historic Site, and a side trip to the Spiral Jetty. The Golden Spike site itself was rather underwhelming. Other than looking at two fully operational train engine replicas, there were not many things for the children to do. The museum is really just one big room with a movie and a few displays, but we made the most of it. I think the most fun was found in a game of hide and seek in the picnic area, and in the six dollars my 6 year old found after taking a picture by the sign.

My husband was not satisfied with the less than exciting Golden Spike site so we went off in search of the mysterious Spiral Jetty. I had never heard of it but it sounded intriguing. It is a type of land art that was created in the 70's by the artist Robert Smithson. For any of you in the Salt Lake City area who would like to visit I suggest you borrow an SUV! It takes a long, bumpy ride to get there on dirt roads. The kids loved the ride of course, holding their hand up in the air the whole way like we were on a roller coaster. I on the other hand did not appreciate the jarring bumps and jiggles. Once there my husband and kiddos took a little hike across the beach to where, on a very wet year, the spiral jetty juts out into the Great Salt Lake.

I didn't make it out of the car to see the jetty myself. My littlest one had somehow fallen asleep despite the bumps and I needed to stay at the car with him. Here are some pics my hubby took, and a link to Robert Smithson's website.

http://www.robertsmithson.com/earthworks/spiral_jetty.htm

I am so excited for this school year and for the many field trips to come!