Spice Wars, Pirates, and Columbus

Map Drawing 9: The Indian "Subcontinent", where many spices are grown.

Our Monday homeschool group is using Ellen McHenry's Mapping the World by Art curriculum.  Every week we watch an instructional video and draw a map of a region of the world.  The mapping lessons are intended for older students, so I assist Ian with drawing and labeling.  Ian especially enjoys drawing mountains, rivers, and islands.  After the map drawing, one of the parents leads a related activity.  Activities have included games, videos, regional food, and discussions about historical events/people/places.

This month we learned about European/Indian spice trading, Barbary pirates/privateers, and Christopher Columbus's journey to America.  Ian loves to play the "Pirates of the Mediterranean" board game from Mapping the World by Art.  European ships try to cross the Mediterranean to get to a Middle Eastern spice port while pirates are trying to stop them from getting to their destinations. 

Books:  Animals Christopher Columbus Saw by Markle

Giving Thanks

One of our family's Thanksgiving traditions is to make a Thanksgiving Tree.  Autumn leaves list some of the things we are thankful for in our lives.

The topic of this month's Thursday co-op was giving.  We discussed the differences between needs and wants, and appropriate items to donate to food-banks.  Our family celebrated Thanksgiving this year with a special meal, playing Mad-Libs, and boating at Colyer Lake. 

Books:  I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Jackson;  Leaf Jumpers by Gerber;  The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest by Jackson;  Over the River and Through the Wood by Child;  The Circle of Days by Lindbergh; The Giving Tree by Silverstein

Videos:  Scholastic Storybook Treasures: Giving Thanks by Swamp

Maya, Aztec, Inca

The Inca developed a record-keeping system using knotted strings called quipu.  We made a quipu with yarn.

This month we learned about early civilizations in the Americas.  We discussed the Bering Land Bridge theory as a possibility of how humans migrated to North America.  We also discussed the shift from hunting and gathering to farming that occurred in the Americas.  We specifically learned about the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations, and we compared them to ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.

We made a large time-line to put our history lessons in perspective.  The time-line included:  Bering Land Bridge; corn domestication; Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations; ancient Egypt and Mesopotamian civilizations; the beginning of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Columbus's voyage to Americas; electricity in homes; and Ian and Eric's birthdays.

Books:  The Maya by Takacs;  Woolly Mammoth by Manning;  The Inca by Takacs;  The Ancient Maya by Maloy;

Resources:
Bering Land Bridge
Making Quipus

Elections

Ian added his "I Voted" sticker to his self-portrait.

Ian learned about the election process at a Thursday homeschool group lesson.  The lesson included discussing the criteria for running for president, the criteria for registering to vote, and the Republican and Democratic Parties.  The lesson activity was to make a collage with election related newspaper articles/pictures/cartoons.

Ian and Eric accompanied me when I voted on Tuesday.  On our walk to the polling location, we discussed the political yard signs we passed.  On our way home, we discussed why ballots are secret and how votes are tallied.  The boys didn't get to vote in the national election, but they did get to vote for their favorite book at the library.

Books:  Duck for President by Cronin;  Running for Public Office by Capua;  Getting Elected by Nelson and Donovan

Halloween

Ian and Eric with their carved pumpkins.

This year for Halloween, we made Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 & 2 costumes.  Ian is learning how to use our sewing machine and helped sew his costume.  The boys were excited to dress up and trick-or-treat with their friends.  

Other Halloween activities included learning a finger play for the song "Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate", entering a pumpkin carving contest, walking though a haunted corn maze, and playing a toilet paper mummy game.

Books:  Apples and Pumpkins by Rockwell;  Five Little Pumpkins by Mantle;  Celebrate Halloween by Heiligman;  The Spooky Sound by Lagonegro;  The Spooky Tire by Scieszka;  The Trip by Keats;  The Pumpkin Book by Gibbons

Poem:  "Come Little Leaves" by George Cooper