Finishing Geography....on to Decimals

We are finally wrapping up Geography! Yay! So far this has been the most difficult block for me to teach. There are so many perspectives on how to approach the subject. It was hard for me to define what I wanted him to take away. States and capitals? Industries and economy? I researched what the local school system teaches, what Waldorf schools teach, then made up my own priorities. I finally settled on wanting him to understand what defines various US regions: land forms such as the Mississippi River and Sonora Desert, the industries that developed from the natural resources (e.g.,crabbing, lumber, cotton), and  cultures and customs (and how they developed through our immigrant traditions blending with native culture, customs from other immigrants, and necessity.)

Not wanting to fall out of the school mode completely, over the Christmas break the Boy read a few collections of American folk tales. We enjoyed well known stories, such as 'Paul Bunyan' and 'Brer Fox,' and others we didn't know such as the legends of 'Pecos Bill' and 'Coyote and Bobcat.' He so enjoys reading that he never sees it as "school" work. One of the beautiful blessings of homeschooling is that life and learning just blur together.

Some of the books we read:
The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn — Robert Burleigh
Sweet Land of Story: 36 American Tales to Tell — Pleasant de Spain
The American  Story:100 True Tales from American History — Jennifer Armstrong
Big Men Big Country; A Collection of American Tales — Paul Robert Walker
Classic American Folk Tales —Steven  Zorn

His main lesson book is filled with regional maps and descriptions. He learned how to copy an illustration using a grid and make a gestural drawing. He concocted a few foods from various regions, gave a presentation about New England (and fluffernutter sandwiches) to our homeschool group, as well provided fluffernutters for sampling, watched "Stephen Fry in America" series on Netflix, read regionally inspired books and the folk tales collections. We sang a few folk tunes (Remember "Erie Canal," "I've Got Spurs" and "Home on the Range?" To finalize everything, he is composing a retelling of his favorite folk tale (Coyote and Bobcat) and will illustrate it.

Fifth Grade: US Geography

Well, my plan to finish Geography by December 1 did not work out. Too many other distractions. All good things, festivals, field trips, and the like. But, it did keep us from doing our main lesson work. We're now in our second week of December, and I project we have about 10 more school days left to finish Geography.

I really wanted to bring things alive for the Boy. Geography can be so dry. But I'm just not feeling creative. What I've opted to do is to have him read a book and take a few notes about a region. He then draws a map to put in his main lesson book (mlb). The notes get written into a paragraph or two about each state, which he copies into his mlb. He labels the map, colors each state — choosing his colors based on some aspect of the state flag, bird, flower, or sports team.  The final touch is a label for people we know who come from that state. Not very exciting, I know. 

To spice it up a little bit, I've looked for National Geographic type movies about the country (like "Lewis and Clark"), we're making a few recipes, and I've chosen a few pieces of literature that correspond with certain regions. (Johnny Tremain for New England, Uncle Remus for the south, etc.)

If I had my wish, we'd hop in the car and travel for a few weeks. That's how I really absorbed geography as a kid. Each summer we'd take a road trip to some region of the US or Canada. When I look at a map, I can picture the emerald green of Lake Superior, the gaping chasm that is the  Grand Canyon, the ethereal mist in the Smoky Mountains.  I can remember feeling like we were going to roll backwards while driving up Mt. Washington, and thinking it awfully odd for folks to have Christmas lights and snowmen decorations in the heat of a Florida December. 

My older boys benefited from similar trips, but we haven't taken any that the Boy can remember. (He was barely a toddler when we drove west to Yellowstone.) Our studies have made me determined to plan a trip for this summer, to show our last baby the beauty and wonder of our country...and maybe some of Canada, too.

First Day of School

Baby boy woke up so excited to start school today. Ran in my room with a shout of "It's my first day of school. Let's go!" Unfortunately, I didn't get going as early as I wanted to. Not surprising, that's me. After a leisurely breakfast and a break to care for the goats and cats, we started 4th grade.  Our first assignment was to check the weather. He declared it "Perfect. Then asked, is that a weather condition?"  He is right. 79 degrees and beautifully sunny.

We started our work by lighting a candle and reciting our morning verse. Typically in a Waldorf school there would be a circle time. But with just the two of us, it feels a bit contrived. I'll need to figure out some type of movement exercises we can add to the morning. He's not a very flexible kid, but I've warned him many times that we'll have to change some things around til we get what works for us. We then moved into our Main Lesson, starting with a new verse that we'll be using for local geography/history. We made our practice book and geography ML book. Then we packed up for our first field trip!

We stopped to pick up a compass, then headed to High Point, a York County park that overlooks the Susquehanna River. On the way I asked him to notice the shape of the land. Imagine what it would look like without roads, buildings and the other things people have created. He rode silently the rest of the way and just watched out of the window.

As we enjoyed our picnic lunch, we sat quietly and watched the horses on a neighboring farm. We then climbed to the top of High Point and stood still to breathe it all in. At the top there's a compass rose set in stone so, we pulled out our compass and talked about the ordinate points and compared our compass to the compass rose. (One of them is two degrees off!) We each sketched part of the view, which was a painful experience for both of us. For me, I'm a beginner sketcher and not very confident about my work. He has a difficult time doing anything new. After a few tears and bouts of frustration (him) we both settled into our work and by the time we were finished he seemed very happy with the process. I faked my way through it, keeping a cheerful face, even when another hiker looked over my shoulder and said nothing but "hmmmmm." We took some photos, filled our water bottles, then took the Mason Dixon Trail back down the hill and headed for the river itself.  Oh, the river felt wonderful on our hot, dusty feet!

At Highpoint Park

The river visit was short, surprisingly. Usually I can't get him away from the water. But today he was happy to clamber back in the car and head to the library. One of his favorite places! As I write this, he is sitting in the back yard reading one of the books he selected. It is now "quiet time," the peaceful rest time before the busy-ness of getting dinner together begins.  Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure!