This week, we are technically on break. I say "technically" because we still have a few things going. We still had co-op, plus we have a few on-going projects that we've continued, but for the most part, we're attempting to get out of the house with friends and catch-up on laundry!
I think my favorite school related projects throughout this month have been our Russia/Olympic projects. The kids think we're just doing fun stuff, but I know we're sneaking in learning at the same time.
Geography/Computer
I found this cheesy Russian geography game and Luke really enjoyed it. He learned the names of the main mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans of Russia. When we started watching the Winter Games, he was excited to see the Caucasus Mountains he had learned about from the game. http://staff.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/~cwalton/mapquizrussia.htm
You-Tube Fun
We watched a few videos to learn a little about Siberia. Luke was really excited when he heard the narrator mention Lake Baikal. He really enjoys National Geographic and BBC videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNkDoApfI_w (This one was about Siberian wildlife)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en0p1Y35p3w (This is a really fun video about ice drumming on Lake Baikal)
Russian Food
For the Opening Ceremonies, I made piroshkis. They were very similar to paczkis that we eat on Fat Tuesday. We made the dough, watched it rise, rolled them out, filled them with cooked ground beef, onions, and cheddar cheese. Aaron then deep fried them and we ate them with sour cream. The boys ate them, but Olivia and I devoured them. The girl has taste like her Mama! Here is our recipe : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/taylors-piroshki/
Geography/Math
My favorite activity from this week (we're actually still working on it) has been graphing the medal count. I gave Luke the basic outline of the graph and he has been drawing the flags and adding the data. Each night, we pull up the results from the official website (http://www.sochi2014.com/en/last-results) add the day's medals to our graph. Benjamin is very excited about this activity and has started to recognize certain flags. Unfortunately, they have developed quite a dislike for the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany because they've been ahead in the standings all week.
Enjoying the Olympics
We've been watching the Olympics together every night and the kids have enjoyed acting out the events. They've setup different courses for their "ski jump", chased each other in circles for speed skating, and twisted in the air for figure skating. Here is my favorite - bobsledding.
