Germany

We're finally getting around... the world that is. We've focused a lot on our own country the first half of our school year, with conversations about other countries, this was the first week we did a "study" of a country. We started in Germany, which seemed fitting for us because of family history that goes back to that country. We're at a place in our Creation Studying where we are focusing on God creating man, we're doing fun art work showing our personalities, our 5 senses, our feelings, etc. And now we're transitioning into our family, and family history a little bit. So there ya go, that brings us to Germany.

We painted the flag of Germany today and displayed it with our own country's flag, then included them in our prayers.

We made a family tree to add to our devotional time this week.

We read some Grimm's childrens fairytales, and The Bremen-town Musicians

We had Beethoven (courtesy of Baby Einstein's cd's) blaring in the background. The Bible has a lot to say about music and instruments, so we sampled some of the greats from Germany- Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Brahms

We learned about Albert Einstein, and how much math applies to everything like flying into space, or building a computer, I think Kellan has a new hero since he loves math so much.

Young Albert Einstein- Laurence Santrey

Albert Einstein coloring page

And what would a miniature princess like Maren be without the mention of all of the castles in Germany?

Castle Maze

Today wraps up our study of Germany by reading The Dutchess Bakes a Cake- Virginia Kahl and making a German Chocolate cake for a certain (newly) SEVEN year old's birthday party tomorrow. I wonder if she'll be just as excited about saurkraut and potatoes for dinner tonight?

After dinner, we'll watch The Sound of Music (yeah yeah, I know it's Austria. But they speak German. And it's a great movie ;) close enough!)

Free

Happy Constitution Day!

September 17th, 1787 the Constitution of the United States was completed, and adopted by the Delegates that day. It became effective March 4, 1789, but we introduced it today in our studies to show reverence and understanding for the wisdom that brought it forth.

And for the men who blazed the trail.

We're studying the USA in geography and history, and more than just memorizing the capitals, we are truly diving in to the history of this great nation.

Starting with George Washington this week in history was more important and appropriate than starting with him the first week of school. It gave time to introduce a basic understanding of government, Presidents, and states.

Also, since George Washington was one of the Delegates who signed the constitution, it made a nice transition into talking about our Capitol. Did you know that the cornerstone of the Capitol was laid by George Washington on September 18th, 1793?

More than just learning about the freedoms that we enjoy, is also taking advantage of them. We went to the library to find lots of gems for our studies. With the internet, and the public library, it can either supplement or entirely create the subject material for whatever you choose!

We even found DVD's for children about the constitution, and American Hero's volumes such as this one we watched today: Animated Hero Classic: George Washington We had these movies growing up, and my mom shipped them out to me, I loved this more than other movies for children, because it didn't shy away from the depiction of the heroes respect for God. That's a true hero in my book!

Other ways we used free resources for our subjects was checking out this book:

This was such a cute book to compliment our study of the Creation, Day 3 of all of the things God created on this Earth, and WHY He created this first, and not Man!