Japan

We began our journey to Japan by reading Carole Marsh's The Mystery at Mount Fuji. Grant and Christina found their usual adventures waiting for them in Japan. Their Japanese hosts helped them get around and solve the mystery, and we learned a LOT about Japan in here. As we were reading that, we were cracking our Top Secret Adventures for Japan. Highlights sent me the one for Japan when I first signed up- it was a freebie, except for shipping, and well worth it! When we visited Japan in EPCOT today, we knew more Japanese and more about Japan than any other country we've visited to date! Since each country runs about $14 plus shipping, I can't decide if I would liked to have had these for each country we learned about or not- the puzzle book is consumable, so once it is finished, it is finished- you can't do it again... but it was really fun and educational for all of us... We also "rowed" Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. We followed Say's Great Grandfather and descendants from Japan to California, and back and forth again... It was a nice story about family and tradition and roots... we traced our own Great Grandparents (DD did pictures of herself, me, her grandma and Great Grandma, and DS's found pictures of themselves, their dad, their grandfather and great grandfather). We enjoyed this book, and probably could have spent more time on it, but we had a lot to accomplish... Several of our crafts came from the Japan for Kids website.

All the kids painted Cherry Blossoms.

DS#1 created a Japanese Rock Garden. We learned that the ripples in his garden represent water. He also planted a Bonsai Tree he bought at EPCOT.

DS#2 made a Japanese folding fan...

DD made one, too, and even decorated hers.... We read about Kabuki and Geisha Girls and how they used fans to hide their emotions.

DD & I also made some Origami Cranes...

At EPCOT, we found a Japanese Rock Garden- life sized :-) Note the ripples!

We ate at Teppan Edo, where the Chef cooks right at your table. Our Chef was quite a ham! We loved it!! DS#1 ordered Crispy Eel Rolls, and he and Daddy LOVED them!! DS#2 and DD were not too sure about Eels, but they enjoyed the shrimp and steak (as did I)... Our servers were quite impressed with DS#1's ability to speak limited Japanese- he was able to say "hello," "yes," "Thank you," and "Good-bye."

DD used her Birthday money to buy herself this beautiful purple Kimono- she looks like the Bamboo Princess here... We heard this Japanese fairy tale when watching Big Bird in Japan (although they told it a bit differently on there).

I would say the only "bad" experience we had, was when we asked one of the ladies in "Japan" what a traditional treat might be, and she sold us this little bag with four blocks in it. It turns out that those were blocks of red bean jelly, or Yokan, and even DS#1 (who eats just about EVERYTHING) spit it out quickly! Ah well, live and learn...

Reaching our last country in EPCOT is a bitter sweet achievement. Our passes expire in just about two weeks, and I'm glad we were able to learn about all of the countries, but it has been a fun trip, and I'm a bit sad to see it come to an end... We will be moving on to some Beyond FIAR books from here, and perhaps visiting other countries in books, etc- I know DS#1 would like us to study about Australia sometime soon, so that will probably be first on the list... "Arigato" for reading my blog, and, until next time, "Syonara!"

A Field Trip to MOSI

Wow! We had such a great time on this field trip! It was really a spontaneous trip, as MOSI was having their Home Educators Open House and we had totally forgotten about it! But good friends of ours reminded us, so we got our schoolwork done over the weekend and went with them to experience it. We had never been. There was SO much to see and do, that when I started to write this post, I couldn't decide what to write about first- so here goes my list...

First, the boys (and our friends "the girls") went into the Hurricane Chamber and experienced winds in excess of 74 mph. Next, we went to Disasterville, where we learned about wild fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and lightning.

The Bioworks Butterfly Garden was magnificent! There we could see caterpillars, chrysalises and of course, butterflies! We learned that you can propogate milkweed by simply planting the cuttings.



There was The Amazing You exhibit, where we began by learning all about the growth and development of a human baby. That was followed by how to stay healthy as we grow.


There was an exhibit on flight, space, and beyond called Our Place in the Universe, which tied in nicely with our study of birds and flight. DS#2 even got to hold an air foil (and anything else he wanted) in a small wind tunnel to see which had the best effect... We saw the movie 3D Sun, which told about twin satellites sent out to monitor sun storms and the effects of these on the earth, and especially on GPS systems and satellites.
I think every one's favorite place was Kids In Charge. At first, the kids thought this meant that they could order us to buy them ice-cream there, but once we explained that, since they were in charge, THEY had to buy it, they never mentioned it again... But, there were so many hands-on experiences there! DD got to crawl under (or over or through) a giant web. There were puzzles to work, pyramids to build, frozen shape shadows, lever tug-of-war, caves to crawl through, giant gears to experiment with, optical illusions, and glowing rocks, just to name a few.


Then an exhibit called "Fields to Meals" allowed us to learn where our food comes from- we could milk a plastic cow (it actually produced something that resembled milk, LOL), and see how food gets from the farm to us.

When it was time to go, the kids were not ready to go home, but all good things must come to an end, right?

Butterfly Gardening

DS#1 finished his butterfly garden! I shouldn't say "finished," because I'm sure he'll add to it as time goes on, but he's completed what needed to be done for it to be certified with the National Wildlife Federation. He researched which plants he wanted and even bought many of them with his own allowance. And of course, with some help from dad, he planted it! His hard work is paying off , though, with the beautiful visitors who come by to drink or lay eggs. We have seen the Monarch (above , left), the Queen (above,right), and finally, we have had a Giant Swallowtail (below- both pictures) come by, as well. All of these pictures actually came from his garden. We've also seen the Gulf Fritillary and the White Peacock.

We're really proud of him, and the good stewardship he's showing, too :o)

Gardening

Well, Spring has sprung, so to speak. My 11 y/o has always loved a garden, but this year, we got our 7 y/o and 4 y/o in on the action... It will be fun to experience God's creation and care in action- and a good demonstration of how we can be good stewards of such...

We'll post pictures so you can watch our gardens grow-

Planting the vegetable garden....

Our vegetable garden- beans, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, and sunflowers-

2 1/2 weeks into our garden- our veggies are growing pretty well, I think :o)

DD's flower garden- shaped like a heart :o)

2 1/2 weeks into DD's garden- we had to fudge, because our rabbit ate almost all of her purple zinnias... we bought her some plants to replace them- purple bush daisies and yellow marigolds. Her sunflowers are growing great, though! I don't know why the rabbit didn't bother those.



DS#1 has a butterfly Garden he started earlier this year- He is working to have it certified with the National Wildlife Federation.

We found this monarch laying eggs on one of his milkweed

plants today as we were planting our other gardens.

Here are some awesome Gardening Resources:

General Gardening:

Theme Gardens

Kids Gardening

Gardening Activities

The World of Peter Rabbit - A condensed read-aloud version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, along with online and printable games. DD enjoyed reading this book, viewing the video and playing with these online games.

Enchanted Learning - Flower Crafts and printable books

Homeschool Share - The Gardener This is such a beautiful book! DD enjoyed it almost as much as I did.

I especially liked the Flower Three Part Cards found on Homeschool Share- we are using these for "Concentration" and also "Go Fish" and my 4 y/o DD is learning the names of several of the kinds of flowers already!

Learn About Flowers Paper Craft