Sunday, June 28, 2009

Summer Exploration Week 1&2

Week one of summer was Bugs, Frogs and turtles...
After a trip to the "Frog" pond and a "turtle" pond, Oscar and Poppy were well immersed in the animal surroundings...literally!
Oscar in the depths of the reeds
O'man had no problem heading into the depths to explore their habitats...you may be surprised however that Poppy only ventured in about calf-deep. I think her lack of swimming skills kept her cautious.
As we have a resident bee-keeper in our midst, it was no problem for a hands on bee-lesson. Having the second veil has been a great tool for the kids to get a little bit closer to the inside of the hive. OScar curretnly has a couple of drone male bees living in a jar(they are the pretty much useless bees that hang around the hive and can't sting you).
Other activities included tracking the number and kind of bugs/insects on our outings. This was a topic very familiar and yet we still learned some new things about how ants carry their young to the surface for air, and that frogs eat their own skin as they shed it. Pretty cool stuff.
Week Two was the topic of "People" (I should note that the kids picked the topics, I merely facilitate their request). We recently met some great friends who happen to be Korean. Shilla the mom of Patrick and Liah (sp?) lived in Korea until she was ten. She was our guest teacher for the week.
She taught the kids how to wrap egg rolls...
How to make some funny rice disks that turn into these fried rice chips...oh, so cool!
Next, she gave the kids a lesson on the Korean flag and the meanings of the markings. It was so interesting and enlightening. It was all about keeping balance in nature and in life. I was once again reminded that there are just some eternal truths in this world. It dosen't matter what religion or culture you are from, everything has to have a balance...Balance is one truth I can atest to. Without it we find ourselves in the midst of chaos...I was excited to discover the meanings of the markings and I think the kids really soaked it in too.
Thanks Sheilla for the great day on Korea!
We also learned about Portugal, Iceland, Switzerland (the land of my grandparents), Canada, Volcanologists, and we sailed through a few books on a few other cultures/ocupations.
Overall it went really well.
Lastly Hazel took her first swim in the pool...the swim suit was a bit big but the girl loved it. Not as long as the other two kids but she was a great fish for her first time.
Next week the topic is trees and wood...we'll let you know how it goes.

5 comments:

Suzie-Q said...

Sounds like your summer is going to fun filled with lots of great topics!
What a great idea to have soemthing new each week to talk about.
I should really try doing something like that.
Can't wait to hear about all the great adventures with your kids!

Maren and Blake said...

How fun. I think this is a great idea. What age do you recommend starting?

Was that Reaney Park that you went swimming at? Was it warm?

anna jo said...

you are such a great mom! this is something I want to be doing with my kids when they are old enough. can't wait to hear all about trees + wood :)

Traci said...

what fun stuff! that is so awesome of your korean friend and all that she taught you guys!

jw said...

love the weekly exploration idea. you're such a cool mom...

so glad to see you added a map to the table. it's an amazing tool and great table cloth!

enjoy the summer...