Year 3: Exploring Countries and Cultures, Namaste India!

     We landed in Asia and our first country was India.  We enjoyed our trip through the country along with reading about Amy Carmichael.  These missionaries are a true testament of what God can do if you're willing to step out in faith and just trust Him.

     Our journey the past two weeks included a lot of outings.  While out for a nature walk we made our way onto a local college campus and happened upon their art exhibit on archiving.  They had a virtual reality table. Below are the kids taking a "trip".  They were able to visit the moon too!

     The exhibit also included blasts from the past.  I had to explain to my kids what some of there were:

     My daughter's American Heritage Girls troop also had a fire safety outing.  We roasted hot dogs and of course s'mores.  Below is a picture of her covering her face because it was pretty hot!

     No trip to India would be complete without watching Planet Earth's Mountains...

     Or a meal of Tikka Masala and Naan.  Yum!

      Last but not least, I can't forget the Mango Lassi they enjoyed.  I made mine with orange juice, a little frozen mango, some vanilla yogurt and just a touch of honey.  They loved it!

     One country down!  Next we travel to China.

Year 3: Exploring Countries and Cultures, Marhaba Saudi Arabia!

          We spent a week in Saudi Arabia and then returned for another week after our scheduled break.  Did I mention that we take a break roughly every 6 weeks?  Sometimes it's five or seven, depending on our plans but I try and take a Sabbath every 6 weeks.  I typically use that time to catch up with my personal goals of organization and reading, but we always seem to have something scheduled during our weeks off and I don't get as much done.  That's okay though.  Summer is just around the corner!

     Since we had a break in the middle of our journey into Saudi Arabia, I felt like we didn't quite get into studying it as much.  To be honest, I even forgot to plan a meal for it.  We did however, read about David Livingstone, learn about our impact on the environment and about endangered species.

     The unfortunate thing about reading David Livingstone is that we did not enjoy it as much.  There were some things about his choices that did not sit well with us.  Even my daughter expressed her frustration with him!  Upon reading some of what other parents said, I was not the only one who felt that way.  Many parents expressed their concerns with the book but there were those who also shared their appreciation for its inclusion in the curriculum.  I just know that we will likely not read it again!

     As we were learning how our actions can affect our environment we brainstormed the things we can do to take care of the world God created for us.  Aside from not wasting water and recycling, we also discussed walking instead of driving.  We also talked about creating a compost bin.  That's in the works.

     Last but not least, during our break I had the opportunity to listen to a couple of webinars from Amongst Lovely Things and developed our Rule of Six.  I highly recommend it and that you go through it every school year, just to keep it up to date and in the right direction.

     That's about it.  Short and sweet.

   

Our Rule of Six

     Have you had the chance to check out Sarah Mackenzie's blog Amongst Lovely Things?  It's an enjoyable blog filled with excellent information.  She's also the driving force behind the Read-Aloud Revival and insightful, yet humble author of Teaching From Rest:  A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace.  (I know, that's a lot of links, but come please come back to them later.  They're worth it!)

     Sarah's blog and book are filled with so much wonderful homeschool wisdom, but what makes it stand out are the podcasts and Master Classes (these are available to members).  I don't often get to listen to the podcasts but I recently "attended" a Master Class titled "Focus & Align".  From this class and this post, attendees were taught how to develop their own Rule of Six.  If you missed the class you can become a member and still listen to it.

      Now, I love this because I've been meaning to write our homeschool mission or philosophy and didn't know where to begin.  After the class and doing a little brainstorming, I finally came up with this:

     I'm printing it out and hanging it up!