Mom's Media Links: Asia Geography The Tundra Biome Tundra Animals What We Learned: Geography The capital of Russia is Moscow. The official language is Russian. The Ruble is the currency of Russia. (print Ruble here) The National Anthem is "Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii" ("State Anthem of the Russian Federation") The Winter Olympic games were Sochi Russia - Our unit study & Medal tracker We used clear tape on the medal count so that it worked similar to a dry erase board. A Trip Around the World: 76 - 80, 83 Exploring World Geography: Physical Features (33) & Rivers (34) Geography From A to Z Vocabulary: Tundra & Taiga Science Permafrost is any soil or rock that remains frozen throughout the year. In our permafrost demonstration the frozen ground is represented by jello. After the jello set we added a layer of soil and then a layer of snow (crushed ice). As the snow melted it created a muddy layer of soil since the permafrost layer keeps the water from going deeper. Tundra animals have 2 layers of fur that protect them from the cold. In our 2 layers of fur demonstration the girls wore layered gloves on one hand to show how animals keep warm even in icy conditions. As you can see, the non-gloved hand didn't stay in the bowl long. Another layer of protection, in tundra animals, is their ability to change color to blend in. Our animals blend in quite well. Sleds & Friction Sleds move easily on ice (smooth surfaces), but friction is created on rough surfaces making it more difficult for sleds to move. Book of Animals - We took a break, since we already completed the Asia pages. Bible Memory Verse: Matthew 25:34 - 36 Read Matthew chapters 24:29- 26:16 Russia & Kyrgyz - Window on the World Kingdom Tales Art Matryoshka or Nesting Dolls Faberge' Jeweled Eggs. ( A Russian Emperor asked Peter Carl Faberge' to make the first Imperial Easter egg. It was so beautiful that a new tradition began). Confession: The egg blowing didn't work out for us. We were able to find an awesome deal at Walmart. These were on sale for 1.97 around Easter. Buy them on Amazon Here Russian Dancing Doll (Project Instructions here) Book Basket/ Read-Aloud Spanish We use Duolingo.com Duolingo is a fun, free, & fantastic learning tool. Much of the learning happens in the form of quizzes, which switch between testing speaking, listening, and writing. The grammar and sentence constructions become progressively difficult as you go along. It keeps reviewing previously learned words, allowing you to progress from basic words all the way through various verb tenses and abstract ideas. We love that we can compare progress with our friends. Typing Fun Typing Adventure Typing Adventure 2 Type Type Revolution Cup Stacking Fun Qwety Warriors Typing Speed Test Curriculum for Exploring Countries & Cultures

Follow Middle Beginnings: our homeschool adventure as we embark on our first year of homeschooling beginning with 6th grade.

Hello from Russia! I may have gone a little over the top these past few weeks. I think I feel the end is near, so we are trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible this year. We did a LOT of cooking this week, but also had so much fun reading through so many wonderful books about Russia's people, land and culture. This is Silas's art project of the week. Normally art never gets skipped around here. My boys love to create things, but I could never connect with the art book assigned in ECC. I've gone rogue on art because I want to us to make some final memories of our year. We read several stories about Matryoshka dolls, so I thought it would be fun to make do an art project inspired by these wonderful little creations. Silas choose some colors for his background. We waited for these to dry. While we waited for his background to dry Silas drew all the faces and clothing on the dolls. We used a combination of this and this template. I had to combine the two so we could get the littlest doll. I absolutely loved the faces and designs he made. So cute :) Silas really enjoyed both of these books. He asked if we could buy The Littlest Matryoshka.The story is about a set of Matryoshka dolls that are made in Russia and shipped to a toy store in America. The littlest doll gets lost and finds her way back to her sisters. I decided a treasure hunt was in order. I've always loved these dolls. I packed up the boys in the car and told them we were on the hunt for Matryoshka dolls. We headed to the closest antique store. I thought we might have to visit a few, but we found this one on the first try. Silas was SO excited to spot it! In the story there are 6 dolls and the smallest gets lost. All the sisters are so sad. A little girl buys the doll set on sale even though it is missing the smallest doll. She puts a piece of cotton in the sister who was empty, but eventually the littlest doll makes her way home. This was an especially fun find because it was actually made in Russia. I wish I could read this! I would love to know if that date says 1889 or 1989. Either way, this set will be loved :) We learned how to actually say Matryoshka correctly. This was one of the books I checked out from the library. This is where I find how much gluten, meat and dairy one can cook in a week! I tried a LOT of the recipes. I'm going to need to go on a juice fast, but we had so much fun trying all these new things. One of the first dishes we tried was Beef Stroganoff. I have my own recipe (which definitely includes wine) but I thought I'd try the recipe from the book this time. Stroganoff is one of my hubbies favorites, so he was excited. This was definitely a hit. I bought the best egg noodles ever to serve with the stroganoff. Yum! The next thing we had was Voskresenye Zavtrak which is Sunday Breakfast. We had it at night, but whateves. Sunday breakfast in Russia is a hearty meal that family members spend together. There are many mentions of Russian Black Bread in the books we read. I had planned to make some from scratch, but my store didn't carry rye flour. I picked up a loaf of pre-made rye bread instead (which we liked by the way.) Boiled Potatoes or Kartoshka v Mundire is a common dish. I boiled these potatoes and dressed them with a simple vinegar and oil dressing. They are often sprinkled with dill which I forgot to get at the store. In Russia, Beef or pork sausage may served breakfast, lunch or dinner and is served with mustard. Sausage is not normal fare around here, but the boys enjoyed it. This is Kovrizhka Medovaya or Honey Spice Cake. It is a simple cake but had a very interesting batter. The recipe called for a whole cup of honey. It said to cook for 40-50 minutes. At 40 it was soupy and at 48 it was overdone. Sigh. I would like to try this again. It was a tasty cake. I'll just take it out of the oven sooner next time. The next thing we made was Kotleta Po-kievsky otherwise known as Chicken Kiev. First you pound the chicken flat. Next you stuff it with a garlic, parsley and butter mixture (yes, please!) Then you roll it in bread crumbs and fry until crispy. Um, hello. Do you see why I'll be needing a fast after all this? The boys thought this was a-mazing. Someone please rescue me from myself. Um, yes, I still have more recipes! Ha! The next thing we made was Sirniki or Cheese Pancakes. The dough is made of ricotta, flour, sugar and an egg. First you make them into these cute little shapes. And then again we fried something. I'm out of control! Ha! Fried dough anyone? Always and forever. We sprinkled them with powdered sugar. These are served with either jam, honey or sour cream, or all three if you're feeling crazy. Delish! So, apparently I was trying to eat my way to the grave this week. These fancy little meat pies are called Pirozhki. They may be stuffed with meat, cabbage, potatoes or eggs. I sauteed onions and beef and then made little dough pockets. I also made Brussels sprouts to make myself feel better for eating like it was Russian Christmas everyday over the past few weeks. We, believe it or not, baked these. You probably wouldn't know it from this post, but we eat pretty healthy food the rest of the time! This was one of Silas's favorite dishes of Russia. He had 2 and wanted another. That's saying a lot for this picky eater! I've tried to sneak in as many Five in a Row books as I could this year being that Silas is unfortunately very soon going to outgrow them. I wish I had taken a few years to really give my all to this program. It is SO fun when we have been able to row a book. Another Celebrated Dancing Bear is a story of two bear friends. One is a circus dancer and the other really admires his friend. The dancer teaches his friend to dance. It's a sweet story of friendship and sharing what we know with the world. I have the FIAR cookbook, so of course we had to make even more Russian food! So, we made Russian Tea Cakes! The boys helped me roll these delicious little cookies into balls. Next we sprinkled them with powdered sugar (because we apparently can't get enough sugar or gluten this week.) Instead of poetry teatime, we had Storytime Teatime. We read Another Celebrated Dancing Bear and a handful of Patricia Polacco books, many of which take place in Russia. We read the story of Peter and the Wolf and listened to the story on You Tube. The real version is not as friendly as this one, but at least you can hear the character instruments here. These are Silas's Russia notebook pages for the week. I have really loved the chance to read through Matthew with Silas. We have prayed for the people of these countries all year. There is nothing better than hearing your 9 year old son pray for God to protect, bless and take care of people halfway across the world. I pray God continues to open his heart as he continues to grow and mature. Oh, and in case you're wondering, we do actually do school too! Silas is doing really well in Singapore. I'm so glad I went ahead and moved him back to it. It is challenging on some days, but I see him working his math muscles and rising to the challenge. I have lots of math manipulatives that we haven't had the chance to use in some of our other programs. Silas has been learning how to add and grams and kilograms. He had a lot of fun seeing how much different things weighed compared to one another. This is the set of weights we used. Next week we will use our pounds and ounces. Math nerdery at its finest! We are so sad to leave Russia, but we'll see you next time in Australia! This post is linked up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers <3

The girls enjoyed dressing up in a sari that I purchased on a mission trip to India. We looked through my photos and journal from that trip. That was my second mission trip, but quite a culture shock for this spoiled 17 year old. During the 3 week trip I capture God's revelation in "Through the Window." I even scanned a few photos from the trip (Click here). As I watched my daughters mold their clay, I was amazed at how they carefully formed their masterpieces. At times the clay didn't cooperate or turn out like they hoped, but they never gave up. They kept gently rubbing and smoothing out the imperfections. It reminded me of the unconditional love of my Savior who never gives up on me. There have been seasons where God has had to scrape at my heart and reform my life. He keeps working on me and is faithful, even when I’m not (2 Timothy 2:13). My life has been forever changed. God continues to mold me as He teaches me to walk by faith. SO often I over think every step, every decision. Sometimes He requires a step of faith with no preconceived ideas. “It seems to me that all he asks is that we should take the one step he shows us and in simplest and most practical trust leave all results to Him”(Amy Carmichael). For the volcano experiment we shaped a volcano out of play-doh and a small water bottle. We placed a few table spoons of baking soda into the water bottle. Next we added orange food coloring to vinegar (for added effect). See our Volcano video below (in the what we learned section). Today we went to Taste of India for lunch. We sampled Naan Bread, Pilau Rice, Lentil Soup, Chicken Vindaloo, Chicken Masala, Aloo eggplant, Tandoori Chickent & Gulab Jamun (dessert). Rachel and I liked the Naan Bread and pilau rice and we all 3 liked the Chicken Masala & Gulab Jamun. The rest of the food was interesting. What We Learned: Geography The capital of Kenya is New Delhi. The official languages are Hindi & English. The Rupee is the currency of India. (print Rupees here) The nation's motto is Satyameva Jayate - "Truth Alone Triumphs" The National Anthem is "Jana Gana Mana" ("Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People.") The Taj Mahal, in the northern of city of Agra, is one of the world's most magnificent buildings. India has the most trains & train stations in the world. The peacock is the national bird of India. When greeting each other they fold their palms together and say "Namaste" - I bow my head to you. Another Trip Around the World: 104,105, & Puzzle 109 Exploring World Geography: Animals (43) & Cities (46) Geography From A to Z Vocabulary: Mountain Science The 3 R's of conservation are reduce, reuse, & recycle. Ecosystems in Mountain temperate zones include grasslands, deciduous forests, evergreen forests, alpine meadows, and alpine tundra. Timberline is the point above which no trees grow. The snow line is the point above which snow doesn't completely melt. When water freezes, it expands and sometimes causes rocks to split. A volcano is an opening in Earth's crust through which hot molten, escapes, often in a big, noisy eruption or explosion. My girls are growing up way too quickly - Volcano projects only a year ago! Book of Animals - Asian Animal Pages 83-88: Sloth Bear, Snow Leopard, Tiger, Water Buffalo, & Wild Boar. Bible Memory Verse: Matthew 6:9b -13 & Matthew 7:12 Read Matthew chapters 18:15 - 20:28 India, Hinduism, & Gonds - Window on the World We continued reading the biography of Amy Carmichael Hero Tales Adoniram & Ann Judson & Amy Carmichael "Perseverance is sticking to the task God has given you, even when it means suffering." "Forgiveness means not taking revenge on people who have treated you badly" "Compassion is sympathy for another person that goes beyond just feeling sorry and makes you take action." "Sacrifice includes being willing to give up something for God" Download Mama Jenn's Hero Tales copy work Art India Peacock (download project here) Global Art Stone Inlay (page 57). "Artisans make designs by cutting semiprecious stones and then setting them in marble or soapstone." Spanish We use Duolingo.com Duolingo is a fun, free, & fantastic learning tool. Much of the learning happens in the form of quizzes, which switch between testing speaking, listening, and writing. The grammar and sentence constructions become progressively difficult as you go along. It keeps reviewing previously learned words, allowing you to progress from basic words all the way through various verb tenses and abstract ideas. We love that we can compare progress with our friends. Typing Fun Typing Adventure Typing Adventure 2 Type Type Revolution Cup Stacking Fun Qwety Warriors Typing Speed Test Book Basket/ Read-Aloud Mom's Media Links: Asia Geography Ice Cracks Rock Rubbish Challenge Click watch on vimeo Curriculum for Exploring Countries & Cultures

Hello from Russia! I may have gone a little over the top these past few weeks. I think I feel the end is near, so we are trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible this year. We did a LOT of cooking this week, but also had so much fun reading through so many wonderful books about Russia's people, land and culture. This is Silas's art project of the week. Normally art never gets skipped around here. My boys love to create things, but I could never connect with the art book assigned in ECC. I've gone rogue on art because I want to us to make some final memories of our year. We read several stories about Matryoshka dolls, so I thought it would be fun to make do an art project inspired by these wonderful little creations. Silas choose some colors for his background. We waited for these to dry. While we waited for his background to dry Silas drew all the faces and clothing on the dolls. We used a combination of this and this template. I had to combine the two so we could get the littlest doll. I absolutely loved the faces and designs he made. So cute :) Silas really enjoyed both of these books. He asked if we could buy The Littlest Matryoshka.The story is about a set of Matryoshka dolls that are made in Russia and shipped to a toy store in America. The littlest doll gets lost and finds her way back to her sisters. I decided a treasure hunt was in order. I've always loved these dolls. I packed up the boys in the car and told them we were on the hunt for Matryoshka dolls. We headed to the closest antique store. I thought we might have to visit a few, but we found this one on the first try. Silas was SO excited to spot it! In the story there are 6 dolls and the smallest gets lost. All the sisters are so sad. A little girl buys the doll set on sale even though it is missing the smallest doll. She puts a piece of cotton in the sister who was empty, but eventually the littlest doll makes her way home. This was an especially fun find because it was actually made in Russia. I wish I could read this! I would love to know if that date says 1889 or 1989. Either way, this set will be loved :) We learned how to actually say Matryoshka correctly. This was one of the books I checked out from the library. This is where I find how much gluten, meat and dairy one can cook in a week! I tried a LOT of the recipes. I'm going to need to go on a juice fast, but we had so much fun trying all these new things. One of the first dishes we tried was Beef Stroganoff. I have my own recipe (which definitely includes wine) but I thought I'd try the recipe from the book this time. Stroganoff is one of my hubbies favorites, so he was excited. This was definitely a hit. I bought the best egg noodles ever to serve with the stroganoff. Yum! The next thing we had was Voskresenye Zavtrak which is Sunday Breakfast. We had it at night, but whateves. Sunday breakfast in Russia is a hearty meal that family members spend together. There are many mentions of Russian Black Bread in the books we read. I had planned to make some from scratch, but my store didn't carry rye flour. I picked up a loaf of pre-made rye bread instead (which we liked by the way.) Boiled Potatoes or Kartoshka v Mundire is a common dish. I boiled these potatoes and dressed them with a simple vinegar and oil dressing. They are often sprinkled with dill which I forgot to get at the store. In Russia, Beef or pork sausage may served breakfast, lunch or dinner and is served with mustard. Sausage is not normal fare around here, but the boys enjoyed it. This is Kovrizhka Medovaya or Honey Spice Cake. It is a simple cake but had a very interesting batter. The recipe called for a whole cup of honey. It said to cook for 40-50 minutes. At 40 it was soupy and at 48 it was overdone. Sigh. I would like to try this again. It was a tasty cake. I'll just take it out of the oven sooner next time. The next thing we made was Kotleta Po-kievsky otherwise known as Chicken Kiev. First you pound the chicken flat. Next you stuff it with a garlic, parsley and butter mixture (yes, please!) Then you roll it in bread crumbs and fry until crispy. Um, hello. Do you see why I'll be needing a fast after all this? The boys thought this was a-mazing. Someone please rescue me from myself. Um, yes, I still have more recipes! Ha! The next thing we made was Sirniki or Cheese Pancakes. The dough is made of ricotta, flour, sugar and an egg. First you make them into these cute little shapes. And then again we fried something. I'm out of control! Ha! Fried dough anyone? Always and forever. We sprinkled them with powdered sugar. These are served with either jam, honey or sour cream, or all three if you're feeling crazy. Delish! So, apparently I was trying to eat my way to the grave this week. These fancy little meat pies are called Pirozhki. They may be stuffed with meat, cabbage, potatoes or eggs. I sauteed onions and beef and then made little dough pockets. I also made Brussels sprouts to make myself feel better for eating like it was Russian Christmas everyday over the past few weeks. We, believe it or not, baked these. You probably wouldn't know it from this post, but we eat pretty healthy food the rest of the time! This was one of Silas's favorite dishes of Russia. He had 2 and wanted another. That's saying a lot for this picky eater! I've tried to sneak in as many Five in a Row books as I could this year being that Silas is unfortunately very soon going to outgrow them. I wish I had taken a few years to really give my all to this program. It is SO fun when we have been able to row a book. Another Celebrated Dancing Bear is a story of two bear friends. One is a circus dancer and the other really admires his friend. The dancer teaches his friend to dance. It's a sweet story of friendship and sharing what we know with the world. I have the FIAR cookbook, so of course we had to make even more Russian food! So, we made Russian Tea Cakes! The boys helped me roll these delicious little cookies into balls. Next we sprinkled them with powdered sugar (because we apparently can't get enough sugar or gluten this week.) Instead of poetry teatime, we had Storytime Teatime. We read Another Celebrated Dancing Bear and a handful of Patricia Polacco books, many of which take place in Russia. We read the story of Peter and the Wolf and listened to the story on You Tube. The real version is not as friendly as this one, but at least you can hear the character instruments here. These are Silas's Russia notebook pages for the week. I have really loved the chance to read through Matthew with Silas. We have prayed for the people of these countries all year. There is nothing better than hearing your 9 year old son pray for God to protect, bless and take care of people halfway across the world. I pray God continues to open his heart as he continues to grow and mature. Oh, and in case you're wondering, we do actually do school too! Silas is doing really well in Singapore. I'm so glad I went ahead and moved him back to it. It is challenging on some days, but I see him working his math muscles and rising to the challenge. I have lots of math manipulatives that we haven't had the chance to use in some of our other programs. Silas has been learning how to add and grams and kilograms. He had a lot of fun seeing how much different things weighed compared to one another. This is the set of weights we used. Next week we will use our pounds and ounces. Math nerdery at its finest! We are so sad to leave Russia, but we'll see you next time in Australia! This post is linked up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers <3

After a long break for Christmas we are finally getting back into the swing of things. This week we boarded the plane for our next continent - Asia. Our first stop - Saudi Arabia. We exchanged our dollars for riyals. The first thing that stood out was the signs. The girls were amazed at how detailed the Arabic language is. Next we tried copying a few words into Arabic. "Writing backwards is a bit tricky." (Arabic is written from right to left). As they colored the flag we discussed it's phrase - There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." We prayed for God's truth to be revealed to the people of Saudi Arabia The Islam reading was very discouraging for us. It's so hard to believe that families will kill their children if they convert to Christianity. The girls enjoyed our warm winter afternoon in the sand box. We use our "clothespin camels" (Click here for template) to demonstrate the usefulness of camels having large feet. Our clothespin camel’s small feet quickly sank into the sand. Next we attached a flat pebble to the end (representing a camel's large flat foot) and showed how the 'large foot' did not sink as easily in our sand dunes. Rachel felt the need to demonstrate her feet sinking in the sand. For science we discussed ways to be good stewards of the earth that God has given us. Our readings included Man's Impact on the Environment, Endangered Species, Extinctions, Pollution, Acid Rain, and Global Warming. In our science experiment, we were shocked at how quickly the effects of acid rain appeared. We began the Amy Carmichael read-aloud. The thing that really stands out about her is her willingness to please God rather than man. She is a woman of truth - even when Christians aren't happy with her and wish she would give missions a happier tone. "Sacrifice includes being willing to give up something for God." Mom's Media Links: Acid Rain Tale Change in Ecosystem Greenhouse Effect Fun What We Learned: Geography The capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh. The official language is Arabic. The Saudi Riyal is the currency of Saudi Arabia. (print Riyals here) The National Anthem of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil-producing country. Exploring World Geography: Bodies of Water(36-37) Geography From A to Z Vocabulary: Gulf Science As people clear land it changes the habitats. Recycling, crop rotation, organic farming are some ways to become more friendly to the environment. Preserving habitats and captive breeding are ways people can help endangered species. Pollution is the any contaminant that harms the environment. Acid Rain contains a higher level of acid and causes harm to plants and animals. The greenhouse effect is when the atmosphere traps some of the sun's energy. It keeps the earth from being too cold. Book of Animals - Asian Animal Pages 66-82: Chevrotain, Giant Panda,Gibbon, Malayan Tapir, & Orangutan Bible Memory Verse: Matthew 6:33 & Matthew 6:9-33 Read Matthew chapters 16:5 - 18:14 Saudi Arabia & Islam & Kurds - Window on the World We started reading the biography of Amy Carmichael Art Global Art No-Ruz centerpiece (58) "Families place a damp piece of cloth in a bowl and sprinkle it with lentil or wheat seeds, which then grow into a lush centerpiece for the holiday table." Clothespin Camel (Click here for template) Spanish We use Duolingo.com Duolingo is a fun, free, & fantastic learning tool. Much of the learning happens in the form of quizzes, which switch between testing speaking, listening, and writing. The grammar and sentence constructions become progressively difficult as you go along. It keeps reviewing previously learned words, allowing you to progress from basic words all the way through various verb tenses and abstract ideas. We love that we can compare progress with our friends. Book Basket/ Read-Aloud Curriculum for Exploring Countries & Cultures

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you! People keep asking how our first year of homeschooling is going. I've heard that it takes about 3 years to really get into a groove and that the first year is the hardest. With that in mind, my answer has been, if the first year is the hardest then we've had a great year. There have been some really rough days but for the most part things have gone really well. All that to say, we're very ready for summer break. :) Here's what we did the past 2 weeks: Math: Same as usual for both Tenor and Soprano: 4 days of lessons and 1 day of math games on the computer each week. Reading and Language Arts: Soprano started "The Little House in the Big Woods" from 'Across the Centuries'. She read through chapter 5, had a couple evaluations, made a log cabin with Lincoln Logs, a rag doll, and a little paper sled. She's doing well in her third Phonics book. In English, she's working on rhyming words for poetry. Spelling and handwriting are continuing well. Tenor continued with his 'A Reason for Handwriting C' and is working his next level writing workbook. He continued 'Helen Keller' from 'Across the Centuries C Level 2', with some reading and vocabulary word work. He also did a Braille worksheet and learned a worship song in sign language. English (direct and indirect quotations) and Spelling (Rod and Staff Level 4) are going well. Electives: Typer Island for their typing instruction and continuing with SOS Elementary Spanish. They did two health worksheets. One was about how the heart works and then a final review of physical fitness. We are officially done with health for the year. One subject down.... way to many too go! We also talked about the PA state bird and how police officers are community helpers. Phys Ed.: We've really slacked off on being intentional about exercising. They're doing Tae Kwon Do each week but that's been about it. Although, they've been shooting baskets off and on in the past couple of days. Bible: The past two weeks included: Reading about Russia and the Kyrgyz people Reading Matthew 24:29-26:16 Memorizing Matthew 25:34-35 Geography: Things we did included: Filling out our passports to travel to Russia Coloring the Russian flag and writing down interesting facts about it. Reading about Russia and its neighbors, Russian people and places, nature, farming, and industry. Learning more about Russia here: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/russia/ Taking a virtual tour of St. Petersburg here: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/index.asp We tried out the basic ballet positions and matched Russian numbers to the number of ballerinas on a worksheet. We also figured out what our Russian names would be using their system of feminine/masculine, patronyms, and nicknames. Illustrating notecards for tundra, geyser, taiga, and steppe. Playing the geography game doing the world traveler version. Tenor's Asia pages from World Geography were Language and Religion. He's done 1 page per week during our Asia studies. Soprano finished the Ocean Animal pages from The Complete Book of Animals. She's done 3 sheets or mini storybook per week for the 10 weeks we're studied Asia. Science: We had a few pages from the Living World Encyclopedia again these past two weeks. They read about the arctic and surviving the cold. We also learned about the tundra. We did a couple of experiments showing how animals who change colors blend into their environment and how 2 layers of fur helps to keep them warm. Other MFW: Wee sing: Veselle Husi We also listened to Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninoff via Pandora. On youtube, we watched an old Disney video about Tchaikovsky that was pretty cool. I also found a recording of Peter and the Wolf at the library and a DVD of Swan Lake that the kids enjoyed. Art: Jeweled Eggs and Coloring St. Basil's Cathedral To supplement, we read other books about other Asian countries near Russia (Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia), the arctic, polar bears, and the tundra and borrowed DVDs from the library. Linking up at www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com and at http://2ladybugsandalizard.blogspot.com. Disclaimer: I'm an Amazon affiliate so clicking on links to Amazon and then purchasing items will put a few pennies into our piggy bank for future homeschool purchases. Thank you!

Travel to Russia from the safety of your home! Arts, crafts, music, food, books and more will help you and your family feel like you are on a trip to Russia!

MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 29 This week we will continue learning about Russia, Kyrgyz, Zaire (Congo), the space race, the Cuban Missile, the cold war, John F. Kennedy, and Hawaii. Also read more about electricity, the tundra, animals changing their colors and two layers of fur, and the beach. BOOKS Some of the books we used this week. BIBLE Memory Verse: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 Genesis 11:1-9 Genesis 12:1-9 Galatians 3:28-29 Matthew 25:34 Matthew 25:35 Matthew 24:26-51 Matthew 25:1-13; 14-30 Exodus 19:3-6 LANGUAGE ARTS Kids did a lot of reading, writing, and spelling. MATH Worked on multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and angles. TIMELINE HISTORY Read about the cold war, Argentina's president and his wife, freedom in the Belgian Congo, the Cuban missile crisis, expansion of civil rights, the United States changes, Lyndon Johnson becomes president, the Vietnam War, John F. Kennedy, space dog, and turbulent time. SCIENCE Learned about the polar regions, the arctic, parallel circuits, and circuit symbols. ART Lesson #249 Outdoor Activities Jeweled Eggs MUSIC/VIDEO Listened to different Wee Sing songs and different songs kids want to learn to play. FIELD TRIP Went to cooking class and learned to make Irish Soda Bread, it was so good. D enjoys the outdoors while the girls are cooking. Irish Festival Home Depot Kids Workshop: Pin Ball Lowe's Kids Workshop: Cardinal CONCLUSION Read about the cold war, Argentina's president and his wife, freedom in the Belgian Congo, the Cuban missile crisis, expansion of civil rights, the United States changes, Lyndon Johnson becomes president, the Vietnam War, John F. Kennedy, space dog, and turbulent time. Learned about the polar regions, the arctic, parallel circuits, and circuit symbols. Had lots of fun this week, now to see what adventures are in store for us next week. GOD BLESS! PREVIOUS CURRICULUM POST MFW: God's Creation from A to Z (Kindergarten) MFW: Learning God's Word (1st Grade) MFW: Adventures in U.S. History (2nd Grade) MFW: Exploring Countries and Cultures (3rd Grade) MFW: Creations to Greek (4th Grade). MFW: Reformation to Rome (5th Grade) MFW: Exploration to 1850 (6th Grade) WEEKLY POST MFW: 1850 to Modern Times Curriculum Organization MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 1 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 2 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 3 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 4 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 5 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 6 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 7 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 8 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 9 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 10 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 11 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 12 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 13 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 14 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 15 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 16 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 17 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 18 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 19 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 20 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 21 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 22 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 23 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 24 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 25 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 26 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 27 MFW: 1850 to MT and ECC Week 28

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Welcome to our tour of the Middle East. We were scheduled to study Saudi Arabia for 2 weeks, but instead studied one week there and one in Israel. We found some great books at the library for our travels through Israel. We had snacks from Israel for our Poetry Teatime. We read a story about a spider named Sammy who lives in a Jewish home. Their family celebrates Shavuot by preparing Blintzes. I love when picture books have recipes. Silas helped me measure and prepare all the ingredients. I have never had a blintz before, so this was a learning experience for me as well. It is basically like a crepe. My technique improved after the first few. I wonder if they were thicker than they were supposed to be. We then filled them with a cottage cheese, egg, and sugar mixture. I realized after putting them in the oven that they were supposed to be folded in like little burritos. They still came worked out in the end. We made a strawberry topping just like in the book. My boys thought these were really good :) These are some of the books we found at the library. We read about a Jewish boy named Michael in Children of the World. We went out to a Mediterranean restaurant and enjoyed all kinds of delicious foods. Silas really enjoyed his Gyro sandwich. These are his notebooking pages for Saudi Arabia for the week. Silas is memorizing The Lord's Prayer. One change we recently made is that we are attempting to move Silas back to Singapore math. I hesitate to do it as he is doing so well with CLE math. However, he can do CLE in his sleep. I was wondering if maybe he needed more of a challenge. There have been some challenging days in Singapore, but Silas has been up for it. He even learned how to do long division which isn't introduced in CLE until the 4th grade book. I'm playing it by ear for now. He only had 2 workbooks left for CLE 3, and would have finished early. My hope is to get more practice in multiplication, division and mental math. I will make a final decision over the summer about what we will continue with. This week we had uncharacteristically high temperatures for January. We decided to go out and do a nature study walk, so we could enjoy the beautiful day. It was 70 on Wednesday, and is now snowing on Sunday. I'm glad we got out while we could! We found some treasures along the way :) The boys found thought this was pretty awesome! Silas filled out his January conditions in his Nature Connection book. Next week we fly to India!

We have taken three weeks to complete our Russia and Tundra studies due to the holiday, appointments and a minister's convention but we are finally finished. Speaking of the minister's convention, my husband is now an officially ordained minister with the Assemblies of God organization. We are very proud of him for accomplishing this goal in his life. I am very proud! He didn't think he was ever going to get there. Now his goal is to be in ministry full time. :) Presentation of the Ordination Certificate Our family after the Ordination Service Getting back to our school studies. Here are pictures of our permafrost experiment. This experiment demonstrates how the earth stays frozen year round in the Arctic. I used orange jello to represent the frozen earth, or permafrost layer and topped it with chocolate chip cookies (instead of dirt that the book called for) to represent the thin layer of thawed dirt. The kids covered the 'dirt' with a layer of crushed ice or 'snow'. I didn't think to take a picture of the ice until it was already melting. Melting "Snow" Mud and slush created by the 'permafrost', thawed dirt and melted snow. Permafrost is the layer of ground that stays frozen even in summer. We also did both experiments in our Properties of Ecosystems science book listed on page 75. Our first experiment was the 'Two Layers of Fur' experiment. The purpose was to demonstrate how two layers of fur protects the Arctic animals from the cold. One hand was covered with two layers of gloves and the other hand was gloveless. They stuck both hands in a bowl of ice. Their gloveless hand didn't stay in for long! Beau said that his double gloved hand could have stayed in for hours. Our two layers of 'fur' Beau with his hands in the ice Roo with her hands in the ice Our second experiment from page 75 of POE was the 'Animals Changing Colors' experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to appreciate how white fur or feathers provide protection for tundra animals. The kids each decorated a box with cotton balls and added pictures of animals with white fur or feathers. Sort of a diorama. When the project was complete they stepped back to see how the animals blended in with their surroundings. They really enjoyed this project. Beau's Box Roo's Box Our favorite books while studying the Arctic Tundra: Our art for Russia included jeweled eggs and paper Matryushka (nesting) dolls. After reading about the first Faberge' or jeweled eggs the kids each created their own jeweled egg. They used Crayola Model Magic for the eggs. They then decorated the eggs with sequins, plastic jewels and rick rack. Beau & Roo's eggs We enjoyed reading the following while our jeweled eggs were drying: We also enjoyed the following books about Maytryushka Dolls: After enjoying stories about the Matryushka Dolls the kids made paper Matryushka dolls. Beau didn't want to color his dolls whereas Roo took two days to color and assemble hers. Both sets came out really cute. Beau & Roo's Matryushka Families The printouts for the paper Matryushka dolls can be found here: http://www.mssscrafts.com/crafts/matryushka/ Another favorite book we enjoyed while studying Russia: We also enjoyed the following DVD. It wasn't directly related to the arctic, though. It did briefly mention Polar Bears. :) We finished our studies by assembling our Russia lapbooks. The components came from homeschoolshare.com. Most came from the Russia Lapbook. Part also came from the Polar Animals lapbook. The stickers were from a couple of little Dover sticker books called Polar Animals . Beau's lapbook is on the top Roo's is on the bottom Her's has some of the flaps opened I will share our Australia and Coral Reef studies soon.

Discover some fun facts about Russia and learn a little about the country. Enjoy our flag printables and a collection of colouring pages and printables featuring some of Russia's most famous landmarks, and some new map worksheets. Red Square in Moscow Fun Facts about Russia Geography: Russia is the world's largest country covering a seventh of the world's land. It extends so far that Vladivostok in the east is seven hours ahead of Moscow. The Urals Mountains range runs for 1600 miles from the Arctic Ocean to Kazakhstan, dividing the country between Europe and Asia. Steppes are grassless plains in Southern Russia and Ukraine were once home to the cossack horsemen. Russia has the most forests of any country. They are called taiga. In northern Siberia the tundra is a cold treeless area. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the deepest freshwater lake in the world and contains an amazing 20% of all the world's supply of drinkable water. Russia is rich in natural resources such as timber, natural gas and oil. Over 18,000 wild bears live in the wild Kamchatka region in the east! They are fond of eating salmon. You can print this map, showing Russia's position within Europe, here History: The Rus came from the Baltic and created an empire called Kievan Rus in the 9th century. The name Rus is Norse for "men who row". By the 13th century, Moscow was a trading post which became the capital of Muscovy. Now Moscow, the capital of Russia, is a thriving metropolis of 11 million people. Visitors head for Red Square, which contains Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin Palace and St Basil's Cathedral. From 1613 until 1919 Russia was ruled by the Romanovs. The leader was called the Tsar, from the Roman name Caesar. The Russian Revolution in 1917 replaced the aristocracy with a communist state. From 1919 -1991 Russia was part of the USSR. St Petersburg, named after Peter The Great who made the city his capital in 1712, contains many beautiful palaces. Celebrating Russia: Tourists can experience Russian culture at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Hermitage museum, in the Winter Palace, in St Petersburg. There are many famous creative Russians such as authors Chekov, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy and composer Tchaikovsky, who wrote The Nutcracker Suite . Sochi, on the Black Sea, was the venue for the XXII Winter Olympics in 2014. It is the longest city in the world as it stretches for 145 kilometres along the coast. Russia will host the Fifa World Cup in 2018. Russians enjoy eating caviar or fish eggs, served on little pancakes called 'blini', topped with sour cream. It is very expensive. Borscht, a hearty soup made from beetroot, is very popular during the cold winter, although it was originally from the Ukraine.

There is a legend saying that on Easter Jesus, dressed in rags was checking how merciful people are. So a tradition in Russia is to prepare loads of food.

Russia v Croatia at fan fest - FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Russia supporters at Fifa fan fest in Moscow, Russia on July 7, 2018.

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Travel to Russia from the safety of your home! Arts, crafts, music, food, books and more will help you and your family feel like you are on a trip to Russia!

Who are the Lapps, the Sami people? Where do they live? Find out a little more here.

I noticed that African and South American countries are underrepresented in this coloring book. A modern Children of Other Lands coloring book would probably be a lot more diverse, but I wonder if the illustration style would be as cute.You can find the previously posted countries by clickin

Would you like to learn more about Russia by reading children's books with your kids? You can't go wrong with any of our favorite books about Russia.

Our family was excited to review Peter and the Wolf from Maestro Classics. We have reviewed for them in the past, so we knew what a treat this would be! I remember, as a kid, listening to my Peter and the Wolf record on my little, white, Holly Hobby record player. It was fun to share the story with my kids. What I didn't know was that composer Prokofiev began writing music at the age of 5! This we learned from the teaching tracks on the CD we received. The first time we listened to it, I put it on our school room computer and listened with just my students. The second time, I popped it in the van CD player on the way to take the high schoolers to school. Their school is not very far away, but because of traffic, it takes about 20 minutes to get there in the morning, so I knew we'd have time to get into the story. The CD begins with an explanation of which instruments represent which animals in the story. This is very helpful for kids, otherwise they may not have caught on to the meaning of the music. Then the story begins, with a few sentences being read, and then the music for that portion being played. I found an instrument worksheet for the kids to do to introduce them to different types of musical instruments. I loved the way my older kids got into it! When they introduced the music for the cat, Sam said, "I can picture it playing with a ball of yarn!" When the duck got swallowed, he said, "Dangit! I liked the duck!" I found it interesting that this version of the story ends differently than the one I remember as a child. In addition to being a wonderful story all on it's own, Peter and the Wolf is a fabulous jumping off point for a study of Russia. I told my kids, "My great grandparents were Germans who immigrated from Ukraine when it was part of Russia." So we looked up the Russian flag and colored maps of Russia. I played the musical (instruments only) track of the CD while we worked on our coloring pages and worksheets. I've mentioned that Katie has just learned the names of all the continents. Now it's time to start filling in some of the countries. She learned where Russia is on our Hugg-A-Planet. We also took this opportunity to learn about Russian nesting dolls. I think it would be fun to paint a set of these someday. And we learned about wolves, of course! Because of what we've been learning in science, the kids were able to deduce that wolves are vertebrates and mammals. Maestro Classics offers curriculum guides on their website for all their fabulous tales, as well as little activity books nestled within the CD case. The curriculum guide was my inspiration for coming up with other Russia related learning activities to tie into our listening experience. One of the suggestions was to watch the movie Anastasia, which we found on Netflix and watched as a family. If you have a road trip planned over the upcoming holidays, you'll want to check out all the great audio dramas that Maestro Classics has to offer and bring some along to keep your family entertained on the road. These classic children's musicals come in CD or MP3 form, so you can take them along in whatever form you prefer. You can connect with Maestro Classics on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. To read what other Crew families have to say about Peter and the Wolf and The Nutcracker, please click the box below: This post may be linked up at these linky parties. Thanks for clicking for us!

Massive explosions at a Russian military ammunition depot in Siberia have injured at least eight people and prompted the evacuation of thousands. Russia's Defense Ministry said a fire triggered the explosions on Monday at a storage site for gunpowder charges in eastern Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region. Authorities declared a state of emergency in the region and ordered the evacuation of residents within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the depot. Air traffic was suspended within 30 kilometers.

With the Olympics approaching we have been learning about Russia through their folk tales, a wonderful children’s author (Patricia Polacco) who has a Russian heritage which greatly influences…

Are you looking for picture books about modern Russia that don't involve Matryoshka or Baba Yaga? Here are two picture books about modern Russia to read with your children. Recommended age - 4+.

Welcome to our “ Week 5 in Review ” using Exploring Countries and Cultures with My Father’s World! Geography Focus this week: Th...

This totally free printable Russia fact book has architecture to color,a flag to color, fill in the blank facts, and more.

- New with box - Ornament Product Features Item Product Number: 3620522 Product Material: BLOWN GLASS Height: 4.750 inches Catalog ID: 17279.3620522.26.25

Ready for Russia? This large country is jam-packed with some amazing landmarks!

Let's focus on Russian Culture for kids with Russia facts, traditions, resources, and a free download specifically for kids.