So, what have we been doing since Ancient Greece and the Iditarod? Well, we've been preparing for and going on our huge field trip to Washington DC. Our friends over at Intellego have several excellent Unit Studies that we combined to give us an overview of the American Revolution, American Government and the Presidents of the US. The Boys really enjoyed going through all the Presidents and finding out what they were known for and what was going on during different periods of history. It gave us a good introduction to US History that we can build on as we go through it in more depth.
We also did a lot of planning, looking through the Smithsonian website (an excellent resource) and finding other interesting spots to visit in DC. We checked out a few Washington DC with Kids guides and came up with long lists of what we wanted to see.
Then, finally, the trip came. Needless to say, our list was much longer than the time we had to spend there. But we got through our top picks: Natural History, American History and Air and Space of the Smithsonian; the Mall, the Spy Museum, the Building Museum and the National Geographic Society. The Boys loved riding the Metro everywhere and learned quickly how to navigate. We also came back to the hotel most every evening in time for a swim in the pool.
The trip was full of interesting new discoveries and opportunities to see some of the things we've already studied. We will be working on a scrapbook of our trip and possibly a project on the Titanic over the next few weeks.
In May, we will be hosting our Homeschool co-op and planning four units of activities in History. Needless to say, we have a plethora of materials to use! We will also be doing a unit on Biology and Ecology. I'm sure there will be several trips to zoos in our future.
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We also did a lot of planning, looking through the Smithsonian website (an excellent resource) and finding other interesting spots to visit in DC. We checked out a few Washington DC with Kids guides and came up with long lists of what we wanted to see.
Then, finally, the trip came. Needless to say, our list was much longer than the time we had to spend there. But we got through our top picks: Natural History, American History and Air and Space of the Smithsonian; the Mall, the Spy Museum, the Building Museum and the National Geographic Society. The Boys loved riding the Metro everywhere and learned quickly how to navigate. We also came back to the hotel most every evening in time for a swim in the pool.
Perhaps the highlight of the trip was at the National Geographic Society. We went to see the new exhibit on the sinking of the Titanic (always a fascinating subject). While we were there, watching the film about Bob Ballard finding the wreckage of the Titanic under 2.5 miles of ocean, who should walk in? Dr. Ballard himself! He was gracious enough to pose for a picture with the boys. We've read more about him and his very interesting career since we got home. We also found out about his Jason Project, a great resource for teaching science to middle schoolers. We'll be using their Ecology unit in May.
The trip was full of interesting new discoveries and opportunities to see some of the things we've already studied. We will be working on a scrapbook of our trip and possibly a project on the Titanic over the next few weeks.
In May, we will be hosting our Homeschool co-op and planning four units of activities in History. Needless to say, we have a plethora of materials to use! We will also be doing a unit on Biology and Ecology. I'm sure there will be several trips to zoos in our future.
