SOTW3 Chapters 14 and 17 + Field Trips = Thanksgiving Fun

SOTW3Chapter 14, begins on page 135

The Rise of Prussia

Frederick, the First Prussian King

Haaren - Frederick the Great

SyngAofE:  The Boyhood of Frederick the Great

John Finnemore. Germany (Kindle Location 765). Heritage History. I got to read this whole book, while the kids read bits and pieces.  I enjoyed standing in the Heidelberg Castle infamous during the Thirty Years War and understanding what it meant to be a red-head, farm-girl from Iowa wandering up the Rhine River near The Black Forest.

Haaren - Sobieski

Guerber Story of the Thirteen Colonies:  New England,

Ch. XLV, Charter Oak, Germany, 1679-1718, 1701, Salem,

Ch. XLVI, Salem Witches, 1692

SOTW3Chapter 17, begins on page 165

Russia Looks West

Peter the Great

Haaren - Peter the Great

SyngeAoE:  How Peter the Great Learned Shipbuilding

 (Hillyer) Children’s History of the World:  Ch69

Guerber Story of the Thirteen Colonies:  Ben Franklin,

Ch. LIV, Stories of Franklin, Russia. 1706-1790, 1682-1725

Peter's Port to the West

 SyngeAoE:  Charles XII of Sweden

Usborne pages:  Pgs. 316-317; Changes in Russia

KHE pages:  Pgs. 276-277; Russian Expansion 1613-1725. 

Pg. 278; The Great Northern War 1700-1721

1672, Peter the Great is born

1682, Peter the Great becomes the czar of Russia

Friday Field Trip - Museum Campus

These kinds of days go by in a blur. 

 And yet, they are the most meaningful conversations and adventures.

 

This is not a dull gig.

 

 



Attempting to Explain How I Pack

A friend, who doesn't fly very often, asked how I pack my suitcase for a trip.  Firstly, I don't roll my clothes into my suitcase, I stack them.  This is because we generally travel in the winter and most of the clothes are bulky clothes in the first place.  I just take fewer and layer thin pieces interchangeably.  Secondly, if I'm gone for more than 3 days, I take two pairs of shoes, otherwise, it's the one pair that I'm wearing onto the plane that I wear the entire trip.  I've been wearing the Birkes or Dansco clogs for years and that's good for me.  I'm very no-nonsense.  It works for me that all my make-up fits in the quart ziploc with the other bathroom stuff.  Most importantly, I always pack food.  I'm thrifty and know that there isn't always food where I or my family members are when we get hungry.  In closing, this method works for me, but maybe not for you.  I might be whooshing past you with my suitcase on wide wheel base as you sit to tie your shoes after going through security, but we'll both get where we're going somehow. Cheers!

Fourth Travel Thanksgiving

Daddy took the job. We moved to Chicagoland. Kids went into the classroom. Everything was normal. Then, the classroom wasn't working for the exploration of what's available in the area. For example, one day I was late traveling from an expedition with the twins to pick up the oldest from the classroom. It was terrifying to be that far away and not trust where G#1 was in the classroom. So, we pulled the kids from the classroom, and began traveling space available on the largest airline in the United States. Regularly.

Why travel over Thanksgiving? That's the holiday all about family and food and gathering. Well, that's the holiday when the most seats are available for space available travelers like us. First, we traveled with the Daddy's folks to Munich and Salzburg. Then a year later, we got on with the paternal, adventurous Grandmother to Rome. Last year the five of us got to see Berlin and Prague. It was truly life-changing for me. This year, the five of us traveled leisurely, if not a little bit early in the morning, to Montreal. Yes, Thanksgiving is a travel holiday for us because there are people who are more willing to save the money and drive instead of buying the plane tickets. 

Yep, it means we home-school for the maximum flexibility. So far, that's working.  It was fun, FUN, F-U-N to go to a foreign culture and still be able to find English letters that were somewhat decipherable. The food was an adventure as well. By the way, all these four years in a row, we've eaten Turkish food where ever we've traveled on the Thursday of Thanksgiving. You know, eat Turkish on turkey day. The Turks call the bird most citizens of these United States eat hindi. It stands for sub-continental Indian. So, why can't I find a play on words and eat too? You only live once and we definitely live within our means to do so. Travel is a benefit like the trips to the dentist or emergent care. Once we realized how blessed we were to be placed in this life stage, we committed to developing it to the best of our knowledge and ability.

Our education is ongoing and it's not all about travel. It's about language study, grammar and vocabulary. It's about history and science, math and life lessons.  We've taught lessons to each other that we are blessed to share here on the blog. We are blessed to have dear friends and some dear relatives reading about our expeditions, because they love us enough to find us. Encourage us and work with us when we aren't "home" for family or friend gatherings. That's what I'm thankful for... blessed with... everyday of the year.

Excellent Opportunities

 

 We accepted an invitation to preview this movie with two of our Gs and were completely satisfied with its content and storyline.  The humor was appreciated by the audience of close to 300 home educated children and their parents. A true story is valuable, and this presentation was well done.

Labor Day Weekend Family Activities

Tennis lessons with Daddy, Home Depot make and take, new duel flush toilet, lunch at IKEA with thousands of other people (it pegged Mommy's crowd meter big time), Bike ride in Busse Woods, Forest Preserve of Cook County IL (7miles on a windy day), a last swim at the pool to say good bye for this year. Time for Autumn :-)

Tall Ships AND Firewords!

I almost forgot that there were fireworks too!
BONUS!!!

Tall Ships Field Trip

Sailing lessons at the Tall Ship extravaganza on Navy Pier with the Daddy.
Such salty dogs and a giddy Daddy...

Chicago's Cultural Offerings

Not to make anyone think that this is almost a daily entry-type blog, but... I wanted to share that we are taking advantage of the cultural offerings here in our present setting/location. Despite all kinds of hindrances, the Daddy and I attended two operas in the past month. We are considering the Chicago Opera block checked off for now. That is to say, we are interested in spending more time together at a coffee spot or in travel (while it lasts) instead of managing the Metra train schedule AND the kid care challenge (but thanks Sis). So, the plan for Chicago's cultural offerings in the future will involve free entrance to art or nature museums with a picnic suppers in the evenings. This excludes kid care, because they'll be experiencing the art or other offerings with us AND it makes it possible to enjoy what this huge city has to offer us.

Kids at Marshall Fields on State Street Chicago

--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry

Friday's Froggin' under the Stars

Yes, environmental introduction to frog/toad identification AND astronomy are a compatible match. Even though it was a bit dark, our favorite forest preserve educator, Ranger Kev, played frog and toad calls for each of us to identify in the area. G#1 was up front and getting the full impact of the tools and was able to hear 2 of the calls from the nearby wetlands. The sky observations lessons were led by Ranger Dave and we actually saw more in the suburbs sky than we had at the planetarium. I enjoyed the walk around the site and encounters with several toads on the path. It was an excellent Friday night family outing that provided a memorable teaching time too. And it was free...

Monday

Urban critters in the backyard ---- opossum.

A new week, A fourth week Oh Best Beloved

We've added Explode the Code as well as Spelling Workout today. We did well to discuss ancient India and listen to a few of Kipling's "just so stories." The sun chapter from Apologia wasn't so overwhelming at all and we'll finish it tomorrow. Then we'll go on to Mercury for a day on Thursday. We'll also review Ceasar and move on to the fall of Rome and the birth of a Savior.

My students did so much cleaning last week due to the fact that I inherited a different, new-to-us vacuum. There was a basil bread recipe for enticing workers. I also found the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Elgin on Saturday. That was interesting indeed. We recovered over a quiet weekend from the previous when an Iowa aunt and uncle with cousins visited. We had explored Millenium Park with the Air and Water show on the shore of Lake Michigan at Navy Pier.

So, soccer is in full swing and piano lessons begin too. I've signed up the little girl for gymnastics and we look forward to an adventure over Labor Day Weekend. We'll have 20 days of school by then, so hoorah for diligent students!!!

Hawk Hollow Nature Hike

Our favorite parts of this nature hike lead by Ranger Kev of the Dupage Forest Preserve was the log bridge crossing over this creek, the beautiful purple shade-loving native flowers and the smokey the bear hollowed tree. Just another beautiful day in Chicagoland (if you take away sounds of the planes approaching O'Hare over head).

Saturday with Daddy

http://www.chicagoturkishculturalfair.org/

more details to follow (we can't figure out how to load the right audio file)