Look What Came From....

In my last geography post I completely forgot to mention my #1 favorite geography books! I LOVE the Look What Came From series by Miles Harvey and Keven Davis. Before Isaac was born, I began ordering homeschool materials and even requested some for Christmas. One of the books I got was Look What Came From China, by Miles Harvey. I was so impressed that I bought more from the series, including India, Egypt, Greece, Italy, the United States, Russia, Germany, England, France, Japan, Australia, and Mexico. Since I purchased these, I've discovered they have more! Unfortunately I've not been able to find them on amazon.uk, so I'll have to wait until I go back to the US next year! They also have Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Africa, Ireland, and Spain. These books are very colorful, with lots of pictures and information on inventions, holidays and customs, money, food, clothing, animals, words, toys, and more! Toward the end of each book, you will find a recipe or activity to do. Also included is a glossary and list of websites for finding out more information. Each book ends with a page about what DOESN'T come from that country, usually an item that is thought to come from that country. For example, chili con carne does NOT come from Mexico. Fortune cookies do NOT come from China. These books are so interesting, and they're a perfect resource for any study of these countries. I personally enjoy looking through these books, and so do my children. I highly recommend them!!!

Field Trip Chronicles: Erddig and Little Moreton Hall

This past week we visited 2 National Trust properties. The first was Erddig, an estate in Wales. The visit included viewing a film about the history of the place, a craft workshop for kids, a tour of the house and gardens, and visiting some of the old outbuildings such as the kitchen, laundry, bakehouse, stables, sawmill, smithy and joiner's shop. The kids also did a quiz as they toured the house.


Moriah made this flower at the craft workshop at Erddig.

Isaac made this mini garden!


The second trip was to Little Moreton Hall, a moated manor house from the Tudor era. We've been here several times, but it's always fun to go back. Our visit included a guided tour of the house, exploring parts on our own, visiting the knot garden, and playing and rolling down a hill outside the house (the kids, not me)!

Geography Plans

I absolutely LOVE geography--it's my favorite subject! However, I struggled last year trying to figure out the best way to teach it to a 2nd grader--there are so many ways to do it and so many materials to choose from. We ended up doing lapbooks the 2nd half of the year, after 1/2 a year of boring lessons that we both hated. Since then, I've done some internet-research on how other homeschool moms teach it. Mostly inspired by my friend Jolanthe (Homeschool Creations) but with some other ideas added, I think I've come up with a good plan for this year. I decided to do 2-week unit studies on different countries, but I chose the countries based on Isaac's history studies (Story of the World: Middle Ages). History is my 2nd favorite subject-very closely following geography, so it's natural that I link the 2! I'm using the books I have pictured on the Amazon widget below, but I'm also using other children's stories, games, puzzles, youtube video clips, websites, crafts, notebooking, and smaller-scale lapbooking. Living in the UK, we'll also have access to some wonderful take-away restaurants--Fish and Chips, Chinese, and Turkish (we did Indian earlier this year).
Can I also mention that I'm very thankful that Jolanthe recommended Around the World in 80 Tales and the Geography Songs? After reading her reviews on Homeschool Creations, I purchased both from Amazon here in the UK, and I LOVE them!
Oh, and we're also going to do a passport. I found the template at
http://www.guesthollow.com/. I'll post a photo once we get it started. I purchased Flags of the World stickers to put in the passport,and I'm going to use my handy date stamper when we begin and finish a unit. Okay, so here are the countries we're going to study (not necessarily in this order):
United Kingdom, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, Israel, China, Japan, Iraq, Russia, Norway, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Mexico. We're going to end with a 4-week unit on Explorers. We're definitely starting with the UK, which should be fun since we've lived here 4 1/2 years. Once we get started, I'll post more about what we're doing! Hurray!!!

Field Trip Chronicles: Conkers

Our trip this past Saturday was to Conkers, a discovery center in a national forest (here in England of course). We went with 2 other families, so our kiddos enjoyed hanging out with other kids. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a blast! The only downside was wasps! They were everywhere buzzing in our faces and all around us. One of our party even got stung. The outdoor part included lots of trails, an assualt course, rope bridges, water works, lakes with ducks and geese, a woodland area where you could build your own wigwams with big sticks, a juggling show, and a train ride to a big playground. The inside had the Enchanted Forest (a forest-themed play adventure with climbing frames, rope walks, and slides) and lots of hands-on exhibits.

Blackberries and Sunflowers

Our neighbours (British spelling intended) have blackberries every year, but they don't bother with them and gave us permission to pick all we want every summer. What a blessing! Isaac loves to pick blackberries, but Moriah isn't too keen on it!


Greg helped Isaac plant sunflowers in our back garden earlier this summer--first time we've ever had them. We've been watching them grow taller every week, and finally this past week the flowers have opened up. We were so excited! They're so tall, and Isaac is very proud of them.


Just wanted to share!

Charity Shops and Yard Sales

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a yard sale junkie! I have been addicted to yard sales since I was a child in Oklahoma, when our normal Saturday activity as a family was going to yard sales! I was so disappointed when I realized that yard sales aren't big in England...what was I to do??? Some friends suggested car boot sales, but they're one morning a week (while I'm doing school), and they're really more like American flea markets. My fix? Charity shops! Charity shops in England are just like thrift stores in America, except that there are way more of them! Because people don't really have yard sales, they give all their unwanted items to charity shops, which resell them at yard sale prices. I can't even begin to tell you all the educational bargains I've found at yard sales AND charity shops! I have loads of educational toys, games, puzzles, and kits of all types, and very few of them were purchased new. Yet, nearly all of them are in good condition and contain all their pieces. I love, love, LOVE yard sales and charity shops! Okay, well, anyway, here is my "find" for the day. It's an Ultimate Explorer kit on Ancient Egypt. I paid 1.99 at Oxfam...and it's like new! I just wish Isaac could have had it last year when he studied Ancient History.

Dance CD

One thing that Sue Patrick (Workbox System) highly recommends is investing in a treadmill and having your children use it daily for exercise. Unfortunately, we have neither the money nor the space for a treadmill, though I'd love to have one. However, I understand the necessity of daily exercise for children, so I'm planning to include some type of exercise in their daily schedule. I do have a walking video, and we also have a trampoline--both good ways to exercise. I thought one more fun way to exercise should be included for variety, so I decided to make my own dance CD for the kids. I spent several hours on amazon.co.uk searching for the exact songs I wanted. Finally I found, purchased, and downloaded 21 wonderful songs! The kids absolutely love them! Here's my list, in case you want to purchase these songs yourself...I think they're great!

1. Hoe Down (Carmen Dragon/Capitol Symphony Orchestra)
2. Zorba the Greek (Theme) (The Complete Movie Soundtrack Collection)
3. Dueling Banjos (Eric Weissberg & Deliverance)
4. Spanish Gipsy Dance (Graham Dalby and the Grahamophones)
5. Spanish Flea (Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass)
6. Bittersweet Samba (Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass)
7. Limbo Rock (The Hit Co.)
8. Mexican Hat Dance (The Hit Crew)
9. The Hamster Dance (The Hit Crew)
10. Kibbutz Wedding (The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra)
11. La Bamba (Single Version) (Ritchie Valens)
12. Charleston (Sam Levine)
13. Russian Dances (Samovar Russian Folk Music Ensemble)
14. Popcorn (Hot Butter)
15. The Pink Panther Theme (Henry Mancini & His Orchestra)
16. Theme From Happy Days (Soundtrack & Theme Orchestra)
17. The Theme From "A Summer Place" (Single Version) (Percy Faith & His Orchestra)
18. The Bunny Hop (Bugs Bower)
19. Rock-in Robin (Bobby Day)
20. Country Boy Bounce (Instrumental) (Little Jimmy Dickens & The Country Boys)
21. Virginia Reel (Workout Mix) (Haud Yer Lugs Ceilidh Band)

I put them in a different order than listed above, and I included Pink Panther and Summer Place as "cool-down" songs since they're slower-paced.

Here are a few pics of the kids dancing:


Mexican Hat Dance


Uh-oh, someone's after the "Mexican" hat!

Mexican Hat runs away!

Field Trip Chronicles: Hardwick Hall

I could list several reasons why I'd rather be homeschooling in America, but living in England has its benefits. Because of the small size and rich history of this country, we can visit hundreds of places within 1-2 hours drive. We've been National Trust members since we moved here in 2005. We pay a reasonable annual fee, and then we can visit hundreds of National Trust properties for free! Saturday is our day off as a family, and we try to go somewhere every week. Between February and November, we visit National Trust properties. During the winter, when they're closed, we find other cheap or free places to go, such as the wonderful museums in Manchester and Liverpool. I'm hoping to chronicle our field trip adventures every week, and even though we're on summer holiday right now, we're still doing field trips! This past Saturday, we visited Hardwick Hall and Stainsby Mill in Derbyshire.

Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan-era mansion, built by Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury (the initials ES are all over the house--E for Elizabeth and S for Shrewsbury). She lived during the time of Queen Elizabeth I and was the 2nd richest woman (after the queen) in England. We also visited the Old Hall, which was her birthplace and residence for awhile. The Old Hall is now in ruins, but you can still explore it. The kids enjoyed the mill and both halls--I think they especially enjoyed exploring the ruins. They also got to do a kids' quiz in the main hall and got to try on Elizabethan-era hats.

Stainsby Mill:



Hardwick Hall:


Hardwick Old Hall:



View of Hardwick Hall from Old Hall:

More Workbox Prep

Nearly everyone I follow on blogger has already started school! I'm in England, so our school doesn't start until September, so I'm still preparing. I've finished our schedule strips and activity cards! Some of the activity cards I got from Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations...thanks! I also made some of my own to fit with what we're doing, and then I'm using some that came with Sue Patrick's Workbox System.

What is the Workbox System?

I'll be posting more pictures and info in the future on how we use our workboxes. Please click on my "workbox system" under my blog topics to see all my blogs on this subject. The workbox system was created by Sue Patrick. Here's a video that explains more:

Sue Patrick's Workbox System

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Workbox System

Here it is at last! I finally have pictures of my workbox system...stations, I'm calling it. Isaac's is the top 12 boxes, with yellow numbers. Moriah's is the bottom 12, with pink numbers. I put the shelves together myself (come on, be impressed!), and the kids are very excited about them--I'M excited! Already, the workboxes are helping me get organized, and school hasn't started yet. I'm busy typing up schedules for each subject, and I'm using the workboxes to help me out. I can see at a glance which subjects I still have left to plan and schedule! Even Gabriela is interested in the boxes...I'll have to come up with few tubs for her use I guess! As soon as everything is in place, I'm going to let the kids practice using their workboxes, with summer holiday activities of course. I still need to buy more Velcro to finish the schedule strips, and I need to come up with some learning centers and poster activities. I'm going to make a list of activities that I can include on their schedule strips. Maybe I'll post that list when I get it organized!

Prep Time

We just finished school a few weeks ago, and I'm already working hard to get things ready before school starts again in September! I have most of what I need to get my workbox system going. I can't get my new shelves up until I get rid of the piano, so my 24 workboxes are waiting, neatly stacked!



I've been printing off forms and laminating stuff. I have finished the clock in/clock out pockets for the kids. This is supposed to help them to realize that when they clock in, school has started! When they finish all 12 boxes, they can clock out and have free time. They seem very excited about using this system this fall!




Another idea I got from Sue Patrick's Workbox System is a chores chart. I made my own for each of the kids. Isaac's is decorated with cars and Moriah's with kittens. Each chart has a pocket for special chores. I have the special chores pictured on craft sticks and stored in a ducky cup. Believe it or not, they're excited about these charts too! I used brass fasteners so that they can rotate the checkmarks when they finish each chore.









I'll put more pictures up as I get the workbox system in place!