Geography Travels: Sweden

My interest in Swedish culture stems from my husband’s hometown in Iowa.  His town was founded by Swedish immigrants and retains a lot of Swedish charm.  Many of the houses have a Dala horse hanging up outside their doors.  Several years ago, we got to take part in the May Day festivities, complete with costumed dancers and the maypole.  Anyway, here’s what we did in our Sweden studies:

Week 1

Located Sweden on a wall map and globe, named capital

Colored the Swedish flag and listened to the national anthem (song with lyrics) and instrumental national anthem (with pictures).  The flag is from Coloring Castle.

Listened to and sang Christmas songs in Swedish (my husband learned these when he was in school).  We also discussed Saint Lucia Day (Dec. 13), which starts off the Christmas season.  (See A to Z Kids Stuff for more.)

Children’s author Jan Brett wrote a Christmas book called Home for Christmas.  It’s a book about a troll and based in Sweden.  I don’t have the book myself, but Brett has a page on her website with some interesting Swedish information related to her story and also a cookie recipe!  All About Home for Christmas (follow links for pages 2 and 3)

Read from Geography from A to Z these terms:  coast, forest, gulf, island, lake, mountain range, peninsula, sea

Labeled a map of Sweden (Enchanted Learning):

Week 2

Looked at websites on Sweden:

National Geographic Kids

A to Z Kids Stuff

Kids Konnect

Travel925

Discussed government, royalty, and currency

Talked about Dala (Dalecarlian) horses and read the book The Red Horse by Elsa Moeschlin.  The horse printable is from Making Learning Fun.  We colored, cut, and pasted our on paper.

We watched a nice YouTube video showing the hand-crafting of wooden Dala horses:

Discussed Sweden’s history (Vikings) and culture:

Traditional Swedish Dance (YouTube)

May Pole Dance (YouTube)

Midsummer festival:

Read some Maj Lindman books:

One of my favorite bands as a child was Abba, and they are from Sweden!  We listened to their music on YouTube and also some tracks I had purchased for my MP3 player.

Learned about important Swedish inventions:

Watched a YouTube video of Pippi Longstocking

Read Eric and the Little Canal Boat and watched a canal video on YouTube.

Learned a bit of Swedish language via YouTube:

More YouTube videos on Swedish language:

Colors

Numbers

Discussed the Sami people and reindeer:

Read Swedish folk tale from Around the World in 80 Tales

Prayed for the persecuted homeschool families in Sweden.

Other interesting links:

Icehotel—An incredible hotel made of ice in Swedish Lapland!

Channel 4 Learning—Has lots of links about Sweden

DalaHorse.com—More about this Swedish symbol

I’m linking this post to “History and Geography” at All Things Beautiful.

Kindergarten Fun

We've just finished our 4th week of school, and Moriah is really enjoying kindergarten! She picked up the workbox system quickly, and she is settling into a routine and loving all the fun stuff scattered throughout the schedule. Here are some things she's done the past few weeks:

1. Fun with pattern blocks...she made the design herself!

2. Science experiment...how many fish counters can you fit into a foil boat before it sinks? We used all 200 counters before it began sinking!

3. Another science experiment where she had to test her sense of smell and try to guess what the scent was. Isaac and Daddy both tried it too!


4. History--We're learning about Joseph and Moses in Egypt, so Moriah made an "Egyptian collar" out of a paper plate.

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.