Cherysh Does: History & Geography

We have been so busy that I can barely remember when we have done what. And because it doesn't really matter, this post is an overview (in no particular order!) of what we have done this month to better understand where we have come from and the world around us a little better. I am such a stickler for doing things properly and remembering to ADD ALL DETAILS it is a real challenge to remember that the kids are only 10 and 8 (though not for long!) and they don't actually need to be able to narrate back to be (verbatim or otherwise!) exactly what causes led to X, Y & Z happening in history, or to name all the countries on the continent of Africa alphabetically, etc... I have to restrain from supplementing our lesson plan with EVERYTHING so that they are capable of forming opinions and reaching meaningful conclusions. Seriously, how on earth will they be world leaders in High School if they can't master these things now?! Oh wait. Do you see what I mean?! It is a struggle for me to relax and let them enjoy learning, because I think I will be failing them. But, I have had a melt down this month and we are recovering and going back to our 'why's of Homeschooling; which reminds me, one day I should post that!

History - China

We read about the first peoples in China who lived between the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and about Huang Di, the leader who first united the Chinese villages. We learned many things about how they lived and what they believed. For our activity we wrote some Chinese pictograms, and learned about how they tell the story of the Biblical Flood. If you want to know more about this, click the link. It was great fun making our own stories.

Then we tried our hands at making some Chinese porcelain.....

Master 5's Chinese bowl

Miss 8's Chinese plate

Master 10's Chinese bowl - A train, after the Chinese fashion! Loved his creativity!

We always TRY to have a meal from a place that we are learning about, especially if it is a new dish. While learning about China we made Fried Rice with Garlic honey Prawns and Chicken, Chinese greens and egg noodles. It was a hit - Yay!

History - India

We also enjoyed learning about the first cities in India, principally Mohenjo-Daro. We were all fascinated to speculate what might have become of the people who had lived there, and why it had been deserted.

Much to Master 10's joy, we made Lamb Biryani for dinner, which is a regular item on our menu anyway, and I forgot to take a photo. However I did get some shots of the children building their own clay brick constructions. I always assume that they will build something along the lines of what we have been learning; ie, Mohenjo-Daro with it's large public baths and three story houses... but they go their own way and build what they want, and I am learning that that is just fine!

Blurred Lines - History AND Geography - Africa

We have just started a four week unit on the geography of Africa, so there is much more planned to be added here, art, craft and meals in particular. For the history side of Africa, we learned about how the Sahara used to be home to many peoples, plants and animals. We also read some Ancient African stories and legends. For geography we have started by finding the countries - because there are a few! We will eventually find waterways, coast lines, capitals etc. We are matching the flags to their countries and learning to make our own keys for map reading. The highlight so far has been making Bobotie! (Mum has loved this dish FOR-EVER, so was waiting for an excuse to make it again :) It was unanimously decided to be delicious and one to add to our repertoire. Especially since Miss 8 made it! Now she can be on dinner duty more often :)

It is very difficult to take photos at our workstation, because our dining room table gets such lovely sun.... not complaining! It is making winter very pleasant indeed!

And I used to have such a lovely recipe for Bobotie - there are so many around! But it has been lost in one house move or another. So I used this one as a starting point - the measurements were more 'guidelines' as I adapted it along the way ;)

Bobotie goodness.... Mmmmm!

And what African dinner would be complete without some African Music? Check out Ladysmith Black Mambazo here on Youtube. I was given this CD maaaaaannny years ago, and I still love listening to it.

Geography

We haven't done too many geography activities that don't involve an atlas lately, which is a bit of a shame but it's only one month out of a life and I have plenty of time to cram er, we don't have to know world geography inside out anytime soon *breathe* annnnd relax..... I like to add activities that make what we are learning more tangible and fun. We have been a bit lax with geography lately - so busy with life! Which is not a bad thing! Miss 8 has been back to her story writing and illustrating, Master 10 with his trains and tracks, Masters 5 and 2 with whatever they find! We have some great geometry apps that they are loving at the moment, so I have been letting them play to their hearts content. I used to love crating murals with compass and protractor in hand... I think we'll do some playing with nails, wool and parabolic curves sometime soon... What was I talking about??

All I have to add here is that we did a meal when we learned about Russia (well, two, but once again forgot photos!) and some baking. But again, there are arts, crafts, music and meals all in the pipeline. There is always something to look forward to :)

Borscht 'Before'!

Borscht 'After' :)

Three different photos, three different colours! Amazing!

We also enjoyed a yummy stroganoff :)

Geo-Cupcakes!

Miss 8 has been asking to make these for a long time. I compromised - I would make them, but there would be no mounds of icing or filling, just plain! They didn't last long...

I used my phone and iPad to take the photos, because I couldn't get the colour to come out right! As it happens, neither the bright leery photos nor the more subtle ones reflect the actual colour accurately (like my tri-colour borscht!). Rest assured, they did not glow in the dark but they were effectively 'earth-like'. Well, as far as cupcakes go....!