MFW-ECC - Week 1 - YAY!!!

Well, this week didn't go exactly as planned, but all in all, it was still a great week!

It was pretty apparent on Monday that we would not be doing a full day of school every day. So, plan B went into play and we were able to accomplish half days of school.

We started with Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father's World, which will be phrased as ECC from here on out :) 

This week, the kids filled out and sent off their passport applications. We really hammed it up for them too!  My husband, Jason, even added in background checks. LOL! 

As far as the pre-test...I was super excited at how well they did. 

The kids had fun drawing a miniature model of the earth on their mandarin oranges. Even though we used permanent markers, when they were peeling them, the juice from the oranges mixed with the ink and it came right off all over their hands, but it did seem to wash off a lot easier than just permanent marker alone.

The kids tried to keep their peelings from falling apart, but that didn't work out so well. So glad we had a back-up...for once in my life...I actually planned ahead ;)

I really do think this activity helped the kids understand the distortions between flat maps and globes.

The kiddos did a great job on their John 3:16 poster.

For the pictures, we just made photo color copies of the first couple of pages of the People book by Peter Spier. There were some really great pictures of children from around the world. Under each picture was that child's name and the place he/she is from. 

When exploring the small area of our backyard habitat, the kids discovered...

we have been invaded by CraZy ants!!!

I think some people call them rasberry ants because of the Houston, Texas exterminator who discovered them, Tom Rasberry. Whatever their name, these ants really are crazy! They are faster and lighter in color. They don't really follow in a line with other ants, instead they swarm the ground much like bees do in the air. Odd, very odd!  They are invasive to this area and supposedly attracted to electrical equipment. Let's hope ours choose to stay in the yard!?!

We also managed to get in an extra day of delivering some meals to the elderly and shut-ins for Meals on Wheels. With the start of school and other activities, we have to drop down to just once a month. On one hand, some of the older folks were a little saddened with that news, but on the other hand, still glad they'd still get to see the kiddos every month :)

 

All in all, it was a great week! Next week, we continue with ECC and attempt to add in everything else. So, how was YOUR first week back?