Swimming Regionals, Geography Fair, and Studying Jan Brett

We started our week off at Regional Swim Competition.  The girls did really well.  The whole team did!!  Very proud of all their hard work at practice.

As soon as we got done with swim competition we headed home to a fundraiser for our local volunteer fire/rescue.  They demonstrated some of their new equipment.

Geography Fair was coming up......so we had to kick our butts into gear!  We had been reading about our country, but didn't have our display ready yet.  So we spent a couple days working on that.  Our country is Japan, so Monday's lunch had a "fast food" Japanese feel.  Especially since they use a lot of vending machines there.  So they had Menchi Katsu with fried radish chips and a cup of ramen (just like they saw on the vending machine videos we had been watching).

Lydia loved the radishes.  We also learned some interesting facts about how to lay your chopsticks when not in use.  If you lay them crossed on the table, it means death.

They tried this fried tofu recipe.

Caty really got into ramen and broth.  She added shredded pork that I made in the crockpot to eat on this week.

Their finished board.

Their presentation about Japan at Geography Fair.

They made Gotchapons.  These are little toys that you get out of vending machines.  We ordered plastic containers and mini-squishes.

Caty also made easy mochi.

Lydia at Geography Fair teaching how to make an origami whale.

Lunch another day this week...

In a couple weeks we are getting to go to a Jan Brett book signing.  So the next few weeks we are reading through her stories and doing some drawing activities from her YouTube channel.

We finished our Story of the World Volume 2 curriculum last week, it was a little rushed.  So we are finishing up with a couple more movies and story books and we'll start Volume 3 next week.

We also watched some more video on the Magna Carta and also on the Reformation.

We also read...

For Science club this week, the kids studied Meiosis.  After watching the Amoeba Sisters, the girls did an escape room activity I found on Teacher Pay Teachers.  They spent an hour trying to escape being trapped in a cell that was dividing.  I think they really enjoyed this activity.  

They also made themselves lunch of easy chicken empanadas and Caty made homemade chocolate with coconut oil, cocoa powder and Splenda.  They had a fun couple hours together.

Another Jan Brett story we read this week was The Mermaid.  It went perfect with our Japan geography project.

We have been watching the Jan Brett channel on Youtube and working on her drawing tutorials.  This was Lydia's mermaid drawing.

I created Multiplication War cards for Caty and I to play and practice her facts.

The boys started basketball practice this week.  They both have moved up to the mens teams.  It's an exciting new adventure for us all!

We had bowling and swim practice.  The girls are training for state competition in a couple of weeks.

On Friday night the kids went to Kaitlyn's Cottage for movie and popcorn night.  It gave dad and I a couple hours of free time.  Which we spent looking at a book store.  Wish we lived closer to here, we could have watched a movie at home.  But oh well...they had a good time.  This is Caty's favorite club spot.

We got our first measurable snow of the season.  Lydia was super excited and went out to play right away.  The other half of our kids sighed...they don't love snow!  She was making large snowballs and lining them up on my grill hoping they wouldn't melt.  What she wanted was to put them all in my freezer!  I hated to change her plans, but there was not space.

We survived another week.  I will be honest that the stress of dealing with all the unique needs we are balancing is taking a toll on both Joe and I.  We are experiencing some major teenage issues with hormones making things that were already present even worse.  Hormones and autism/anxiety disorders DO NOT go well together.  Caty has been experiencing some sugar swings up and down that are unnerving.   Changes in diet are frustrating to her.  We are still working on lifestyle changes.  In fact, we are working on it as a family.  So watch as more is to come. 

I hope everyone had a great week!  Can't see what you all are doing on your blogs too!  Linking up with other Homeschool Families at:

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Homeschool Coffee Break

Homeschool Blog Link-Up

Carole P. Roman Books and Collections - If You Were Me and Lived In.... Series Review

I was so excited that we were getting the opportunity to review more from the Carole P. Roman Books and Collections - If You Were Me and Lived In....geography series from author Carole P. Roman.  We received the If You Were Me and Lived In ... Brazil, If You Were Me and Lived In ... South Korea and If You Were Me and Lived in .... Greece titles for review.  We LOVE using all the different books that she has written, and these titles were no exception....they fit in great with our studies.

If You Were Me and Lived In ... Brazil ($9.99)

In this story, you are whisked away in "travels" to South America to the country of Brazil.  Throughout this 30 page story, colorful illustrations and photographs of the country are highlighted.  Children are introduced to brief historical facts, geographical features and even the demographics about each country.  In this case, we were learning about Brazil.  

A few Portuguese phrases are introduced to the students in their reading.  Just enough to entice them to look up more phrases to learn in that language.  In the back of the book there is a pronunciation guide to help students ensure they are saying the words properly.

I love that these stories written by Carole P. Roman include all the information we normally look up on each country we "visit" in our geography studies.  We were able to learn more about the rainforest habitats.  Because we all know how much Lydia wants to learn about the animals of the world.

But Caty was also happy to learn more about the food of the country.  This really helps out a lot since we try to have a culturally themed meal to go with our "travels".   

If You Were Me and Lived In ... Brazil also introduces students to games, sports and even holiday traditions from Brazil.  We were able to read this story several times throughout our week learning about other countries.

We happened to receive our review copies near the conclusion of the Winter Olympics, so we were already talking about various countries that were popping up in the games as we were watching.  We were very excited to get a chance to read the next story, since they were the host of the Winter Olympics, and the kids also recognized it from various news reports over the last few months.

If You Were Me and Lived In ... South Korea ($9.99)

If You Were Me and Lived In ... South Korea also is roughly a 30 page title, that includes full-color illustrations.  

As with all of the titles in the If You Were Me and Lived In ... series, the opening pages includes a global view of the country so that you student becomes more familiar with the country's exact location.  

In If You Were Me and Lived In ... South Korea your student will be introduced to words and phrases in the Korean language.  The words are in parenthesis next to the phrase in English.  At the back of the story, a pronunciation guide is given to help students verify they are saying the words properly.

As with the other story, the culture of South Korea is explored, with students learning about activities in South Korea and even the food again. (We really cannot learn about a country without studying food...lol)

If You Were Me and Lived in .... Greece ($9.99)

If You Were Me and Lived in .... Greece  helped to continue in our studies and keep our interests in studies of other countries that we saw at the Winter Olympics.  The format of all the stories in the If You Were me and Lived In ... geography series stays pretty close to each country, so If You Were Me and Lived in .... Greece  has the same elements as the previous two stories we had read.  I appreciated this, and it helped in my planning.

Some stories contain only full-color illustrations, while other stores contain actual photographs of spots in that country.  It was like the later in If You Were Me and Lived in .... Greece.  We were able to immerse ourselves even more in the country we were "traveling" through.  

The books in the If You Were Me and Lived In....geography series are so awesome to use in conjunction with any and all Geography studies that you are using. You can easily fit the reading into basic elementary studies, through middle school.  

I am so grateful to have been introduced to the Carol P. Roman Books and Collections.  It has really helped out our geography studies.  She is such a versatile author and also write children's fiction picture books and early chapter books.  Last year we had the opportunity to review her new series - Oh Susannah (Early chapter books).... Caty thought these books were awesome!  (She even got a special autographed copy in the mail that she keeps in a special spot in her school desk).  

Another of Carole P. Roman's series that we love is her If You Were Me and Lived In ..... history series.  Not only will your child be swept to a new geographical location, but also back in time.  It's like a time machine in your living room!!  Carole's books have added so much to our homeschool, and we are always excited to see all the new books that she has coming out!

Please be sure to check out all the titles that Carole P. Roman has created for your enjoyment and learning!

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review several different titles from Carole P. Roman.  Be sure to visit the link below to see how they used these titles with their families. 

Also check out Carole P. Roman on Facebook to keep up-to-date on what she has coming out!