Photos!

This week was a super busy one! Here are photos from the Maple Syrup field trip plus the Geography Fair! Thank you to Dan and Jennifer for sharing pics!

Tuesday, Feb 25

Thank you so much to Megan and Nick for hosting us!

Thursday, Feb 27

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And congratulations to the children for all of their hard work!

They learned a lot about their countries
(and how to look information up in nonfiction texts) in just six days!

Country Reports

The children are very excited about their Country Reports! Here are the countries we are diving deeper into, and some notes about books.

If you would like to take your child to the library to check out more books about their country, we did discuss how nonfiction is organized with the Dewey Decimal system, and I've provided the call number for each country.

It would be great fun for your child to go into the stacks and walk straight to the books about their topic!

AFRICA

Chad - CLH

967.43

Chad in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)

Calabash Cat and His Amazing Journey by James Rumford
bilingual picture book in English and Chadian Arabic

Rain School by James Rumford

Mango Rain by James Rumford



image - rock art 1

image - rock art 2

food - mangos

artifact - wooden giraffe


Côte d’Ivoire - Z

966.68

Côte d’Ivoire in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)

image - mask dance 1

image - mask dance 2

image - mask dance 3

recipe - Cucumber and Courgette Salad

recipe - Jus de Bissap - Hibiscus Tea

artifact - wooden elephant + knitted mat

artifact - orange blossom water


Liberia - EO

966.62

Liberia (Modern Nations of the World)

recipe - Liberian Rice Bread

artifact - wooden hippo

artifact - stamps




Somalia - AAR

967.73

Somalia in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)

Animal Architects: Amazing Animals Who Build Their Homes by Daniel Nassar & Julio Antonio Blasco
"Termite"



image - termite mound stamp

recipe - Bariis Iskukaris - Spiced Somali Rice (lamb)

artifact - cardamom pods + mortar and pestle

artifact - coins

artifact - charcoal

artifact - wooden donkey

SOUTH AMERICA

Bolivia - LR

984

Bolivia (Cultures of the World)

Children Just Like Me
"Oscar (Bolivia)"

Army Ant Parade by April Pulley Sayre

Wonderful Houses Around the World by Yoshio Komatsu
"Bolivia: Houses Shaped Like Acorns"



image - people of Bolivia

recipe - Helado de Canela - Cinnamon Sorbet


Brazil - OH

981

Brazil (Cultures of the World)

Brazil (Discovering)

Brazil (Countries of the World)

The Yanomami of South America (First Peoples)

Yanomami: People of the Amazon (Vanishing Peoples)

Traditional Houses from Around the World by A. G. Smith
plate 43, "Amazon Delta Stilt House"

A Child's Day in a Brazilian Village by Maria de Fatima Campos

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry

Tales of the Amazon: How the Munduruku Indians Live by Daniel Munduruku



recipe - Sweet Cornmeal Cake Brazilian-Style


Peru - KEL

985

Peru (Enchantment of the World)

Tomasino: A Child of Peru (Children of the World)

This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe

Traditional Houses from Around the World by A. G. Smith
plate 45, "Lake Titicaca Reed Houses"

The Llama's Secret: A Peruvian Legend retold by Argentina Palacios

Discovering the Inca Ice Maiden: My Adventures on Ampato by Johan Reinhard



recipe - Aguadito de Pollo - Peruvian Chicken Soup (chicken)

artifact - basket of wool + wool carders

artifact - wooden sheep

EUROPE

Finland - FR

948.97

Finland (Modern Nations of the World)

Finland in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)

Traditional Houses from Around the World by A. G. Smith
plate 29, "Lapp Mountain Tent"

Sights in Finland by Raimo Suikkari



recipe - Finland Boiled Potatoes (herring)

artifact - Tove Jansson books

artifact - Moomin mug

artifact - stamps

artifact - wooden seal


France - EF

944

France (Cultures of the World)

Houses and Homes (Around the World Series)

Three Perfect Peaches: A French Folktale retold by Cynthia DeFelice

The Giraffe That Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton



image - Eiffel tower

food - croissants

drink - bottled water from France

artifact - French soap

artifact - francs + euros

artifact - lavender

artifact - wooden flamingo


Italy - LL

945

Italy (Cultures of the World)

Italy (Discovering Cultures)

Italian (Languages of the World)

Pompeii (Unearthing Ancient Worlds)

Bodies from the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii by James Deem

As Tourists Swarm Erupting Mount Etna, Italian Authorities Warn Them Away
The New York Times - Feb 19, 2025

The Mysterious Giant of Barletta: An Italian Folktale retold by Tomie dePaola

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche
"Venetian palace"



food - cherry tomatoes + fresh mozzarella pearls

drink - bottled water from Italy

artifact - Italian food glass ornaments

artifact - coins

artifact - pumice from the top of Mt. Vesuvius

artifact - material developed by Dr. Maria Montessori (Spindle Box)


Turkey - SW

956.1

Turkey (Modern Nations of the World)

"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" song by They Might Be Giants

How Do People Live? by Philip Steele

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby Beeler

Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World by Maya Ajmera and Anna Rhesa Versola
"Turkey"

Wildlife in Southwest Turkey (PDF)

The Hungry Coat: A Tale from Turkey retold by Demi



recipe - Aka Kisir - Turkish Bulgur Salad

artifact - stamps

artifact - wild turkey ornament

artifact - wooden camel

artifact - pomegranate + pomegranate molasses

And here's the overview of our flow for this block:

Feb 10 - make political maps of Africa

Feb 11 - make political maps of South America

Feb 12 - make political maps of Europe

Feb 13 - class discussion to decide what information should be in a report

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Feb 17 - draw a continent out of a hat, look at map, choose your country

Feb 18 - get report checklist & your pile of books, find flag, begin research

Flags of the World Complete Set
Montessori Research & Development

Feb 19 - continue research, tracing paper map w/capital, look for stamps

Feb 20 - continue research, begin to test recipes, checklist review mtgs

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Feb 24 - lay out images on backboard, decide # of fact cards & their topics

Feb 25 - stencil country name at top of backboard, rough draft fact cards

Feb 26 - write fact cards, glue on backboards, prepare food, set up displays

Feb 27 - Geography Fair!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Volunteering to Read Cursive for the LOC

Many thanks to Ms. Sarah for letting me know that the Library of Congress is seeking volunteers who can read cursive!

Crowdsourcing Helps to Unlock the Mystery of Cursive

The children found this project to be very interesting and fun! Of course, first I had to teach them about the long s.

We are working on the Frederick Law Olmstead Papers. Frederick Law Olmstead was the architect who designed Central Park! This is the family's "House expense book," and we are working on transcribing pages for June & July 1827.

The children were so excited when we found a long s in "seamstress"!

World Geography - Feb 2025

We have two blocks of World Geography scheduled for this year, one in Feb and the other in Jun.

Here are some resources and notes as we go along! And yummy recipes!

AFRICA

continent graphic (PNG)

large pull-down wall map

outline map - unlabeled (PDF)

outline map - labeled (PDF)

Africa pin map from Nienhuis Montessori

Biome Puzzle Map and Africa Stencil from Waseca Biomes

Latitude & Longitude "Waterways" map from Clocca Concepts

Flags of the World from Montessori Research & Development


Cameroon

Feb 19 - read The Village of Round and Square Houses by Ann Grifalconi



Nigeria

Feb 25 - read Why the Sky Is Far Away retold by Mary-Joan Gerson



South Africa

Feb 19 - read "The Singing Drum" from Play Me a Story: Nine
Tales About Musical Instruments retold by Naomi Adler


play singing drum


Tanzania

Feb 13 - read Olbalbal: A Day in Maasailand by Barbara Margolies



Zambia

Feb 10 - read Beautiful Blackbird retold by Ashley Bryan

SOUTH AMERICA

continent graphic (PNG)

large pull-down wall map

outline map - unlabeled (PDF)

outline map - labeled (PDF)

South America pin map from Nienhuis Montessori

Biome Puzzle Map and South America Stencil from Waseca Biomes

Latitude & Longitude "Waterways" map from Clocca Concepts

Flags of the World from Montessori Research & Development


Argentina

Feb 20 - read On the Pampas by Maria Cristina Brusca



Brazil

Feb 17 - read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry



Chile

Feb 26 - read Mariana and the Merchild retold by Caroline Pitcher



Colombia

Feb 26 - read Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown



Peru

Feb 11 - read The Llama's Secret retold by Argentina Palacios

EUROPE

continent graphic (PNG)

large pull-down wall map

outline map - unlabeled (PDF)

outline map - labeled (PDF)

Europe pin map from Nienhuis Montessori

Biome Puzzle Map and Europe Stencil from Waseca Biomes

Flags of the World from Montessori Research & Development


France

Feb 18 - read Three Perfect Peaches retold by Cynthia DeFelice, et al.



Italy

Feb 12 - read Saint Valentine retold by Robert Sabuda



Norway

Feb 27 - read Seven Fathers retold by Ashley Ramsden



Ukraine

Feb 24 - read The Mitten retold by Alvin Tresselt



Wales

Feb 24 - read Slop! retold by Margaret Read MacDonald

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!