This week as we begin our Maps unit, we read one of our favorite books,
And because we are so blessed to homeschool, this will be the kids' 3rd year with this book and activities. I love knowing that they don't have to completely understand something the short time we have to talk about it. I know that each year we get to dive into it deeper and deeper to really solidify their learning. And since we have a repeat year, a lot of the stuff we talk about this year will be a repeat and therefore give the younger ones a better chance to grasp these difficult concepts.
This year we decided to look a little more closely at one of those places on the map: Our Town. We love our city and are so blessed to get to know it in and out in many ways. We brainstormed together and talked about all of the many places we love to go in St. George.
Our list was a lot bigger than the small space I gave us, (and pay no attention to the messy writing!) but I think we generated a good list of ideas.
Once we had our list, it was time to work together to build Our Town.
Here is an ariel view of our finished product:
Earlier this week I had found a pin on Pinterest from Vivint (the security company) full of print and fold houses and cars. It was a gold mine! I was so excited to show them to the kids. They loved them!
It took a while just to fold all the houses and the cars, but once we got in the groove- we turned them out rather quickly.
It took a little bit of cooperation and patience when it came time to do some of the city planning-
There were some strong opinions over where things should go and as we tried to be directionally accurate, emotions ran a slightly strong :)
Once the community planners were satisfied with their city plan, it was time to build some roads and plant some grass!
Once again, it took a great deal of cooperation and understanding from the planning committee.
After that, it was time to place our "people" in Our Town. Again, since this was our representation of all of the places we frequent the most, someone looking at our map could learn a lot about our little family and the things we like to do together...
What community would be complete without a Wal-Mart? Notice the sun symbol.
I thought that was a nice touch. Great attention to detail.
And here is Bubba skateboarding down the street from the Temple, passing Kid to Kid and on down the road to Costco. Apparently he needs to purchase some skateboard wheels in bulk.
Here is Ava at Our House (if you look closely you can kind of make out our address. She has just passed that off in school and is quite proud of herself- and so am I!)
And our "AV" (Adventure Vehicle) backed up to Star Nursery to pick up some gardening supplies.
Won't Dad be happy about that!
Ava and Cash hanging out on the bench downtown at the Children's Museum with the Public Library in the background. Kurt is still a little disappointed that we didn't have time to make a carousel to add to that space.
A miniature Costco for all of your bulk purchases.
And because Our Town is proudly protected by our many service men, the kids felt we needed a "Hoodrat" at the Maverick thinking about doing some hoodrat things. Don't fret- in every scenerio the police catch him just before he does. Though they have to transport them to the Police Station on their Lego bikes.
And there you have it. Just a small representation of our family enjoying Our Town. Out on the bike road, relaxing on the bench and being concerned about the environment by throwing our trash in the trash bin.
What good little citizens we have in Our Town!
No comments:
Post a Comment