End of School Fun

It has been terribly hot since we've gotten back from New Orleans. The combination of the heat and the vacation experience have all led to an overwhelming feeling of...summer.

I've been having a hard time summoning the resolve to do much home schooling. I soldiered on last week, but the fine weather this week (highs in the upper 70s) made me take a second look.

Why was I soldiering on, anyway? It's not like we won't do anything educational over the summer and it's not like have a curriculum we are trying to finish.

Mild weather in June is not to be squandered!

Monday we went to the National Zoo and did scavenger hunts. I am finding that lots of museums have scavenger hunts that you can print out before you visit. It's a great way to stretch the experience so that older and younger kids can all benefit. Try googling your destination with "scavenger hunt."
And we debated the possibilities of cuddling a cuttlefish. All the Zoomlians said, "NO!" This was sparked by a certain spelling error...
We also watched orang utans playing peekaboo with a sheet. It looked very familiar!





Today we went back to the B & O Railroad Museum. Awesome!

Here the kids are playing in a caboose.

Here is my favorite locomotive ever. It looks like it just rolled out of Metropolis!

Did we make connections with our US History unit? I feel like I did, but the kids only got a bit here and there. Sometimes it's hard to tell. They have a Conestoga wagon. They also had a helpful exhibit on railroads in the Civil War.

We also finished our Abraham Lincoln CD during all the driving. We used his life to discuss Westward Expansion and the rise of the Civil War.

Tomorrow it will rain and we will do some home school blocks and I will finish my planning for next week. After that, who knows? I definitely want to go somewhere Thursday and Friday.

Next week is the last week for the Emperor, and we are finishing up our non-Dad homeschool with Flight Camp: all kinds of activities centering around flight. A later post, I hope!