The United Kingdom and France

 United Kingdom               

South Korea

              South Korea is known as "The Land of the Morning Calm".  That comes from the original Chinese name that was made up of 2 symbols.  The first symbol was for morning, and the second for the word calm.

              Much of South Korea (which is located on the Korean Peninsula) is mountainous, with most of the population living on the coastal plains or river valleys.

               Seoul is the capital and largest city in South Korea.

               Prior to 1960 South Korea was a poor country.  Most people farmed or fished for a living.  But then, the economy boomed and today South Korea is one of the most high tech countries in the world with about 3/4 of the population with high speed internet access.  South Korea is also developing robots.  They are looking to have a robot in every home by 2020.

India

          We studied India recently. It is a country with an interesting history.  It had been ruled numerous times by different empires.  One was the Mughal Empire.  It was during this empire that the Taj Mahal was built.  In case you don't know, it was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan who's wife died during the birth of their 14th child.  It was a monument to her.  

            Europeans loved the spices that were found in India.  Hundreds of years ago selling spices led to great wealth. This led the Portugese and British to India.  The British ended up governing India for almost 400 years, until India gained it's independence in 1947, thanks in part to Gandhi.  

           We learned that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were once all of India. After England gave India it's independence, it broke up India into West Pakistan, India, and East Pakistan.  The Pakistan's were made up of mostly Muslim's.  Later on East Pakistan would become Bangladesh.

            Today, India has people that are very poor, and some are quite wealthy.  My kids couldn't believe that some people didn't own a television, let alone have toilet in the home.  

            Even with so many people impoverished, India has high tech cities.  It is home to many technology companies, animation companies, and has a famous movie industry.  

            There is lot's more to learn about India.  If you would like to learn more, some great books are India, T is for Taj Mahal, and Children Just Like Me.

 

Japan Week

                 This past week we studied Japan.  It culminated with some yummy food I have posted.

                 We learned Japan is made up of over 3000 islands.  The largest 4 contain most of the population.  Tokyo is located on the island of Honshu, and is the capital.  It is also the most populated city.

                 Since 80% of Japan is mountainous and very hilly, most people live in the cities near the coast.  That's why the cities are so crowded.

                 Japan is also on the "Ring of Fire", and is home to over 250 volcanoes, of which over 100 are still active, including Mt. Fuji.  In fact, Japan was created by large earthquakes which pushed the earth's crust up.  It is at the edge of the Pacific plate which is why there are so many earthquakes that rattle Japan.

China Week

               We finished our study on China last week.  The kids really enjoyed it.  I think they enjoyed learning how to write their names in Chinese the most.

               The kids in China start learning calligraphy by age 6 and seeing how the characters for their words and sounds look, I can understand why.  It's very technical.  I am thinking that a dash drawn the wrong size might mean something not intended.  Lucky for my kids, they don't live in China!  They have penmanship issues once in a while.  Interesting that their cursive is much nicer than their print.  Handwriting Without Tears cursive book is great.  My son just started cursive, and he is already nicely making words.  It's a great program.  Definitely no tears.

              Here is what our white board looked like.

           They were surprised to learn of all the inventions that came from China such as fireworks, silk, and paper.  They found it interesting that a little boy could be Emperor.  They also didn't think it was fair that the Emperor could only wear yellow.

           Some of the books I used for China were D is for Dancing Dragon, and  China.

Learn Our History Review

                 With the Presidential election this fall, I thought it would be a great idea for the kids to do a study on our Constitution, how our government is run, and how a President is elected.  After all, the more educated a person is on how the government works, the more likely they are to take part in it. Not that I would push my kids to run for public office, but I want to make sure that my kids understand that when they will be of voting age their votes will mean something.  I want them to know that we are very lucky to be able to live in a country where we choose our leaders.

              

Country Report Template

              I came up with a country report for the kids to use for each country after we are done learning about it.  It is in the form of a travel brochure.

              If you are doing a world study and would like to see if this report will work well for you, I am sharing this file at the link here.  When you get to the page, just click "download now".

              The upper left corner is for pasting thumbnail pictures of the country.

Homeschool Geography Introduction

          We started our homeschool this past week.  I am basing the Geography lessons on inspiration I received from the Expedition Earth curriculum.    I liked the idea of the kids studying multiple countries and their cultures.  

          Geography is also a subject that enables me to combine multiple educational genre's.  Geography is not just about where someone lives.  Geography just by its definition means to describe Earth. So anything you can put on a map is Geography. Our science will thus be a Geography study on biomes and ecosystems around the world, based on the countries we learn.

           Some of the books I am using are A Child's Introduction to the World, National Geographic's World Atlas for Young Explorer's, A Trip Around the World, Another Trip Around the World, Usborne's Encyclopedia of World Geography, as well as multiple books on each country we will study.

           The internet is a great source of information, and a great way for kids to "see"

Homeschool Curriculum 2012-2013

         So another school year is upon us and I just finished putting together the curriculum for this coming year.

                                                      

          Last year was my first year homeschooling my then 4th and 2nd grader.  I received so much help from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com.  The advice just gave me the confidence I needed as well as curriculum ideas.  We used Road Trip USA and it was such fun that I've decided to use her Expedition Earth geography curriculum for this year.

         For my 5th grader

1. Spanish- Rosetta Stone
2. English- BJU Press
3. Math- Singapore Math(finishing 4A and then continuing 4B, 5A and 5B)
4. Spelling- All About Spelling
5. Science- Studying Ecosystems and animals based on our geography curriculum.  Also continuing the Young Scientists Kits.
6. Geography/History-Expedition Earth 
7. Literature- Classic Book Study 
8. Music- Piano Lessons  We'll also start The World's Greatest Composer Study
9. Art- To be combined with the Expedition Earth study.  (Studying art from other countries).
10. The Constitution- Lapbook study
11. Copy Work for Handwriting
12. Reading

          For my 3rd grader

1. Italian- Rosetta Stone (He wants to learn Italian)
2. English- BJU Press
3. Math- Singapore Math (3B, 4A and hopefully starting 4B)
4. Spelling- All About Spelling
5. Science- Studying Ecosystems and animals based on our geography curriculum.  Also continuing the Young Scientists Kits.
6. Geography/History-Expedition Earth
7. Literature- Classic Book Study 
8. Music- Piano Lessons  We'll also start The World's Greatest Composer Study
9. Art- To be combined with the Expedition Earth study.  (Studying art from other countries).
10. The Constitution- Lapbook study
11. Handwriting without Tears
12. Reading

Of course this plan is just a plan and we'll see how things go.
How are your plans going?