Hanson's Ridge
September has been an exciting month. On September 7, AW finally learned to sound out and read words. It was a fantastic day! She also turned five this month :) We started off the month with a visit to the Virginia Scottish Games. We are reenactors, and we set up a camp to demonstrate 18th century Scottish life. AW is starting to understand the difference between the 18th century and the present. Understanding past and present is a kindergarten standard, so we can check that one off the list ;)
The Time Capsule kit contains a booklet for children to write about themselves, so I asked the questions and had both kids dictate their answers. There is a family tree kit (still in progress), a coloring page introducing subscribers to the time traveling kids that tell the story, and a timeline for us to track our travels through history. Each month we will get a sticker representing our visit. There are also colored pencils and picture hooks to change out the picture for each month. (The comic is especially for subscribers aged 5-10, while older subscribers get a coloring page of a single scene). I'm looking forward to jumping into the history study next month! We did a few activities from A Year of Playing Skillfully's September plans. We pulled out the pond play set (water beads and a frog life cycle set). We explored color mixing with our Kinder Club friends (through our homeschool group) and spent the afternoon doing a big painting activity. Afterwards, the kiddos washed off their paint supplies using a bin of water. It worked pretty well! Another AYOPS September topic is hot air balloons. We read some books and saw the hot air balloon exhibit at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. When we were at the Mount Vernon Market Fair (an 18th century craft fair), we met the curator of that very exhibit. He was demonstrating the hot air balloons of the 18th century, with the help of his grandchildren! While we were there, AW practiced writing with a quill, thanks to a good friend.
The biggest highlight of the month was our trip to Colonial Williamsburg for Homeschool Days. During those times, homeschoolers get in for a heavily discounted rate of about $10/day for an adult ticket. That's 1/4 price. They also have special activities going on. Last year, AW met the joinery apprentice named Miss Doggett, and spent about 45 minutes learning from her. We had to go back and visit her this year, and fortunately Miss Doggett remembered AW. We spent two days there. I wish I'd taken more pictures. There's a new Native delegation, representing Native American trade and political negotiation. I hadn't realized that was a regular occurrence in Williamsburg, which is where all such negotiations took place under the English crown. The kids watched a cow milking and practiced on a mechanical cow (having milked a living cow, I can attest that it was surprisingly realistic). They learned how to play 18th century games. We helped process flax to prepare it to weave into linen. The farmer also gave us a cotton boll. Our Ivy Kids kit for the month was apples, which dovetails nicely into October's AYOPS theme, which includes apples.
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AuthorHi! I'm Stephanie Hanson. I live with my husband, Himself, on Hanson's Ridge in Virginia. Archives
September 2017
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