6 Week Mark

 For our homeschool, we take usually take a week off after 6 weeks of class. This week is our week off and it's been a busy week off! Here are a few pictures so far:

We went to a park today, one of our favorites! It's close by and since we homeschool, we go there during the week when everyone else is working and at school so the parks are usually empty. 

My youngest two found some puddles in the grass at the park from all the rain we've been having and had so much fun splashing away! In my mind, this is how childhood should be- playing outside like this.

My oldest son has been learning to cook and today he cooked "round eggs" (fried eggs and scrambled eggs made in a small, round pan) with his sister. It was great to see them so interested in cooking.

Here and There

 Here are some small things we have done in our homeschool lately. I really enjoy homeschooling. 

My 5 ½ year old daughter loves doing chalk designs.

We found some crazy mushrooms lately!

My 3 ½ year old made this "rocket ship" all on is own.

My oldest (7 ½ year old) son has really enjoyed working with popsicle sticks lately.

We haven't found a good, big map of China puzzle. We have 2 map puzzles for the states and our kids have loved them. Since I couldn't find a big map of China puzzle, I just made one out of cardboard.

Year 3 for Learning Characters

 I just finished year 3 for learning Chinese characters using the Charlotte Mason method. The first year has 3 stories, the 2nd year had another 3 stories, and the 3rd year had 10 stories. Each story adds to the vocabulary that was learned before. All 3 books are available Lulu.com. (look for Rachel Bubb ebooks). The drawings are from the stories from book 3. Each story has 1 drawing.

Cixi: One of The Last Empresses of China

 I finished a biography about Cixi. Here's the description on the back of the book: 

Cixi (1835-1908) was one of the last empresses of China. She lived during the same time as Queen Victoria in England and ran the country in the late 1800s. However, growing up she was from a very normal family and lived a very normal life. Although she probably saw the Forbidden City many times since they lived close by, she never entered it until she moved there in her teenage years. Her son became the emperor and later on her nephew, but they were both too young to rule so she helped them lead the country until they were old enough to rule. She also had a big marble boat made in the Summer Palace in Beijing, which is still there today. 

The book is available on Lulu or Amazon. This is the 10th biography I've done so far. I might do more later, but I have a few other books I'm planning to work on over the next few months. My next book is a collection of short stories for learning Chinese. This will be the 3rd book in the series about learning Chinese Characters using the Charlotte Mason method and will have additional stories (hopefully 15 stories) for learning Chinese.

China Map

 I made a map last week for our homeschool out of cardboard. I wanted to make a 3d map that showed where the mountains and rivers and deserts of China are. I didn't label anything because I want to use it in class for our geography. It turned out good. I never thought of using cardboard to make maps like this before.