Election Studies

With the upcoming election here in the US (in three days) Georgia has been learning more about the process and history of voting in the United States.

She watched about ten videos from Brainpop.com about the election, presidential powers, branches of government, political parties, etc. She also took the quizzes at the end of the videos. Not sure how many are free for non-members but HERE is the link.

She also enjoyed looking around at:

Ben's Guide to the Government

White House for Kids

Time for Kids

PBS's Democracy Project

Scholastic News She especially like playing the You Be the Candidate Game and played it several times.

And PBS Zoom election page.

We also talked about local and state issues and candidate positions.

Archaeology Activity

Georgia decorated a flower pot with markers.

Then she put the pot in an old sock.

And she smashed it with a hammer.

Next she put together the pieces best she could with tape.

And then she tried the smallest pieces.

We talked about how it could be more challenging, and realistic, to have someone else decorate the pot so that she did not know what it was suppose to look like. Also, we talked about taking some pieces away and trying to put it together without the missing pieces. We said it was like puting together a jigsaw puzzle without all the pieces, and without seeing the picture on the box. A neat idea to try sometime....

Horse Racing

The girls watched some horse races at Gramma and Grampa's house last weekend. When they got home they wanted to make some tracks so they could race their horses.

And they're off......

the photo finish...

Georgia named her track the "Golden Arena", and Olivia named her's "The Spirit Herd".

Halloween Fun

Due to a back injury earlier this month, I have been behind on a lot of things. But I am finally getting around to updating our blog!

I put together a slide show of Halloween events the girls attended. The first part of the slide show shows the girls on the Great Pumpkin Hunt. They had to figure out clues to find hidden treats in the woods and places around the Nature Center. The last clue led them to some hidden pumpkins, where they got to choose one to decorate.

Next are some pictures from the Halloween parade downtown. I didn't taken any photos of the parade, but of us waiting for it to start, and of the crowd of trick-or-treaters collecting goodies from the shops.

The last few photos are of the girls trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. This year Georgia chose to be a Native American, a Lakota girl. She made her own costume with an oversized t-shirt and some beads. Her shoes were made with some faux fur material glued on some old sandals. Olivia decided to be a cowgirl again this year. So we had a Western theme going on.

Here's the slide show.....

Fire Department Open House

The girls attended the fire department's open house and had a lot of fun. They learned fire safety tips, house hazards to watch out for, learned about equipment used to fight a fire, how to use a hose, and much more!

They each recieved a fire chief hat, water bottle, Junior Fire Fighter patch, and activity books about fire safety.

Here's some pictures....

Park Pals Picnic

Saturday, Georgia's nature class had their annual family picnic. Everyone brought a dish to share, and they provided hot dogs for roasting. They played games, and enjoyed a hayride. Here are some pictures...