Year 5 Celebrations

We've finished up Family School Year 5! Here are some highlights from our end of year/unit celebrations.

Literature:

The last book we studied was Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates. We played some Dutch games and tried some Dutch recipes. We ate pannekoeken (like crepes) one day and apple pannekoeken (we call this a German Pancake, but this one has apples) another day. We played koekhappen with doughnuts. Some of us put together crafts of Sinterklaas, Black Piet, and Horse Winky.

koekhappen

Science:

Since we've been studying Anatomy and Physiology, we had a talent show! Everyone got to choose a talent they have and explain what systems of the body they need to do that thing. M showed some artwork and coloring, J made cookies, E showed a picture she painted, and N showed us her new basketball skills.

Geography:

We always have a special presentation at the end of the school year from someone who has visited the continent we studied. Bonus points if I can find someone who visited the country one of the children picked for their individual reports! N is studying Uruguay and J is studying Paraguay. M chose Brazil, and we have PLENTY of family members who have and do share information about that country too! E is studying Chile, and it would be really neat to find someone who could teach us about that country.

Grandma and Grandpa have both visited South America. They lived there for a couple of years as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Back in the early 70s Paraguay and Uruguay were in the same mission and they were both called to that mission! Grandpa spent time in both countries and a little in Argentina. Grandma spent time in Uruguay. Neat fact - they first met in Artigas, Uruguay! Grandma says they weren't friends right away, but thank goodness they spent more time together when they were back home.

Examining coins and bills from these countries was a lot of fun. N tried to find every single coin from her country. Barely shown at the bottom right of the picture is a set of bolas. These are balls connected with rope that gauchos throw to lasso cattle.

I remember seeing all of these souvenirs when I was a child. It was fascinating to see items from a far away country! The tray above is made from butterfly wings which are set in place and covered with glass. This is just one of the trays Grandma and Grandpa own.

A poncho made of wool.

These paintings are so beautiful and show what homes were like for most people who didn't live in a busy city. They bought these from someone selling them on the street.

This shawl was from Chile but was sold in Paraguay or Uruguay. E was happy because Chile is the country she is studying, and she didn't expect to see something from there!

Because these two countries have so many ranchers there are a LOT of items made from leather. Grandma and Grandpa have neat bags and book covers as well as this coat M tried on. In the bottom of the picture you can see blue fabric. It has embroidery on the front and folds for making a button up shirt. All the buyer needs to do is cut and sew it together. Grandma and Grandpa haven't done that, they have two fabrics embroidered and uncut.

Grandma had sent this poncho home to her father. It was very warm and made from wool (I think it was alpaca).

The emu egg! They used to display this in their first home. The wind blew it off a shelf one day and cracked it. They were able to glue the broken piece back on. I thought there used to be two eggs and one was destroyed, but I forgot to ask.

Flags from two of the countries they lived in. There are maps hung up behind them too. I just love hearing stories from their missions and I'm so glad my kids got to experience some of them too!

My parents have slides from their missions. We were able to watch some of them, and we're planning a time to see the rest soon.

The picture below is Iguazu Falls. When my dad was on his mission, he got to visit the falls three times. The top image is when he visited during the dry season. The bottom image is when he visited during the wet season. He tried to stand in the same place for both pictures. Pretty neat!

Art:

To finish up art, I set out stations for each time period or theme of art that we studied this year. The year was about Early American Art, and we pretended to take a wagon train to each station. There were a lot of fun things to do! At each "stop" we reviewed the flashcards for the art we had studied. Some activities besides what is pictured here were using a dip pen to sign our names, sitting quietly to reflect on how we know Jesus Christ loves us, leaf rubbings, and eating mini apple pies.

We created paper fans to remember our study of Japanese Art (immigrants).

 We dressed as pioneers for the occasion.

 We had a barrel race. We had a lot of 5 gallon buckets from sealing the fence that worked well for barrels. The children rode on stick horses and tried to beat each other's time.

 This is enough sugar for an entire week! The treat was a covered wagon made from cookies and twinkies.

Music:

I didn't take any pictures of this one. We played some games to review what we've learned about composers and their songs this year. It was fun, but the kids knew them so well that it wasn't a challenge at all! E and N came up with a fun way to review; we've played "name that tune" with one person humming a song that the rest have to guess. We also say a composer and have to hum a song by them, or we have to say a fact about them. It's a fun way to review when you're driving, walking, etc.