Weeks 16 & 17, Germany

It feels like we've been in Germany forever! We started it before Christmas for a week, took a two week break, then finished up this past week. So I guess we've sort of been in the country for a month. We enjoyed reading many of the Grimm fairy tales. Here is Kaylin reading Little Red Riding Hood.

The girls made paper dolls from Germany. The day we did these, Elianna was home because her preschool hadn't started back yet.

The girls did a really good job on their lapbooks for Germany.

This is my favorite mini book so far!

To celebrate finishing Germany, we ate a very yummy German meal of Bratwurst with sauerkraut, brussel sprouts, potatoes, and pumpernickel bread. Everyone loved it (Maryella ate 2 1/2 bratwursts!) except for Annlee. She ate the potatoes. She may not want to take any trips to Germany any time soon.

We all agreed that dessert was the best part though! We made an apple streudel that was out of this world delicious!!

For our science unit during Germany, we studied rivers and lakes. We learned that freshwater freezes from the top down while salt water freezes throughout (like a slushy). God made it that way for the animals that live there. Ocean animals can swim through the slush to warmer waters. Freshwater fish need to be able to swim underneath the ice - they can't swim out of the lake.

We learned about the surface tension on water that allows certain insects to be able to walk across the surface.

We discovered how newts and salamanders feel vibrations in order to hear since they don't have external ears.

In other subjects, we did a lot of fun learning. Maryella finished her All About Reading Level 1 before Christmas. I can't wait to see how she does with level 2! I think we are on the brink of a big reading breakthrough!

Kaylin and Annlee did some of their English lessons at the dry erase board. Diagramming sentences is so much more fun there than on paper!

Since we were in between reading levels for the week after Christmas, Maryella did a lot of sight word work.

When we came home from a week and half long trip after Christmas, we discovered a leak behind our freezer had turned into a soggy school room. We will need to replace the carpet in there with laminate floors, which we've been wanting for a long time anyway. In the meantime, we moved school to the dining room for the week. It was kinda fun to be all at the same table, but I'm not sure it would work permanently for us. The girls seem to prefer having their own desk space.

As I mentioned earlier, we also had Elianna with us for a few days before her preschool began again. She had recieved a craft kit from Santa and enjoyed doing several of those projects while we worked.

It's been a fun time in Europe for almost two months - what a fascinating place! I think we are all ready for a bit of a change in scenery though! Can't wait to see what exciting places await us next!