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Learning About Russia- Activities and Resources

  General Information: Russia is the world's largest country at over 6 million square miles. It spans across the northern region of both Europe and Asia. It shares land boarders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and North Korea. The climate varies depending on region. The flat grasslands of southern Russia, often called steppes, have warm summers, and fairly cold winters. The northern sub arctic regions have cool summers and frigid winters. Capital- Moscow Population- 144.5 million Size- 6.6 million square miles Currency- Russian ruble Type of Government- Federation National Anthem-  State Anthem of the Russian Federation National Animal- Eurasian brown bear National Bird- Eagle Russian Flag: Famous Monuments and Places: St. Basil's Cathedral- St. Basil's Cathedral is a famous cathedral located in Moscow. It was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1555. The cathedral consists of 10 chapels. Originally

3 Simple Christmas Crafts for Preschoolers

My girls and I love doing holiday crafts, but it can be difficult to find crafts that are simple enough for my preschooler to do but still fun for my older daughter. I thought I would share a couple we tried this year that ended up being fun for all of us. Footprint Reindeer   I absolutely love how cute these footprint reindeer turn out and they are simple enough that even very young children can successfully make them. For this craft you will need: -White paper -Brown watercolors or tempra paint -Googly eyes or small white circles cut from paper. I used a dime to trace circles on white paper, put black dots in the center, and then cut them out for our reindeer eyes. -Red pompoms or small red circles cut from paper. -A black or brown marker  Start by painting one of your child's feet with the brown paint, then make a footprint in the center of a white piece of paper. Set it aside to dry. Once your footprint is dry, have your child glue on eyes near the toe end of the footprint. Add

Review of the Family Math Package from A+ Interactive Math Online

We were recently given the opportunity to try and review the Family Math Package from A+ Interactive Math Online . We were given free access in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received.  The family math package is a complete online math curriculum that includes video lessons, worksheets, exams, and automatic grading. You can have up to 10 students per family package, and it includes access to complete curriculum for grades 1 through 6 plus pre-algebra and algebra. We used the grade 4 level for my 9 year old. This level includes lessons on multi digit addition and subtraction, single and multi digit multiplication and division, decimals, fractions, number lines, time, money, geometry, and more. The program is very user friendly and is set up for kids to be able to complete lessons fairly independently. Each lesson consists of a short video lesson, followed by a few interactive questions and answers, and then a worksheet. After all the lessons on a given topic th

Learning About Greece: Activities and Resources

  We spent the last several weeks learning all about Greece. We located Greece on our big world map, colored Greece in our world geography coloring books, took a virtual tour of the Parthenon, made a Greek meal, did a Greek pottery craft, and learned about the Greek constellations. Keep reading for activity ideas and lots of links to resources for studying Greece in your homeschool. Basic Information:  Greece is a country in south eastern Europe. It shares land borders with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. It's southern region is boarderd by the Aegean, Ionian, Cretan, and Mediterranean Seas. The mainland is mostly mountainous. It is also comprised of several island chains. Greece has hot dry summers and wet winters. Capital- Athens Population- 10,500,000  Size- 50,942 sq miles Currency- Euro Type of Government-  Parliamentary republic National Anthem-  Hymn to Liberty National Animal - Dolphin National Bird - Phoenix  Famous Places and Monuments: The Parthenon- The

Learning About Geologic History- The Paleozoic Era

When my kids asked to learn about dinosaurs and mammoths this year, I happily agreed because prehistoric animals are a favorite topic of mine. We had studied dinosaurs in the past, but not in reference to where they fall in the geologic timeline, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce this concept to them and to teach them a little bit about what came before and after the dinosaurs. Before the dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were other equally fascinating creatures that filled the seas and eventually the land. The geologic era that came before the age of the dinosaurs was called the Paleozoic Era.   T his post focuses on the Paleozoic Era. Before we started our study of the geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, we learned about fossils, you can find that post here . You can find my post about the Mesozoic Era (the age of the dinosaurs)  here , and my post about the Cenozoic Era  here . The Paleozoic Era  The first era of geologic history we studied was the Pa

Learning About Norway

  Norway was such a fun country to learn about. We tried Norwegian chocolate, made potato flatbread, learned about the Aurora Borealis, made our own Viking picture stones, and lots more! Basic Information: Norway is a country in northern Europe. It shares a border with Sweden, Finland, Russia, the North Sea, and the Norwegian Sea. Norway is mainly mountains and high plateaus, split up by fertile valleys. The coastline has deep indentations called fjords. Western Norway, along the coast, is rainy with cool summers and mild winters. The eastern inland region of the country has less rain, warm summers, and very cold winters. Capital: Oslo Population: 5.4 million  Size: 149,000 square miles  Currency: Norwegian krone Type of Government: Parliamentary democracy/ constitutional monarchy  Flag: National Anthem:  Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet National Animal: Lion Famous Places and Monuments  Geirangerfjord- Fjords are narrow bodies of water off the ocean that extend deeply inland. They are usuall

Learning About Geologic History- Fossils

My daughters love dinosaurs and so do I, so when they requested to learn about them again this year, I happily agreed. Since we've already studied dinosaurs in past years though, I decided to approach it from a slightly different angle, and make an entire unit study on geologic history and prehistoric animals. I figure it's a good idea to give my kids an idea where dinosaurs fit into the geologic timeline and to learn about what came before and after them.  We ended up covering so many topics while doing our geologic history and prehistoric animal study that it was just too much to reasonably fit into a single post. I decided to break it up into 4  sub-topics: Fossils, The Paleozoic Era , The Mesozoic Era , and The Cenozoic Era . This one will focus on fossils . What is a Fossil? Fossils are the preserved remains or impressions of prehistoric organisms. The remains go through a process called fossilization. There are several different methods through which an organism can becom