How we Homeschool: Japan

I am way behind on posts about homeschool...haven't quite figured out how to fit it into our schedule to write about all we are learning!  Rather than start where I left off, I'll start where we ARE and fill in the gaps as I can.  :/

We just finished studying Japan, and the kids enjoyed it more than I expected.  We read a book by Carole Marsh about Japan, called The Mystery at M. Fuji.  She has books about places all over the world, and they are good, clean, wholesome mysteries about two kids who travel with their grandparents all over the world and encounter mysteries everywhere they go.  There is a surprising amount of history and factual information included in these books!  We learned about sushi, sumo, Mt. Fuji, samurai, origami, etc., all in one book!

In addition to learning basic facts about modern and feudal Japan, we did the following projects:

Origami - I have a love/hate relationship with the stuff!  It is so cute, but I am not very good at it.  :)  We made several fun paper foldings.

Cherry blossom art - the kids painted several pictures of the famous flowers.

"Fans" of Japan - The kids decorated fans with what they had learned about the country.

Japanese dinner

Japanese cheesecake
Fake sushi (cooked rice, meat, and veggies) wrapped in seaweed....YUCK.  My daughter LOVED it, but not so much for the rest of us!!
Chopsticks, of course!
Stir fry veggies
Teriyaki chicken and pan-grilled fish
Lots and lots of white rice!

Bible ABC book!

I am SOOO excited about this Bible ABC book!! I made it for the sweet boy I babysit for regularly, and it actually turned out mostly the way it was in my head!!  Enjoy! :)

Bible book summaries

A month or so ago I asked on Facebook if any friends had good pages I could use for my kids to write summaries of the books of the Bible.  I got a resounding "no," so I set out to make some!  I have finally finished the Old Testament ones, so I'm posting pics here of some of the ones my daughter had completed by the end of last week.  The rhyming summaries we are using come from http://handsonbibleteacher.blogspot.com/  and are available for purchase in a nice bound booklet!  I have never met this lady, but she is an amazing inspiration for me as a Bible class teacher!!   I am happy to share my pages, but for the summaries you would need to contact her. :)  My kids have started singing the summaries to the military "sound off" chant, and it works very well!!