Piecing Together Africa

It's been nearly a month since Tessa finished up Evan-Moor Beginning Geography, so we have been putting together our GeoPuzzle continent puzzles ever now and then since we have the time. It's a fun way to sneak in a little review. Today's puzzle was GeoPuzzle Africa and the Middle East.

Tessa began by separating the outside pieces from the inside ones. She subdivided the African countries into colors as well.

Just a little left! Tessa's favorite pieces are the ones with boats on them. She names all of the boats that look like cruise ships Nieuw Amsterdam after the ship we sailed on during our last cruise.

One thing we really like about GeoPuzzle is that nearly every country gets its own puzzle piece. Tessa thought it was funny when she got to the country of Chad. My brother-in-law's name is Chad. She thought maybe he was born there.

Enjoying the Final Lazy Days of Summer

Tessa completed Beginning Geography this week. (Excellent resource, by the way. A favorite for sure!) That just leaves Hooked on Phonics and Singapore Math for the rest of summer. Tessa has requested more art, so we'll be doing a little of that too since we have the time. Gymnastics start next week.

We have a vacation planned for mid-September, so we will start our fall schedule a little later than most. Until then, we plan to take it easy and enjoy the final lazy days of summer. Well, Tessa does anyway, I'm still fine-tuning lesson plans for fall.

Today, Tessa gathered "food" and built homes for the critters from her Safari Ltd. North American Wildlife Toob.

It's always fun to see what Tessa comes up with. I thought the big pile of mulch, grass and who knows what else on the lower left was a beaver dam. No, it's food for the raccoon, her favorite animal from this Toob.

Tessa put her critters to work. The moose has the biggest antlers, so he gets the biggest stick.

Summer School Winding Down

I can hardly believe summer school is already winding down. Our September vacation to Florida is just around the corner. It's difficult not to wish it to come soon, as that would mean ushering in fall too. We definitely don't want that!

Tessa finished up both Lollipop Logic, Book 1 and Evan-Moor Everyday Literacy: Science, Grade 1 this week. She is totally bummed...to the point of crying about it. Luckily, we still have 3-4 weeks of Evan-Moor Beginning Geography left. That should tide her over until we embark on many new journeys this fall. We are still plugging away at Hooked on Phonics and Singapore Math.

Lollipop Logic & Evan-Moor Beginning Geography

After finishing up our regular school year, we picked up a couple of fun electives for the summer.

The first couple of chapters of Lollipop Logic: Book 1 have been quite tame. I'm curious to see how Tessa will do with some of the more challenging material later on in the book.

I'm glad we were able to squeeze in Evan-Moor Beginning Geography this summer. Tessa has really impressed me with how well she has done with it so far. We will be using History Odyssey: Ancients, Level 1 by Pandia Press this fall. My hope is the skills she's learning now will greatly benefit her then. History Odyssey requires weekly map work.