Obviously, I'm not very good at making use of this space! :)
Meanwhile, here's a few notes on what we have coming up.
Step 1's birthday is this week, and Junie B. is planning a Hawaiian Luau for her (When Junie B. asked Step 1 what she wanted for her birthday, Step 1 said jokingly, "At trip to Hawaii." Armed with this knowledge, Junie B.'s wheels started turning, and the next thing you know....)
Anyway, this means we're opening up a new focus--"All About Hawaii!"
I think this will be a lot of fun. Our resources are somewhat limited, but so far, we expect to:
- Have a fun party next week, featuring Step 1's favorite dish, Pork Bulgogi (a spicy Korean barbecue dish that happens to also be popular in Hawaii, as it turns out!) We'll also have a tropical fruit sampler, and, if there's time to get one, a Chocolate Fondue Fountain "volcano." On the side, we'll be having our version of Colcannnon (another Step 1 favorite, an Irish blend of mashed potatoes and cabbage, to which we add plenty of onions and crisply-fried bacon--mmm!) For dessert, we will try...for the third year in a row...to successfully remove from the cake pan a chocolate praline cake (last year we made it into a triffle, and the year before, Step 1 happily attacked it with a fork straight from the pan. I am not terribly confident of success here!) (Guess our luau will be somewhat eclectic, huh?) I expect we'll also have a tossed salad--maybe toss in some macadamia nuts! We'll be doing it up big with leis and grass skirts and a goofy plane ride and surf board thing. This will actually be a lot of fun for all of us, and Junie B. is especially excited!
- We're on the lookout for some good resources--so far we have a book that does a nice job introducing the theme of culture and tradition (Luka's Quilt), and another that plays scientific explanations of the origin of volcanos and the Hawaiian Islands alongside traditional legends about the goddess Pele (Dear Katie, The Volcano Is a Girl). We also have general introductions to Hawaiian history, but what I really want are great picture book stories. There's also a book I have on order from Interlibrary Loan, The Island Below the Star, for which there is a homeschoolshare unit study--I haven't had a chance to look at it in detail yet, but if it's anything like the other unit studies from this site, I won't be disappointed.
- In addition, we'll be learning about Bl. Damien of Molokai, and Bl. Marianne Cope--I've got a book on Br. Damien on order from the Library, too--Fr. Damien, the Man Who Lived and Died for the Victims of Leprosy; and one on order from Amazon, Brother Dutton of Molokai--a Catholic Treasury book describing the work of both Br. Dutton and Fr. Damien. I've been checking out the Wikipedia entry on Mother Marianne Cope as a starting point, and hopefully will be able to locate some resources from there.
- And, of course, VOLCANOS! This will be tons of fun, I'm really looking forward to this! (This will be one area of study that will also capture the imagination of the little boys, too, and that's always a major bonus!) I've got a couple of videos on order from ILL that I hope will be fun to watch, too.
- There's also Pearl Harbor, foods and plants of Hawaii, climate and weather studies and more--we'll see how far we get!
In the course of beginning the search for resources, I also received wonderful offers from two other homeschooling moms, one who lives in Hawaii now and one who lived there in the past. I'm so excited at their generous offers of book lists, pictures and nature items, I can't wait! It made us start thinking of what we'd offer if someone were wanting to learn about our area...and I'm thinking that will fast become yet another fun rabbit trail to explore!
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