Fall is in full swing. The leaves are starting to change colour, the days are getting shorter, and Thanksgiving has arrived. (Canadian Thanksgiving, for those who are wondering.) In honour of my second favourite holiday (the first being Christmas, of course), we decided to study Cranberry Thanksgiving this week.
I found a YouTube clip of the book, which actually worked out well since I ended up getting a sore throat so it was nice to have the break from reading out loud. =)
Bible
Our memory verse this week was, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” (1 Chronicles 16:34). I found a printable colouring page in a Tot Pack from Our Little Monkeys (available here).
We talked about what it means to give thanks and then made a list of things for which we’re thankful.
Social Studies
We watched this great little documentary on cranberry harvesting. The girls thought it was fascinating. Later, we made our own “cranberry bog”.
Even my youngest got in on the fun. We used the berries we “harvested” to make orange-spiced cranberry sauce. Delicious!
Language Arts
We mostly followed our regular handwriting and phonics curriculum this week (Handwriting Without Tears and Explode the Code), although there were a few language arts activities included in the Our Little Monkeys Tot Pack.
Math
We stuck to our regular math curriculum (Horizons Math) this week.
Art
The girls made Thanksgiving wreaths out of pheasant feathers we had on hand, as well as leaves, acorns and pine cones that they collected while hiking.
The wreaths are a perfect decoration for Thanksgiving.
Science
A fall hike just before Thanksgiving is a must, of course.
We also went on a field trip with our homeschool group to a pumpkin farm to learn all about how pumpkins grow. We had a lot of fun. There was a play area, a wagon ride, a puppet show and lots of age-appropriate information. And each child got a small pumpkin to take home.
We’ll be roasting pumpkins and making pies and salted pumpkin seed snacks this weekend. We’ll bring the pies and our homemade cranberry sauce to my in-laws’ house for our Thanksgiving feast. Can’t wait!
To all my fellow Canadians, happy Thanksgiving!
The Grace-Filled Life 