Learning: Beach Style

View from the parking lot of the Astoria Column

After visiting the Maritime Museum we drove up the hill to the Astoria Column. It was gorgeous day to enjoy the view- in years past we haven't had a clear day. Lily, Gabe and Grandpa climbed all 164 steps to the top while John and I enjoyed the view from the lawn.

Flying a kite

Playing catch

Letters in the sand

Flying a kite

Fort Clatsop

Lily with Sacagawea

Traditional Clatsop dugout canoe

Lily finding all the specimens for Plant Bingo along the Lewis & Clark River

John working on his word find back at the Visitor Center

Lily and John trying on the authentic explorer clothing

We spent the morning at Fort Clatsop, just minutes from Seaside, learning about the winter that Lewis and Clark spent on the Pacific Ocean.  It was fascinating to the kids that the Oregon coast has elk just like the Kootenays.  And in fact, Lewis and Clark choose to make camp on the south side of the Columbia for that very reason.  We actually saw a herd of elk on our way home from visiting the fort.
The State Parks have a wonderful Junior Ranger program which we finally took part in on this outing.  They each had to complete a certain amount of activities in a workbook specific to the State Park (see John & Lily above) and visit at least two historic sites.  At the end of our visit the Ranger checked their work, filled out a certificate for each of them, and administered an oath.  They each received a badge, a stripe with the level they completed and a ranger pin.  Awesome!
While at the Visitor Center we watched a wonderful video made by the Clatsop people about the arrival of the explorers, Lewis & Clark's winter at the Fort, and the experience of the Clatsop people in relation to all of this.  It was very interesting to have the familiar story told from the Native perspective.

Columbia River Maritime Museum

We visited a fantastic museum this morning that chronicles the history of the Columbia River: its discovery by Europeans, traditions of Native tribes living along its shores, naval history and fishing/commercial history.  We watched a video at the museum which highlighted the changes on the Columbia from a hundred years ago to now with the addition of dams. The video also documented the expertise needed to navigate the river and the bar; each requires specialized training and only a handful of men are qualified bar pilots.  We also got to tour the Lightship Columbia which was anchored 5 miles off the mouth of the river until 1970 because the coast along the Oregon side is not suitable for building a lighthouse.

May 6-11

Game of ball and tag combined before the exam.

Exam.

Gabe completed his first year of Judo and earned his yellow belt tonight.  We are so proud of him!  Judo was a huge learning experience for him.  He naturally excels at the athletic aspect of Judo, quickly and easily mastering the moves he's taught.  He also thrived with the ritualistic aspects of Judo: bowing when entering, bowing to instructor and fellow students, folding the kimono, and tying the belt.  The most difficult part of his lessons came with the other students.  He was frustrated with the lack of attention and focus some of the younger boys displayed and after 4 months was given the opportunity to join the older class.  The older students were much more focused (though many of them still struggled) and Gabe met a slightly older boy who partnered with him most of the time.  This boy helped Gabe to learn new moves, correcting his mistakes patiently.

End of April!

We began our new science unit: Diversity of Life/Animal Growth and Changes.  Lily studied plants cells in depth our first week of study, reading about cells, drawing diagrams, memorizing parts and making and examining her own slides.  She also compared plant and animals cells.  The boys enjoyed looking at the slides and Gabe drew what he observed. John is spontaneously observing nature, especially birds and following up with finding coloring pages and asking us to read to him about the birds he sees. 

Gabe and John are both making steady progress with their reading and spelling. John has decided that he wants to be a writer when he grows up and has been asking lots of questions regarding this.

We finished our study of Ancient Greece with a Greek dinner and even sang our usual hymn in Greek.  John loves the Greek version and is now asking us to sing it in Roman.  We've started reading about the Ancient Roman Empire and Lily has been doing independent reading.  She especially enjoyed Rotten Romans and would read passage aloud that especially caught her interest.

We bought a new book for Fine Arts: Story of the Orchestra which has been lots of fun.  It includes a CD which relates to specific pages.  As an instrument catches someone's interest we read about it and then listen to the appropriate track.

The usual math, physical education and piano studies continue.