Weekly Wrap-Up ~ March Break!

This week was March Break for the local school boards. I wasn't planning on taking the week off, but between the beautiful spring-like weather, the free ice skating, the library programs and all the neighbour kids coming over to play with my kids, I decided to just take the week off and enjoy it! We all took advantage of the fresh air, even our pets!

We all enjoyed this break from our regular routine.

We went ice skating.

We took advantage of $2 movies at our local theatre and saw The Voyage of the Dawn Trader (Narnia). All five of us! The treats we bought at the Bulk Barn cost more than the movie!!

We played board games together, Uno, Mouse Trap, and a new-to-us Artifact. I have found many great board games at the thrift store, this Artifact one was my latest find and my two oldest and I had a great time playing it.

We continued to follow and chart the progress of our selected mushers in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. We also continued our literature study with Black Star, Bright Dawn.

We also read a lot! Below you can our current books. Andre finished Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel today, Adrienne is reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (which I read a little while ago, can't wait to hear what she thinks about it!), I am reading Jane Eyre, and Celeste is reading with me Mia the Bridesmaid Fairy. I also have been reading aloud Peter and the Sword of Mercy from the Peter and the Starcatchers series.

A great and relaxing week! If you would like to read other homeschoolers wrap-up posts, you can visit the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.

Book Sharing Monday :: The Great Serum Race and Big Alaska

I am sharing with you two books today by author Debbie S. Miller, "The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail" and "Big Alaska: Journey Across America's Most Amazing State". Both titles are illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. We read both books as part of our current Iditarod study. They are wonderful non-fiction picture books that we all enjoyed and learned a lot from.

The Great Serum Race is a great book to learn about the original Iditarod tril and the race that twenty sled dog teams did to bring life-saving serum to the community of Nome in Alaska. We have read this picture book every year that we have followed the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The book explains the story behind the serum race and also has extra information at the back of the book about the serum run mushers, the heroic dogs, and the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

"The relay continued from musher to musher, roadhouse to roadhouse, with teams pushing west through the biting cold. At each relay point, the mushers warmed the serum over wood-fired stoves. Following the winding rivers, the teams covered an average of thirty miles each, at a speed of six or seven miles per hour."


Big Alaska is a gorgeous book! We really enjoyed reading about all the "big things" in that state, from the highest coastal mountains (St. Elias Mountains) to the Matanuska River Valley where some of the heaviest vegetables grow, to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An eagle is your guide on this voyage around Alaska.This book also mentioned the Iditarod which is the longest sled dog race in the world. There are Alaska facts at the back of the book, with all the state symbols and climate records. The author also added extra information about each of the places featured in the main part of the book. 

"Tucked in the forest, the eagle spots some cabins with yards full of sled dogs.  He roosts in a nearby spruce tree and watches a dog musher drive his team of huskies down the historic Iditarod trail."

  

If you would like to participate in Book Sharing Monday, please add the link to your book sharing post below. Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-Up ~ Another Birthday, Iditarod, and WWII

We had another great week here, even if it looks like winter is determined to stay! We celebrated another birthday on Wednesday so we took the day off.

Every morning, I work with Celeste while Andre and Adrienne complete their independent work. This week, Celeste asked to start again at the beginning in the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I think this would be a good idea since lately she seems to get confused with her vowel sounds. A review will be good. We started First Language Lessons this week too. The first lessons are all done orally and we'll take our time with it too.

She spent some time playing on the 1st Grade Jump Start this week, sometimes with Andre's help. You can see  both of them in the photo at the top.

We continued our Poetry Memorization and started a new poem "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In World Geography, the Trail Guide suggests a review before starting Asia. We had talked about it last week and had decided to take some time to look over our notebooks and Adrienne suggested we test ourselves with the maps. I photocopied blank maps for each continent we studied so far and we started this week with the maps for North America, the USA, Canada, and Central America. I participated too and the kids thought it was pretty funny that I remembered less than them!! We took some time colouring the maps, after we corrected any mistakes.

In Science, we learned about energy chains, energy resources (fossil fuels and renewable) and momentum this week. We used a few of the links suggested in the Usborne Science Encyclopedia. This one from BBC was a great review. We also played with a virtual Newton's Cradle and we also converted a town to renewable resources at this link.

In History, we are now studying World War II. On Monday, we read an interesting book about Pearl Harbour. "Attack on Pearl Harbour: The True Story of The Day America Entered World War II" is written by Shelley Tanaka. This book recounts the events of that day through the eyes of young people that were there. An eleven year boy, a young Japanese on an underwater attack mission, and an American sailor. There are many illustrations and actual photos throughout the book, as well as maps and diagrams.

We watched The Boy in Striped Pajamas. Out of all the World War II movies, this one is very different. It is seen from the young boy's point of view. He is the son of a german commandant at a concentration camp. It is a very moving film and you should preview it before showing it to your children. My two oldest watched it with me, but not Celeste. We talked after the movie and some of the discussion we had was inspired by questions I had seen on this site.  





We also watched the World War II in Colour documentary we found on this site. Adrienne and Andre took the quizzes and did some of the puzzles. We will revisit this site again next week. We are continuing our study of World War II for one more week.

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race started last weekend. We have been following this race since 2008. Each year, the kids picked their own musher to follow and keep track of their race statistics. This year, Andre chose Lance Mackey again (he's been picking him since our first year!), Celeste chose Kristy Berington, and Adrienne started off with Zoya DeNure but she scratched early on, so she chose Dee Dee Jonrowe and Michelle Phillips. We also do other activities related to this event every year, some years more than others. This year, we will be reading several picture books and one or two novels. I started reading aloud "Black Star, Bright Dawn". While I read, Adrienne and Andre were sculpting sled dogs out of clay.

We used the literature questions for Black Star, Bright Dawn (thanks Carol!) found here and here. I will be sharing a couple of the books that I read very soon on Book Sharing Monday. You can also see a selection of the books we are reading at the top of this blog in the librarything widget.

We watched a great documentary from the Discovery Channel about the Iditarod 2008. I was able to find this at our local library! It was really great to see the actual check points and listen to some of the mushers.

I hope you had a good week too! If you would like to read more wrap-up posts, visit the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.



Iditarod Update!

The Iditarod Race is now done! We kept track through the race of all our selected mushers. Here are the final results.

Adrienne had picked Zoya De Nure, and she scratched early on in the race, at Rainy Pass. Adrienne decided to not choose someone else and just follow along Celeste's pick and mine.

Andre had picked Lance Mackey again, and again he won! Andre was very pleased!
Lance Mackey finished the race in 8 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes with 11 dogs.

Celeste's choice was Celeste Davis. She was the Red Lantern by arriving last in the race. Celeste was still very happy about this and she showed a lot of interest during the race, wanting to fill in the log with all the information. Celeste Davis took 13 days, 5 hours, 6 mn to finish the race and had 9 dogs.

Michelle Phillips was my choice. She also was able to finish the race. It took her 10 days, 8 hours, 31 minutes. She had 11 dogs at the finish line and placed 27th.

We didn't do as many activities this year based on the Iditarod, but we did read a few picture books and followed the progress every day of our selected mushers.

2010 Iditarod

The 2010 Iditarod starts today! The sled dog race is in its 38th year and is over 1150 miles in Alaska. This is our 3rd year following the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska.

The children this year will be checking the progress of these mushers:

Adrienne chose Zoya De Nure # 5 ,
Andre is consistent with choosing Lance Mackey # 49,
Celeste is participating for the first time and chose Celeste Davis # 58
I also picked a musher, Michelle Phillips # 36.

There are many activities and ideas available online that are related to this race. Over the past two races, we have done a lapbook on sled dogs, did some Iditarod math, wrote biographies on our mushers, kept track on charts of their progess, and much more. We read books related to sled dogs, the original serum run, and Alaska. We even had an Iditarod celebration with our homeschool friends that also followed the race! You can visit my past posts on this blog : Iditarod 2008 and 2009 posts.
This year will be a little different for us, since we have a Siberian Husky at home now. We will be studying even more than before the stories of the dogs, how they are handled and what precautions are in place to keep them safe during the race.

Iditarod Update

All our chosen mushers have arrived in Nome. Here is a quick update for Iditarod 2009:

Andre's choice was Lance Mackey, and it was a good one since he won again! He finished the race in first in 9 days, 21 hours and 38 minutes with 15 dogs.

Adrienne had picked Jen Seavey. She finished the race in 43rd place, in 14 days, 1 hour and 47 minutes. She started with 16 dogs and finished with 14.

Lastly, Rachel Scdoris (my choice) finished in 45th place. She took 14 days, 10 hours and 8 minutes and arrived with 11 dogs.

With the kids in school this year, and a March break away from home, we didn't do as much activities, but we still enjoyed keeping track of each musher's progress through the race. We will follow it again next year!

Following the Iditarod Race

Celeste and Adrienne

February 2008 Barrie Winter Festival

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, usually just called the "Iditarod", is an annual sled dog race in Alaska, where mushers and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1,868 km) in eight to fifteen days from Willow to Nome. (explanation from Wikipedia)

We have picked our mushers, printed our race statistics sheets, and have our map of the Iditarod Trail handy. We are ready!
Most of the Iditarod printable worksheets can be found at the teacher's corner. We had used much more last year, but will be keeping it very simple this time around, with the kids being in school during the day.
Here are our chosen mushers for this year's race:

Adrienne chose Jen Seavey #61. She is a rookie and only 22 years old!

Andre is playing it safe with keeping his choice from last year, Lance Mackey #61, winner of last year's race and 2007's.

I am also choosing to keep the same musher, Rachael Scdoris # 58.

Here are a few more links:

The Official Iditarod Site

Official rules of the Iditarod race

Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel
Rachael Scdoris website
Our posts on the Iditarod, last year's mostly for now!
Our homeschool friends did wonderful projects during the Iditarod, read her posts here.

Over the next ten days or so, we will keep track of each of our mushers' progress on the trail, and I will add more information as we go along.

Once upon a time, we had our own siberian husky, Naomi

Book Sharing Monday

Today's book is called Wind-Wild Dog written by Barbara Joosse and illustrated by Kate Kiesler. It is the story of Ziva, a husky puppy and her training as a sled dog. I chose this book to start our month long theme of the Iditarod.
The Iditarod is a sled dog race in Alaska, which starts March 7. You can read more about it on the official site of the race.

Here is a small part of this beautiful picture book, along with an extra photo showing an inside page:

"The Man's food was regular, morning and night. His hand was gentle, never mean. Now when he came through the door, Ziva yapped until he set her free. Then she shadowed his boot steps. She wanted to be close."

Last Update on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Rachael Scdoris, wearing bib # 55, scratched from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Koyuk on March 13. I haven't been able to find out the reasons for it, but here is an article from Anchorage Daily News.
Zoya DeNure completed the race in 12 days, 1 hour, 57 mn and 35 sec. She arrived in Nome on March 14 with 11 dogs left. Here is a link from her website.

We are now officially finished with our Iditarod Study and we all had a great time doing it. We are looking forward to following this race next year!

Iditarod Race Celebration

We had a small celebration yesterday with our friends that also followed the Iditarod Race. We decorated cakes with marshmallows to look like igloos! I also had made some Iditarod Puppy Chow Mix. It was very simple to make, and quite addictive to eat!

Here is the recipe:

Iditarod Puppy Chow
2 small bags of white chocolate chips

2 bags of Bits and Bites snack (I used 1 Original Bits & Bites and 1 Honey Nut Crunch Cheerios Snack Mix)
1 handful crushed pretzels
1 cup of peanuts

Line a cookie sheet with foil or wax paper and spray with cooking spray.
Mix dry ingredients
Melt white chocolate chips in microwave, or on the stove top slowly

Pour chocolate over dry mix and combine
Spread in the prepared pan
Let is set, when hard and cooled, break into chunks.

Lance Mackey Wins the Iditarod!

Dragon's musher Lance Mackey won the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race for the second time. He arrived in Nome, Alaska early today at 2:46am. He took a total of 9 days, 11hrs, 46 mn and 48 seconds to complete the 1150 mile race. You can see pictures from the finish line at the official Iditarod site, here. I also just read that Lance is not planning on resting yet, he is running the 400-miles All Alaska Sweepstakes in a week and a half! We will all follow that race, especially Dragon. It starts March 26, 2008. Here is the website.

We are still tracking our 3 other mushers, Martin Buser (Dad's choice), Zoya DeNure (Fairy's) and Rachael Scdoris (mine). All 3 are still in the race.

* Update: Martin Buser did arrive in Nome on March 12 at 10:11 am, in 5th place.
Fairy's musher is still racing as of March 14, Zoya DeNure is currently in 55th place at the White Mountain checkpoint, and Rachael Scdoris is in 62nd place at the Koyuk checkpoint.

Sled Dog Lapbook

Here are the pictures of the sled dog lapbook!

Can you say "busy"?!

We have had a busy week here...first, some major decisions had to be made by Dad regarding a transfer with his work. He decided to accept a job offer that will move us four hours west of our current home. It is a good move for our family, but of course we will all be sad to leave behind family and homeschool friends. We will move to an area that has a lot of my extended family, who are all excited to have us closer!


This week was our Iditarod week! Since my last post on Tuesday, we completed more Iditarod Math worksheets, continued tracking our mushers' progress (Go Lance Go, # 1 at Ruby!) and finished our biographies. Fairy and I also finished our sled dog lapbook this morning. What a fun way to learn about these great dogs! We followed the instructions from an "In the Hands of a Child Project Pack" that can be found here.


This week was also the end of the kids' community centre classes. Princess was supposed to have her last class of Ballet on Wednesday morning. We walk to the centre as usual and discovered that it was cancelled because of the snow storm...Princess still made the best of it by playing in the snow on the way back home!





On Thursday, Fairy and Dragon had their last basketball class. Their Nana came to play with them and they all had a great time! The photos are a bit blurry, because I was behind the glass wall and they are action shots!





Finally today, after finishing our lapbook, we headed over to our friends for some more Iditarod fun! We did an experiment that involved lard, ice water and ziplock bags. I had wanted to do this one with Fairy and Dragon, so it was perfect and much more fun with friends too! It can be called the Blubber Experiment and demonstrates how the layer of fat called blubber that certain Arctic animals (polar bears, whales, seals) have actually help keep them warm. It was fun and educational! Even Princess participated. You can read about this experiment here.







I have pictures of our completed sled dog lapbook that I will post separately.
Once we were finished with our experiment, the girls decided to dress up...This is my favourite pictures from today...

Getting to know our mushers

After finishing our second Math Iditarod worksheet, we worked this morning on our mushers' biographies, gathering information from the Internet. On Thursday and Friday, we will be writing our biographies. I say we, because I am actually doing this along with Fairy and Dragon! It has been fun to read about each of our chosen racers. Below are some links for each person.

Fairy is cheering for Zoya DeNure bib #89 (as of Rainy Pass checkpoint in 82nd). She used to be a professional fashion model and now owns Crazy Dog Kennel . Zoya also has a blog "Zoya's Kennel Journal", which has updates and pictures.

Dragon is keeping track of Lance Mackey bib #6 (as of Rohn checkpoint in 1st, yeah!). He is a cancer survivor, and 4 times Yukon Quest winner (another dog sled race). Last year, he won the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod. He owns the Comeback Kennel . The site also has pictures from the race.

My pick is Rachael Scdoris bib #55 (as of Rainy Pass checkpoint in 85th). She is legally blind and running this race, which I think is just amazing!

Daddy's choice is Martin Buser bib #13 (as of Rohn checkpoint in 13th). His kennel is Happy Trails Kennel and he has won the Iditarod 4 times! His son, Rohn is also competing this year.

I have added links on the left side of my blog "Iditarod Links". These are the sites we use to get current standings and photos from the race.

The Iditarod Week

The race is on and I have decided to turn this week into a "Unit Study" week for our homeschool. Everything we do will have an Iditarod theme!

We started today with some Iditarod Math problems. Fairy and Dragon practised addition, subtraction, multiplication and clock skills while solving problems related to the Jr. Iditarod. Every day we will do a new series of these Iditarod Math problems.

We logged in our race statistics and looked up their location on the map. We also compared the time spent at the checkpoint for each of our mushers.

Here are our choices:

Fairy picked Zoya DeNure #89

Dragon chose Lance Mackey #6

Daddy picked Martin Buser #13

and Mom chose Rachael Scdoris #55.

We will gather information on each of these mushers over the next two days, then put together a biography for each by the end of the week. Each has a very interesting and unique story!

I have planned a few other activities as well, and will add some more links and information about our chosen mushers...so I hope you come and visit again!

Sled Dogs!

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts this weekend and we have been working on our sled dog lapbook this past week. We have also picked each a musher (even Dad did!) and watched a beautiful video on the Iditarod . If you visit the Iditarod site I have linked, look for the Free 18 minute "2008 Iditarod Preview". We are planning on following the race on the internet, and we will use a Daily Race Statistics chart (found here) to keep track of each musher's progress.

Here are some pictures of our lapbook so far...I will post more pictures when we are finished as well.