All Those Secrets of the World

Last week we began a story called All Those Secrets of the World by Jane Yolen. It's the story of a little girl whose father goes off to war. She and her family watch the ships leave the dock in Newport News, VA to go across the sea.

Our lapbook cover and the ration book we are going to use this week

The setting is Virginia of course!

So, of course we need to re-visit the Virginia state bird and flower...sometimes I miss Virginia! We lived there for the first four years of our marriage.

We've been studying some "famous" animals of the Chesapeake Bay...which undoubtedly must include the blue crab!! In case you haven't heard, they have filed for federal disaster relief for the blue crab industry- no more Maryland crab cakes for a bit. Although our story setting is VA, this native Marylander(I mean really native...I graduated from college and graduate school in Maryland institutions and taught in a Maryland school system in addition to growing up there of course!) has been focusing on Maryland's Bay! What can I say??

Today the kids set up this nice little Chesapeake Bay scene- throughout the book the theme is how large objects look small when they are far away and vice versa upon the father's return. Here the kids wanted to show the boats are smaller because they are far away. Hey Grandma...recognize the Bay Bridge? I realize that it's missing some suspension components.

We'll be finishing up this week with some art work on horizons and the effects of oil spills on the surrounding ecology. Besides the rationing book, we're going to watch the Sound of Music with the kids- hey it has Nazis in it, right?

We could do more, but somehow there is an air of "hurry up and finish" since the ants came to stay with us. Truman's Ant Farm awaits!