Out of Africa

So, it's been a busy week for us this week.

It was our Geography Club on Wednesday, so DS & DD were busy with their projects.  At the request of several children (in our suggestions box) we were doing the entire continent of Africa this month!   DD decided to do a project on lions in The Savannah - and did some research in to their declining numbers and why their population has been severely depleted in the last 50 years.  Then she made a 3D scene of a lioness hunting -

DS decided he wanted to find out more about the island of Madagascar.  His research led him to the island of Nosy Manitra (The Scented Island) and he settled on doing a project on one of it's volcanoes Nosy Be (pronounced Nossi Bei) -

This month he actually stood up and read out his facts, which was lovely to see as it shows he has grown in confidence with his reading ❤❤❤

We also made food for our Food Tasting table.  There was such a huge wealth of choice this month - given we were covering a whole continent!  We settled on 3 dishes - Mozambique Lemon Chilli Rice (delicious!), Ethiopian Cabbage Dish (gorgeous) and Cornmeal Christmas Wreaths (fiddly but worth it 😏 )  -

Mozambique Lemon Chilli Rice. Find recipe here -  http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/mozambique-lemon-chilli-rice.html

Ethiopian Cabbage Dish.  Find recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/152937/ethiopian-cabbage-dish/

Christmas Wreaths. Find recipe here - http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/cornmeal-wreaths.html

We had a lovely group session with such a range of learning - it's so great to have so many Home Educated kids come together and share what has inspired them that month.  I love the variety and the encouragement the kids give one another.

Besides Food Tasting, we had colouring, crafts -

Find instructions here - http://krokotak.com/2015/11/paper-giraffes-so-easy-to-make/

And we had a group activity for the first time, rather than worksheets, for the kids to make an A-Z of Africa.  This proved really popular and most of the children (and parents) dipped in and out of the activity, adding their input.  It was a really great way to draw together and reinforce all the learning -

DS can struggle a lot with Geography Club, due to the noise in the hall and numbers of people, but his projects have been going from strength to strength and he is gaining confidence month on month, so I have persevered.  We have a really lovely group of regulars now who are such a pleasure to meet and learn with.  He really considers them all his friends and said this week was his Best Geography Club ever!  It was the first time he actually sat and did the craft (through to completion).  He also joined in with the A-Z activity, looked through the projects on the Sharing Table and loved seeing some real African carvings one family had brought in.

There's lots more news from our week, but given DD has her bestie over tonight for a wake-over (officially known as a sleep-over but not sure any actual sleeping will get done 😄😄 ) so I'll sign off for now xxx