India

This week we learned about the colorful country of India.  Trenton enjoyed learning about the celebration of Diwali, or Festival of Lights.  He made his own Rangoli designs and drew Henna designs on paper hands and feet.  We studied the land, cultures, capital New Delhi, and colored a flag and map of India.  We read about the Taj Mahal and colored a picture of it.  For our themed meal we visited an Indian restaurant and enjoyed the buffet.  Trenton tried Butter Naan, Aloo Mattar, Tandoori chicken, chicken biryani, Zeera Ke Chawal, Coconut curry chicken, Raita, Mango Lassi to drink, and Mango ice-cream for dessert.  The Tandoori chicken and Mango ice cream were his favorites.

GREECE

Finally we are in Greece, just in time before the Summer Olympics begin!  This week, we've read about the first Olympics and ancient Greece.  Trenton received a Spartan soldier uniform from his grandfather and has had fun acting out battle scenes.  We studied about the land, culture, capital, and flag.  We explored ancient Greek mythology a bit and did a Greek language word search.  Trenton enjoyed that.  For our meal, we dined on bread with olive oil/feta dip, Greek salad, Greek shrimp scampi, Pastitso, a taste of fish chowder, and Ekmek for dessert.  Everything was a hit!

JAPAN

Our summer travels now take us to Japan!  We've been to the library and read about the land and the culture.  We learned about the capital and made the flag.  Trenton played with a traditional Japanese toy and tried on some traditional Japanese clothes.  Thanks to YouTube we listed to the Japanese language and Trenton learned a few words.  For our meal, we experienced a Hibachi restaurant.  Trenton liked the soup and chicken.  He wasn't too thrilled with the fire tricks on the Hibachi grill.

GERMANY

We had such a fun week!!  Our family traveled to Helen, GA - a Bavarian town nestled in some little mountains.  We toured a miniature replica of Germany, dined on German food, listed to German music.  Trenton enjoyed the spatzel, wiener schnitzel, pretzel dumplings, and a German noodle soup.  The apple strudel was probably his favorite though.  Activities included reading about the country, studying the geography, learning the capital, and creating a flag.

CHINA

We've had an exciting week in China!  This week we learned some words in Chinese, read about the culture, sights, and geography from library books, created a flag, colored a map and learned where the capital city of Beijing is located, read about The Great Wall, decorated with lanterns, and created a few crafts.  Our themed meal took place at a Chinese buffet so Trenton could experiment with a variety of options.  His favorites were any sweet meat (General chicken, and honey chicken), noodles, white rice, and egg drop soup.  He tried using chopsticks but quickly gave up.



Passport Entry

This week we headed to Mexico.  We learned about Cinco de Mayo and Day of the Dead.  Trenton celebrated his own ancestors and visited the cemetery for some tombstone rubbings.  He also built some tombs out of Lego bricks.  We created some papel picado (pierced paper) flags and decorated the house with them.  We read about Mexico's geography and culture from library books.  Other crafts included pipe cleaner iguanas, popsicle stick butterflies, and flag/map coloring.  We watched YouTube videos on the Spanish language, completed a word search, and enjoyed a Mexican meal.  Trenton tried cheese quesadilla, bean enchilada, and a bean burrito.  He also enjoyed aqua de horchata.

FRANCE

ITALY

We have embarked on our globetrotting adventures! Our summer passport is in hand and we're starting in Italy.


What a fun week! First we created our own passport so we can travel to these exciting locations.



At the end of the week, we stamp it and add some of the tidbits we learned to the page.



This week we have listened to the Italian language, learned a few vocabulary words, counted to 10, made an Italian flag, colored a map of Italy and learned about its geography, completed a word search, read some books on Italy from the library, studied about Pisa, Venice, Tuscany, Rome, Vatican City,  famous artists, and food!  We dined on Italian one night.  Trenton sampled salad, chicken parmesan, fettucini alfredo, lasagna, ravioli, soup with gnocchi, and zeppoli for dessert (his favorite).  And, with Trenton's grandparents currently in Italy, we hope to continue our studies once they return.

In addition to our global adventures, Trenton started his new workbook, wrote in his journal, built a variety of things with Lego, watched BrainPop daily, worked on spelling, and is halfway through his summer reading programs.  Sounds like one busy week, but with school being out, this barely kept him entertained.  It is going to be an interesting summer!