Plans: Cycle 1 - Week 20

Mexico!

History
* Read SOTW3: Ch. 35 - Mexican Independence.
* Read SOTW4: Ch. 20 - Mexican Revolution.
* Color these Mexican coloring pages while I read aloud.
* Color the Mexican flag. I'm not a member of Enchanted Learning, but the page has some good information about the flag.
* Read some books:

* I won't show this to Mary yet (too young), but if you would like to learn more about Pancho Villa, you can watch the Biography episode of his life on Hulu for free by clicking here. 

* Want to learn ten interesting facts about Pancho Villa that you might not know? Check out this page. 

* If you really want to go all-out for this week's History, you can surprise your little ones with their very own Zapata doll (I kid you not):

He's even on sale, y'all! You know you want a cute and cuddly Revolutionary. It's okay to like him, really. ;)

Geography
* I printed page 23 of this lesson plan, and I'll have Mary color it while I read. It's a very basic, quick, and child-friendly map of Mexico, which will be just right for her.
* This sombrero craft looks fun! Mary loves to paint, so this should be great:

If we actually do this, I'll have to post a picture. I'm sure our sombrero won't be as nice and tidy as this one!

* If you'd like to try your hand at creating a Mexico lapbook, Homeschool Share has a good one available for free.

* And if you need more ideas, check out what Walking by the Way did when they studied Mexico! 

Warning: If you tend to compare yourself to other moms and then feel horrible that you're not as super and creative as others, you may want to skip this link. This is a fabulous way to learn about Mexico, and the mama did a great job making it fun and interesting for her kids, but don't compare yourself to her. I used to feel horrible after looking at others' plans, but not so much anymore. Moms and kids are different, and God knew that I was the perfect mom with just the right temperament and creativity for MY family. What works for one family will crash-and-burn for the next. So, get ideas, get inspired and motivated - but just don't get discouraged. That's my little pep talk. ;)

* Of course, we'll have to enjoy some Mexican food this week!

* And I would LOVE to make our own pinata! Seeing this just brings back memories of my 11th birthday party. Good times, good times. . .

Will we really do this? Ehh, probably not. But any excuse to bust open one of these babies should be seriously considered. I mean, this is educational, right? ;)

Math

* Who can resist some pizza math?!

Click here to get the worksheet. You will have to have an Education.com membership, but it's free, and I still don't get any spam from them (fingers crossed!). If your child prefers cookies, try this worksheet instead.

Science
* Watch this quick video from NASA about atmospheric pressure. Thanks, Kathy, for sharing this with me!
* Sola Gratia Mom is just rockin' it each and every week, y'all! We'll definitely copy her craft to help us learn about the layers of the atmosphere:

Isn't that awesome!

* We'll watch this video on the atmosphere from National Geographic on Youtube. It's pretty quick at just under five minutes, and the sky diver at the end is really cool!

* Kid's Geo has some good information, as well, on the layers of the atmosphere.

* Crecia at CCing it one day at a time has some GREAT video links for this week; I know we'll watch 'em!

Fine Arts

* We'll listen to this great audio on Handel:

* Brandy at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood has an incredible list of resources for studying the orchestra and famous composers. We'll be using a lot of her suggestions, like her awesome listening guide/flow chart and the Water Music activity page.

Christian Missionary/Hero

* This week we'll learn about Cameron Townsend, a missionary to Mexico.

UPDATE: Want to see what we really did this week? Click here!

This post is being submitted to Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood's Cycle 1 Weekly Link-Up.