Our Own Lewis & Clark Expedition
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 6:36PM
What fun we've had learning about The Lewis and Clark Expedition!
One of my daughter's books for this study is from Sonlight's Core 3: The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard Neuberger. I love the straight-forward style of the book, and the way it just speaks to both of my children. After the first couple of chapters my daughter remarked how it would be fun to have been on an expedition like Lewis & Clarke's.... which is when a light bulb went off for me.
I had ordered a book over the summer which which was highly recommended - Little Hands Celebrate America. I can see now why it got such rave reviews! It is full of fun, easy crafts which help teach about American history. One of them is a field journal made out of a brown paper grocery bag and yarn. How easy is that? The book also gives a short and sweet explanation of that time period in history - in this case, The Lewis & Clark Expedition. So, after a couple days of reading about Lewis & Clark we decided to put ourselves in their shoes and set off on our own expedition at a local lake.
Both my nine and five year olds made field logs, and I told them we were to name things like we were seeing them for the first time EVER..... just like Lewis & Clark had named the Rocky Mountains, numerous rivers, the grizzly bear, etc, etc.... I had no idea how much this little project would speak to my children. When we first arrived at the lake and sat down to eat lunch, this glorious bug was sitting on the picnic table.... my daughter dubbed it the "green leaf bug" and drew it in her journal.
Over the next couple of hours the children stopped at many different places and sketched or wrote about what they saw. I loved how this served as a creative writing activity!
We saw many "brown devils" hopping from tree to tree and running on the path in front of us.
Here's my Kindergartner hard at work on his field journal:
As we walked we talked about what it must have been like to lug our supplies over so many miles, through hostile and unknown terrain. We thought how utterly amazing it must have been to discover the Rocky Mountains.
My son shared what he knew about Sacajawea (we've been reading a little book at his level to go along with our study). We also just enjoyed a gorgeous day, as fall is finally starting to make itself known in our neck of the woods.
All in all -- a great day, and hopefully a memorable activity for all of us!
*You might enjoy reading A Prairie Dog For The President to supplement this expedition!
Reader Comments (9)
What a great activity! This is what I love about homeschooling!
This is what I wanted my daughter to do today after a walk in the woods, but even though she loves to draw she wasn't to interested in it there or later at home. We're still figuring it all out though.
Melodie - sometimes my children are like that. I can suggest what I think is a fun and wonderful activity and they show no interest in it. We are still figuring it all out, too .... while I'm not an unschooler, I can see the value in letting your child take the lead in certain aspects of their education - especially if they are strong-willed like one of mine!
Love this, looks like so much fun.
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April
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Thanks and have a great weekend!
What a fun and meaningful way to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon!
What a fun expedition! We do a lot of nature journaling, but I bet my kids would love also coming up with names for things they've never seen before. Thanks for the great idea!