First Day of School ~ 2012

Out for breakfast per our tradition!  We almost didn't go because we ate out every night for dinner on the drive home from vacation, but tradition rates up there pretty high.

This year we are studying Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace, the 19th century.  We talked about all the different things we would learn about...beginning with the presidency of John Adams, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, pioneers and settlers moving west, states being added to the union, wars with Indians, the slavery issue, the Civil War, reconstruction, and ending with the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt!  Wow!!  So much happened in those 100 years.

For our cookie dough maps this year we made the shape of the Louisiana Purchase.  A few of the children also added the Oregon Territory to their cookie so they could trace the entire route taken by Lewis and Clark on their journey to the Pacific Ocean.  The kids all taped a piece of wax paper over their paper maps, and then made the cookie shapes directly on the wax paper.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking....."

Adding chocolate chip mountains, and green (for the grass) and gold (for the dry areas) sprinkles for the great plains.  Having just driven across much of the Louisiana Purchase, we could attest to its vast green and brown areas!

I then transferred the wax paper to cookie sheets and baked the cookies at 300 degrees for about 12 minutes.  After baking we traced the route taken by Lewis and Clark with blue icing.  Then we ate them!!

Daughter G (age 15) with her finished cookie map.

Little Man, age 7.

Son G, age 13.

Son L, age 12.

Son C, age 10.

While the cookies were baking we decorated new covers for our history notebooks.  This is son G's cover: Lewis and Clark surveying the Rocky Mountains.

Son L drew some dynamite blasting through a Year 3 "mountain" to make the transcontinental railroad.

Little Man also drew Lewis and Clark.

And daughter G drew her customary "collage" picture with lots of smaller pics showing different events of the 19th century.

It was a very fun first day!  Happy to have started!