Monday, November 3, 2008

This week's activities

It was a very busy, but very good week. We finished up our study of the Native Americans by celebrating our own Native American Night. Our evening consisted of having Native American foods for dinner, a presentation from the kids about what they learned, which was supposed to be followed by Fry Bread with wajapi, but the kids were too full from dinner, so we played NA games instead. It was a fun evening! Here are more details:


For dinner we had Lemon Pepper Salmon representing the NW Coastal Tribes. I didn't exactly prepare it as it would have been done long ago, but H was especially pleased about the choice of salmon. Representing the Eastern Woodland Tribes we had wild rice with cranberries, and from the Plains Tribes we had corn and squash. I made baked pumpkin too, which was our dish from the Southwest. Naturally we started our evening with an opening prayer/blessing to Great Spirit and a special acknowledgement of the salmon's sacrifice to our well being, which set the tone for a meaningful family affair.

Once we finished our feast, we headed to the family room for the kids' presentation of their notebooks and an overview of what they learned. I was pleased to hear just how much information stuck, as well as hear what was most interesting and noteworthy to the kids. They both gave a very good presentation, each speaking clearly and confidently. I will definitely be planning more evenings like this one.

After the presentations it was time for games! Although it got a little late, and the kids were tired, we all agreed that we needed to finish our evening with at least one game. We played a stick game using Popsicle sticks with a series of pictures drawn on one side. We would drop the sticks and score according to which pictures landed facing up. We all had fun, but were also glad that it was a game that didn't drag on forever.

We will be finishing the last "Kaya" (American Girl Series) book this week, and then will transition our studies to the Pilgrims and Colonial period.

Overall, it was a very successful evening, leaving us all with a sense of togetherness which we haven't had in a while. What's even better, is that we have enough left overs for another NA feast tomorrow. Perhaps we'll have some room for Fry Bread tomorrow. YUM!

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