The World of Wonders Science Museum certainly encourages hands-on science discovery. Although situated in busy downtown, the museum showcases a relatively large space filled with dozens of exhibits. Admission is more than reasonable:
Oh, California, you have so much to offer. We live smack dab in the middle of California, which means we're within the agricultural belt that runs down the state. We have the beautiful and busy Bay Area to the west, the quiet and peaceful splendor of Gold Country to the east, the capital of Sacramento only an hour away, and Southern California only 5 hours south.
We've spent a lot of time exploring our state, for educational and entertainment purposes (usually both!). Because we're Northern Californians, the list favors this area. If you have any more suggestions, please let me know and I will add them to the list! Links marked with asterisk are places we've visited and can vouch for.
This is an ongoing list of field trips in the Northern California region. You can even see some field trips we've taken. If you have suggestions and places to add, let me know!
On Valentine's Day, we went to the State Theater located in Modesto, Ca. The theater opened Christmas Day in 1934 and is the only original theater from that time to last through the years.
Picture from meyersound.com
We met up with our homeschool group, got free popcorn, and took our seats in the beautiful theater.
We watched a short documentary detailing the history of the State Theater and its youth education programs. Afterward they showed vintage cartoons including Betty Boop and her pup Pudgy. This little outing fit perfectly with our History of Animation and Film Unit Study.
Aidyn enjoying his popcorn.
Afterward, the kids put on a talent show. A high schooler played "The Star-Spangled Banner" on an electric guitar, another sang "Let It Go" from Frozen, another performed stand-up comedy, a young man demonstrated some red belt karate moves and broke some boards with his heel and fist, and a family performed a funny skit of "Little Red Riding Hood."
All the kids gathered on stage for a group photo and received Valentine's treats. After, the theater played upbeat music and allowed the kids to dance on stage. I wasn't sure if my shy guy would dance in front of all those people, but he did! I have several blurry photos of him dancing (or jumping?) on stage with a group of other enthusiastic dancers.
This was an adorable little field trip and we're planning another visit soon.
This unit study is inspired by Walt Disney World's park Disney's Hollywood Studio. We have never been to Disney World but are playing with the idea of a 2015 vacation there. Our unit studies are our fun and educational way to build excitement for that adventure.
We just recently returned from a whirlwind trip to San Marcos, Ca, for a wedding, a week at the Disneyland and California Adventure Park, and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday. I am exhausted! Check back later for pictures of the trip and the race!
Before we left, Aidyn and I learned all about early film history from the 1820s to 1919. To see Part One where we watched early films and made a zoetrope, click here.
We watched some early silent films, including Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops and some very early Charlie Chaplin films while he worked with Mack Sennett.
Mack Sennett's An Interrupted Elopement (1912)
Mack Sennett's The Bangville Police (1914) First appearance of Keystone Kops
Mack Sennett's Making a Living (1914) First appearance by Charlie Chaplin
We read about Mack Sennett in his youth and how he dreamed of making movies with the book Mack Made Movies by Don Brown.
This is such a sweet book about his determination to realize his dream. It also echoed some terms we have been learning such as slapstick, Kinetoscope, nickelodeons, and other movie-related vocabulary.
Mack Made Movies inspired interest in Charlie Chaplin, so we watched snippets of the film Chaplin (1992 with Robert Downey Jr. as Chaplin). I would not recommend children watch this movie straight through as there are some scenes involving nudity that may be inappropriate to young viewers. I had seen the movie many times so I was careful which scene to choose.
Chaplin (1992) trailer
We watched scenes about his early childhood, vaudeville performances, unstable mother, and fascination with film. We also watched all scenes with Mack Sennett (played by Dan Aykroyd) and compared what we saw to the book.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Aidyn and I began reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a graphic-heavy dark novel about an orphaned clock keeper boy with secrets. Later in the book, we will meet Georges Melies, whom we have become familiar with in the last few weeks with his films The Vanishing Lady (1896), The Haunted Castle (1896) first horror film,our favorite A Trip to the Moon (1902), and Cinderella (1912).
While we were at Disneyland, we learned a bit more about animation and early film with a tour of the Disney Animation building inside Disney California Adventures.
Fun animator's desk at Off the Page
Inside the Animation building
We were fascinated by a Toy Story zoetrope inside and must have watched it for a solid ten minutes.
The zoetrope was a circular stand with Toy Story figurines in slightly different motions. As the zoetrope spins and the lights blink on and off, the figures appear to move.
Here is a video (not mine) of the Toy Story zoetrope:
After checking that out, we headed to the Animation Academy where we learned to draw Goofy from a real animator. At this point, we were so involved in the activity, I forgot to take pictures!
Here's a video (not mine) of the Animation Academy drawing Mickey Mouse.
Over on Main Street in Disneyland, completely by accident, we stumbled upon a few coin-operated mutoscopes.
Inside were flipbooks that turn as the viewer cranks the handle. We found one entitled "The Adventures of Charlie Chaplin." What luck!
"Forbidden Sweets" was aptly named for this mutoscope inside The Candy Palace.
We are still having a blast with this unit study, so check back soon for more. This week we're exploring cartoons and films from the 1920s including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Felix the Cat, Charlie Chaplin, and early Mickey Mouse shorts.
It would be an understatement to say I have been extremely busy these last few months. Along with homeschooling, I finished my Bachelor's degree, we moved to a new home, and I have been training for a half-marathon. Whew! The first couple of weeks my camera disappeared and half the time I forgot to take pictures.
So here is my Fall Catch-All post about everything (mostly) that we've been up to this season (things are beginning to calm down now, so I'll be posting more regularly)
Fall/Cranberry Thanksgiving Unit Study Fall words~
Fall books~
Beyond Turkey by Debbie Herman and Ann Koffsky illustrated a fair depiction of the Mayflower's journey to North America, the Pilgrims' settlement and their feast with the Wampanoag Indians.
Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without reading Wende and Harry Devlin's beautiful book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.
We love the Magic Tree House series, and Thanksgiving on Thursday did not disappoint. The book is filled with Mary Pope Osbourne's research of the Pilgrims' settlement, lifestyle and clothing. It also fairly represents their relationship with the Wampanoag Indians, making no hesitation to admit Squanto's enslavement prior to the first Thanksgiving.
Fall Fun~
Reenacting the first Thanksgiving and building a Pilgrim house
Playing the "Sailing on the Mayflower" game
We also watched a Charlie Brown cartoon: The Mayflower Voyagers Netflix streaming. Here's a slip on Youtube:
Autumnal Apple Treats (Honeycrisp apples doused with lemon juice, slathered with peanut butter and topped with autumn granola mix and cinnamon.
Field Trip Friday (the Fire Station!)~
We toured the local fire station with about 70 children and parents from Aidyn's home-based charter school. My camera wasn't cooperating with the lack of light in the building so I only have a few photos. The kids checked out the fire engines and fire truck and opened each and every compartment. They toured the living quarters (kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc.) and peeked down the firefighter pole door. Aidyn said his favorite part was looking at how far down the drop was and wished he could have slid down.
What the Camera Didn't Capture:
~a beautiful and relaxed Thanksgiving holiday
~our Thanksgiving Tree we made with branches and fabric leaves (w/ words of gratitude we wrote on them)
~a beyond messy house
~a stressed out mother/wife/student/runner/worker
Storm in the Night/Weather Mini-Unit Study
We read the beautifully illustrated story, Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz (illustrations by Pat Cummings). This is the perfect cuddle-up-and-read book, especially during a storm.
We recorded the temperature from places all over the world. First, we would find them on the globe and then look them up on weather.com.
After learning the basic water cycle, we made a cloud in a bottle!
Then rain in a bottle! (links at the bottom of post)
We read about rainbows and different types of clouds and painted our own with white paint and cotton balls.
We also worked on winter words, and Aidyn learned to spell some tricky words, including "icicle"!
Wish I had more pictures to share!
Forecast for the Future~
I am in the middle of a huge undertaking, but we're only in the pre-planning/dreaming stages. We are heavily considering making a trip to Walt Disney World in January 2015 (we'll need a year to save for it!). This will be a first-time experience for the whole family and the furthest east any of us has ever traveled.
As we have done in the past for Disneyland, I am planning a long unit study on Walt Disney World, which includes four parks and many, many different learning opportunities. Of course, most of the unit study will have little to do with the actual parks and will touch on themes within the parks, but I would like to include some stuff about Walt Disney.
I asked Aidyn which park he wants to focus on first, giving him a quick rundown of what each entails. He chose Disney's Hollywood Studios, which will have us learning about:
the history of animation
the history of film
early Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s
early film and television stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Lucille Ball,
classic films such as The Wizard of Oz and Singing in the Rain
sci-fi flicks of the 1950s
stage shows
and more!
In the meantime, we will be playing a little catch-up, reading holiday books, and enjoying the winter break together.
We're weeks away from a family vacation, at the end of which I will be running a half-marathon in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (as a tribute to my late father).
I am still actively fundraising for the charity, so if you are interested in donating, please visit my page: Paula's Donation Page.
Links for the unit studies above:
Both Cranberry Thanksgiving and Storm in the Night are FIAR books.
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