Xapa to the World

Tag: France

  • FIAR Vol 1. – Madeline

    FIAR Vol 1. – Madeline

    A classic, a favorite, my 3 year old in particular loved this book. We also have a couple of the old shows on DVD and watched those throughout the week. It was fun to continue a visit in France and have further reminders of landmarks in Paris, in particular. The Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are the first landmarks my kids have learned and can say where they are located, which does my heart proud!

    Social Studies

    Up, Up and Away is a fantastic book of cut-out silhouette art and very pleasing to the eye as you travel throughout the city of Paris. I highly recommend this one as there are such amazing details throughout for the kids to discover.

    Art

    When I think of art, of course I think of Italy and THEN, I think of France! And there is no shortage of picture books demonstrating that reputation. At this age, we’re not memorizing artists and techniques, but it is great fun to watch my kids incorporate some of the styles into their own artwork or to recognize it out in the wild.

    Additional Books

    Hidden Hope is a book about the German occupation in France during WWII. You should use your own judgment, of course, as to the readiness of your child to a difficult topic. My kids were very interested in the idea of toys being used as a secret keeper.

    Happy to find another book about flying to incorporate as well as this amazing little story of a postman who collected rocks on his route and built himself a palace. Our imaginations were lit up!

    For this week’s poem, I chose a simple French song that I grew up learning, “Frère Jacques.”

    Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
    Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
    Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
    Din, din, don. Din, din, don.

    Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
    Brother John. Brother John.
    Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
    Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Complete Booklist:

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  • FIAR Vol. 1 – The Glorious Flight

    FIAR Vol. 1 – The Glorious Flight

    I’m going to be very honest and let you know that I totally dropped the ball on the FIAR posts at this point. It’s been 3 years since we did this study and so I am going to have to revise the format of the lesson reviews as I have forgotten many details and I didn’t keep digital notes.

    This book was a lot of fun to read and we really enjoyed learning the technical and geographical notes in the books. My son is pretty engineer-minded and he loves learning about different vehicles and the mechanics of it all.

    Social Studies

    I found a video of a man and his kid flying across the English Channel which was a lot of fun. We also went through these books on France to see landmarks, culture, and food.

    Math

    Teaching Roman Numerals at this young age was a bit tricky, but these lessons are more just setting out a buffet and introducing concepts. Neither kid was a reader at this point, but my then 5 year old loves numbers! To know there could be a “secret code” to mean numbers was a fun project.

    Science

    Science and technology was definitely the highlight with this book. We looked through lots of books on flight and airplanes. We also went to the nearby Museum of the US Air Force to see some of these planes in person – including a model of the Bleriot flyer! That was a special treat.

    Additional Books:

    Ok, do not sleep on The Adventures of John Jeffries. These kind of niche non-fiction picture books are golden resources! These two men attempt to cross the English Channel in a balloon and go through the science of getting lift and then coming down at the right time – even peeing off the side and disrobing to a point to lose excess weight.

    We also looked at the story of Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Our primary curriculum (now) is Story of the World and so we revisited this particular story just this last year.

    I did not choose a poem this week. My husband took a week of vacation, so we had plans to do some things throughout the week and I wanted to give us more time with him.

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Complete Booklist:

    Find the full list on and .

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

    FIAR Vol. 1 – How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

    This book is all sorts of silly. We decided to do this one a little out of order from the curriculum so that it would time nicely with local apple harvest. We have a local orchard that, while we can’t pick them from the trees, we can peruse several varieties and pick up honey and other yummy treats. They make a mean cider too! I am excited to try making an apple pie with the kiddos – we will be having a family reunion this weekend and it will be fun to make something to share with everyone. I also took the many travels of the girl as an opportunity to learn the names of the continents.

    Social Studies

    These books provide just enough information to be interesting for my 5 yr old without overwhelming him. We also enjoyed making the flags for Italy and France and marveled at how similar they were to each other! The library didn’t have the book on Sri Lanka in, so I found this book about cinnamon.

    I think the kids were “geography”d out, so I stretched out this part over the whole week. We picked a new destination book for each day and that was still a little too much for the kids, but they are pretty little. I’m just real glad that I got the names of the continents in their vocabulary and hope to cement those in their minds.

    Math

    These books actually tied in real well with math this week. Who Knew? introduced sequencing as each wild animal group learns that Fall has come now. Bob and Pup-Pup are a good tie-in for baking practices and learning about measurements – however, there are no measurements mentioned in the book. We also found a video on YouTube of a guy showing how to bake an apple pie. My 5 year old has recently discovered baking videos, including the mini-chef videos, and was captivated.

    Science

    We were all set to make some apple pies today as our science lesson, but I have a sinus infection and just was not up for it. But we reviewed what foods are fruits and what are vegetables and where do they grow (under the ground, above the ground, on trees or bushes, etc). There was a fun experiment in the STEM book about growing broccoli flowers, so I think we’ll try that next week.

    The Fresh Produce Guide book was a gift from my mom from a nearby international market called Jungle Jims. It’s quite the store and I highly recommend the Fairfield one if you’re ever in the Cincinnati area. This guide lists which produce is grown/available in which seasons, how to store it, prepare it, what it pairs well with, what spices to use with it, and the general nutrition facts. I use this book more than I ever thought I would.

    I would also recommend this video on YouTube by SciShow – it’s the grown-up version, which is kid safe, but might be a little technical and go over little guys’ heads. Just FYI, but the title is, “What Happens When Food Goes Bad.”

    Additional Books

    These books were very helpful in establishing map intelligence and the life cycle of an apple. We did an apple study last year through Treehouse Schoolhouse but it’s always helpful to repeat lessons, especially with my little little ones. Me on the Map was fun and helped us imagine ourselves on the map. When I was in 7th grade, I told my social studies teacher that I wanted to be a cartographer when I grew up. She disdainfully told me that everything had been discovered and we wouldn’t need mapmakers anymore. I believed her. But now, I know that map skills are still immensely valuable. It means a lot to me to be able to hear the name of a place and be able to find it on a map because I have cultivated that skill. I hope my kiddos have the same knowledge as they get older.

    Here is a fun poem I found for memory work this week, “If I Were an Apple”:

    If I were an apple
    And grew upon a tree,
    I think I’d fall down
    On a good boy like me.
    I wouldn’t stay there
    Giving nobody joy;
    I’d fall down at once
    And say, “Eat me, my boy.”

    Anonymous

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Complete Book List:

    Find this list on or .