Cartography, and other things

We have been working on Cartography over the last term, and I am impressed with the results.  What a great way to learn geography!  With a little coaching Delta and Echo have been creating amazing maps - and they seem to remember more about what they have drawn than just looking at the maps.

So far we have done a simple map showing just the Equator and Prime Meridian, then a map showing the placement of the continents.

This last week, they completed a map of Africa, and I am still so proud over it.

Here is Delta's Map.  Note that the scanner has emphasized the strokes of the pencil crayons more than the originals did.

Delta's Map (age 8)

And here is Echo's Map.  I did the labeling for her, but she did all the drawing.

Echo's Map (Age 5)

On other subjects, it was solo day recently for Suzuki violin.  Unfortunately, my camera decided to "hang" while I was taping the solos, so I don't have them to post for your enjoyment.  It is kind of interesting seeing a camera hang... one minute it was busily taping Echo, and the next nothing was changing on the screen.  I kept "taping" in case it was still recording.  Then when I tried to turn it off, it wouldn't shut off until I popped out the battery.  And then when I tried to use it again, It gave me "read error".  Fortunately, erasing the bad file of the movie it hung on while filming (using the computer at home) has cleared up the read error, and hopefully all is well.

Halloween also went well.  I got out my old scouting/guiding uniform collection to use as costumes this year, which seemed to be very well received at the doors while trick-or-treating.  The uniforms are from about 30-40 years ago, so it made them old time scouts/guides.  I am amazed that apparently one little girl about age 8 or so about 30 years ago was so petite that Foxtrot (3 years old) could wear her dress!  I don't have kids that are that big!  Actually it was the same with the other uniforms.  Echo (5) wore a dress that a 10 or 11 year old would have worn, and Delta at 8 wore a scout shirt that an 11 or 12 year old would have worn. We now have lots of candy that the kids are enjoying (and mom sometimes too) - that I really am not sure what to do with.  It also turned out the be the first Halloween in my memory that we didn't need to wear big winter coats...  although I had fall coats in the stroller, the kids didn't even put them on the whole evening.  Just as we arrived back home, it even started to rain!

Scout, Guide, Brownie