Our Indiana State Swap Package

This US State Culture Swap has led us away from the geography study that had previously fascinated us (out of Africa, in other words), but it's always a good time for a United States unit study!

We put a lot of work into the four care packages that we sent to our swap partners in Tennessee, Utah, New York, and Virginia. To prepare them, we went creek stomping, up north to the Indiana State Museum, and across town to the Wonderlab on its special local local limestone evening. We read, we wrote, we recited, we organized everything into groups of four.

And here's what we came up with!

crinoid fossils collected from Jackson Creek

geodes, also from the creek

depending on the composition of minerals, geodes can look quite different inside

chunk of limestone from a local quarry

map traced by the children--each kid did two

coloring pages of various other Indiana sites and facts

Willow-written report

Happily, both girls leaped right into Indiana research, they've adored opening all their swap packages so far, and Will (my rote-memory girl) has been taking a lot of pleasure in memorizing and quizzing us on state nicknames. We're a bit flush on "special subjects" just at the moment--the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, complete with pioneer crafts; Martin Luther King, Jr., including having Willow memorize his "I Have a Dream" speech; and ballet--but as soon as we finish Little House and the Big Woods and Willow decides for sure whether or not she wants to join her sister in the IU Pre-College Ballet Program in the fall (I suspect not, which is why we've been doing a lot of ballet stuff this summer, so that she can make an informed decision), we're buckling down with our friend Martin, the US states, and human anatomy.

Oh, and some Walt Disney world geekery, because it's--gasp!--less than a month now until we go meet Mickey!