MEPs and the Sistine Chapel

The Plenum.  A debate in the European Parliament among the MEPs and a final vote for law passing.

We also had an introductory look at Italy today.

The Boy and Panda Girl made the Leaning Tower of Pisa out of Lego

We read a little about the Vatican (not strictly Italy) and Michaelangelo's incredible painting in the Sistine Chapel.  Years ago, during a Vatican project, the girls role-played as Michaelangelo and painted the under-side of their desks and it's something The Boy has always wanted to do.  He was thoroughly delighted to finally get to do so.

A Quiet Sound, High Frequency Rollercoaster and Some Stereotypical Viking Pictures.

Ballet Girl and Monkey Girl analysed some historical sources for their European Union work, cracking the code ready for the next chapter in their book.  It's an enjoyable way to understand the beginnings and the reasons behind the EEC and EU.

Panda Girl and The Boy continued their work on Denmark, with The Boy starting his first ever word search (love!)...

...and they both made a cute Viking display.

Sewing on the sewing machine and drawing a circuit diagram.

Magna Carta analysis by Ballet Girl.

Understanding energy forms.

Monkey Girl made these cool frequency pictures.

The Boy worked through this.

Monkey Girl finished this.

Spanish books and making sentences with Spanish flash cards.

Ready for tap, modern and three hours of gym.

Hans Christian Anderson and Snowmen with Stick Hair.

Today began with a smattering of snow!  By the time I'd dragged myself out of bed they had made their beds, done their chores and were outside making footprints.  I love them :)

Eventually, rosy-cheeked and snow-fulfilled, they came inside and cracked on with their EU work.

These two had a maths activity to do for their next EU clue.

The two littlies located Denmark on the map and we made a Hans Christian Anderson display.

Monkey Girl made all the flags of the Member States of the European Union.

After lunch the snow was too enticing to ignore.

We made a few snow masterpieces.

And came home for some of Mummy's home-made smoothie, before Ballet and Football.

The European Union Thematic Unit

As a nice follow on from January's 20th Century thematic unit, we started a new project on the European Union today .

We began with a brief overview of the EU, its history, its Member States and its Four Freedoms.

The two littlies sorted through our foreign coin collection and identified Euros and their country of origin.

We chatted about Belgium and Bulgaria, looking at their currencies, flags and national monuments.  We found out which animals live in Bulgaria's Rila National Park and made a cute collage.

The two eldest are using a EU pack designed for children to give them a deeper understanding of the EU and its role in our world today.  Later we will look at material which argues against the UK's involvement and the children will make their own judgement.

After outside play The Boy found different ways to add up to a number using cuddly penguins - always more fun than a workbook!

Panda Girl's new panda bottle arrived from Hong Kong today.  She is rather pleased. :)

Mental arithmetic 

The Boy set up a police station and was a great help when I reported that my debit card was missing.

After which Trampolining and Sea Cadets happened. And this Mummy curled up on the sofa and studied Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. G'night y'all!