Today we officially wrapped up our previous study of winter holidays. We watched a Brain Pop Jr. video on the subject and were reminded of the essentials of Christmas (and enjoyed seeing the different names for Santa Claus around the world), Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. We saw that people in Mexico ring in the new year wearing yellow or red underwear for good luck! We also saw that in Japan, it is good luck to watch the first sunrise of the year. Danny scored a 5/5 on the follow up easy quiz. Next, we read our Florida Studies Weekly curriculum study on Festivals and Holidays. We read about how these countries celebrate their Independence Day or New Year (Mexico, China, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, and Sweden). Danny then found these on a colored map by matching the word on his paper to the word on the map. He then found the country on a plain map and colored it according to the color word that he had to read. We enjoyed learning about these other countries and seeing where they are in relation to Florida. Danny scored 11/11 on these activities and assessment. Additionally, we completed Danny’s months/seasons of the year pages for December (he colored a Christmas tree and drew a menorah) and January (he colored a party blower and drew a snowflake). Then, we read a Time for Kids magazine “It’s Party Time” covering various New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. We saw in Canada they do a “polar bear” swim in the cold waters, in Brazil they celebrate at the beach with the lighting of candles and throwing white flowers into the ocean for good luck. We then practiced reading different analog and digital clocks. Finally, as we’ve been discussing past and present throughout our studies, today we focused on a nonfiction book, Toys and Games: Then and Now by Robin Nelson. We looked at pictures and simple sentences comparing a rocking horse and bike, jacks and video games, homemade dolls and Barbies. Danny copied on the flip pictures in his Interactive Notebook. “Long ago, children played with homemade dolls. Now, children play video games.”