Backstage Fun for the Cast of Master in the Manger a/k/a the Time Travelers Adventure Club

After a grueling three weeks of practice under the direction of Yours Truly, the Master in the Manger was staged at last!! Many many kudos to the Hammerschmidts for hosting this production. The kids did an absolutely GREAT job---we are all so proud of you!! Here are some fun "backstage and in person" shots of the kids...





...and here is a cast shot after the show!

SAND Club Trees Unit, weeks 1 & 2

The SAND Club visited two native Minnesota habitats during our Native Habitats and Trees unit. We visited the St. Croix Savanna Scientific & Natural Area (an oak woodland and oak savanna in Bayport) and also the Falls Creek Scientific & Natural Area (north of Marine on St Croix). (FYI: These SNAs are so much fun to explore if you haven't already, check out this DNR link: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snas/index.html

We enjoyed some pretty steep hikes and the beauty of these woods, as we learned what two native habitats were like. The savanna/prairie habitat is typical of what the natural vegetation was like south of Stillwater before settlement by Europeans, and the white pine-hardwood forest we visited was typical of vegetation north of Stillwater. I'm proud to say that my daughter identified some white pines as we headed home!

Time Travelers Club Studies the Life of Jesus in Week 2

The Time Travelers have been going back in time to study the life of Jesus. The kids spent a lot of time studying Jesus's parables and miracles, acting out some of them. ("Kateria" looked great in a St. Peter mask!) (Did I mention that we all have Latin names, now?) We also meditated on and discussed a virtual Stations of the Cross---with 14 beautiful masterpieces and works of art for each of the stations. "Marcus" had some great observations about several works of art!

Starting Out Learning about the Messiah Week 1

We all trekked out to the Boomsite (on the St. Croix) north of Stillwater for a retelling of the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan. This was very very cool.

SAND Club Project Session

A small group met to work on our projects, everyone else worked hard at home!

Wind Coming from God (Paint and Pencil):


The Formation of a Hurricane (Clay):


Drawing the 'Death' of Leaves in the Fall (Pencil):


Rainbows (Paint):

Time Travelers Ancient Israel Week 3

We wrapped up the Ancient Israel unit with a re-enactment of several Mary stories (the Annunication & Visitation).


The kids made "Scripture Cake"--a cake or bread made with only biblical foods--it was yummy! and then the kids tried on their costumes from our Christmas play.

Weather & Climate Studies

The kids worked hard in small groups researching their own questions about climate and weather, everything from "How does rain turn into snow?" to "What are the different kinds of clouds and how are they formed?" They're an inquisitive bunch!! We had a cloud group, rain/rainbow/snow group and a wind/tornado/hurricane group. Each group worked on experiments: from making a cloud, to making rainbows, and convection. All in all, I think the group had fun!

Time Travelers Study Mary & Joseph and Ancient Israel

Preparing for the Messiah--so we must study the mother and foster father of Jesus!! We heard all those wonderful stories from the lives of Mary and Joseph. Sarah led us in a very lovely and fun craft of making our very own Mary Garden (a paper indoor garden!).

We also cast roles and began working on our Christmas Play, The Master in the Manger, which we will present on Friday, December 18.

Nature Hunt around Nativity House

We kicked off our Climate and Weather unit with a "Nature Hunt" in which we tracked down a spruce tree, pine tree, fern, oak tree, prairie, and a maple tree--while we learned that these types of vegetation became dominant and declined according to changes in climate and human activity. Later, the kids learned about clouds and rain and the little ones made it rain indoors! We didn't actually see a mammoth though. Maybe next time...

Unit 1, Part 2: Waiting for the Savior & a Visit to St. Michael's

We started off our new Ancient Israel unit with a visit to St. Michael's church in Stillwater to see the lovely Mary & Joseph statues (not the ones pictured here). The rest of the week we listened to an overview of Bible history and got our notebooks and projects in order. We're ready to go!

Presentation Night

The SAND Club presented the results of our careful geology research to a crowd of admiring onlookers. There were a total of 12 presentations---everything from a really weird mosquito running around the house to a totally cool movie by "Dr. Cliff Wall".

Four presentations were of pictures the children had drawn or colored.



Two poems were beautifully recited.

A pothole poster wowed us.

Clay and lego models of volcanoes and the earth cracking open were amazing.


And everyone loved our very own molten chocolate lava cakes!!

We had a blast stuffed into our brave and generous Science & Nature Guide's living room! Thank you!!! Good work everybody!

Lava Explorations

Lava, rocks, one volcano experiment done twice (worked better the second time!) and the St. Croix River Valley. Lots of people and lots of learning!

Unit 1 Week 2 Time Travelers

Whew! We studied maps of Rome, and ate carob, a food from the Mediterranean (actually tasted better than we thought!) Cleopatra, a giant mosaic, Julius Caesar, Brutus...so much history, so little time! Our fingers are practically numb from glueing such a vast quantity of tiles onto our mosaic. Erika read a story to us that included all of us transported back to ancient Rome. Nicholai was Cincinnatus, Marcus was Caesar and Camilla was Caesar's wife. We laughed, we cried, the horses cried... Julius Caesar even visited our club!

Interstate State Park Trip a Success!

The kids enjoyed bopping around the potholes at Interstate State Park. Watch your step!

First Day of Time Travelers Adventure Club!

Entertained by ancient musicians, we reclined on our "couches" (i.e., the floor) and devoured a distinctly Roman meal, while discussing which foods are our favorites. Our history guide revealed a fascinating bit of Latinate trivia: the Romans REALLY liked pepper. Magistra H visited the club, teaching us the names for the panis, olivae, uvae, ova, and caseus which we were consuming. Then we celebrated Mother Mary's Birthday with highly sugary American-style cupcakes. The kids rounded out the successful club meeting by laughing uproariously while looking at books with pictures of the truly WAY Old Days.