Apples and Geography

Lately, I've been enjoying the most delicious and coziest drink ever: the Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks. It is quite literally the taste of Autumn! Well, we've been focusing on all things Autumn around here (You know, pumpkins, fall leaves, harvest time and scarecrows). I want to thank Mary for sharing this truly delightful book. Well, we read this book before bedtime tonight and I had Luke get out his atlas so we could follow the journey of Delicious and her family as they journey west to Oregon with a wagon full of apple trees and other fruit trees.

Last year, I ordered a book that I thought would be perfect for Luke to learn the geography of the United States. It seemed so easy, but even I couldn't make it through the introduction and I ended up selling the book. Why? Well, at the time I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't like it, but now I know. It was just plain old boring! I'm usually reluctant to call anything boring, but this book was dry. I didn't even know it until I'd become inspired to make geography come alive through the use of picture books. So, tonight we had a mini-lesson. We were able to locate both the Platte River and the Columbia. He didn't even know he was having a geography lesson! Isn't that great? It's sneaky geography. I don't really like to be sneaky, but I don't need to tell him that we're having a geography lesson, do I? I think if I mentioned the word "lesson" it would have just sucked the joy out of the whole thing. Luke seemed so excited about locating places and rivers in his atlas. Why tell him? Next up: Tulip Sees America.