Weekly Wrap Up: Newspaper Field Trip

For most of the week we have been sick.  I was highly suspicious on Monday that my youngest was getting ill because she was crying and highly emotional.  I kept thinking: "hmmmm, looks like she may get sick soon."  And that's exactly what happened.  We were able to school until Wednesday and then it hit us all hard.  So the rest of the week we read a loud and rested.   I'll share a few things we did at the first of the week though.

This week we started in on our 'prayer map'. We have the map of Canada up to refer to during our history and geography time but I decided we would use it as a cue to pray for our Country in the mornings as well.  We are using the book The Power of a Praying Nation by Stormie Omartian to help guide us through some prayer time.  We began reading through it together earlier this week, praying for our Country in general terms.  We'll get more specific as the school year progresses. 

Our map and book.

The highlight of our week was Wednesday's field trip to the local newspaper.  One of the homeschool Moms in our community gives freely of her own time to organize field trips for us.  She is incredible and we are thankful to her for organizing these events for us! 

It was just Heather and I as I couldn't bring Graham because he was so sick.  He was really disappointed and asked me to take lots of pictures. He had been very keen to see how the newspaper goes out!  I was able to take lots of pictures and even some videos for him.  When we got home he curled up on the couch; looked through the pictures and watched the videos. :)

The field trip was amazing.  We got to see the printing press (five stories tall), how the paper is produced, where they store the newsprint, and how it gets to the press.  The guide told us how/when the building was built, what country the printing press came from and all sorts of other interesting things.  The tour guide was amazing.  The press was not running as they go to press late at night - after midnight.  They had one room where they put the flyers together and that was fascinating.

Heather looks through a magnifying glass at how the ink looks after it is  'dropped' on to the  newsprint.

This is the sound proof room that a worker watched the press from.  He uses the computer to make sure everything is running smoothly.  It is made entirely of glass so he can see the press easily.  Right beside this area is a door that gives him quick access to the press so he can take care of any problems as they arise.

The press is five stories tall!  Those big circular objects below are how the newsprint arrives .  They each weigh a ton.  

And of course, Valentine's Day was on Thursday.  We were all feeling rough that day but decided to at least make our cupcakes anyway! :)  We put out their chocolate and a little gift for them at their place on the table the night before.  That way when they get up they can see their gift awaiting them.  My one little guy didn't get up till 11 though. 

So hopefully be the end of the weekend we will all be feeling right as rain again.  As it stand now we are all still pretty sick. :(  Hope you all had a great week! 

We are linked up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap Up and Hammock Tracks: It's a Wrap.