Xapa to the World

Tag: children

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – The Story About Ping

    FIAR Vol. 1 – The Story About Ping

    We started with the first book in Five in a Row Vol. 1. I’m going to tell you, I had a hard time with this book being on the list. I had a hard time because I have been to China, in a river city. I saw the cormorant fishing boats and the children running around the edge of the Li River, jumping into the water to cool off in the hot summer sun. It’s been a few years, but I know that the country is not as it is depicted in the book. Of course, I understand the book was written in 1933, BUT the racial undertones and the artist’s renders of the people and the countryside left a lot to be desired. So, I decided to take this book as a teaching tool in how we can look at older books and recognize problematic content. I decided that with my supplemental books and activities, I would do my best to present a more accurate and respectful picture of China and its people. Stories of Color has a great new list called “Read This, Not That” and “The Story About Ping” made the list of books NOT to read. Our library doesn’t have their suggested alternative, but it’s on my list to nab whenever it comes available!

    Below you will find pictures of the books I used for the different subjects and additional books I found that fit for more read aloud time. At the bottom of the page are links to each book for purchase.

    Social Studies

    I found these books valuable in that they presented how China looks today. A lot of the country is still rural, as depicted in the book, but much of it has been highly developed and metropolitan. I appreciated the current pictures of the Yangtze River – showing that the waters are not, in fact, yellow. We also visited a local Chinese restaurant and discussed how the people who work there look nothing like the people in the book. We talked about how the book depicted a way of life in a much earlier time in history and a particular part of an extremely large and diverse country.

    Math

    Math is not my forte, but at this level, I really have no excuse for working it out. These books were perfect today. We read How Do you Count a Dozen Ducklings? together and for our bedtime read, we did Ducks on the Road. My little man (5 yrs) grouped the ducks in 3 and counted them easily that way. I was floored. Numbers are going to come easy for him like it does for his dad.

    Math day is also our outdoor nature club day. We spent the afternoon with other homeschool friends, and amazing grown-up volunteers at a nearby state park. We always have great time there. Here’s hoping that we have a healthier year and are able to go more regularly throughout the winter.

    Science

    Oh this was a fun day! We did an experiment (provided in the book) where we picked a variety of objects and predicted whether they would sink or float. The kids did great and were surprised at some of the results. “Swim Swim Sink” was a perfect picture book tie-in.

    This Safety Smart DVD with Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King was a great watch while I got our lunches put together. Not too long, but memorable. We discussed what we already knew (from swimming lessons this summer) and what we didn’t know yet. I’m our designated family life guard for swimming outings. I’m glad I wasn’t rusty on the big points. We’re also going to try to trek out tomorrow for some wild duck observations, that is if we can get ahead of our ragweed allergies. The assault on our sinuses is strong this year!

    Additional Reads

    These three stories are very different in origin and setting. The Ugly Duckling is a classic, as is The Nightingale. I had these easy readers left over from my ESL tutoring years. “Along the Tapajós” follows two siblings on their way to school and their life on a Brazilian tributary to the Amazon River. This book was translated from Portuguese and I’m always glad to include stories from own voices.

    The “Duck on a…” books found their way in my list and they’re silly enough that I knew my kiddos would love them. And they did. “I Am Golden” addresses the challenges that Third Culture Kids (specifically Chinese American) face belonging and not belonging to two different cultures. Another great Own Voice picture book.

    We also memorized a poem by Jack Prelutsky called “Yellow-Bill Duck.” I found it in our “Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!” anthology of animal poems for each day of the year. The kids loved the repetition of it:

    I’m a yellow-bill duck
    with a black feather back,
    I waddle waddle waddle,
    and I quack quack quack!

    I dabble for my dinner
    with a swish swish swish,
    and I gobble gobble gobble
    all I wish wish wish!

    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/jack-prelutsky

    Have you used this book for homeschool or just a general read-aloud? How did you teach through it? What did your kids find most interesting?

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Booklist:

  • Five In A Row Vol 1

    Five In A Row Vol 1

    Hey everyone! I thought I’d try to show what we’re using for our homeschool and supplemental books and strategies for each week. This is our first year doing a “true” homeschool curriculum, but we went through the Treehouse Schoolhouse year-long Nature Studies last year while the kiddos were 2 and 4. That was so much fun and we learned so much (yes, me too!) and I decided that, especially at this age, a picture book-based curriculum would be the best set up for our home. By the way, I’m planning to pull out the Nature Studies in another few years for a repeat use, with the writing practices this time – my kiddos are still learning their letters. 🙂

    Our local library system isn’t quite as extensive as some (only two branches) but we are relying heavily on their resources. I’m also depending on a massive spreadsheet (I’m such a nerd) listing a plethora of picture books and their topics so that I can easily search for applicable picture books which I have sourced from a wide range of online lists as well as the weekly notices of new additions at our local library. It’s an illness…but I need all the lists! Here are some of the online booklists I’ve used:

    For our 2023-2024 school year, we are using Five in a Row Vol. 1 for both my 5 yr old (primary learner) and my 3 year old (I’m calling her the Tag-along).

    I have rearranged the order of the weeks to fit with certain seasons/holidays. I’ve also given us some gap weeks not just for our own seasonal breaks, but to fit in a Christmas and an Easter Study (through Treehouse Schoolhouse). We did the Christmas one last year, gently, but this will be our first time going through the Easter one.

    I’m also planning to do an American civics study in May and enroll the kiddos in a local intro to music class. Above all, I LOVE reading aloud to my kids. We have so much fun and I learn so much with them. Picture books are poignant, silly, creative, emotional, and beautifully illustrated. Here’s to a great school year with you!

  • Promo: IKnowHope.com

    The wife of a new family in church had one of the coolest bags I had seen lately.  Upon asking her about it, I found out that it was re-purposed from old coffee sacks!  I’m a huge fan of re-purposing and so had to investigate further.  It was made by an organization called “I Know Hope” which was founded by my new friend’s mother-in-law.  Here are some of the details of the history of this group:

    iknowhope.com

    Know Hope was founded in 2009 by Connie Baker. Connie was born with a heart to help children around the world. Especially the desperate and the suffering ones. In 2005, Connie began taking teams of people into mountain villages around Tijuana, Mexico to build houses, churches, and orphanages. It was through these trips that her eyes were opened to the desperate children in the world.

    In 2009, shortly after hearing a message preached on Matthew 25, we launched this non-profit organization called Know Hope. Our mission is to get the message to children around the world, that there is hope in Jesus Christ. The way we send that message is by bringing food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and aid to the orphans of this world.

    So what they do is gather empty burlap coffee sacks and pull the best part of the bag and make sweet hand-bags.  These are on sale throughout the US and Canada at different shops, or you can just go to their online site:  Know Hope Store

    Here are some examples of the bags:

    I really like this one.  It’s like totally my style, especially with the big “S” on the front. 🙂  It’s a midi bag measuring 8″ high and 12″ wide.  Has matching blue liner with 1″ strap.

    I believe this one is $25.

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    I like this one as well.  Just the colors are really nice.  Brown and blue go together so well…and teal is a kind of blue!  Measures 12″ high and 14″ wide (medio size) with a 1 1/2″ thick strap.  This one/size costs $35.

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    This last one is my favorite!  I love the rhino and the colors!  It’s super-cool.  I would totally buy it for myself, but I’ve placed a moratorium on spending (we’ll see how long that lasts) until the end of summer.  You can get this particular design as either a medio (12″H x 14″W) or a grande (insert big smile here) which can hold a 15″ laptop.  Cool, huh?

    And it all goes to a good cause:  feeding hungry children around the world.  That’s something that I can get behind easily.  Enjoy!

    http://www.iknowhope.com/