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May. 18, 2009

Week 33, May 11-15, 2009

Posted in General
Another week covering Civil Rights.  This time we discussed Chicano rights, Native American rights, and women's rights. 

When discussing Chicano rights, we learned about Cesar Chavez and his method of fasting as a non-violent protest.  We talked about whether we'd do it for something we believed in.  Both girls said emphatically no!  But we did discuss why it would be beneficial to do so, when one is making progress in a struggle for rights.  We talked about how, if someone was fighting for something important like equal rights, if that person hit a roadblock--such as a unjust law that the government is adamant about not changing--that doing something as drastic as a fast might achieve quick results.  We discussed how it might even be a win-win situation for the cause.  If the government did change policy due to one important leader's fast, then the people got what they wanted.  If the government did not change policy and the fasting leader died as a result, then the people would really turn against the government, since the leader has thus achieved martyr status and might become more powerful in death than in life, as his/her legacy would continue for years afterwards. 

When discussing Native American equality, we revisited some of the tragic events that we learned about last year, about how our own US government cheated and abused Native Americans.  We had a very interesting discussion based on this question: 

"White Americans sometimes say that it was not wrong white settlers to take land from the Native Americans.  They say that the Native nations 'did nothing' with the land, but the white settlers took over and built America into a great nation.  What do you think about this argument?" (The Story of the U.S.A. Book 4, by Franklin Escher, Jr., published by EPS, copyright 1993, page 51)

I personally had never heard of this argument, so I thought it was a great foundation for a discussion.  To set up for the discussion, though, we had to really go over why there was such a big conflict.  We discussed the Native American belief that the land is for everyone to share and that no one should own any one piece of the land.  We contrasted that with the white settler's beliefs that every person can buy land that will then belong specifically to him/her.  That set up the basis for the huge clash in culture and belief between Native Americans and whites.  K. initially said she thought it was good for the whites to develop the land and build roads and buildings and bridges and the like, but that "they should have set aside land for the Native Americans".  I reminded her that they did sort of do that when they set aside "reservations".  We then discussed how reservation land was usually land that wasn't really profitable or fertile for the whites and how, when the whites decided they needed more land, they violated treaty after treaty and invaded even reservation land.  We then discussed another cause for the conflict and that is the Native American desire to live a simple life off the land, with no real desire to "build up a city".  We discussed why that belief isn't wrong, and both girls thought that those who wanted to have that life should have it.

So..we concluded that there were no easy answers and that this question continues to rear its head in other countries and with other cultures.

Lastly, we discussed womens' rights.  We read about womens' suffrage and the fight for that, and we discussed the feminism of the 50's through today.  We hit a very sticky spot that I had failed to pre-read.  Sigh.  I thought we were just reading about women's suffrage and equality in the workplace and education.  But towards the end of the reading, there was a discussion about abortion and abortion rights.  Sigh.  I stopped reading at that point, but by that time, K was reading over my shoulder and A wanted to know why I stopped.  So I felt that I had to plunge ahead.  So I had to explain to the girls what an abortion was, and what our beliefs as Christians are wrt abortion.  We discussed the real debate between pro-choice and pro-life advocates--when life begins, and the Biblical definition of when life begins.  We then talked about what the current law is, and why some Christians continue to try to change policy wrt abortion.  I think overall the discussion went well, but I really wish I had remembered to pre-read it and prepare for it!

In science, we learned about solids, liquids and gases and the effect of heating and cooling.  We also read about boiling and freezing and what affects the weather.

K began The Seventeeth Swap for her reader and I started it for A's read aloud.  It is a very charming story so far.  No read aloud for K.  Taking a break!

Blessings,
A.H.
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HELLO!!! This blog is a place for us to publish some of our children's work and just to journal our amazing educational journey.

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