Our fourth day of Mexico! So far the kids have had a lot of fun and learned some great stuff about another culture that really isn't that far removed from us anymore and is becoming more entwined every day. Spanish is now one of the leading languages spoken in this country.
I had planned on doing this Fiesta tomorrow night since I thought it would b an appropriate end to the week. I was going to look at religion today and stuff. However, the wanted tamales for dinner tonight! So I switched them around. That's what's cool about homeschooling; you change it to fit your needs. Besides, in the end, I discovered that it was best this way anyway. I forgot that we're usually out of the house all afternoon on Thursdays! It's the weekly children's story hour at the local library and then craft hour done by a local organization for kids birth to age 6. These are both great, fun ways to ge tthe kids out of the house and let them have fun with other kids with no pressure. So, instead we looked at lots of books about Mexican cuisine this morning. We looked at pictures of prepared foods as well as lists of different ingredients that are used in Mexican cooking. Besides the more commonplace burritos and tacos most often seen in our country, there are the foods reserved for special occasions such as tamales, atole, mole, empanadas etc. These are all foods that are labor intensive which is why they were often made only for special ocassions.
We looked at a lot of vids, pictures and books about the cuisine. We smelled & tasted spices such as chile powder, garlic, and cinnamon. I even had a little cone of piloncillo which is a hard cone of pressed sugar (can be used as a sub for brown sugar). We talked about other foods used such as peppers (both hot and bell) and tomatoes. We talked about the desserts we might find there such flan, churros, fried icecream, tres leches cake (three milk ~ really good) etc. We learned the names to lots of different dishes such as enchilada, tostada, tamale, tortilla, quesadilla, burrito, taquito, carne asade. I also bought a few Mexican sodas and candies from the ethnic section of our grocery.
So, tonight we had authentic tamales made locally (it helps to have a brother-in-law whose family is not only Mexican but owns a very popular local restaurant), beans, rice and atole. I've had tamales and stuff before of course, but I've never had atole before so I was interested in trying that. I already have the ingredients so why not! I'm one of those people who will by a food if it looks or sounds interesting, even if she doesn't know what it is. So my kids have tried lots of interesting stuff because of that. We've even eaten cactus! For dessert, I made my own impression of Pan de Muertos, the special sweet egg-rich bread made at this time of the year. I made it more as a cake but kept the orance and anise flavorings. I made my own frosting and then decorated the cake to look like a skull. It was all really good.
Today is our third day of our adventures in Mexico and we've found out a lot. Today, we learned more about the culture and art. We looked at books about art and crafts, and we watched some videos about Mexican dances.
An area of art assosciated with Dia De Los Muertos are calacas though they are made year round. Calaca is a Mexican Spanish term for skeleton and is a figure of a skull or skeleton. Their origins are traced to Aztec imagery, and are frequently shown with marigold leaves and foliage (marigolds are the flowers of the dead). As with other aspects of this festival, they are generally depicted as joyous rather than mournful figures. They are often shown wearing festive clothing, dancing, and playing musical instruments indicating a happy afterlife. This illustrates the Mexican belief that no dead soul likes to be thought of sadly, and that death is a joyous occasion.
However, a twist on that is the Guatamalan culture where "calaca" is understood as "death." The figure of a bare skeleton represents death as with any culture. However, it implies fear of death thus, it is not depicted as a joyful image as in Mexico. Calacas aren't just depicted in art through clay, carvings, paper mache, drawings, etc. They are also in the movies. If you're ever seen The Nightmare Before Christmas or The Corpse Bride (both are done by Tim Burton), you're looking at calaca type figures. These can also be found in games such as the Grim Fandango (lots of fun, a mystery game that I used to enjoy when I still had the time to do so).
Todays craft is string paintings. As we explored Mexican art, we discovered beautiful artwork done by the Huichol Indians of Mexico. These are actually gorgeous and extremely intricate works of art. The artist spreads wax on the surface and then pushes yarn into it. It doesn't sound like it would be that great but they're exquisite. That got me thinking it would be a fun craft for my little guys. However, I didn't feel like pulling out the wax I have set aside for the lip balm and salves I'm supposed to be making. So, instead, I got the idea to pull out the glue instead.
All you need are books or pictures of Mexican art, cardboard or heavy paper, glue, yarn in various colors, and scissors. Look at examples of art and then have the student draw out their picture. Spread glue over it and lay on your yarn. Alternatively, you could use calaver and calaca pictures as templates and use them as a guidline. There are also coloring pages in the teaching packets I posted yesterday. I hauled out my copy of Art Activities from Around the World by Paula Corbett (this is OOP but you can find used copies at Amazon and Alibris). This book is full of reproducibles with one and sometimes more from several different countires. I did a post on this a couple of years ago and you can see that here.
There are three crafts for Mexico: a picture frame with flowers that could work for the Ofrenda if the flowers are colored red, orange, and yellow; a skeleton puppet wearing a hat and holding a guitar; and a string art frame with a thunder bird in the middle. I printed (or rather drew) the skeleton puppet out. Because of the way it was drawn, there were several areas for the kids to lay on the yarn. The whole idea behind calacas is that though the body may be gone, the essential personality remains which is why the skeletons are depicted enjoying so many things as they did in life. That's why the skeleton puppet was a perfect choice to blend these two art forms together. I'll get pics of their art posted as soon as I remember where I stashed the battery charger for our camera.
A few examples of string paintings, some lesson plans and templates you might use:
Today, we continued our foray into the Mexican culture and it's holiday of El Dia De Los Muertos. First, of course, we read The Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston again. Then we learned a little bit more about the culture by listening to samples of Mexican music and the Spanish language. And today's craft was calavera masks.
Calavera is the Mexican word for skull. It refers to several types of assosciations dealing with this holiday. It can refer to the "calaveras de azúcar", or specifically, the sugar skull that is often eaten at this time of year, as well as found on the special altars (ofrenda ~ offerings). Calaveras are songs, poems or satirical obituaries about the dead or Day of the Dead. Calaveras are also artistic impressions of skulls, such as these by José Guadalupe Posada.
~ Calavera Masks ~
This is the craft that the kids chose to do and they look really cool. I would have preferred to leave this craft for the day we explored Mexican folk art but, ah well. It was still a lot of fun, and the kids learned stuff, which is what counts. This is super easy. All you have to do is print the template, color, cut out the nose and eyes, and then either glue a popsicle stick to the bottom to hold the mask with, or use a hole punch to make a hole on each side and run string through it to tie on your head. Super easy and fun! And very colorful as well. Ours were actually a little more complicated since our printer is still incommunicado. I suck drawing things out by hand so I didn't do it that way. We do however have our computer hooked up to our big flatscreen tv (great way to conserve space!) so I brought up the document, taped a piece of cardstock over the template and then then fiddled with the viewing size until it fit within the paper and then I simply traced it out. I took advantage and used different colored markers for different areas so they were already brightly colored when I handed them to the kids to color. Oddly enough, only Deedee really got into coloring hers and the others chose to pretty much keep them as they were.
I have five different templates you can choose from, all really cool. Two of them are included with Day of the Dead units (one for k - 2 and the other for older kids).
Day of the Dead (pdf) ~ unit for K - 1 (This is the one that Charles, Deedee & Kitty have.)
Dio De Los Muertos teachers packet (pdf) ~ This is the one that I made. Unfortunately, the top of the skull is cut off in this template. However you can see a pic of the original here so you can draw out the end (or the top?) yourself.
The Calaveras Skull ~ For those with a scientific bent, this is an article about a fossilized human skull found in California in 1866. To the Pliocene Skull is a poem written by Bret Hart only a few days after the find.
Yesterday, I'm sure you caught the referances to The Day of the Dead. Since my Church has planned a Day of the Dead service for November 2, I decided that this week, that is what the kids and I would work on. So not only would they learn about a great holiday, they would also learn about a county rich in cultural traditions, unlike our massive commercial based holidays here. While lots of things are marketed for Day of the Dead, the Mexican culture understands it's roots and they still observe it in it's full glory.
So, to kick off the week, we read Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston. This is a great little preschool level book. Each page hase beautiful pictures in rich vibrant colors. It tells the story about a families preparations about this important holiday. The sentences are short, with only one or two per page. I like how some Spanish words are interwoven into it such as "Tias" for Aunt or "esperense" for wait. It talks about the special food, preparations and altar (ofrenda) that lead up to the joyful ocassion of remembering the dead. My children really liked this book, and we read it a couple of times. Google has a good preview of it here.
I'm going to run this similar to the Five in a Row curriculum. Every day we're going to read the book again and do a new activity. So, today, we looked for Mexico on a big world map. Then we looked for it on Google Earth. We also messed around in Zoom School Mexico at Enchanted Learning. I had originally planned on printing out a picture of the flag for them to color, but since the printer is still on vacation, we just looked at pictures instead. ABC Teach has a good printout here (pdf).
They wanted to know a little more about the holiday so we also looked up images on Google and then we watched a couple of vids on Youtube. Interesting enough, they already knew a little bit about Day of the Dead when I was reading them the book. They told me about the sugar skulls and the dances at the cemetary. I wasn't sure how they knew this until I remembered The Halloween Tree! This is an awesome movie (it was always my favorite Halloween movie growing up and I watched it every year) based on a book The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury.
The book and movie, while both really good are also vastly different but I recommend both. The movie has only five of the original eight children and it adds a girl. The movie also drops several of the cultures in the book and handles only medeival England (witches and Stonehenge), Paris (Notre Dame & gargoyles), Ancient Egypt (mummies and the pyramids) and Mexico (Dio de los Muertos). Since this is one of my favorite movies, of course I own it so of course the kids have watched it. I never reall thought about this movie/book as a teaching tool before but I guess it is since it opens up great conversation and learning opportunities about geography, history and culture.
Day of the Dead Vids (The last one is a rather dark computer animation that you may wish to view before your child as it may frighten them. I didn't know this and my boys watched it and loved it.)
The Halloween Tree excerpt ~ Mexico and The Day of the Dead
China is becoming more dominant in the news as the Olympics approach so a Michigan State University professor has created an online video game that teaches Chinese culture and language.
Called Zon/New Chengo, the multiplayer Web-based role-playing game was created by Yong Zhao, MSU distinguished professor of educational psychology and technology. A native of a poor, remote area of the Sichuan Province, he has become a highly influential researcher in Chinese education, bringing in more than $20 million in research to the university.
"Games are supposed to be fun and educational," said Zhao."This game offers a vicarious, virtual experience of China."
This looked really interesting so I decided to sign up. Once you have entered your new account information, you get to choose your character. There's not a ton of choices. You can choose between male/female and the female at least has four more choices for features & clothing (I don't know about male because I didn't think to look). Unfortunately, you can't personalize much further such as color of hair or style of hair. All you can do from there is choose the colors of your clothing. Once you have activated your free account, you're shown your passport that's been stamped by Zon. There, you're ready to play!
The scene opens in the airport and you can imediately start exploring. As you click on things you can hear the name of that item spoken in Chinese. There's also a background music you can choose not to hear. There are lots of people to talk to, including the other players. Once you're done in the airport yo're able to get a cab to talke you to your hotel.
For those not familiar with MMORPG's, you're in for a real treat. There are a ton of these games out there, taking place in whatever type of world you're interested in. While most of these do cost money to play, not all of them do and you just have to poke around to find them. I've always enjoyed thse because it gave me a chance to talk to real people in real time. That was a big thing for a young mother stuck at home in the middle of the country with a small baby and no one to talk to. And of course, the world that I played in was fantasy, my favorite genre.
So check this out. While it's not for smaller children since you need to be able to read to do most of this stuff, you can still sit a child on your lap and expose them to the language even if they can't take an active part. What a really fun way to learn about another culture and language.
I learned of this vintage radio show last year and it's a wonderful tradition to start. It's the classic story of Judy and Jimmy Barton who are searching for the family's Silver Star that graces the top of their Christmas tree. They discover the star has disappeared from the attic and there they meet Paddy O'Cinnamon, and fly to Maybeland in his Soda Pop Airplane in pursuit of the Crazy Quilt Dragon, whom they believe has taken the ornament. Before they're done, they meet a host of characters, including Crazy Quilt Dragon, The Wintergreen Witch, Fe Fo the Giant, and even Santa Claus. There are 26 episodes in all, so if you time it right to start in November, and listen to one episode a night, you finish up on Christmas Eve.
I had actually forgotten about this so I have a few episodes to catch up. The kids have been so sick lately, and I've been so busy that I totally spaced and I shouldn't have. It's a nice way to spend time with the kids. The good note though is that Deedee's mouth is almost totally better and the last vestiges of blisters and bleeding are pretty much gone. Even Kitty's finger (I know, forgot to mention this) is getting better. Some time ago, her poor little finger got mashed in a drawer. It bruised pretty bad, and split a little. It's still bruised under the nail, and she's losing said nail but the nail bed wasn't damaged and a new nail is already trying to grow in. It looks worse than it is. Anyway, the reason I was reminded about this is because Homeschool Radio Shows (where I learned about it in the first place) sent out a link for the entire 26 episodes to be downloaded at once. When I did this last year, I received on episode every day.
However, last year when I first learned about it and looked into, I found a lot of resources that's not included with this. You can find that post here as well as my post about traditions.
I just discovered something really awesome. I grew up with the Highlights magazine, and my children are subscribers to Highlights High Five (for children 6 and under). What I've always really enjoyed about Highlights are not only the great crafts and stories, but the hidden pictures. They may seem like a silly waste of time, but they're actually training you to pay attention to your surroundings. They're great for conentration, thinking skills, logic, etc.
I've lost count of how many times I've walked right by something only to have it pointed out by my husband or children. It was there, but I just didn't see it. This is great for your cognitive and thinking skills. One of my husbands and mine favorite activities to do together are hidden picture games. We spend an enjoyable hour looking for the hidden objects and it's amazing that you can be looking right at something, and still not see it.
This newest activity I recently signed James up for and just recieved the first kit in the mail. It looked like it might be too old for him, but I thought I would give it a try because it looked so awesome. This book club introduces children 7 (or 8, it varies so I'm not sure) and up to 27 different countries, one at a time, through a mystery and adventure series.
~Starting with a jigsaw puzzle that reveals a mystery, kids become young puzzle detectives. They learn about the people, culture, terrain, history, and geography of the featured country while searching for clues to solve the who, what, and where of the mystery. Top Secret Adventures will help expand knowledge and stimulate curiosity in children as they gain understanding of other cultures. ~
That right there caught my attention. In this house, the three biggest subjects are reading, history, and the world (geography, etc.). So I talked my husband into letting me try it. I figured that I could at least take a look at it and I could always cancel later. What I got was a great packet that contained a large wall map of the world with all adventures marked on it (there are a ton), a folder for that specific Adventure (I chose Greece), a great book (32 pages) that has a ton of great facts and color photos, jigsaw puzzle, a little passport, stickers to go in the passport for your adventures, a 32 page puzzle/game book, and cards for each of the suspects. This all fits into the folder (similar to a lapbook) so it's easy to store for lots of adventures.
At first glance, I thought this really wouldn't work at all for my little guy, since he's not quite five. However, as I looked it over, my creative juices really got going. There is no reason he couldn't do the jigsaw puzzle, or learn from the awesome book of facts. So I figured that as each country came in, we could devote the week to that specific country. We could put the puzzle together and then look for it on the map. We could learn facts from the book, and even eat food from that region. Then I could store each Adventure in the handy folder it came in so when he was older we could haul it out again. These are about the size of a normal portfolio folder, perhaps a little larger so I could store like magazines in a magazine box. It would also be interesting to perhaps do a lapbook for the country as we learn about it.
Read more about Top Secret Adventures here. Join here and you'll soon be on your way to your first Adventure in Japan! (I received a card in the mail about this, and it had three choices, including Japan, which is why I was able to choose Greece. However, it seems that you can't choose if you sign up online.) I'm also interested in Which Way Usa, also by Highlights, which would be an awesome way to learn about our country but Carey put his foot down on that one. :D At least for now.
There is a site that my husband enjoys viewing at least once a day, called Metafilter (warning, content not always safe for younger viewers). You never know what you're going to find linked off of it. There are interesting sites, world news, etc. Yesterday, this was linked and I thought it was really neat. I never knew that this was done. Apparently, beginning in 1994, every state, including Washington D.C., chooses an artist to decorate an egg and those eggs are then presented to the President and First Lady. They're all different, and some of them doen't even look like eggs anymore. They range from gaudy to exquisite works of art to silly items that my children might have done (see Wyoming). All of them are wonderful though.
Here is Idaho's presentation by talented artist Russ Hagen.
Celebrate the Christmas holidays with your children while sharing the holy story of Jesus and His birth. This consists of a story and then lesson questions for each day. I know, I know. December has already started, but I just found this today. This is a wonderful Christmas / Bible themed curriculum.
In an effort to tell my children more about the first thanksgiving and why it came about, I unearthed these cool little snippets. I only knew about 5 of these facts before today, so even I learned a lot.
They very first thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 sometime between September 21 and Noveber 11 and actually lasted three days.
Did you know that since the date is different every year that the President must proclaim that day as a national holiday?
George Washington suggested November 26 as a national day of rest and thanksgiving in 1789.
The very first feast was planned to not only because the settlers were thankful for a bountiful harvest but also to thank the Iroquois for teaching them how to prepare the many new and different foods.
In 1939, in an effort to create more business opportunity for the busy Christmas season, President Franklin Roosevelt moved the date to the fourth Thursday in the month and then in 1941 Congress ruled that it would stay there.
Sarah Josepha Hale lobbyed long and hard for it to be declared a national holiday. She was also the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Abraham Lincoln asked fellow Americans to set aside the last Thursday in the month for Thanksgiving 1863 as a way to unite the nation.
Some of the foods eaten at the first Thanksgiving was maize (not to be confused with corn), cranberries, probably several different types of sqaush, and several types of meat that may or may not have included turkey but which most likely did include wild game as well as fish and fowl.
Black and white were not the only colors worn by the Pilgrims; they were mostly reserved for religious observance. The pilgrims mostly wore earthen tones such as deep reds, greens, tan, blues and some violet.
The Iroquios taught the settlers how to make ibimi (bitter berry) sauce by cooking cranberries with water and a sweetener.
The Horn of Plenty or Cornucopia, which symbolizes this season of plenty, actually originated in Greece.
Be sure to tune in to the History Channel on November 19 at 8/7 central to watch Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower. I got to preview the first 10 minutes of it and this is a wonderful opportunity for a history lesson. I can't wait to watch the rest of it.
Yesterday in church, I was reminded just how important it was to honor our dead. The cycle of life and death is very important and while it is important to cherish our loved ones while they are with us, it's just as important to remember them when they're gone. We must remember our roots so that we may understand that from which we came and if we are to properly perpare for the future.
Yesterday, the chalice was lit by my youngest daughter Kathrynn, escorted by her proud father. Our minister did that deliberately (although a child always lights the chalice with an adults help) to help us remember the grand cirlce of life. Kathrynn is at the very beginning of her life at only four months and yet helped bring the thought of our mortality to the fore. And she led the procession when it was time to light a candle in remembrance of those that have passed on.
Many cultures have their own rituals, including Dio De Las Muertos and Samhain. However, the United States really doesn't have one of their own and many people today have gotten away from it. In fact, the Anglo Saxon tradition is to shy away from such morbid thoughts of death. I remember as a child, every year the last weekend before Halloween my mother would go to the local cemetary and clean the graves. She took just as much care of a grave that belonged to a complete stranger as she did with one of our own family members although she only ever left flowers on those of close friends and family members. However, that's not the only way you can honor the dead. Our custom of Jacko O'Lanterns began with simple turnips as not only a warning to evil spirits but as a way to light the path for any deceased family members who wished to drop by. Even something so simple as lighting a candle beside the picture of a lost loved one.
Reminded just how important this was, my children helped set up a small altar last night. I set up a small table and covered it with a plain black cloth. On it, we sat pictures that my children helped choose, and I set a few trinkets on it, flowers and candles. We also sat down and set up a family tree (for the immediate family) as well as looked at the huge family tree that my grandmother compiled. I of course was in tears by the time this was done. However, this was a wonderful lesson for my children in that it made us think of our history, of where we have come and where we are going.
This verse was sung during our meditation time during church. And although this is in English, it was actually sung in German.
All Souls' Day
Put on the table the frgrant mignonettes,
carry the last red asters here,
and let us again talk of love
like once in May.
Give me your hand, that I may secretly press it,
and if anyone sees it, it makes no difference to me,
The musings of my childrens journey in the wonders of love, life, and spirituality. Love, Live, Laugh, and Learn. That's what it's all about. Welcome and blessed be.
* Carey ~ Beloved husband that puts up with everything.
He's majoring in history, loves to read, play D&D and Mech Warriors.
* Ami ~ Me. Busy teacher and housewife. I love to spend
time with the kids, read, garden, cook, knit, sew, make my own soaps
and salves.
* James ~ Our oldest at five. He loves to build with blocks, enjoys the guitar, adores robots and believes he
can't live without his trucks (and skateboard).
* Charles ~ My little monkey! Our youngest son at four, he
is the most precious gift ever recieved on a birthday.
He's a wonderful, sunny little guy that's very inquisitive and artistic.
* Meradydd ~ Our oldest daughter at three.
An opinionated and exceedingly bossy little girl with a temper to match her copper hair.
My little fashion diva that loves shoes, furlies, & hair pretties.
* Kathrynn ~ Kitty is my 1 year old little angel. She's a beautiful, mellow little girl that's extremely patient but is also starting to show her claws.
Abraham Lincoln ~ You have a Bible and a library card what more could you possibly need? You prefer the Charlotte Mason Method of reading living books for everything: historical fiction, biographies, real histories, nature guides, etc. No soon-to-be-outdated textbooks for you. Visit my blog: Guilt Free Homeschooling Take this quiz!
