A Journey

Last week we rowed "Grandfather's Journey" by Allen Say. Allen writes about his Grandfather's (true) journey from Japan to California, across the US, and back to Japan in the early 1900's.



I can't for the life of me figure out why blogger keeps rotating the picture and won't let me fix it.

 

 

We charted Grandfather's journey across the US with stickers on our map of the USA- from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon, the Rockies, Kansas, Detroit, the Mississippi, and back again.  We also took the opportunity to practice naming the continents and oceans and labeled them with cut-outs on our world map.  We also talked about the different types of landforms and bodies of water Grandfather encountered on his journey - oceans, rivers, lakes, mountain, valleys, plains, etc.  We talked about how when Allen grew up, he made the same journey his Grandfather did, and how afterwards he felt he knew his Grandfather better than he had before.  The kids and I talked about things they had in common with their own grandparents - Libby likes scary movies like her Papa, Jaina loves to read like her Nana, Malachi enjoys walks like his Grandpa South.

 

For art we learned about Origami - Japanese paper folding.  The girls really enjoyed it, Malachi was impatient.  Libby and Malachi made (with my help, obviously) dinosaurs, Jaina, a bat.  They were pleased to try something their Uncle Mike does so well.

 

We tried sushi (the no-fish kind), and it was a total bomb.  I wish I had gotten a picture of everyone's faces!  Let's just say I'm glad we tried it at home and not in front of the person that made it!  We decided to make our own "dessert sushi" by rolling up twizzlers in rice krispie treats and wrapping it all with a fruit roll-up.  Definitely better than the real stuff!

 

 Believe it or not, Jaina was actually happy

 

We made mini-books about Japanese Culture, they're in the picture at the top.  The girls colored and cut-out various pictures and pasted them on the correct pages - chopsticks, tea, origami, low table, calligraphy, kimono, etc., and drew a Japanese flag on the front.

 

In the book, Grandfather keeps songbirds to remind him of his home in Japan.  We spent a day studying different types of birds and eggs, their habitats and unique features.  We also compared the pictures of the city to the pictures of the countryside in the book and read some more about pollution and how we can work to keep our country beautiful like the picture of the countryside in the book instead of the smoky, dirty city.

 

There was also math, LA - we learned about simile and the girls had fun "saying similes" all week - Spanish (greeting and introductions), music (high/low), and health/PE.  We talked about keeping our bodies safe and what to do and say if someone tries to touch us inappropriately.  For PE we played balloon vollyball over the couch, along with our daily walks.  OH!  And we got a piano keyboard!  Finally!  I'm giving myself and the girls lessons.  Libby taught herself how to play "Twinkle Star" and the first few measures of "I Like to Look for Rainbows".  She might surpass me pretty soon!

 

This week we are moving to Egypt and France with "A Giraffe Goes to Paris" by Mary Travener Holmes and John Harris, Illustrated by Jon Cannell.  Yay!