An African Adventure

I have begun reading this blog to my children...mostly to my oldest, but my 2 year old is invited to listen in too.  She usually listens for awhile, and then plays, listens then plays.  [This is also how she likes to eat...nibble, play, nibble, play.] 

A friend of mine sent me the link several weeks ago, and after reading the first year, I decided that this girl's experience was one I would like to share with my family.  I started at the beginning [2007] and I haven't read past the first year, so I can't verify whether it's all kid appropriate or not.  In fact, you will need to decide for yourself as a parent what information to share with your child and what you may want to exclude from your reading and conversations.  [...as with anything] 

For example, in the entries we read yesterday, a man in the village across the river was eaten by a crocodile and Katie intervened during a brutal domestic attack.  These stories were not at all graphic, but the reality of it is intense whether the information is detailed or not.  I opted to read the entirety of the passage with my son.  We paused to talk about each incident and I think he handled the information well.  Had my daughter been listening, I may have chosen to omit those sentences as I read.  But I'm glad I was able to address the issues of death and violence with my son in this straightforward and simple way. 

The blog is not written for children.  I like to read adult literature to my son sometimes because he is presented with new words and challenged to think about the context and surrounding information to figure out the meaning.  We pause often as we read Katie's entries to discuss things like language barriers, what it means to be an orphan, poverty, what does industry mean, what do we use cotton for, what is a gecko, what is transportation and many other questions that arise from her story.  We both really enjoyed discovering these things together!

We spent some time studying our globe together.  We found the USA and discovered where we live.

Then located Africa...

...and then Uganda. 

He pointed out that he already knew where Madagascar was.  Which suprised me, until he explained that Dad had shown him once when they were talking about the movie.  Ah-ha!  :)

Then we learned about continents.  I am always amazed at his incredible memory.  We spent some time studying them in the morning, and when Dad came home around 8:30 in the evening, he could find and name all of them...with a little help remembering how to say "Australia".  Yay!  We used those great free Crayola coloring pages I posted about.  Here is the continents worksheet. 

He also colored the Ugandan flag using the color by number worksheet.

This upcoming year I would like use nations and cultures as the foundation of our studies.  For example, as we are learning about Katie's journey in Uganda, we can learn about the animals that live there [like geckos and crocodiles] or learn about measurements and cooking while we make beans and rice for dinner [African staples] - you get the idea.  It's also been on my heart to pray with my children for people around the world. 

I think there are so many valuable lessons to be learned through these studies beyond academics: a thankful heart for how blessed we are; compassion and concern for those who are in need, the knowledge that God is working throughout the earth and that the world is much bigger than our own lives. 

I'm genuinely looking forward to tomorrow's lessons.