Landing In China

Today we finished reading The Flight of the Fugitives, a Trailblazer book, by Dave and Netta Jackson. It is the story about Gladys Aylward who devoted her life to be a missionary in China. Reading about the ancient custom of foot-binding prompted lots of questions, so we googled some images to learn more about it. Reading the book was the highlight of our China lesson! We learned a lot about Chinese history and culture from the book! We also read fascinating facts about China. Did you know that it is a custom in China for a child to be considered one year old at birth? And 2 on their first birthday? This was interesting to me because I think a child should be 9 months old when they are born!
We learned that Chinese use characters to represent ideas and objects. We said numbers 1-10 in Mandarin Chinese and wrote math problems with Chinese numbers. We made colorful Chinese Lanterns.
We had a festive Chinese meal of pot-stickers and fried rice served with tea. We ate with chopsticks on bamboo plates. Jordan decorated and set the table and Nathan prepared the meal.
After lunch, the boys worked on memorizing the countries of Asia.
Friday is usually a catch up day, but we needed to catch up on our geography so we had a regular lesson. Nathan and Dylan had free time the rest of the day and Jordan had free time after he finished his math review from yesterday. Right now, the boys are looking forward to their rest day and are enjoying an old film - the Marx Brothers. . .I hear lots of giggles coming from the living room!

2 comments

  1. I'm curious what curriculum you are using primarily for your geography, since we're using GTG (and truthfully whatever I can get my hands on!).

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  2. Many of the enrichment activities you have seen us do come from "A Trip A Trip Around the World" and "Another Trip Around the World." This is part of My Father's World - "Exploring Countries and Cultures" curriculum. (http://www.mfwbooks.com/ecc.htm)
    I use many of the books listed at the website and supplement with Bob Jones Geography text for my 12 yo ds. I added Geography Songs (for learning the countries) and the Trailblazer Books (I link to these in my post) for more "living" book experience. I have the Trail Guide to World Geography and use it as a resource when I need help with mapping activities when we explore a new continent.

    When we are done we will have a wonderful notebook of all of our studies - passports included. :-)

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