Weeks 27-28 Japan

[Marie]

Weeks 27-28
Japan


Additional ideas might be located on other boards:
ECC / Australia: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=151
First Grade / Under the Sea: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3550&p=20272#p20272
Kindergarten / Octopus: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=42&start=25
Nature Walks / Snow: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=256&start=25#p68416

[lmjmann]

Kids Web Japan - be sure to check out the culture corner and the kid's travel agency.
http://web-jpn.org/kidsweb/index.html
Laura M.

[Julie in MN]

1. FYI, the crystals experiment works the fastest w/borax -- only about 24 hours.
If you are doing this in winter, it's a cute combo art/science project to create a snowflake with a pipe cleaner --
See this link. Also, read a little more on the science behind the fun: http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/sno ... flake.html

2. For the Cold Water experiment, I recommend cooling two separate bottles of water (around 16 oz?). Because if you use 1 bottle, then while you are letting the first half of the water out, the other half warms up & isn't as cold.

3. Children Are Children (an ECC resource mentioned in S. Amer.) has a nice description of the details of life in Japan such as dense population, combining East & West, homes, baths, poetry, etc.

4. Also from this book, ds created a nice "rice paper" to print his Haiku which he created according to the ECC manual. We even glued a set of chopsticks to top & bottom for a "scroll" effect.

The "rice paper" was just a piece of cardstock, with leaves & flower petals scattered on it (& we cut out cloud shapes from paper). Then a piece of tissue paper is set on top & painted/saturated with a glue/water mixture. (Rice paper is also mentioned in Gladys as window covering in China.)

5. We read Sadako, & I expected ds to love it, as I had often heard about this story. We were prepared for the Nuclear Bomb issue as we had discussed Nuclear Energy while we read the ECC Atlas and then looked it up in the encyclopedia. We had also discussed Japan & WWII a bit (and how after the war they had no military, so they had money to put into business). However, ds actually had more of a problem with the idol worship -- you can see he just cares too much for God and people to let this slide by any more! Anyways, I agree with the ECC recommendation that this book is good but you may not want to just hand this one to your child.

6. Origami was fun to add to Japan.

7. OCEANS:
a. We added world maps to begin our notebook section on oceans. First we had the ocean world map ds made at the beginning of this year, and we now added one on currents. For a 3rd grader, he didn't want to copy all the currents per the "advanced" project, so he drew one *path* that potentially could take him around the world on currents - without paddling (we used our encyclopedia). He enjoyed that :o)

b. Mom took the easy route by giving ds a "sand art" set as a gift (only about $5), & ds enjoyed his sandy fish scene.

c. DVD: Oceanography, Bill Nye The Science Guy. This has a LOT of explanation of currents, when you're reading about that in ECC. Maybe it's just me but I surely was tickled by this one (e.g. the mad scientist-type suggested you go to your hovel & do his experiment -- as if someone in a hovel would have the time or energy to do little science experiments :o) This song is a beachboys type so not as potentially objectionable. Bill Nye also has Waves & Ocean Life DVD. (I did NOT like the Volcano one.)

d. DVD: Voice of the Deep, Moody Science Classics, my 3rd grader really liked this. It's a 1956 science program about investigating whether there is sound under the ocean. These Moody videos assume we actually have an attention span (unlike newer videos)! At the end, Mr. Moody gives a short sermon comparing the mistake scientists made (when they concluded there was no sound under the ocean just because we couldn't hear it) to some people's mistaken conclusion there is no spiritual dimension.

[LSH in MS]

We also read Sadako. My children learned a lot from it. We had good discussions about beliefs in other cultures and how important it is to know Jesus. We enjoyed a book called Easy Origami. The children made simple animals while I made the crane mentioned in the Sadako book. Then they made paper airplanes and said "Mama, making paper airplanes is origami!"

[Tina]

Hi: I'm a bit late posting my Japan experiences. I still had two days left to complete in Japan when my dh took me away for a surprise "long weekend"! Lucky me! I will finish the crafts I missed from Japan in the summer. Anyway, these were highlights for us:

--salt water experiments were fun. We ran out of salt, so we actually tried to make sugar crystals. That was partially successful.

--cold water experiment. We had many extra bottles of cold water for the warm tub and the dc loved watching the cold water go right to the bottom! Thanks Julie for the advice of having a separate bottle. Ds had his own bottles and dd had her own. They liked this.

--We always enjoy the read-alouds listed. Allen Say has always been a favorite of ours. Also, Mieko and the Fifth Treasure was well liked. The Big Wave was also, sad, but interesting. We've read Sadako before, and during this study again. My dc do recognize and see the idol worship and different beliefs, and it really makes God's message so much more important. People everywhere need to hear the message of Jesus.

--We also enjoyed an origami class a few months back, and had the opportunity in Japan to see its origin.

[cbollin]

just for reference, in 2007 MFW added an easy Origami book to the deluxe package in ECC
--crystal

[humpty]

Voice of the Martyrs has an activity and informational book called Bold Believers in Buddhist Lands. It is $10 and is jam-packed with information about the peoples, their religion (Buddhism) the difference in Buddhism and Christianity, activities, recipes, games, and so much more.

Voice of the Martyrs website for children is www.kidsofcourage.com

This link has some charts comparing Christianity with Buddhism (scroll down on the page) http://www.persecution.com/link/archives.cfm

[jangreer]

We read The Red Clogs and made a lapbook. We added the lapbook to our notebook. I used the lapbook from a website called Hands of a Child. They offer one free lapbook every 3 months on their site. It was something a little different and fun.

[Ariasarias]

I found a website for SADAKO and found on there directions for making a paper crane.

http://www.informeddemocracy.com/sadako/howtofold.html

Enjoy!!
Nicole

[Julie in MN]

This website has some interesting photos and videos of Japan, including
- traditional music audio
- children's alphabet song audio
- pictures of foods & eating at a low table
- some wild noodle-making
- links for translating your name into Japanese
- pictures of traditional clothing, including samurai armor
- quite a bit on sumo wrestling, which unfortunately is often linked to the Shinto religion, but the moves are demonstrated & even a little origami wrestler game is on video, where you tap the table to get your paper guy to win

http://homeschoolingaddkids.com/blog/

[doubleportion]

Nice site for first name translations into Katakana. We printed out dd first name and she will paint it onto a paper japanese craft she makes herself with popsicle sticks.

http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/

[doubleportion]

My ds 3yrs has been diagnosed with complex multiple food allergies just within the past six weeks. Finishing up ECC is looking harder with his limitations on food.

We did have some success with Japan. We just went to a local Sushi restaurant and he had plain steamed rice and shrimp tempura. But the cost was hard on our budget. He said they were like shrimp lollipops

Edie

[RachelT]

We enjoyed the above links to name translations.

I really enjoyed helping the kids write their haikus. Those are some of their first poems.

We really liked the Origami book and made lots of origami creations.

The salt water experiments were easy. We've kept the salt crystal jar out for several weeks and the crystals have "grown" over time.

We enjoyed reading these books from the book list: Yoshiko and the Foreigner, Tree of Cranes, and Grandfather's Journey.

Science was fun while reading The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor and another library book that I don't think is on the ECC list, Down, Down, Down by Steve Jenkins. It talks about going down to the bottom of the sea. We also watched a Schessinger video about Oceans.

We just went to our favorite sushi resaurant a week or two before studying Japan, but I can't wait to go back!

Enjoy Japan!
Rachel

[cbollin]

2nd edition confused on week 27 supply?
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=154#p58182

[Archiver2]

My ds just posed this question to me. I had never thought about it before so I googled it. As I understand it, the oceans are owned by no one. They are called international waters. Different sources stated that each country owns a portion out for X # of miles. (That info seemed a bit conflicting.)

Should I have already known the answer to this?

Postby Cyndi (AZ) » Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:56 pm
just a quick answer . . . when we've been on cruises before, there's always an announcement about "we are now entering international waters" . . . so I would agree with your source that says countries own a portion of the sea around their country. Interesting question.

Postby Cyndi (AZ) » Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:08 pm
I couldn't let it go . . . here's some info I found, but subject to further debate . . .

"Following UNCLOS III, a treaty was developed that attempted to tackle the boundary issue. It specified that all coastal countries would have a 12 nm territorial sea and a 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Each country would control the economic exploitation and environmental quality of their EEZ.

Though the treaty has yet to be ratified, most countries are adhering to its guidelines and have begun to consider themselves ruler over a 200 nm domain. Martin Glassner reports that these territorial seas and EEZs occupy approximately one-third of the world ocean, leaving just two-thirds as "high-seas" and international waters." --Matt Rosenberg, geographer

That sounds like what the cruise lines obey to me. From what I can tell from flipping through the books, that isn't discussed in ECC. Seas and Oceans are studied, but not their boundaries. I hope someone jumps in and corrects me if I'm wrong, I'm just thinking out loud here . . .

Postby Julie in MN » Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:49 pm
As far as memory serves, I think this was briefly covered once or twice in 1850MOD, when we were talking about fights over warm water ports and about pirates of the sea trade & the sinking of the Lusitania around WWI. I don't recall it coming up in ECC, which is a year off of politics

Postby LynneH » Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:15 pm
I am reading this with my 8 year old. We are excited to be starting ECC next month. DD wanted me to share that in her opinion, "God owns the oceans." I love this!

Postby Amy C. » Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:33 pm
"God owns the oceans." This was my first thought as I read the Subject. I guess it never occurred to me someone other than God actually owned the oceans. I have never really thought about it until reading this post. Our kids can really ask good questions sometimes. One of my sons asks a lot (and I mean a lot) of questions. He can ask some real doozies (in that I can't answer them). He has obviously never thought about this one or else I am sure he would have already asked it. It got me to thinking.

Good question and a good answer by your dd, Lynne!

Postby jasntas » Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:45 pm
Amy, our sons must be from the same mold. Like you, I get way more questions than I can ever answer. And he usually knows more than I do about a lot of subjects.

LynneH, that was too cute. I love that answer. I'll have to share that one with my ds. I'm sure he will agree.

Postby cbollin » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:00 am
God owns the oceans. I like that. nice and simple.

but man o man, do we try to complicate it. i just returned from vacationing at gulf of mexico (florida panhandle side). From an Alabama road map I got while traveling there, I saw this tidbit about fishing and remembered this thread. Thought of all of you and wanted to share the silly thought about who owns what. too funny.

"State waters extend into the Gulf of Mexico three miles south of Alabama's coastline from Florida almost due west along....."

"A rule of thumb leaving Mobile Bay: if you are south of Farewell Buoy, you are in federal waters. MS and FL also require saltwater fishing licenses. Florida's state waters extend nine miles from the coastline. You can be fined for straying into another state's water with fish caught in Alabama or federal waters."



surf's up! learn something new every day, don't we?

Postby Cyndi (AZ) » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:52 am
sing with me, "He's got the whole world, in His hands . . . He's got the land and the oceans, in His hands . . ."

[mommccoy]

We took our oldest 2 sons (9,7) out for lunch at a Japanese restaurant in town. They were offering a lunch special serving teppanyaki style. What a fun experience! We sat around a large skillet (large dining room table size) and watched a Japanese chef skillfully cook our food. He threw knives in the air, made flame dance on the skillet and created an "onion volcano". The food was excellent and our boys enjoyed trying grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp along with rice and grilled veggies. The Japanese decor and the chopsticks helped us celebrate our study of Japan.

[1974girl]

I love when God ties the weather in perfectly with my ECC science for the day! LOL It was the day to freeze freshwater cups and saltwater cups to prove that freshwater freezes faster than saltwater. (Lakes and Ponds in POE) So instead of the recommended freezer...we just stuck them outside and observed all day!

[*leah]

Hi Ladies, I bought a Pearl Buck (it is a jv fiction book) a long time ago but have not read it yet. I thought it would be good to read while studying Japan this year in ECC. Well, with the current news.... I thought we would start it. It is called THE BIG WAVE. Just wanted to share in case you did not know if it. Check out the reviews on Amazon and see if it looks good to you.
The Big Wave, Pearl S. Buck (Author)

Just FYI, it is listed in the book basket list for 1850-MOD. Have fun in Japan.

Also I love another of her children's books. It is a Christmas picture book and is my favorite to read. It is called CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING.
Christmas Day in the Morning, Pearl S. Buck (Author), Mark Buehner (Illustrator)

[jasntas]

For Japan I thought I'd just mention the Veggie Tales movie 'Sumo of the Opera' for any Veggie Tales fans out there. It even discusses Haiku poetry. What it is and what it's not in a cute skit that is actually part of the main movie.

The DVD also includes a skit on St. Patrick. My dc watch that portion of the video every year on March 17th. It's sort of their 'tradition'. That's actually when I realized that it would fit our Japan studies.


To introduce the Haiku to my dc I printed out worksheet 1 and 3 I found on the kidzone website here:
http://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm

The first one was information about syllables and Haikus with an example poem to analyze. The third worksheet included a sort of how to on writing your own 'What am I?" Haiku. (The second worksheet was good as well and would probably go well with the Haiku description in the TM.)

We used the first worksheet. Then I read the books I listed below. Then we used the third worksheet to create our own Haikus. The third worksheet went well with the books I read. My dc really enjoyed this activity.

My local library had the book If Not for the Cat Haiku by Jack Prelutsky. It was a very cute book with colorful paintings by Ted Rand. My dc loved trying to guess what animal was being described and then enjoyed looking at the pictures.

Another Haiku book we enjoyed was Least Things - Poems About Small Natures by Jane Yolen with Photographs by Jason Stemple. This one was more difficult to guess the animals being described. But with the two page full color picture and a short informational paragraph about the animal in each Haiku, this book was a good choice as well.

HTH

I know it would be better if I just wrote these ideas all at one time. But if I waited to post them all at once, it probably wouldn't happen.

[jasntas]

I thought I would post our Carp Kite Craft that we did for Japan. My dc really enjoyed this project.

Justin's Carp Kite.jpg (54.17 KiB) Viewed 2652 times

Carissa's Carp Kite.jpg (37.12 KiB) Viewed 2652 times

The directions can be found here:

http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/Craft ... pKite.html

If this page is no longer available when you get here you can follow the directions I posted below:

Carp Kite Craft

Materials:
Construction Paper or card stock
(we used 12"X12". The directions originally called for 11"X17" but it might work with 9"X12".)
Tissue Paper
Crepe Streamers
Scissors
Glue
Hole Punch
String or yarn
12" Dowel (optional)

Cut strips about 2” wide by about 13” long (or a little over the length of your card stock/construction paper) Cut one side of your strip in a wavy pattern for the scales.

Apply a strip to one end of the paper. If paper is not square, apply to one long end.

After you finish the first row of scales, add in second row of scales on top of the first.

Continue to add in additional layers of scales, overlapping each previous row. Stop when you're a little over halfway full.

Glue a thin black strip of construction paper on top of the final row. This is optional, and just makes the scales look a bit more "Cleaned-Up."

Cut out two eyes for your carp, and glue them on.

Cut a variety of colored Crepe Paper Streamers, about 2 feet in length.

Turn your paper over, trim the sides of any extra overhanging scales. Don't trim the bottom.

Glue your Crepe Paper Streamers to the back.

Turn your paper over.

Roll up your paper (with the scales on the outside) Staple along the edges to keep it together.
Punch holes on each side of the paper, and tie a piece of yarn to each hole.

Hang your Kite in a windy spot or tie to a dowel. Enjoy.

[jasntas]

Ok, I have more to add.

We did the ‘make your own sand’ project listed in the POE book. That was work! The dc enjoyed getting to hammer until their hearts were content, though. Our rocks and shells are not completely crushed but my dc enjoyed it all the same.

Sand Project ECC Japan 2011.jpg (49.97 KiB) Viewed 2646 times

My advice would be to use an old dish towel because it is going to be shredded by the force of the hammer. The bag does too. I would also suggest using safety goggles as suggested, or at least plastic sunglasses as it was difficult to keep the pieces under the towel because they kept wanting to fly out from under it. I kept changing the bags but it only took a few hits before the bag was shredded again. I was using ziploc freezer bags. (They are pictured here in thin snack bags for display. These are not the bags we actually used to hammer on). Maybe there is something thicker that might work better. It was still a fun project and I’m glad we did it.

[momxnine]

There's a new book by YWAM in the Christians Now & Then Series. The title is "Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies." He was one of the Doolittle Raiders in WWII and taken prisoner by the Japanese. He spent several years as a POW and then after being released returned to Japan as a missionary. H spent 30 years or so with his family as a missionary. It was a great book! Definitely for older children, as many of the series is, but it was nice to find it since there doesn't seem to be a lots of missionary stories for Japan.

[momonthemove]

We spent the afternoon talking about Haiku's and reading some. Then we wrote some ourselves. The kids had a blast! Now, they are walking around talking in Haiku. They did some origami activities yesterday and one son even wrote a haiku in honor of the fox he made! It was a nice shift of language arts!

[Asmtyrick]

We enjoyed watching The Duggars do Asia two episodes on Japan. It was really neat to see the cultural
differences and many traditions shown. The meals served were quite different than what we would be used to.
It was a fun lunchtime addition.