Weeks 25-26 China

[Marie]

Weeks 25-26
China


Science cross-reference: Related ideas for volcano books & activities might be found here:
K: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32
1st: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3516
1st: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3552
RTR: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4793

[lmjmann]

You can take an online "scenic tour" of China. You might especially enjoy the pictures and info on the Great Wall of China.
http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/~agenhtml ... enery.html
Laura M.

[Guest]

I found a website that had over 700 english names that were translated into Chinese characters. We made a decorated page with my daugters name in chinese for our notebook.
http://www.chinalanguage.com/Language/D ... names.html

[Julie in MN]

1. Favorites of course were Chinese checkers and tangrams. Actually, Singapore Math 2B has some homemade tangram activities we brought out again (I think from their home educator's guide), & the winner with the most tangram ideas (over 200) was a Discovery Toys set we had from years ago. It even had the alphabet, so ds and his friends wrote their names in tangrams.

2. Holy Week fell at a good time to really bring home the Matthew readings and the location of Israel on the Asia geography game. In the weeks after that, we have spent extra time as we read Matthew looking at locations in "Then and Now Bible Maps," and reading about customs and traditions (donkeys, palms, etc.) in "Journey to the Cross" (or any books on similar topics around the house).

3. Interestingly, I picked up a Chinese New Year VHS & found ds already knew all about this, so you might ask your kids too. I guess it's one of those holidays used to "celebrate everything except Christmas on Christmas" these days in schools, TV shows, etc.

4. Ds declared the volcano experiments the best ever. Despite the fact that the toothpaste one didn't work so well for us, ds was thrilled to be allowed to get so messy! He had a friend staying with us that week, so it was the kind of fun you large families have ready-made :o)

Our co-op sent home another idea where you create foamy, red lava! You bury a plastic water bottle in a mound of dirt, fill it with 1 tablespoon liquid dish detergent, a few drops of red coloring, and 1 cup vinegar. Fill the rest of the bottle almost full with warm water. To pour the baking soda in, mix it with a little water.

By the way, the co-op science teacher also emphasized volcanoes are a good example of how strata and other formations may have happened quickly (not over millions of years :o)

There is some chemical info on why this experiment works at this link, & they also have an option of adding glitter! (But I still think it should say *do this outside*)
www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/nature/volcano/

5. I agree with Lori, Gladys Aylward's life was amazing. It's no wonder Gladys is the premier biography in the series! (Maybe we will read Eric this summer!) Here are our notebooking favorites:

With a child hiding behind her, in China, seems to be a photograph
http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimp ... s006.shtml


Nice painting, second one is same in black&white
http://www.bjupress.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... ctId=10689

www.tlogical.net/bioaylward.htm


Walking with the children
http://chi.gospelcom.net/kids/glimpsesf ... gfk004.php



Time magazine archives, not "the" article but shows she was well known
http://www.time.com/time/archive/previe ... 19,00.html
Time on "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" (20th Century-Fox)
http://www.time.com/time/archive/previe ... 50,00.html

Video cover of Ingrid Bergman as Gladys, with impressive line of children!
http://www.digitalvd.de/dvd/7348.html

Fictionalized book cover with drawing of children on rocks
www.thehomeschoolsource.com/lending_detail.asp?id=5004


quiz
http://chi.gospelcom.net/kids/glimpsesf ... 004_02.php

maze
http://chi.gospelcom.net/kids/puzzles/gfk004maze.php



P.S. Leeann Chin's restaurant now has a "kids meal" that has a little piece included called "chopstick helper" or something like that, so kids can actually USE chopsticks quite easily! Ds loves his!

[LSH in MS]

My children loved Gladys Aylward! The biography of Eric Liddell by the same authors is also good. There is a great documentary by PAX on Eric Liddell. It has 3 parts, the last part is about his missionary work and death in China. There are interviews with his daughters and lots of pictures. Very touching! I think visionvideo has it or maybe videovision I can't remember which. I think familypass online dvd rentals also has it.

[LSH in MS]

The documentary of Eric Liddell is called The Story of Eric Liddell by Day of Discovery. It describes his childhood in china, his race in the Olympics, his marriage and family life, and finally his last days in a prison camp in China.

You can find it at www.visionvideo.com

[tiffany]

I found some cheap chinese checker games at Target. They are mini in size and they are in the $1.00 section of the store near the checkout. It comes in a little wood box with pegs for game pieces.

My husband said the pegs were a little difficult to manipulate, due to the small size, but the kids did get to learn how the game is played. And for $1.00, you can't be too picky.

Since they enjoyed playing it, I think I will look around for a bigger board. I wanted one that come with marbles, the way I remember it. All the boards I can find now come with the wooden pegs.

[Tina]

Tiffany: I found a travel chinese checker board (it has chess too, I think) and the board is magnetic. I thought that was kinda cool. However, it is very small and I'm not sure if the dc had success with it. They did play it for a while in the car for a long trip we went on the other day. I found it at the grocery store (market basket) it was one of those $1.99 specials.

[Tina]

We finished our China study today. The highlights

--of course were the tangrams. I also have a plastic set that I received from somewhere that dc were able to play with. The book Grandfather Tang's Story went right along with the tangrams and dc used that book to make their own book of tangrams. Also the book Look what Came from China had tangrams too. This book was fun to learn about different things that came from China, including our dog, part black lab part shar-pei!

--A couple of books I should mention that we enjoyed. The art in The Children of China was beautiful. The Cloudmakers was fun. It was a good encouragement for us to make the home-made paper from Global Art, which I must admit, we didn't get to. I wished we had, it goes so well with this book. We liked Little Pear. Both dc enjoyed the stories of this little Chinese boy and his friend, Big Head. We are also reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Dc have enjoyed this story too of a chinese girl who comes to live in America. Humorous.

--We love Gladys. She was such a powerful woman of God. Her life was so amazing. We haven't finished her yet and have appreciated the Hero Tales addition of Gladys' life. Brave, little lady.

--We have done so many baking soda, vinegar volcanoes in the past that we opted to do the toothpaste w/dirt in the yogurt cup. It didn't work well for us either, however, squeezing a fresh tube of toothpaste into the cup of dirt and onto their hands (outside) was fun for them. A good review of how magma pushes its way up thru the earth's surface, creating a volcano.

--I cheated with the food for China. We ordered take out chinese. I was a bit disappointed when it was picked up and brought home with no chopsticks! We'll get another chance for that.

--Chinese lanterns added a special touch to Nana's birthday party!

--Wanted to add a quick book recommendation that we have. The Emperor and the Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Eva Le Gallienne. A Rabbit Ears book on tape. The music on this tape was much enjoyed by my dc. They asked to listen to the music part at the beginning a few times. Neat story/ book on tape and nice music.

Looking forward to going to Japan.

[DS4home]

We found another site that has many more names written in chinese. It also has a printable version once you pull it up. So we got creative and put cardstock in the printer, printed their name ( nice big characters in the top left corner of paper), and got out the paint and brushes. They tried to mimick the chinese version of their own name right below the printed one. The kids loved it! Then I hung them up and we tried to write our name in chinese at the top of our paper (even in other subjects) several other times throughout our China weeks.

[helen]

I belive this is the correct web address for the Chinese name site:
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/name/blname.htm

Very cool!

[sewardmom]

In addition to the recommended books for China ,

we read God's Smuggler to China by Brother David.

It is a true story about smuggling Bibles into China. My 4th and 5th graders really liked it.

[humpty]

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

They also have a book called Bold Believers in China's Uygurs ($10) and Bold Believers in Buddhist Lands ($10).

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

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

[missionsmom]

During our study on China we found a book about pandas at the library. It is called Pi-Shu: the little panda by John Butler.

This is a story book about a baby panda and his mother. It has great factual information about pandas in this sweet story. The pictures are wonderful as well. I don't know who liked it more, my preschoolers or my 3rd grader. :)

[courthart246]

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:14 pm

I was very happy to find a great price at Walmart for the Chinese Checkers game. I was a bit confused as to how I would make this, but found it there for under $6. Definitely worth that as it also has checkers and chess. Not a grand, beautiful set, but will work perfectly for China week. Just thought I'd share in case anyone is entering China week soon.

[musicmommy]

If you are in the Portland area, this is very, very cool. If not, their website is great and has a pretty good tour on it.

http://www.portlandchinesegarden.org/home

If you click on the education area, there is a family guide that shows some neat details. There are also a few different activities.

Wendy

[TriciaMR]

If you do the "Printing Press" activity from the art book, you can use foam shapes (you know, from the craft section of your favorite big box or craft store). instead of cutting out an old rubber insole. It worked well, and was easier than cutting stuff out.

-Trish

[cbollin]

Okay, this is the movie about Gladys Aylward made in the 50's, Ingrid Bergman is the star. Does anyone remember if this shows the public execution? (I skipped that part when I read that chapter.) I can rent it free from the library, and I thought after reading the biography, it might be fun to watch this with my daughter how Hollywood (and the media in general) can change/twist things to suit their purposes.

I remember most of the movie (and the "implied romance" between Gladys and one of the other main characters), but I can't remember if they showed the execution. From what I remember, it was pretty well done, really. I remember the train trek, the walking back to Chita, finally finding Mrs. Lawson, taking care of the children, the children riding on the coal train. (Actually, the library has it on DVD, so skipping scenes may be pretty easy.) My dd loves watching vidoes, as we don't her watch much, so it's a treat...

We were reading today, and when the mandarin shows up, Gladys is thinking about how fast Yang can run for an old man, that made us laugh out loud.

I'll keep thinking/praying on it,
Trish

I just asked my oldest, and neither one of us remembers that being in the movie unless it was just talked about it. The movie was made long enough ago, that I don't think it would have been gory. Also, we don't remember mention of the finger/ring incident from the train. But my oldest was able to follow some of the Russian dialogue from the soldiers.

Given the age of your oldest, I'd wait until you did 1850MOD (around week 24 book basket) and watch it then when your daughter is a bit older and would sit for a movie that long that is geared for grown ups. You might watch it now and enjoy it, but I imagine she'd not be as excited about it. That's a guess of course.

-crystal

[hsmom24boyz]

That scene was not really shown, just kind of alluded to. It shows Gladys in the town, and the people gathering to watch something, I think she asks what is going on and someone tells her, then it shows her quite upset. It lets you know what is happening without actually showing it. My kids watched this the year before last at ages 10 and 7. They both really enjoyed it although it didn't follow the books exactly.
Tara B

[my3sons]

Here is a link to a coloring page with kids in traditional dress: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/pdfs/c ... -china.pdf

[doubleportion]

Nice picture book to add to the book basket. China in Colors by Marla Gamze-Pendergast copyright 2009 by Capstone Press

Includes full color photos with info about China on each page.

[doubleportion]

Re: Some copies of ECC 2nd edition

Just an FYI. I called the office and they figured out an error in the ECC TM

They told me- " The supplies list for Monday in Week 26 should call for the salt, 2 eggs & a clear glass jar. It was erroneously placed in Week 27."

So if you find yourself confused as I was... here is your answer. Week 27 has part of a list of supplies that are really for week 26.

And thanks to Paige at MFW for figuring it out for me.

Edie

[RachelT]

We have had fun "visiting" China over the last couple of weeks! We really enjoyed these books from the book list: Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat, The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor, and The Warlord's Puzzle and Grandfather Tang's Story, which are both about tangrams. We have Tangoes Jr. which is a portable, magnetic tangram puzzle that is really fun and easy to use and the kids enjoyed making the animal shapes from the stories with it. We also made our own tangrams out of cardstock so we could all work on them at the same time.

The Chinese Lanterns were a fun and easy project from A Trip Around the World.

We watched part of the Destination Travel Guide China dvd and saw some amazing little Acrobats!

We enjoyed the stories about Gladys Aylward in the Hero Tales book and in the Heroes for Young Readers series from YWAM. We chose to read those and read the longer biography in a few years when we come back to ECC.

We also just had to visit our local Chinese resaurant!

Enjoy China!
Rachel

[Julie in MN]

(1) Size of China
In A Trip Around the World, we read that China was the 3rd largest nation. Ds became curious. We knew Russia was 1st, but who was 2nd? We looked at some "overlay maps" where they show one country superimposed over the other (Geography Coloring Book), but we couldn't tell which was bigger. Then we looked through Trip Around the World for the land area of China, Canada, and the USA. We hadn't realized how very close those 3 are. We actually found the US and China tied in some references.

(2) Review of history
This was a great time to review 1850MOD pages my ds wrote about China. We read his pages on "Two Republics of China - 1949" and "Communism Changes in the 1980s (China)." (We had done a little more "notebooking" than some, but 1850MOD does include SOTW-4 chapters and outlines/summaries on these topics.)

(3) Christianity suppression
If you have The Narrow Road from the 7-8th supplement, then the last chapter on communist China's culture is worth reviewing while visiting China. When suppressing Christianity, there are some unexpected differences between the "cultural pressure" of communist China compared to "political pressure" in communist Russia. In many ways. Brother Andrew found it was harder to maintain faith when your culture dismisses you than when your government threatens you. This concept is an excellent study for older kids.

(4) Watching performances from Asia
YouTube has some great video of Chinese performances, such as Beijing 2008 Olympics opening & closing, Expo 2010 Shanghai, and 2009 Dragon Dance or Lion Dance (year of the tiger).

For an interesting documentary on the kind of society that goes into creating so many children who perform in these types of synchronized ceremonies, Netflix has a docu-drama called "A State of Mind" which follows a few girls in North Korea.

(5) Book basket extras for Asia:
5 Chinese Brothers
7 Chinese Brothers
My 8th grader got a kick out of comparing the two.

Shanghai Messenger, by Andrea Cheng
A story of an 11-year-old American girl who visits her mother's relatives in China and notices all the details, not liking it at first and then not wanting to leave. I think it's a nice way of exploring cultural differences. The text is written in a poetic form and is just a pretty book. (No religious content, Christian or otherwise. There is an inference that a live duck will be eaten for dinner.)

DVD: Is America Number One?
Stossel in the Classroom, 1999
In this longer video, John Stossel compares economic success in New York City, Hong Kong, and Calcutta. If you really want your 8th grader to remember Hong Kong, Stossel's video about their economic success will do it. Even my ds's public schooled friends watched the Hong Kong episode in their Economics class & remember Hong Kong well.
Again, I think most folks are familiar with Stossel and would know whether his materials would work for your family. He provides free videos to educators at Stossel In The Classroom dot org.

And the Word came with Power
by Joanne Shetler, Bible translator in the Philippines
As an adult "learning" in ECC, I like to read things from the different countries we are studying. I really was blessed by this author's experiences translating the Bible. In particular, the "begats" sections, which I kinda have considered boring, were instead the parts that spoke most dearly to one of the men she was working with. After all his skepticism, those genealogies truly convicted him that he had found the truth, and he made a little scroll of the Biblical lineage and showed it to everyone. It made me look with new eyes at God's design in His Word.
For kids, this probably has too much reality about the power of worshiping spirits.

China Cry: A True Story,
1990 video about a spoiled Chinese girl who grows up to be a teacher and basically becomes a Christian while being persecuted/tortured while pregnant with she and her husband's first child. Too much for little ones, but for mature kids or for parents, it's humbling.

[jasntas]

Instead of doing the 'Tangram Design Game' in Global Art for China Week 26, Day 3, We read The Warlord's Puzzle by Virginia Walton Pilegard and we did a Magnetic Tangram Puzzle.

I purchased the 'Magnetic Travel Tangoes Animal Puzzles' from Amazon about a week ago and it arrived right on time. They are also available in People Puzzles and Object Puzzles. These are currently available cheaper at some Target stores as well.

My dc really liked it. I really liked it because it was already made. (I would have been the one stuck with most of the measuring and cutting.) I also like that it is magnetic. Less chance of lost pieces.