(1) Passports, visas, and immigration for older kids - Week 1
My 8th grader and I explored passports (proving where you are *from*) vs. visas (allowing you to *go in* somewhere else).
Some of the complexities of passports/visas could be illustrated for older kids by looking up the story of Captain Schröder and the SS St. Louis during WWII. The SS St. Louis illustrates the idea that a passport is not always enough to allow you to travel. Sadly, the Jewish passengers were rejected by many countries who could have saved them from WWII. "Refugees" can't be given temporary visas because they have no home address for return, but emigrant visas might not be available due to long waiting lists or quotas or sponsor requirements. I've read really opposite views about how or even whether the US was involved, but it seems clear that Captain Schröder was a hero who was obstructed by visa issues; one report said he considered even crashing his boat so the passengers would have to be given visas in England!
(2) God Speaks Numanggang -
You can actually read the translated Numanggang scriptures here (provided freely), or even see the dedication page showing when it was translated.
Click on Numanggang on the left, then "pdf" to read: http://pngscriptures.org/
(3) Viewing maps - Week 2
My son enjoyed wandering through the assigned Illustrated World Atlas pages on his own. He then went to Google Maps. There's a "Satellite" button that's on the actual map square, at the upper right (you can zoom in, move up/down, etc.). He wanted to look at some things more closely, such as the very edge of the big desert in Africa (it looked like a cliff on Google). It was nice to see him developing an interest & some independence in his learning
(4) Political maps - week 2
A fun activity after learning about borders on political maps:
Just get out the big map and find "straight" borders in the world. We found surprisingly few! (US/Canada/Alaska wins for longest straight border!)
(5) Intro to other religions -
I felt ready to take the discussion of other religions even further this week with my 14yo. He already is more knowledgeable about world religions than most people he will meet after doing all 5 years of MFW, but I'm very sensitive to preparing him for those who will present counter-arguments as he gets older. Already he's old enough that he hears words like "karma" used in confusing ways. I decided to set aside extra time on these topics this week. So, in addition to Window On The World (WOW), I used a generic children's book called The Usborne Book of World Religions. It covered most of the same topics as WOW; however, it gave more details (without being overkill). For example, the Usborne book had 6 pages on Judaism, and I chose to read several of the topics - Orthodox, Synagogues, Bar Mitzvah, Hebrew Language, and "The Home" (kosher, etc.).
The book also of course gave more non-Christian perspectives for us to talk about (with a parent). For example, my son is familiar with the Hindu practice of caste from years of study with MFW. Yet, I knew from my own life experience that if he talks about caste with folks from India, he will likely hear something similar to the Usborne book's description -- that caste is a former "political system" that is now "illegal" in India. However, the Usborne description goes on to describe "religious social groupings" and says they are different than "caste." We looked at the quotes, the descriptions, and our own experiences with meanings of words. We compared the Usborne "neutral" position and the WOW "Christian" position. I saw ds's understanding and faith become a little more three-dimensional, and it was worth the time. I'm so glad these topics are scheduled for discussion in MFW -- while I still have ds home with me!
(6) Parent book basket
Longitude, by Dava Sobel
Interesting book for parents who are into geography (probably not as interesting to my 8th grader who doesn't love reading, but I was able to share what I learned with him). The intro and beginning of the story really bring across the difference between latitude (consistent spacing, easy to identify) and the more difficult-to-identify longitude. Longitude problems caused loss of life during the Age of Exploration, a time of great sea travel, due to not finding land and supplies running out. The rest of the story is just an interesting biography of a gentleman who worked very hard to develop one of the first techniques for reliably and consistently measuring longitude. I must admit that I listened to the abridged audiotapes, so that's what my recommendation is based on.
(7) Poster variation the 2nd time through -
My son still has his original ECC poster, so he decided to make up something else to highlight John 3:16. Here is his idea: He created a heart out of bright cardstock (folding each piece into a long, narrow strip and stapling the strips together into a big heart shape). He wrote the verse all the way around the heart. I thought it would be nice to glue some people of the world onto it. (My silly son said the different bright colors already represented different people groups. I was puzzled and asked who the lime green stood for; he said that was the Numanggang in Papa New Guinea -- see how well he is retaining what he learns
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Others must have the same idea. Great idea though. Maybe we could watch it later in the year and still enjoy it. Thanks for the idea. 
