Has anyone made....

[jlcejb6]

their own study for cultures? Here is what I am wanting to do. I have changed my mind half a dozen times but after some serious thought and prayer I think this is the right direction for us. Next summer when our new school year starts I want to do a year study on cultures/children around the world (incl US). I have had SL K before and didnt use it right, I have looked at MFW and WP. My dc will be 5 1/2 and 7. My youngest will be under the age ranges for all these so I am looking for any suggested resources for these age groups. We also used Konos last year and did a unit on Japan and LOVED it. We would do it with a unit approach, spending 1-2 weeks on each country. If you have done anything like this I would love to hear your thoughts. I know its a ways down the road but right now I need to brainstorm and make a list of resources so that I can chose and plan. I am wanting to start piecing things together around January/February.

[Catherine]

we read Children Just Like Me, and used it as a jumping off point for cultural studies of some of the cultures covered in the book. It is definitely aimed at the age group of your children, and lends itself nicely to expanding in unit study kind of way. Each child tells something about himself\herself, with background culture becoming clear without being explicit. One example is that a child from a poor, rural village in Ghana (I think I'm remembering right) is shown next to her house, smiling happily and talking about getting ready for school. I loved the way the book makes childhood, school and play the common thread of these cultures. Maps are included. The book also has a companion, Our Favorite Stories:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Just-Like-Me-Favorite/dp/0789414864/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280839014&sr=1-8

 

that we did not discover until we finished reading through it. HTH!

[Guest aquiverfull]

Have you considering buying Galloping the Globe? It's a study of geography and cultures for grades K-4th grade. I plan on using it this year with my Ker and PreKer. I would suggest you look at WP's Children Around the World, and MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures for ideas for books to use. You can also look at this.. http://thesunnypatch.blogspot.com/2008/09/geography-plans-for-kindergarten.html it's a free geo./culture program a mom here put together. Also check out this blog for ideas:http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/

Click under geography.

 

Here's a book that looks fun from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Tales-Saviour-Pirotta/dp/075345999X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280840820&sr=8-1

 

Hope that helps. :)

[jlcejb6]

Thank you both for the suggestions and the links. I have seen galloping the globe mentioned on another thread, I will have to check that out!!

[RobinF]

We have used Galloping the Globe and then did one year combined of WP and MFW.

 

You could create your own studying using the books from those programs that are the appropriate ages for your dc.

 

For science we really like the One Small Square books that WP uses in the Animals and Their Habitat series and it ties in nicely to the culture/geography unit.

[jlcejb6]

We have used Galloping the Globe and then did one year combined of WP and MFW.

 

You could create your own studying using the books from those programs that are the appropriate ages for your dc.

 

For science we really like the One Small Square books that WP uses in the Animals and Their Habitat series and it ties in nicely to the culture/geography unit.

 

We are actually using WP AW this year. Has anyone ever used A Child's Geography:Explore His earth? I dont know for sure, but I dont think its along what I am wanting to do, I just saw it listed in the rainbow res. cat.

I sat up until midnight last night going through WP and SL catalogs picking and chosing books to add to my "consider list" I didnt really see anything on MFW that I would think to be their age. We would probably skip a core history and just do Geo/cultures and I would think that science would be pretty easy to fold in with this.

[tuckabella]

I am going to use this mama's preschool program this year.

But, she just released one something like what you are talking about.

Good luck figuring out what you would like to do! It is always a journey!

[Guest aquiverfull]

I have MFW ECC. I had bought it last year and we only used a little of it. So I've decided to use some of the things this year along with GTG. Most things are not appropriate for K, but here are a few things I will add.

Passports and Flag Stickers - you can get them from Rainbow Resource

A Trip Around the World

Another trip Around the World - both of these have information about the country, Fascinating Facts page about each country. Those things will probably be a bit much for K. But they also have Coloring pages (flags and outline of country), projects, and recipes--those I will use with my little ones.

Wee Sing Around the World- songs that will be fun for a Ker

Maps and Globes and Geography from A to Z - these are easy books, colorful and fun, appropriate for K and up in my opinion.

Illustrated World Atlas- each page has wordy information about the country, but I think we'll use it just to look at the pictures.

Living World Encyclopedia- Lots of great pictures, my kids will probably like to listen to this, but I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it for K.

 

Hope that helps. :)

[mazakaal]

I did this for my daughter last year when she was in 1st grade. We used maps and flag worksheets from A Trip Around the World and Another Trip Around the World, and used some of their activity ideas. We read from How People Live, Children Just Like Me, and Children from Australia to Zimbabwe. We read stories from Stories Around the World, Children's Book of Virtues, and The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book, as well as picture books based in various countries. We listened to music from Geography Songs. It was a great year. Unfortunately, I wrote up all my plans by hand so I can't post them on here for you. I was very happy with all the books that we used, though, and highly recommend them.

 

eta: I forgot to add that we took a break from geography every few weeks to read a One Small Square book that went along with the country we had just studied (ie: Tropical Rainforest after studying Brazil, Arctic Tundra after Russia, etc) and that was our science for the year.

Edited August 3, 2010 by MeganP

[Guest aquiverfull]

I did this for my daughter last year when she was in 1st grade. We used maps and flag worksheets from A Trip Around the World and Another Trip Around the World, and used some of their activity ideas. We read from How People Live, Children Just Like Me, and Children from Australia to Zimbabwe. We read stories from Stories Around the World, Children's Book of Virtues, and The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book, as well as picture books based in various countries. We listened to music from Geography Songs. It was a great year. Unfortunately, I wrote up all my plans by hand so I can't post them on here for you. I was very happy with all the books that we used, though, and highly recommend them.

 

eta: I forgot to add that we took a break from geography every few weeks to read a One Small Square book that went along with the country we had just studied (ie: Tropical Rainforest after studying Brazil, Arctic Tundra after Russia, etc) and that was our science for the year.

 

I'm also hoping to get some One Small square books from the library along with other books to read mentioned in GTG. Oh I forgot about those but I also have The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book, Geography songs, and the Children's Book of Virtues. I plan to use them as well. :)

[jlcejb6]

These are from the WP CATW group... are these any good or age appropriate?

 

George Mueller: Father to the Fatherless

Hidden Tales from Eastern Europe

The Doggy Dung Disaster & Other StoriesMissionary Stories from Around the World

Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai

Rain Forest Adventures

Mandy

Star of Light

Iqbal

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Ireland: The Culture

Find Out About Spain

Find Out About France

World of Ballet

Italy: Ah! The Sweet Life

Biography of Bananas

Colors of Mexico

Amazon Adventures

Biography of Cotton

Biography of Vanilla

Oil & Gas

Find Out About China

Biography of Silk

Australia: G’Day from Down Under

 

Has anyone used the Make your own pages from them or just use the other links on this thread for pages?

[Guest aquiverfull]

The only one I know is Island of the Blue Dolphin. Although, we haven't read this yet, my oldest dd's (who's public schooled) teacher read this to the class as a read-aloud in 5th grade. She told me about it, I don't want to spoil it for anyone so I won't say too much, but I know that death and peril occurs in this book so I wouldn't read it to my younger ones. I have it and plan to read it with my 11 year old sometime.

 

ETA: I know I recommended you look at WP CAW for ideas, but on second thought, that might not be a good idea for the ages of your children. I have heard that WP CAW is very much centered around the plight of children around the world, and discusses things such as child labor, s*x trade, etc. Some of the "Biography of..." books might be ok, but I'd look into some reviews, do a search, look at the library, etc for the books recommended in WP before buying them.

Edited August 3, 2010 by aquiverfull

[Guest]

I also used Children Like Me as the basis for an informal survey of world cultures. The Look What Came From ..... picture books are also good.

 

If your kids love to read, we also found a fascinating book called My Librarian Is a Camel.

[mazakaal]

Island of the Blue Dolphins is the only one I've read. I read it to my ds in 5th grade and, from what I remember, would not recommend it for the ages you'll be teaching. Star of Light is by Patricia St. John. I've read a couple of her other books, and they were good for your age. Can't say for sure about Star of Light, but it's probably all right.

[HollyB]

I am in the process of pulling stuff together for cultural studies. I don't have anything planned out yet, so I have nothing to show you. I am going to use Galloping the Globe. We will use it for geography, but it has great book lists for general info and literature from various countries. It really helped me to find age-appropriate books (mine will be 6 and 3). I will also use Window on the World, Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions, Eat Your Way Around the World, and Children Just Like Me. I have a few books on world celebrations and Edupress coloring books. I have been looking at the Cinderella stories by Shirley Climo and the color Fairy Books by Andrew Lang. There are many books out there, but I'm finding that many are for older kids; that's why Galloping the Globe helped so much. Also, I think that studying cultures is the easiest way to learn geography. Check the nearest university for any public cultural/international festivals; those are always fun.

[swellmomma]

I am using the trip around the world books, focusing on one country for 1-2 weeks, and adding in selections from the library, a theme day celebrating that country (like we did a cinco de mayo day last month at the end of our mexico study). While a trip around the world(the the sequels) do offer some geography the vast majority of what we learn about is the culture (the people, language, foods, celebrations, etc)

[daffodil]

I'm planning an introduction to world cultures using Children Just Like Me and WeeSing Around the World. I'm in the process of compiling lists of picture books for each country/culture that we plan to study, but I haven't gotten very far because I want to make sure she enjoys it first. We're going to make a passport like this, and we'll probably add in some simple art or cooking activities.

[jlcejb6]

I am compiling a list too. It would be nice if those of us that are making a list of books or recourses could post them when we are done!! I want some picture books for both my ds's (4,6) and some maybe a little older, he will then be 7 when we do this.

[littlebug42]

I am doing a combination of my own work and also using some of the material in Galloping the Globe. I like the maps and notebooking pages in GTG and they have some great book suggestions etc. I added a component to study a saint for each country (rather than the Protestant resources in GTG) and using some of the ideas but with my own resources. We are adding in videos from the library and/or Netflix as well. We just began our 2nd country today so I can't let you all know exactly what we are doing. As an excellent spine resource we were lucky to find CultureGrams, an online site with a subscription provided by our library free to all card holders. Check to see if your library provides any free online subscriptions. I know most around here do.

[Jennay]

I've put together loose units coordinating the DK First Atlas, Geography Songs, Children Like Me, Little Round the World Cookbook and other resources. PM with your email if you'd like me to send it to you.

www.homeschoolshare.com is a great resource for country unit studies.

Also, www.familiesoftheworld.com are not to be missed!

[jlcejb6]

I've put together loose units coordinating the DK First Atlas, Geography Songs, Children Like Me, Little Round the World Cookbook and other resources. PM with your email if you'd like me to send it to you.

www.homeschoolshare.com is a great resource for country unit studies.

Also, www.familiesoftheworld.com are not to be missed!

 

 

Thank you, I pm'd you :)

[laurad1125]

I used Children Just Like Me by Anabel Kindersley, et al. as a spine. We would choose 1 country each month and read about that child. Then I would add anything related to that country from the books below. We had folk tales, crafts, and recipes that we used. Sometimes I didn't have much about a country we wanted to study so we got stuff from the library but usually I just used what we had in the resources below.

 

Children Just Like Me: Celebrations! by Anabel Kindersley, et al.

Art activities from around the world by Paula Corbett

Christmas Activities From Around the World - Grades 1 to 4 (Reproducible) by Dianna Sullivan and Darlene Walhood

The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook (Kids Can!) by Deanna F. Cook and Michael P. Kline

Stories from Around the World (Stories for Young Children) by Heather Amery

International Children: A Special Book of Customs, Costumes and Flags of 22 Different Nations! by Karen Sevaly

 

 

 

I did it in first grade with both boys and it was tons of fun.

[KarenNC]

In K, we also used Children Just like Me and Children Just Like Me: Celebrations. We also tried to do a craft from the country, listen to music online from the country, watch a video of dancing from the country and visit restaurants serving food from those countries (or made our own as best we could). They now have additional titles in the series---A Faith Like Mine, A Life Like Mine and A School Like Mine.

 

It could be fun to make up a little passport for the kids to fill in as they go through. http://www.travels.com/travel-tips/plan-a-trip/passport-as-childrens-craft-project/ or http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/thematicunits/worldholidays.aspx (includes ideas for "suitcases" and "plane tickets").

 

One book I recall us enjoying was "How My Parents Learned to Eat" by Ina Friedman about an American sailor and a young Japanese woman who fall in love and try to learn about the food practices in each others' culture.

[Mommyfaithe]

we read Children Just Like Me, and used it as a jumping off point for cultural studies of some of the cultures covered in the book. It is definitely aimed at the age group of your children, and lends itself nicely to expanding in unit study kind of way. Each child tells something about himself\herself, with background culture becoming clear without being explicit. One example is that a child from a poor, rural village in Ghana (I think I'm remembering right) is shown next to her house, smiling happily and talking about getting ready for school. I loved the way the book makes childhood, school and play the common thread of these cultures. Maps are included. The book also has a companion, Our Favorite Stories:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Just-Like-Me-Favorite/dp/0789414864/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280839014&sr=1-8

 

that we did not discover until we finished reading through it. HTH!

 

We used these as well. We would color a flag, read the story or fairy tale, say a prayer for the country, find it on the map, globe, listen to its national anthem online and then make some kind of food from that country at the end of the week. We had a great year that year and I love going through the kids notebooks now, so many years later. Thinking about this makes me want to use theae books again with my 1st and 3rd graders for geography...LOVED IT!

Faithe

[Snowfall]

we read Children Just Like Me, and used it as a jumping off point for cultural studies of some of the cultures covered in the book. It is definitely aimed at the age group of your children, and lends itself nicely to expanding in unit study kind of way. Each child tells something about himself\herself, with background culture becoming clear without being explicit. One example is that a child from a poor, rural village in Ghana (I think I'm remembering right) is shown next to her house, smiling happily and talking about getting ready for school. I loved the way the book makes childhood, school and play the common thread of these cultures. Maps are included. The book also has a companion, Our Favorite Stories:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Just-Like-Me-Favorite/dp/0789414864/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280839014&sr=1-8

 

that we did not discover until we finished reading through it. HTH!

 

We're doing the same thing this year. :D

[notbefore7]

WE use Galloping the Globe as our "main" resource and supplement with much of what is mentioned here.

 

My favorite resource has been the Kids of Courage magazines and website. (kids version of Voice of the Mayrtrs) Great downloadable guides...we just worked through the one on India as our lessons...LOVE these!

[jlcejb6]

I just ordered GTG!! I am pretty excited about after seeing what everyone has said about it. I will take my time going through it and making a plan... at least from now until Nov. I have that date in my head as when I need to have my res. list and a schedule made.

I am thinking about using GTG with either DK first atlas or Kingfishers 1st picture atlas. Not sure yet, but I like what little I have seen of these.

Has anyone used Wee sing round the world? I am also thinking about using usborne little round the world cookbook and I want some good books to use both fictional and true stories... has anyone read Ten boys who changed the world or made a difference? They are supposed to be for ages 4-8, I am really intereseted in these because of who they cover and even the older books meant for 9 and up (for later)but I dont know anyone who has read them to know if they are good or not. I was thinking it would be fun to plug these people into the countries we cover!:)

[Lovedtodeath]

Yes. You can see some projects and notebooking pages that we did in my album here on my profile page.

 

OW: Our World from Disney Learning

AW: Around the World Art and Activities by Judy Press

DWN: Draw Write Now books 7 and 8

LW: The Usborne Living World Encyclopedia

Picture books from list I got these from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/compubs/booklists/growingupwrld/GrowingUpAroundWorld.cfm they are listed by title in italics.

Stories included from: The Anthology of Children’s Literature, fifth Edition (1969) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

 

 

South America and Central America

 

DAY ONE

1. Identify South America on the globe.

Identify the Amazon River and the Andes Mountains.

Point out the equator. Explain that this area gets more sun, so it is warm there.

2. AW: 100

3. Complete DWN 8: 61, “Draw a map of South America”. If the child cannot draw the map, then an adult can draw it and instruct the child to trace the map and cut it out.

4. Start a note-booking Page for South America, pasting the DWN map on colored paper.

 

 

DAY TWO

5. OW: 147-149

Identify South America on the Globe.

6. DWN 7: 19-25, DWN 8: 53 (llama), 36 (armadillo), 35 (anteater)

Read the answers to the questions.

 

OW; After reading the paragraph “The Land”: Do you remember where the Amazon river is? Do you remember what is special about the Amazon River? (It is the second longest river in the world.)

 

DAY THREE

7. Read more information about Rainforests in LW: 96-101 (top of page)

8. On your South America note-booking page, draw symbols for the mountains, rivers, and tropical forests on the map and put small animal stickers, or the copies from DWN into the appropriate habitat areas.

 

 

DAY FOUR

9. Read more information about South American Animals in LW: 100-109. Don’t read it all, just peruse for areas of interest.

10. Do a note-booking page with a favorite piece of knowledge about one favorite animal from DWN, and draw the picture.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Lovedtodeath

[Lovedtodeath]

Week Two

South America and Central AmericaPeru

 

DAY ONE

 

 

• OW: 166-167*
  

 

Identify Peru on the globe. Place Peru on your map of South America.

(You may want to cut the small pictures for your child.)

 

 

• Indians of the Andes
  

 

 

Place a picture of this book in the border of the page with your map of South America, and draw a line from this picture to Peru.

You might want to write something that was learned under the picture.

 

OW; Directly after reading the section “Our Communities”: When all the water in an area flows toward a river, we call it the river’s basin. Iquitos is a city in the AmazonBasin. Do you remember how to get to Iquitos? (To get to Iquitos you have to take a plane or boat.)

Before reading the section “Our Country”: Climate is a word that describes the average weather that you find somewhere. (http://www.geography4kids.com/files/climate_intro.html)

After reading the section “Our Country”: The climate in our freezer is cold and icy. What kind of climates can we find in Peru? (Peru has icy mountains, dry deserts, and rainforests.) What kind of climate is in a rainforest? (A rainforest is warm and wet.)

 

DAY TWO

 

 

• OW: 168*
  

 

Identify Peru on the globe.

 

 

• Rivers and Lakes
  

 

 

OW; After reading “What We Eat”: What is one thing that is eaten in Peru?

Are the schools in Peru big or small? Are the schools in the country big? (No, in the country the schools are small.)

What fun things are there to do in the cities in Peru? (The cities have restaurants, movies, and shopping.)

 

DAY THREE

 

 

• OW: 169
  

 

Identify Peru on the globe.

 

 

• Waters of Life
  

 

Are there people in Peru that celebrate all of the festivals there? (No, there are too many for anyone to do all of them.) Do you remember anything about religion in Peru? (Peru has Catholic and Native American religions. Saints are important to many people in Peru.)

 

DAY FOUR

 

 

• OW: 171 paragraph 1
  

 

Identify Peru on the globe.

 

 

• Complete a note-booking page on Peru.
  

 

Candelabra: a candlestick that holds several candles, or lights.

Astronomy: the study of objects in space (moons, stars, comets, planets) and their movements. For more information on astronomy:

http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/definitionofastronomy.html

 

That should get you started. :001_smile:

Edited August 4, 2010 by Lovedtodeath

[cmarango]

I must be one of the few people that is not impressed with GTG. I would say that about half the book consists of crossword puzzles, word searches, and the like. To me, this is simply busy work. Also, some of the books that are recommended in this resource are just plain dull.

 

We have only been doing our geography studies for about 3 weeks now and we are doing one country for 2 weeks. We do enjoy the Children Just Like Me book a lot. I also bought flag stickers for our passport book (template from Guest Hollow) and the Dover sticker paper dolls book. We try to do a food or beverage for each country, some sort of activity (for Kenya we made bead necklaces), color the flag, watch a video, talk about the climate and what animals are found in that country. So far it has been great fun, but, then again, this is only our second country. :lol:

[jlcejb6]

Has anyone used A trip around the world, or Another trip around the world? I think it is from MFW but im not 100% for sure.

 

I saw this but cant find anywhere that has a preview of the book. I was wondering what it consists of, and if its a good rescource.

[kidsnbooks8]

I found this:

 

http://www.christianbook.com/a-trip-around-the-world/leland-graham/pd/081101?item_code=WW&netp_id=318660&event=ESRCN&view=details#curr

 

they have a pretty good sample.

[kidsnbooks8]

We are also doing GTG with many more things added this year, with our 4 youngest children. I can not wait to get started!!

[Chels~]

their own study for cultures? Here is what I am wanting to do. I have changed my mind half a dozen times but after some serious thought and prayer I think this is the right direction for us. Next summer when our new school year starts I want to do a year study on cultures/children around the world (incl US). I have had SL K before and didnt use it right, I have looked at MFW and WP. My dc will be 5 1/2 and 7. My youngest will be under the age ranges for all these so I am looking for any suggested resources for these age groups. We also used Konos last year and did a unit on Japan and LOVED it. We would do it with a unit approach, spending 1-2 weeks on each country. If you have done anything like this I would love to hear your thoughts. I know its a ways down the road but right now I need to brainstorm and make a list of resources so that I can chose and plan. I am wanting to start piecing things together around January/February.

 

I didn't go through all the posts, but I have this free study bookmarked:

Countries and Cultures around the world. Elementary age.http://www.scribd.com/doc/5622573/Countries-and-Cultures-of-the-World

[mcconnellboys]

I used both these, along with loads of library books. I have book lists (mostly picture books) for both a world study and a U.S. study if you are interested in those.

[jlcejb6]

I used both these, along with loads of library books. I have book lists (mostly picture books) for both a world study and a U.S. study if you are interested in those.

 

I would love the book lists, you can pm me or I can give you my email.

Thanks for the offer and all the other suggestions!

 

I keep forgetting to check out christianbook. We buy alot from them, being new to hsing though I constantly check other places forgetting they have hs resources! :)

[skueppers]

They now have additional titles in the series---A Faith Like Mine, A Life Like Mine and A School Like Mine.

 

I'm doing geography and cultures with my K daughter this year. "Children Just Like Me" is a great resource for us, as is "A School Like Mine".

 

When I previewed it, I thought "A Life Like Mine" wasn't really right for K study, and the way it's organized is harder to use for this kind of "jumping from one country or region to another" study. I thought it was a good book, it just didn't really mesh with what I wanted to do.

 

I haven't seen "A Faith Like Mine." I'll have to check it out!

[crl]

We are using WP Animals and Their Worlds as our spine and then are adding in the countries to match the habitats. We are also using "Children Just Like Me" and "Children Just Like Me - Celebrations" to see what kids around the world are like. My kids have been really enjoying it so far. I bought an extra (cheap) copy of the Children books so that the kids could cut out the pictures to paste on a notebook page. I've also been using this mom's info to add to our knowledge:

http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/Geography.html

[mcconnellboys]

I emailed these to you! I hope you got them!