Curric or ideas needed please

[swellmomma]

For my "save the world" 9 yr old dd. She is the type of kid who wants to make a difference and save the world. TOday she convinced me to sponsor a child fromTanzania after I refused to tie myself to a tree to stop the bulldozers from clear cutting the area for construction. SHe has been holding lemonade stands etc this summer to raise money for the children's hospital. Wants to donate her hair when it is long enough to kids with cancer. Basically she wants to change the world one step at a time. I would like to promote this in a tangible way for her. Any ideas, links, books etc that you can think of to help me would be great. THis is a wonderful character trait I want to blossom in her without her getting jaded by the road blocks in the way towards making these changes. Basically I want a way to show her how to "Be the change you want to see" like I keep telling her.

[swellmomma]

bumping because I still need help thinking of ideas for dd

[Guest]

I don't know anything from experience, but I've heard My Father's World is supposed to have a strong Missions focus and they suggest a lot of missionary biographies. It's Christian, so I don't know if you're looking for secular.

 

???

[dragons in the flower bed]

WinterPromise has a workbook called The Prayer and Personal Involvement Journal. It's $13 and assigns all sorts of exercises and activities, from praying from a monthly chart and reflection prompts, to contacting local ministries and making useful items to send away. It's written directly to the child. It's part of their year-long geography unit, Children Around the World (which is pretty service oriented, in general).

 

I also like Barbara Lewis' books, A Teen's Guide to Global Action, A Kid's Guide to Social Action, and A Kid's Guide to Service Projects.

 

There may be a HEART chapter near you, also.

[Jenny in Atl]

I thought Heifer had a unit study thing. You got a bk, video, and ideas on helping others locally and worldwide. You might see if they still offer it. See if there are places locally she can help. Food banks, making crafts for kids at local children's hospitals.

[NancyNellen]

I've been eying A Child's Geography for a while now. It looks great, but I have not used it.

 

HTH,

[Melissa B]

Here is a link to some projects for new girl scout badges. They are focused on community service. You do not have to belong to girl scouts to use them (or earn badges or anything.) All of the projects are on the website. There are ten listed along the right side of the page.

 

If I remember: one deals with homelessness, one with breast cancer awareness, etc.

 

http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_home_is_where_the_heart_is.asp

[swellmomma]

awesome, thanks for all the ideas everyone. Now to spend the evening looking into them to find something to use with her.

[dawn of ns]

I thought Heifer had a unit study thing. You got a bk, video, and ideas on helping others locally and worldwide. You might see if they still offer it. See if there are places locally she can help. Food banks, making crafts for kids at local children's hospitals.

 

I was going to suggest Heifer! :)

 

You could build on that...Your daughter could study agriculure and geography related to the places Heifer helps. She could start a small business and get experience with figures and record keeping.

 

You could also frame how certain skills would help give her the tools she needs for that sort of work. Writing and all it involves as well as penmanship/typing would be critical if she wants to write about issues or write to people in power.

 

Science is a key to solving many problems whether it's engineering a cheap and durable water pump or researching vaccines to diseases the West ignores. Math would be key to science.

 

If she wants to understand the events that lead to poverty she needs to know local geography, history, culture and politics.

 

Heck, it sounds like her passion might require a demanding education!

 

What about sitting down and working on some goals related to her passion and then looking for curriculum and programs that will help her meet those goals?

[Kim in SouthGa]

Have you looked at A Heart 4 China by Cornerstone Curriculum? I really wanted to do this with my kiddos this year, but we couldn't swing it financially.

 

My 9dd is kind of the opposite...she tends to only think of how things effect her, and was really getting caught up in the whole Hannah Montana/HSM/Cheetah Girls fashion hollywood world. So we outlawed Disney and have been trying to teach her to focus on others. One thing we are trying to do (having a hard time getting it going, though) is start a little fundraising group with some of her friends. They would just pick a "cause" for the month (help with medical bills for a family in need, Cystic Fibrosis Walk, mission trip) and pick a fundraising option(car wash, clothes drive, toy drive, bake sale, etc). Then they will do a service project also, like pull weeds for a widow lady, take food to a sick neighbor, etc. We came up with a catchy name and are going to have tshirts made (in her favorite colors, of course). I am strictly making this a fundraising/service group because we have other organizations in our area that work through Bible studies, life skills, and such, and I need it to be SIMPLE or I know it won't get done!

 

I hope we will be able to get the ball rolling soon. I have a couple of other projects I HAVE to finish up before I start on anything new.

 

HTH

[Mosaicmind]

SL's core 5 has a big missions emphasis to it. It really focuses on the unreached people groups and the 10/40 window. Except for a few books I have found all of them at my library; so I have only had to get the IG.

[Jenny in Florida]

http://www.rootsandshoots.org/

 

It's an organization sponsored by Jane Goodall that encourages young people to get involved and work to improve the world. They offer curricula for different ages, and you can start a local club that does service projects.

 

It's a wonderful organization. My kids were part of a club for about a year before it collapsed (because some of the moms didn't get along--ick).

[FriedClams]

She may be a little young but I would go check out the rebelution - "a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture."

[kidsnbooks8]

I have a unit study called Teaching with God's Heart for the World. "Finally... A Unit Study Curriculum for all Ages, Incorporating God's Heart for World Missions into Nearly Every Subject." Especially designed for Homeschoolers. It looks like it is no longer in print, but when I typed it into the search engine there appear to be some for sale. If you have any questions or want more information, please let me know. (we have not done this study yet, so I can only tell you what is written in the books)

[sagira]

Oopsy Daisy.. double post :blush:

[sagira]

I second the vote for Roots and Shoots. It sounds exactly what you're looking for. It also includes affordable, age-appropriate curricula that emphasizes service to:

 

people

animals

the environment

 

I love the concept, and I use some of their ideas as I'm all into helping all three, not just one or two. I'm sure your daughter would agree -- she sounds like a wonderful, caring person :)

 

Here's an educator link: http://www.rootsandshoots.org/educators

Here's the parent link: http://www.rootsandshoots.org/parents

 

It's also secular, which means you can always add a religious component to it in your family, but can be enjoyed by people of all religions and beliefs.

[woolybear]

I was also going to mention Roots and Shoots. I bought their curriculum several years ago. It was the one for younger kids, though. It is very good. you could do it on your own, but much of it would be better if you can get a group together.

 

Woolybear

[Chris in VA]

You might also check out Voice of the Martyrs. Screen the website, but you can have her write to a Christian who is in prison b/c of persecution. You pick phrases in the person's native language to compose a letter of support (can't say what you want, you have to use their phrases, but it still comes from you), print it out, and then mail it to the address they give you. I think you can enclose a photo of yourself or a picture drawn by you. We will be doing this with my 9yo this year.

 

BTW, it's been a while since I visited your blog--it's a really nice one.

[swellmomma]

I forgot all about this thread lol Thanks for the idea about the Martyrs, I will have to look into that.

 

Thanks also for the compliment on my blog. It gets neglected often, but one of these days I will get better at maintaining it :)

 

Roots and Shoots is on my list for next year. I just couldn't fit it into this year, we were lucky to cover basics so I am looking forward to adding this next year.

[nmoira]

You might want to check out the links on the Youth-Led Social Activism page from The Freechild Project.

[Rosie_0801]

How about growing your own food?

 

These are Australian articles, but the issues are much the same everywhere.

 

http://www.diggers.com.au/articleSuperstores.shtml

http://www.diggers.com.au/articleCutYourEmissions.shtml

http://www.diggers.com.au/pdf/HowMuchWater.pdf

http://www.diggers.com.au/articleCanWeTrustOthersToGrowFood.shtml

 

This is American. http://www.wildfermentation.com/books_notmicrowaved.php I've not seen this book, but have his other one, "Wild Fermentations." Eating well is a good way of not contributing to the load on the health care system... Then there's these guys: http://www.slowfood.com/ I'm not involved with them because the closest group is too far away, but I'm all for their ideas on training people to appreciate REAL food instead of Not Food!

 

Rosie- the foodie ;)

[Arch at Home]

I would also recommend Girl Scouts. She would be a Junior. At that level there are a large number of social consciousness badges particularly if she were to focus on leadership and achieving the Bronze award. Another possibility is to get involved in a specific organization or a couple of them. My kids are active in our local food bank, Shakespeare company and church. We find that activities build upon each other and as my kids gain experience the members of that organization develop a trust level and provide activities with bigger impact and responsibility.

[mamato4girls]

No advice for ya, but I have a child exactly like this! So I will be watching this closely.

For my "save the world" 9 yr old dd. She is the type of kid who wants to make a difference and save the world. TOday she convinced me to sponsor a child fromTanzania after I refused to tie myself to a tree to stop the bulldozers from clear cutting the area for construction. SHe has been holding lemonade stands etc this summer to raise money for the children's hospital. Wants to donate her hair when it is long enough to kids with cancer. Basically she wants to change the world one step at a time. I would like to promote this in a tangible way for her. Any ideas, links, books etc that you can think of to help me would be great. THis is a wonderful character trait I want to blossom in her without her getting jaded by the road blocks in the way towards making these changes. Basically I want a way to show her how to "Be the change you want to see" like I keep telling her.