Country Class - Israel

Once a month the younger kids get together with a group to learn about a country.  This month the country was Israel.  After hearing about it and watching a slide presentation it was time for hands-on!

Cooking time was up first.  Their table made falafel, while others made hummus still others chopped ingredients to go along with the dish. While the falafel was cooking, they learned a "nonsense" song that children play in Israel.  This was complete with lots of hand action.  I wish I had pictures, but I was too busy keeping Jen upright!  LOL!

Our art project was mosaics.  Jen chose a vase, and Pat and Abigail chose a trivet.

At this point the falafel was done.  They ate it along with flat bread and hummus.  All three liked the falafel they had made.  I thought Jen would be the one not to like the hummus since she has the tendency towards texture issues, but she and Pat ate it all.  Poor Miss A, in spite of LOOKING like she is really going to chow down on it, ended up gagging - literally. 

They have such fun at these classes and the staff at Greenacres Foundation are just the best!

Mission Accomplished!

And its a wrap!  Today's mission was to collect the last document that we are responsible for - the rabies shot certificate from the vet.  Pat was my helper, and showed how strong he was by carrying Marshmallow - she is the white cat in the carrier on top. 

Just because WE are done, doesn't mean the home study is finished.  We are still waiting on the Ohio state clearances (it will be SIX WEEKS on Tuesday), some references, and the social worker's report.  Please pray with us that those all come in very, very soon. 

Five in a Row Curriculum - The Story About Ping

I was especially excited to do The Story About Ping.  Not only was it a personal favorite from when I was a little girl, but it takes place in China on the Yangtze River.  What a fun way to incorporate some Chinese history and culture into our school day!

When I asked for a volunteer to point out China on our world map, I expected Isaac (the thirteen year old) to volunteer.  Nope!  Abigail - the youngest - hopped up and pointed it right out!  Wow, was I surprised, and she was thrilled that she got to put the FIAR story disk on the map!

We looked at how large the country is.  There are only two countries larger and Isaac was able to name them. (Canada and Russia).  They colored flags of China for their lapbooks.  Sources for this unit were from the FoldNLearn which is a free download from the Five in a Row publisher's blog and searches for Ping on the Internet.  There are all sorts of things available for this one.

It is the story of a young duck who, in order to avoid a spank as the last to return to the boat, decided instead to HIDE.  He faced all sorts of danger because of that decision.  I loved how the serious discussions that I NEED to have with my kids happened so naturally as we talked about the characters in the story.  A new vocabulary word was DISCERNMENT, something that children raised in an orphanage are really lacking.  We had a nice discussion about how one has to think all the way through an idea to what will happen as the end result.  The idea may NOT be such a good one after all!

We found it a little funny that part of our "school work" was to eat a Chinese meal.  So I made some super easy fried rice for lunch.  This is something we actually eat frequently in our house.

After lunch we had an easy afternoon of movies, starting with two episodes of Wild China on Netflix. I had originally intended to watch just the first one because it shows the fishermen and their cormorant fishing birds (as was mentioned in our book) but we found it so fascinating that we went on to watch another episode. (We ended up watching all six episodes by the time we finished with this study!)

Bill Nye the Science Guy's episode (library DVD) simply titled, "Buoyancy fit in well with this unit."  The kids liked it so much that they asked to watch it twice.

I introduced the kids "tally marks; and we used them to add up Ping's family members.  Then using a photo of our family that was taken at Christmastime.  We compared how many were in Ping's family to how many were at our family Christmas celebration.

30

68

Then we helped get Ping to his boat just for fun.

 Another new vocabulary word was HYPOTHESIS.  Each child (plus one this particular day as a grandson was with us!) gathered three things and made their scientific guess as to whether the object would float or sink.

Then they put it to the test.

There are a lot of supplemental lapbook/worksheets for Ping.  We did various math and language arts activities with Ping or duck based worksheets. Search online or see Pinterest. You will find many available to print for free.

While we could have spent a lot more time on studying about ducks or floating properties, I chose to focus more on Chinese history and geography in this study.  Whatever you choose, Ping is fun!


Other resources:

BOOKS:

My First Book About China by Christina Calkins
Ducks! by Gail Gibbons
Goodnight, My Duckling by Nancy Tafuri
Whose Chick are You? by Nancy Tafuri
Backyard Wildlife: Ducks by Derek Zobel
Ducks Don't Get Wet by Augusta Goldin
Baby Animals: Ducks by Alice Twine
Little Quack by Lauren Thompson

MOVIES:

Wild China set of 6 episodes by BBC
Listen to the story being read on YouTube

Globe Trekker China. This is a two disc travel guide DVD.

HEADS - UP!  I got a dvd from the library called "Up the Yangtze" a Yung Chang Film thinking it would give a good tour of the Yangtze River and some of the culture around it today.  Please don't make the same mistake! The subject matter, the language, alcohol, and disrespect towards the parents made this a big NO in our family.  We didn't get far into it before stopping it and moving on to something else.

Valentine's/Chinese New Year Auction

We've launched an auction on Facebook to help raise funds for Susy's adoption expenses.  It has a Valentine's and Chinese New Year theme.  You'll find an assortment of jewelry.

And a good selection of Chinese silks in children's sizes 2 - 20.   There are two piece sets for  boys.

And silk dresses for girls.

You can see them all and bid HERE!

The auction will end at 9pm EST on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.  Thanks for looking, and please share with anyone you think may be interested!

Susy's Puzzle Piece Fundraiser

Susy's Puzzle!

There are 300 pieces and when they are sponsored at $10 each and added to her Angel Tree Fund,  it will be enough to cover her required orphanage donation with a little left towards the provincial fees in her country.  Will you join us?  It would be such a relief to have that particular large fee off my mind!

If you'd like to help in this way there are a few ways to do it, and two of them are tax deductible.

1. Donate through our Family Sponsorship Link with Reece's Rainbow.  Use the donate box on the right side border or this link  http://reecesrainbow.org/102427/sponsorlanz-4 

This can be done through Paypal, or if you would prefer to send a check, please note in the memo that it is for Susy and the Lanz family so they know where to credit it. Mail to:

 Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 277
Monrovia, MD 21770

2. Donate online through our Shepherd's Crook Orphan's Ministry dedicated fund.  To donate online, select Susy in the drop down box found here https://theshepherdscrook.cloverdonations.com/giving/

NOTE: We won't be notified when you donate so please comment here on the blog or drop me a note at Grant4Susy@gmail.com letting me know what to put on your puzzle piece(s).

or 3. Paypal the funds to Grant4Susy@gmail.com .  Sending the funds directly to us through Paypal is not tax deductible.

You may not think that your $10 helps. Believe me, every little bit helps! International adoption is very expensive and way beyond what our family budget can handle on our own. We are grateful for every gift, no matter what the size, to help us get our treasures home! And perhaps just as important, every time we see even a little increase in one of the dedicated funds we are encouraged that we aren't in this alone.

Thanks friends for standing with us one again.

And it has launched!  Thank you, Mom for getting us started!

Thank you, Hartsough Family!

Thank you to the Carpenter family!

Thank you to the Tibbetts family!

Thank you, Carrie!

Thank you, Freeman family!

Thank you to a friend who requests to remain anonymous!

Thank you, Aunt Beckie!

Thank you, cousin Marley!

FSP Reece's Rainbow

We have done fundraising with Reece's Rainbow for all of our international adoptions.  They advocate for and help raise funds for special needs orphans across the globe.  "Susy" was part of their Angel Tree focus at Christmas time.

To have an FSP  (Family Sponsorship Program) link one must meet certain document requirements and have the adoption confirmed by the social worker.  This is to ensure that the families are legit.

We just received our FSP yesterday, and are excited to see our ZERO balance change.  To kick off our first fundraiser with our FSP we're seeking puzzle piece sponsors.

If you were following with our other adoptions, the other children all had puzzle pieces as a part of our fundraising.   

Abigail & Jen's puzzle, 2013

Isaac's puzzle, 2014

Patrick's puzzle, 2015

We wrote the sponsor's name on the back of each piece and framed the puzzles in double sided glass. 

the back of Isaac's puzzle

Of course, our Little Miss needed to have a puzzle too, just to keep things fair!  I chose this popular Chinese icon for her.

Susy's puzzle, 2016

There are 300 pieces in her puzzle.  When they are sponsored at $10 each and added to her Angel Tree Fund,  it will be enough to cover her required orphanage donation with a little left towards the provincial fees in her country.  Will you join us?  It would be such a relief to have that particular large fee off my mind!

If you'd like to help in this way you may use the box on the right hand side of this page to sponsor through Paypal, or  if you would prefer to send a check, please note in the memo that it is for Susy and the Lanz family so they know where to credit it.  Mail to:

Reece's Rainbow

PO Box 277

Monrovia, MD 21770
 
And one final step.  We don't receive a notice when a donation has been made, so please note in the comment area (below) how you would like your piece(s) to read, or drop me a note at Grant4Susy@gmail.com   Thank you!