Crafty Monday Part 1: Ancient China and The Rats of NIMH

Crafty Monday Part 1: Ancient China and The Rats of NIMH September 9, 2013

Filed under: Crafty Mondays,Geography/History,Kid's crafts,Story of the World — amberdover @ 5:15 pm
Tags: Amber Dover, art, blogging, books, China, Chinese pictograms, Chinese tea ceremony, crafts, Crafty Monday, Early civilizations, family, geography, history, homeschool, Panda, simple machines, The Rats of NIMH

Hello dear ones! I wanted to split up today’s post between fall crafts and what we’re doing in school. Here’s what we’re doing in school.

We’ve been majoring in Ancient China and minoring in other early civilizations. I’ve started using “The Story of the World” to add to our history lessons. We are still using “Draw and Write Through History” for art and the basis of our main historical studies. Michael drew a Panda from his art book on watercolor paper. Then he painted it.

During snack and lunch time I read to Michael from story of the world. First we read about ancient civilizations. Then we went on to China, India, and Africa.

It was amazing to learn Chinese history. I had never heard of it before. I don’t know about your school experience but I believe mine was very Eurocentric. My husband knew a bit about other cultures because of college.

I think I’ve said before but all people come from one of Noah’s three sons. The Chinese and my ancestors come from Japheth. It’s awesome and makes so much sense learning history according to the Bible and creation science. World events aren’t confusing….everything fits.

So Michael and I both learned about the silk worm and the legend of how the first Empress Lei zu discovered silk when a cocoon fell in her tea cup. We also learned about the first emperor Huang Di and his discovery of medicine. Then we went on to the Shang dynasty and their use of bronze.

We’ve been putting famous people on the leaves of our tree.

We made Chinese pictograms. I glued foam cut into Chinese letters and put them on a bottle cap. Besides leaving a circle, they work :).

The symbols rain and mountain.

Michael and I watched a video on the Chinese tea ceremony. Then we had our own Chinese tea party.

You can find the video here: http://highhillhomeschool.blogspot.de/2012/09/china-history-co-op-week-10-tang-dynasty.html

“Blew” wanted to party too.

While Michael did book work I played traditional Chinese music in the background. He was interested in the Chinese’ dance style. So I found a video of traditional dance that we watched. We also watched a video of Chinese Christians getting their first Bibles. It was beautiful. You can find both of those videos on my Pinterest here:

http://www.pinterest.com/doverette/geography-history-social-studies/

We ate at a really nice Chinese restaurant the Sunday before. So it’s more American food than actual Chinese but the atmosphere felt Chinese :).

Secondly, we finished “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH”. If you recall, last week we made a stuffed rat. This time we made a couple simple machines. The rats in the book are super intelligent and use simple machines to move things around. I found this kit at Barnes and Noble.

Michael continued to answer journal questions and we watched the movie yesterday actually. We went through the book quick but I didn’t want it to go into our Egyptian studies. We’ve got several books to read this coming week. Here’s a picture of the movie “The Secret of NIMH”.

Here’s what Michael does during school ;). Nah, he wanted me to take this picture.

Playtime

Our group took a trip to the planetarium. Michael wanted to sit with the boys. They danced and acted silly through most of the show. Boys will be boys. As the group gets older you can see the genders splitting up.

Michael playing from the new piano book. He’s also been writing in his note speller and theory book. I think he’s finally ready to really progress. He enjoys practicing these days. The new book has easier songs but more of a selection for him to play.

Big news! Michael lost his first tooth! We put it in a bag and he got a dollar. It happened so quick. It was loose one day and then out just a couple later. Michael’s ready to make more money :).

Michael’s really been progressing on Guitar Praise. It’s kind of like Guitar Hero except it’s Christian music. I’m glad we got this instead. He’s already singing the songs and I wouldn’t have wanted him to sing the songs on Guitar Hero. Plus it’s neat to play songs we really enjoy…like “Jesus Freak”. The game isn’t made anymore which is a shame. I’m glad my computer can play it.