"Traveling" to South Korea

Our next country "visit" was Korea. I searched for all of the Korean children's books at our libraries. Here is what we found:

Sumi's First Day of School Ever - Soyung Pak

dear juno - Soyung Pak

The Name Jar - Yangsook Choi

The Firekeeper's Son - Linda Sue Park

Welcome to South Korea - Karen Kwek & Johanna Masse

We enjoyed all of these books! The fiction books are very sweet stories, mostly about Korean children who are living in the United States but thinking about different aspects of their lives and culture in Korea. If we revisit Korea, I will look for these books I saw at learning ALL the time!! last week.

With every country, I have the kids work the applicable puzzle in The Seven Continents of the World Jigsaw Puzzle book (which includes six 48 piece puzzles). They try to locate North and South Korea on the completed map.

We look through all of our geography books, including Atlas of the World, Our World: A Country-by-Country Guide, and The DK Picturepedia: People and Places, and read all of the pages about our country.

For an art project, I printed off a blank flag of South Korea, which we focused on during our lessons.

They painted it with the appropriate colors,

and then brushed (with a Q-tip) glue on the remaining white portion.

I snagged some dry rice from one of their sensory bins, and they scattered it all over the glue to represent the white portion of the flag. We had talked about how rice is an important crop and food in South Korea.

Here are some of our notebooking pages, which were printed from Homeschool Creations.

We were fortunate enough to experience eating at a Korean (It was also upscale vegan.) restaurant on our NYC trip in November. (I wrote about it on my food blog.) It was very cool! My oldest son with sensory issues was pretty upset, at first, about having to take his shoes off at the door - but the kids loved the atmosphere and how the seats are on the floor with holes below for your feet. They loved all of the different courses and choices - and the citron juice "tea"!

We even prepared a Korean meal at home. A couple of years ago, the kids participated in a Summer Blog Swap, and Dash was paired up with Kaden, who was adopted from South Korea. They had sent us, among many many wonderful things - a recipe for Korean "barbecue," which is called Bulgogi. We veganized this recipe using seitan, and it was delicious!!! I served it with rice, stir-fry, and kimchi.

They also sent us a Korean ornament, which we've had on display during our Korea studies

another stamp in the kids' passports after our fun "visit"

Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn: Geography/History Link-Up

My Easter Post

The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg is one Easter book we have read this year. Amidst the time of being worried about his sick sister and also wondering about the meaning of Easter eggs, a young boy learns the true story of Easter. He realizes that an egg looks like a small version of the stone that was rolled away from the tomb. And that "just as a chick breaks out of an egg, so had Jesus broken free of the tomb of death." He is told that "Easter eggs remind us that Jesus conquered death and gives us eternal life."

There is a unit with lapbook on this book available at Homeschool Share, that I would like to do, if we have time.

Here are some of our other Easter books:

What is Easter?, Bunny's Noisy Book, The Very Best Easter Bunny, Just An Easter Egg, The Bunny Who Found Easter

Sunrise Hill, The Story of Easter, The Toddlers Bible Easter Book, Looking for Easter, Word Bird's Easter Words, Happy Easter Dear Dragon, Today is Easter!

Easter Bunny Saves the Day, Peter Cottontail's Busy Day,

Barney's Easter Party!, Peter Cottontail's Easter Egg Hunt

And most importantly, two of our Christ-centered Easter books:

The First Easter by Carol Heyer

This book has vivid illustrations, and my 5 year old especially likes it. He has asked more than once "where that book is that has the pictures of Jesus with his friends."

The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

I'm very fond of this book; it's one that makes me teary-eyed, much like this one. I have said I have a fondness for books in which characters (for some reason, mostly inanimate objects used as characters) realize their potential or what matters in life.

The three trees on the hill wish to be a treasure box, a mighty ship, and a giant tree that makes people think about the greatness of God. They are disappointed, at first, to become a feed box, small boat, and lumber...until they realize the importance of that feed box being used as a manger, that small boat used to hold Jesus during a miracle, and the lumber being turned into the cross that bears the crucified Jesus. At first, the third tree feels ugly being used in this way...but then learns that God's love changed everything. And now when people looked at "the third tree," they would "think of God."

My kids are actually extremely curious about the Easter books which include the crucifixion account. I brought out my photo album from my (and Ryan's) trip to Israel during college.

1st pic: This spot is believed by many historians to be the tomb of Jesus. (We also visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, another possible location of his tomb. Regardless of the actual location, the experience of visiting the entire area is AMAZING; I lack the words to describe it. I hope I can take the kids one day.)

2nd picture: the empty tomb visitors can walk into

3rd picture: "the place of the skull" (Golgotha) in the side of the rocky hill, one possible clue to the authenticity of the location

The kids loved looking at these pictures. I think it makes it seem much more real to them. It's one thing to look at a picture book and consider the printed illustrations. I think it's a good idea to google pictures of Jesus' garden tomb and the entire region to help clarify to kids that this is not just a good story; it is a real piece of history.

Easter Sensory Tub

split peas & Great Northern beans, plastic eggs (which are good for filling & scooping), bunny rabbit & Happy Easter picks, miniature baskets & 3 ceramic crosses from Hobby Lobby

little gems hidden throughout as "Easter eggs"

We also have the gardening tub out right now, which is good because usually they're all 3 crowding each other out at one tub. I'm such a fan of these sensory tubs because even though I usually spend around $10 to make them (but will reuse items for next year), they play with these much more than they would a toy I'd spend the same amount on.

The Craft

So this is my little plug for the chickens. We always use a non-chicken egg alternative for decorating eggs. With wooden, ceramic, paper-mache, plastic, etc., there is plenty to choose from, and you don't have to worry about how the chickens were treated (if you didn't raise them yourself)! :) This carton of ceramic eggs (plus paint) from Hobby Lobby cost $2.50 for 6. The paper-mache (plastic covered in a thin layer of cardboard are 3/$1, and this bag of mini-eggs were $1 (50% off).

Here are some of the eggs the kids have painted over the years as our table centerpiece. I try to remember to put the kids' names and the year on the bottom of the eggs.

The kids made these simple Easter baskets at MOPS. If your child is like my youngest (who loves to carry around bags of any kind filled with stuff), this is a good one. Simply cut out the top portion of a paper bag, leaving the middle, then tape the two sides together.

Easter Treat

I make Easter bunny shaped fruit trays for the kids. I think I will also make a cross-shaped fruit tray this year, as well.

Egg-celent links:

stART

Read, Explore, Learn

Kids Get Crafty

Preschool Corner

Geography/History

The Homeschool Village

St. Patrick's Day Studies

I planned the beginning of our Ireland studies to begin the week of St. Patrick's Day. We'll continue doing more St. Patrick's Day and Irish activities over the next couple of weeks. We really like this holiday around our house, especially because both of our sons have very Irish names. (They think it's fun to spot their names in Irish books.) And probably because we're so happy to be surrounded in green by this time of year. And we like to put on our pretend Irish accents. Well, I do, at least. (It actually might be a mix of Australian, British, and Irish.) They squeal for me to stop.

I was so excited when I found this old bulletin board set in an old bunch of posters I hadn't looked through in years. I like that it has the flag...

and the map for them to become familiar with.

The Books

Some of the St. Patrick's Day and Irish-related books we've checked out so far: Leprechaun Gold, Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin, St. Patrick's Day, The Luckiest Leprechaun, Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka, St. Patrick's Day...

...Cultures of the World: Ireland, Crafts for St. Patrick's Day, St. Patrick's Day in the Morning, The Leprechaun's Gold, Lucky O' Leprechaun, and Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato.

*The kids especially like The Luckiest Leprechaun: A Tail-Wagging Tale of Friendship by Justine Korman and Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin, an Irish tall-tale about the giants, Cuhullin and Finn McCool by Jessica Souhami.

Shamrock Hunt

This afternoon, we walked around our neighborhood, looking for clovers. Even though we looked high and low, we couldn't find any! We live in a very wooded neighborhood; we don't even really have grass at our house. (And, yup, that's an inside-out Spiderman costume he's wearing.)

I remembered there were plenty of clovers growing outside our homeschool co-op, which is only a couple of minutes from our house so we drove over there and picked some.

I used to be obsessed with finding 4 leaf clovers when I was young. I could always find them quicker than the rest of my family, and I had a book full of pressed ones. When we were getting ready to get back in the car, I thought to myself, "If I find a 4-leaf clover first, then good luck is coming my way," which I wanted to feel after having received some bad news yesterday. (I don't want you to think I believe in "luck" - it's just a fun idea. And I think of it as a synonym for blessing.) When I spotted this 4 leaf clover, it put a big smile on my face.

The Art Project

They glued some of their clovers to the card stock.

I made copies of a "dancing leprechaun" reproducible that is a part of that Carson-Dellosa Bulletin Board set, and the kids colored them, cut them out, and glued them onto their paper. The legs aren't glued, though; they are attached with brads so they can "dance."

They decorated their pictures with rainbows, etc.

Sensory Tub

The kids have been playing with this for a couple of weeks. I bought a few bags of Great Value split peas to use instead of rice this time. I added measuring spoons, black paper cups as "pots" for the gold, shamrock cookie cutters, and even a cute little leprechaun.

I also put in tiny craft shamrocks and larger soft shamrocks, gold jewels, clear stones, jingle bells because they seemed "leprechaun"ish, and a few Irish Blessing coins for the kids to dig out. And since leprechauns make shoes for the elves and fairies, I added a pair of shoes from one of Sissy's dolls.

They love it!

Link-Ups:

Geography/History: Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn

stART (story + art): A Mommy's Adventures

Homeschool Creations: Preschool Corner

Red Ted Art: Kids Get Crafty

JDaniel4's Mom: Read, Explore, Learn

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward is one of my FAVORITE children's books. I think that is why THIS stop on our vacation was one of my favorite's.

For those of you not familiar with the book, it is based on the real George Washington bridge and Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse, located on the Hudson River north of Manhattan in New York City. The lighthouse was first built in 1889 and was later reconstructed and operational until 1941.

In the book, the lighthouse (personified) is proud of his job of warning the boats about the rocks along the river and using its bell in the event of fog. Then one day, the lighthouse watches as men build the "great, gray bridge" next to him. The lighthouse now feels insignificant and small next to such a large, important-looking structure. Then one day during a storm, when he feels like he's completely useless, the bridge calls down to the lighthouse, reminding him of his importance. Finally, the man (who was only delayed because some boys had stolen his keys) comes to get the lighthouse operating to save the boats who are in danger. The lighthouse resumes his necessary responsibilities and is reminded that size has nothing to do with importance.

I'm not kidding - my eyes filled with tears BOTH TIMES I read this book to the kids. I'm apparently a mess when it comes to characters realizing their importance in life or achieving greatness in the end. When my voice cracks, I can feel the kids peering at me like, "What is wrong with Mom?"

Another reason I loved this little "field trip" is what a respite Fort Washington Park felt like from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. This is part of the trail that leads from the street parking and pedestrian bridge at Riverside Drive down to the water's edge.

When you are in NYC, it's nice to find any spots you can to just let your kids loose and run.

In 1951, the lighthouse was going to be torn down. Because of the public's love of this book (which was published in 1942), the lighthouse was saved and remains a preserved NYC landmark.

I only wish we'd been better prepared for the cold. I'm not sure how we got out of the car without proper gloves and coats. I even had to give up my coat for my 10 year old. I think we didn't realize how much colder it was going to be next to the water.

This wasn't our first lighthouse visit during our vacation. I posted yesterday about our visit to a lighthouse in Maryland with my blog friend, Annette.

Fort Washington Park is located in the Washington Heights area of NYC. We would have used the picnic tables to eat our lunch if the weather had been warmer.

This says it is the last surviving lighthouse on Manhattan island.

You can see the skyline of Manhattan in the distance.

The kids always automatically want to throw rocks and sticks into any body of water.

We'll definitely make a stop here during our next trip to New York! They give tours of the lighthouse during warmer months. There is even a lighthouse festival, that looks fun, every September .

I only took this picture because I'd been urging Ryan to "smile" more during pictures. He thinks he's smiling in picture, but really he isn't. You'd have to click on this picture to appreciate the effort he is making here. He thought he was overdramatically smiling, but really it just looks like a normal smile.

Our Art Project:

First, I googled "lighthouse outline image."

I printed off copies of this lighthouse picture.

The kids cut out small squares of red, black, and yellow construction paper to glue onto their lighthouses in mosaic/collage style.

After the lighthouse images were decorated with the mosaic design and cut out, they were glued onto large blue construction paper. I also gave them gray cardstock to cut out strips and design their own bridges. They also drew rocks and water at the bottom with marker.

my 3 year old's and 5 year old's finished projects

Linking up: stART at A Mommy's Adventures, Kids Get Crafty at Red Ted Art, and Read, Explore, Learn at JDaniel4's Mom