Plans: Cycle 1 - Week 10

History

* Read SOTW3: Heian Empire, Chapter 5 (warlords) and Chapter 10 (isolation).

* Read SOTW4: Heian Empire, Chapter 2 (re-opens).

* Here is a quick article about Japan's Shoguns.

I saw this book in our library and flipped through it. It looked really good for kids who are are upper elementary age, so I'm listing it here to help me remember to check it out the next time Cycle 1 rolls around.

I would love to do more, but really, lesson ideas on Japan's isolation for preschoolers are hard to come by (and I searched, too! I would've been shocked if I actually found something!). ;) So, moving on to Geography...

Geography

* I love the journey we're on studying the Christian missionaries that served in the places of our weekly memory work. As we study Japan this week, we'll take a quick look back at Amy Carmichael, whom we introduced in Week 7. She spent time serving God in Japan before going to India. Here is a short story about Amy growing up and then witnessing in Japan (be sure to click on Part 2 in the link, as well). We'll also study Jacob DeShazer this week. Did you know that the main pilot for the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor became a believer in Jesus Christ because of the work God did through Mr. DeShazer? And Mr. DeShazer was a POW in Japan for two years! Wow! God is INCREDIBLE! You can read that story here.

Click the picture above to go to a GREAT site with a quick bio and a link to a video interview with Mr. DeShazer.

His amazing story is also featured in this book, which is on our must-get list. Check out the blog post about it here at The Learning Parent, which is a wonderful site (they also sell this book about the spiritual heritage of the founders of America, which is another must-have!).

CEF's Wonderzone also has an Adventure featuring Jake DeShazer, so we'll do that together, too.

* Here is a quick-read on Christianity in Japan.

* Do some Japanese crafts:

Japanese Paper Fan

Japanese Paper Lanterns

Japanese Scroll

Okay, so we probably won't do the Sumo twins, but I thought it was just too fun not to post! Sumo wrestling is popular in Japan, and you can click here to learn more about the sport and print out these two guys. I could totally see these colored, laminated, and the bottom strip taped together in the back to make these stand up and duke it out. Ha! 

* For fun, we'll talk about Japanese haikus, but we won't write any yet. We will, however, read this really sweet storybook about haikus and a cat:

We've checked this out from the library before, and it really is a sweet book!

Here is a list from Montessori Tidbits of 25 children's books about Japan. It looks like a great compilation; we'll definitely be checking into these!

* Order some Japanese food for dinner, or get creative and make our own! Have you ever heard of this:

Bloggers have linked-up and shared recipes and ideas for learning about different countries. So cool! Click on the box above for the link to the Japanese dishes (scroll down a little after you click).

* We'll check out this site:

For general info. on Japan, this is a good site from National Geographic Kids.

Science

* Do a Botany Scavenger Hunt!
* Do a craft or two:

Leaf people! How fun!

Definitely have to do this one! You mix shaving cream and acrylic paint and then press a leaf into it. Awesome!

My daughter's favorite thing to draw is bird seed. Really. She'll take each color and one by one draw a line and call it bird seed being thrown at a wedding. I have NO clue where she picked this up, but it's cute and lets her practice those fine motor skills. Needless to say, we will absolutely not be doing this craft, ha! But, I thought I'd share it because it has the mirror image thingy we learned a couple of weeks ago. Pretty neat! (There's no link bc the site is in Bulgarian.)

I pinned a couple of other cute leaf crafts, so check out Pinterest if you're looking for more ideas.

And if you're looking for more Week 10 ideas, be sure to head over to Brandy's Cycle 1 Weekly Link-Up at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood!