Lesson #3

*Sorry, long post ahead, but don't miss the videos at the end! :)

Yep, we're already to Lesson #3! This week's lesson focused on language, religion, education, and literature of Ethiopia. We read two little blurbs about religion and education in Enchantment of the World: Ethiopia. (It was published in the late '80's, so is a bit obsolete, but I really liked the short, concise, easy-to-understand way it talked about big subjects.) My plan is to talk more about Christianity's specific influence in a couple of weeks, but we learned this week that Ethiopia has many Muslims, Christians, various traditional religions, and also a few thousand Jewish people, called the Falashas. One point I found intriguing is that the Falashas believed, until they were discovered by the outside world in 1860, that they were the only Jews on earth! They've lived in the northwest part of Ethiopia for about two thousand years and say that they were a "lost tribe" of Israel that broke away from the main group during the Exodus from Egypt. (Some scholars think the Falashas converted later than this, but still before Christ. America is just such a young country - I'm struck by Ethiopia's rich history!)

We also talked briefly about going to school in Ethiopia. It's a priveledge many children don't have because of the poor transportation system and the fact that about 75% of the kids live more than 1/2 a day's walk from a good road. (This was a great spot for me to plug how BLESSED my kids are to be able to go to school...hee hee) The levels of education sound a lot like what we do here - elementary, junior high, high school, and college. We read that not many are able to finish high school and even fewer attend college.

Which brings us to language and literature. One of my favorite parts! We learned that Ethiopia has a very rich oral tradition, and many of their stories have been passed down through generations as a way to communicate their values and beliefs to their kids. Like my friend Meg said in a comment from a previous post, "Often, it has helped me to understand a culture by learning what they teach their children...." I've been just itching to get my hands on so many of these incredible books that have been recommended to me by friends and various websites. Here's a start to my list - I haven't read these because they aren't readily available for check-out at our tiny library, so I need to pace myself in buying and starting our very own collection!

When the World Began, by Elizabeth Laird (A wonderful recommendation from Meg - thank you, my dear!!!! This is #1 on my list - an out-of-print compilation of stories published by Oxford Press. It's on amazon.com and will be my first purchase next month! :)
Fire on the Mountain
The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia

We did read a couple of folk-tales from the back of the book I mentioned earlier and we started on American Girl's Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz. It's a story about an Ethiopian girl - one of the books from their Girls of Many Lands series. Another great picture book I found that mentions Ethiopia, but is not specifically about Ethiopia (but that we loved and is definitely worth a read), is Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, by Mary Williams. This book is based on a true story and is an incredible glimpse into the life of young refugees and the power of faith and perserverance.

Ok, if anybody has made it through this insanely long post (sorry - this stuff is fun for me), here's your pay-off. Some hilarious takes of our kids and me attempting to speak Amharic - the national language of Ethiopia. (And we found some good listening samples on YouTube, if you're interested in checking those out.)

This is what we're attempting to say:
Me: Hi!
Kids: Hi!
Me: Can you speak Amharic?
Kids: Yes.
Me: What is your name?
Kids: My name is....
Me: Thank you!
Kids: You're Welcome.
Me: Good-bye
Kids: Good-bye!

Red-Letters Campaign

Have any of you noticed the little red and white RLC blog badges at the bottom of my last few posts? :) I've been meaning to write about the Red-Letters Campaign, but instead of attempting to explain using my own words, check out this video from the RLC site:
http://www.redletterscampaign.com/



Check out the site if you haven't already - there are so many incredible resources, ways to get involved and connected.

Alex

Our kids have been begging for a kitty for a while now and fell in love with a little tabby named Alex who lived at the farm where they have horse class. About a month ago they began telling me about him and asking if I could call and put Alex "on hold" for our family when he'd be ready. I acted really nonchalant about it and I think they kind of gave up, thinking it'd never happen. Little did they know, the day after they told me about him, I called and successfully put Alex "on hold!" This seriously was the hardest secret I've ever had to keep. The best part was that their horse-class teachers were in on the surprise too. Week after week, they'd tell the girls that another family had already reserved Alex - so they'd see him each class, love on him, be totally sad he wasn't theirs, and pretty ticked at me for not calling before "the other family." hee hee.

Well, last week at the end of horse class, their teachers called them into the barn, brought out Alex with a giant ribbon around his neck and said, "Guess what - Alex's new owners are here...and they're YOU GUYS!"

Check out these faces:




On the way home they were like, "Mom, but we don't have any kitty stuff...the litter box, food..." (I was totally playing up the girlie drama here saying, "oh, no...") And when we got home, I surprised them with all of the goods. They were amazed and had no clue I'd been buying and stashing stuff for a month without their knowledge. :)

He's such a sweet little guy. And a great peace offering for having to give our horse Cody back to his previous owner (Which I don't think I blogged about, but was so devastating to the kids. He was just too energetic and independent to be a kid-friendly/beginner horse. It was a tough lesson and I felt horrible. But, live and learn, right?) And it helps that Ann, his owner, gives us updates to let us know he's happy and living it up with his old horse buddies.

So, here he is:



The only problem so far is that there's not 4 of him...

Lesson #2

Today we had lesson #2 for our Ethiopia 101. We tackled learning about clothing, housing, family life, and common professions. First off, we all sat around the computer and watched a couple of videos on YouTube - one was called "Faces of Ethiopia" and the other, "My house in Ethiopia." It was cool to see the beautiful diversity of people and to see first-hand where one family lives. Then we read a few excerpts from these books we found at our local library:

Continent in the Balance: Africa/Ethiopia, by Jim Corrigan
Modern World Nations: Ethiopia, by Carol Ann Gillespie
Enchantment of the World: Ethiopia, by Dennis Brindell Fradin
Cultures of the World: Ethiopia, by Steven Gish

This time around, I wanted the kids to tell one thing they learned from our little class:

Ellie: "I learned that there's also mansions in Ethiopia!"
We learned about the variety of Ethiopian houses, ranging from one-room houses, stone houses, apartment buildings, and luxurious villas.

Josie: "I learned that the fireplaces in their homes are kind of shaped like rainbows!"
We learned that although housing styles vary greatly by region and ethic group, in the countryside, cooking is done in a fireplace in the middle of the house. (And it does kind of look like a rainbow from a certain angle!)

Maggie: "I learned that they make lots of clothes in the city."
We learned that about 90% of Ethiopians make their living from the land (farming crops and raising livestock), but in the city manufacturing textiles is also one of Ethiopia's most important industries.

Miles: "Some kids' parents died in Ethiopia..." (OK, we didn't talk about this today, but it must've been something that stuck with him when talking about orphans. His favorite part today hands down was sticking sticks and coffee beans in the playdough we used to make the fireplace.) :)

Me: I think one of the things that stuck out most to me is the importance of family in Ethiopia. Sometimes families are nuclear - dad, mom, and kids, and sometimes they're multi-generational. The families tend to be patriarchal, elders are shown great respect, and children are given small responsibilities and chores at about age 5.

So today the kids made a little diorama (I think that's the right word.) They were able to incorporate what they learned about traditional Ethiopian dress (and made their own with Ross' old T-shirt), farming, and the look of some homes in the countryside. (There's just typically not two Barbie-ish moms making injera at the same time.) ha ha Here's what they came up with:

Miles invents "the man-band" - a new wave for the headband

"Mom, this is so my hat won't fall off!"

12 years

12 years ago today:

Happy Day

Whether he's working or playing, he always gives us his best. (He even picked out the ribbon for our new shower curtain - see below.) ha ha ha Ross - you're the MAN! Best dad and husband in the whole universe!!! We love you so much. Happy Father's Day! (and thank you for my new bathroom!)

Lesson #1!

Friday was our first Ethiopia 101 class session and we learned about Ethiopia's geography, climate, and wildlife. We sat down with snacks about 10 a.m. and the kids listened as I read from Cultures of the World, Ethiopia by Steven Gish - a children's encyclopedia-like book which focuses on many aspects of life in Ethiopia. It's a great book that we picked up at our local library - out of about 5 similar books, this one is by far the most recent (newly updated in 2007) and provides great info in a very user-friendly fashion (it's easy to paraphrase for younger kids.)

One of my main goals of this lesson was to teach the kids to identify North America and Africa on the world map and show where we're at in relation to each other. From there we focused on Ethiopia and it's special features. I drew a map of Ethiopia and its surrounding countries on a big white poster board (I copied the map from a couple I found online.) Then the kids painted the map with tempera paints - they loved this part...the messier the better in their opinion! We labeled some of the more distinguishing features of the country such as mountains, desserts, valleys, the Blue Nile, and the capital Addis Ababa. I found some spongy letter stencils at Walmart and we used those to write "Ethiopia" at the bottom of our map. I found some great pictures and descriptions of endemic animals such as the Ethiopian Wolf and Gelada Baboon and common crops such as coffee and teff (the grain used to make the flat pancake-like stuff called injera) online that we printed, cut out, and glued to our map as well. And I found some weather clip art that the kids cut and glued on the map to show where it's more hot and dry and where it's more cool and rainy.

We went over a lot, and we could probably spend one class on each landmark and animal alone, but some cool things we learned that stood out to us:
1) Ethiopia is very mountainous and is sometimes called "The Roof of Africa" because it boasts some of the highest elevations on the continent. (And these mountains, such as the Choke and Mendebo, have also been referred to as the "African Alps.")
2) Along with its mountains, Ethiopia also has one of the world's lowest points - the Denakil Depression - and the Great Rift Valley which runs through the center of the country.
3) I always pictured all of Ethiopia being hot and dry (because of the recurring droughts and famines), but we learned it has many different climates ranging from cool, temperate, to hot, depending on the elevation. (Also the lowlands receive much less rain than the highlands.)
4) Ethiopians were the first people to cultivate coffee to be used as a beverage - and it's the country's main export. (So buy some at www.gobena.org to help the farmers AND orphans!)

I seriously found such an over-abundance of information - here are a couple lists of sites I found especially helpful and are worth checking out:

Great sites for coloring pages and drawings of african/ethiopian wildlife and agriculture:

http://www.ethiopiafirst.com/Tour/endemic/Endemic-mammals.html
http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages_artwork.htm
http://www.rainbowkids.com/HTMLFiles.aspx?page=KidsActivities
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/ethiopia/ethiopia_overview.html
(I also found the clips about common crops on this site - it's a really great site to explore.)

And sites for free, printable maps:

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/africa.html
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/geography.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/
http://www.beyondbooks.com/bbshared/maps/africa/index.htm
http://www.edupics.com/
(This edupics site also has the weather clip-art I mentioned.)
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ethiopia.html
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/et.htm

Thanks again to all of you who have given me great ideas and resources to check out! I'm still looking constantly, and will have lots more to share as we keep learning! Here's the finished product... (In the morning I ran to Walmart to get all of our supplies and found flag T-shirts for $2.50 - a fun prize for the map-makers. They thought they were cool - but Ellie wasn't too thrilled about the picture idea :)

Summer School

Well, I've had a blast researching Ethiopia this past week - takes me back to my college days as an English major. I forgot how much I love this stuff. I've come across so many incredibly great websites and books and can't wait to share with you guys! (Also thanks to the people who posted great ideas for our Ethiopia 101 class - I'm going to incorporate every single one.) The toughest part was narrowing down the information and digesting it a bit for a 10, 8 ,6, and 4 year old...there won't be a whole lot on politics or government. :) The kids are actually really looking forward to it and that's really been fun for me. Just to give a basic idea of what I've got so far and what dates we'll be studying what:

June 13: Geography, Climate, and Wildlife

June 20: People and Culture: Part 1
(clothing, housing, family life, and common professions)

June 27: People and Culture: Part 2
(language, religion, education, and literature - folk tales)

July 4: People and Culture: Part 3
(calendar, festivals, music, art, sports)

July 11: People and Culture: Part 4
(FOOD! - recipes, coffee ceremonies, traditions and etiquette)

July 18: A Brief History and the Influence of Christianity

August 1: Present-day Ethiopia and Current Issues

August 8: How We Can Be the Hands and Feet of Christ in Present-Day Ethiopia
(study a few organizations and decide together how we're going to give and
get involved.)

I've got so much I want to write - so much I've learned already - it makes my head spin! But it's getting late, and I'm running out of steam. All I've gotta say is the more I read and the more I learn about Ethiopia and its beautiful people, the more I fall in love with and feel connected with the country, its people, and that little person God's got planned for our family. I guess that's why I've become so passionate about my goofy little Ethiopia 101 idea. Hmmm...more thoughts, but for another day...







Ethiopia 101

Today is the first official day of summer break since the kids have gotten out of school - yeah!!! I felt like we kind of skipped spring - it felt more like winter in Narnia - freezing cold, but never Christmas! :) I personally am more of a fall/spring girl - I live for jeans and sweatshirt weather - but I'm really looking forward to being with the kids and enjoying a more relaxed schedule.

This morning I was thinking about how I want our summer to look. Like I said, I want it to be relaxed, but I also don't want the next few months to just slip away without being somewhat intentional with our time. I updated my June calendar with the few activities we have - T-ball/soccer for Miles, Tennis for Josie and Maggie, and Horseback riding for Ellie....add a couple of weeks of swimming lessons for all of them and ongoing piano...ok, looking pretty good - just one-two hours most mornings and still lots of time to just be kids (and the opportunity to be bored and to use their imaginations.) But then I started thinking about the "intentional with our time part"...I began scheming...

We just finished our dossier, turned it in, and are officially waiting for our child/children in Ethiopia. Ross and I have just been itching to be done with our year-long paper chase so we can dive into the fun stuff - researching and reading more about Ethiopia's culture, history, etc. Then it hit me! We could totally do this as a family. I decided I'm going to attempt to make a very basic curriculum that spans 8 wks. - our lessons will be on Friday. I'm hunting for great books, recipes, and crafty ideas. I want to do one topic a week. So far, without doing any research, I've come up with food, geography, and history. Obviously, I need some help. I'm calling out to my blogging friends to give me some good ideas for our "Ethiopia 101: Summer Session."

Also, some accountability. I figure if we do our lessons on Friday, we'll post what we learned sometime over the weekend.

After I get going on my research and curriculum planning (and glean from all of your great ideas), we'll hopefully get started next Friday. Stay tuned!