Reaching the World's Hungry

FYI - There are two new and wonderful resources available in the flick of a fleas' foot (downloadable from the Internet). Check these out if you want to teach a group about world hunger and get some discussion going on what to do to help.

Both are available from www.wmustore.com.


World Hunger 101 - World Hunger Event Promotion Pack by Angie Quantrell (gee, that name sounds familiar, hmmmm), $9.99. This downloadable booklet, posters, and plans give directions and information for a two-hour reality experience about hunger. Ideas and suggestions are given for ages preschool through adult. In our area, the northwest, October and November are months that reflect harvest, thankfulness, and giving to help those in need. This hunger experience and discussion will surely lead your group to reaching out to others.

Teaching Preschoolers About Hunger by Jennifer Cox (I know her, too!) is available for a longer focus on hunger. This resource will help preschoolers understand hunger in our country and world in an interactive 4-week study. This resource is also $9.99.

Ready to make an impact? Now you have the help to get going. Check them out!

Tip: Want to have a collection container that tells exactly what the money is for? www.wmustore.com also has the perfect savings bank - in the shape of a loaf of bread! It's called the World Hunger Bread Bank.

Our Farm

Our Farm, By the Animals of Farm Sanctuary is a beautiful book.

The imaginative poems are penned by Maya Gottfried and the life like paintings are by Robert Rahway Zakanitch. I just found this book listed on Amazon, but learned about it through my local library where I was checking out books for our farm theme.

Different artistic methods render endearingly sweet illustrations of farm animals. Each animal is represented by a hand-crafted poem perfectly sounding as if written by each particular animal. The animal 'voice' for each critter is funny and winsome and fits what we think farm animals are like in their actions and personality.

Kindergarteners loved the illustrations although some of the funny parts were above their heads. Still, this book is a delight to read and look at and laugh with.

Recommended by a youngster at heart.

The Boy Needs Dirt

According to the book I am currently reading for a class, Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv, kids need outdoor time.

Dirt, water, mud, sand, rocks, sticks, trees, grass, plants, bugs, snakes, fish, birds...They need it all, combined with unstructured play and free time. Just to explore, dream, learn, conquer, expand...

The boy found some dirt today. On my to-do list is making him his own dirt garden (as opposed to my raised garden beds, which I have filled with plants). His own dirt box he can fill with water, make mud, throw rocks, dig holes, bury treasure, get filthy.

But so far, the dirt box is still on the to-do list.

Today he found his own dirt box, right on the edge of Nana's green beans. Hand shovel, plastic horses (from Nana's childhood, mind you), and dirt towered over by producing green beans.

He had a ball, burying the horses, digging deeper holes, standing up the horses, digging again, running the horses across the dirt.

The boy needs some dirt of his own, Nana! Come on, get to the to-do list.

What Happens Then?

America's genius has been nurtured by nature-by space, both physical and mental. What happens to the nation's intrinsic creativity, and therefore the health of our economy, when future generations are so restricted that they no longer have room to stretch?...

Nature is imperfectly perfect, filled with loose parts and possibilities, with mud and dust, nettles and sky, transcendent hands-on moments and skinned knees. What happens when all the parts of childhood are soldered down, when the young no longer have the time or space to play in their family's garden, cycle home in the dark with the stars and moon illuminating their route, walk down through the woods to the river, lie on their backs on hot July days in the long grass, or watch cockleburs, lit by morning sun, like bumblebees quivering on harp wires? What then?

From Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv (p. 97)

What then?

More About Childhood and Nature

(Some children at heart claim the fort work of regular beach going children.)

Who can't remember spending hours, days even, outside running wild during summer vacation and on weekends, maybe even during after school hours? Who else besides me misses the unstructured, unscheduled, outdoorsy, free time of our childhood? I know I do, and I haven't been a child for many, many years (except in my mind).

Childhood and Nature, Design Principles for Educators by David Sobel hits all of those nails right on the proverbial head. For the health - mental, emotional, physical, spiritual - of each child, nature is the best medicine. Nature plus free time is even better.

See if you can think of a personal example for each of the following themes found in childhood play:

1. Adventure. I remember I was the horse AND rider on numerous robberies and explorations with my best friend. (She was also her own horse and rider.) We sometimes recruited our live horses to adopt a role and play along. I don't think they liked it.

2. Fantasy and Imagination. See number one. Since horses were of number one importance, they played dominant roles in our imaginary worlds. Depended on what color hat we each wore, but the color told the world who was the bad guy and who was the good guy.

3. Animal Allies. Either we were on a horse, pretending to ride a horse, or were a horse. How else could we know what a horse was unless we became a horse?

4. Maps and Paths. Maps? We created our own. It really helped when we found a REAL live Indian arrowhead. Our archeological discovery undergirded many subsequent adventures.

5. Special Places. Sometimes, horses were not involved. One particular fort was perfect. We carefully scraped it out from the center of an entire shrub system of crucifix thorns. Just try and break in, enemies. You will bleed!

6. Small Worlds. Barbies (accompanied by camper, horse, and tent) were custom made for small worlds. Or rocks became walls, twigs furniture, and miscellaneous bits and bobs transformed into miniature homes, complete with rules, regulations, and family members.

7. Hunting and Gathering. Girls need to eat, right? Or at least gather. We had to go out there and round 'em up. Mostly, I caught tadpoles. Didn't eat them. Did find out that they dry up in the hot desert sun and look like boogers stuck to the glass sides.

Now, who can't think of at least one nostalgic memory linked to any of the above principles?

Enjoy the little trip down nature's memory lane.

London - 2011 International Mission Study

I adore London! The history, the Underground, tea and scones, jam and clotted cream, museums, shopping...the people!

I just received my copy of the new International Mission Study 2011 Teaching Guide for Preschoolers. Now, seriously, who else is going to enjoy learning about London and the culture of families that live there MORE than preschoolers? Well, maybe the teachers and helpers!

Check out this resource, by yours truly, for some great ideas on things to do with preschoolers while they learn about and experience different facets of life in London. ;0

Look for Mission Friends (preschoolers) resources at www.wmustore.com and www.wmu.com.

Now I'm Reading...

Wow, life really happened since I decided to add a new blog! I'm still reading, but the in between times are crammed with excitement and happenings...almost a baby, ready to be un-pregnant daughter, wild talkin' grandson, new daughter-in-law and happily married son, friends and family and festivities...not to mention that school begins in less time than I need to prepare my room! Help!

But right now, I'm reading a great book (well several, but only one I'll mention now). Childhood and Nature, Design Principles for Educators by David Sobel (2008) is the primary book for a class I'm taking and hoped to finish before school starts (not going to happen).

I love this book! It takes me right back to my childhood experiences with free play and long summers and oodles of time spent outdoors exploring, creating, and enjoying nature. Although this is written for people who work with children, it really reminds me as a grandparent how much I need to make sure to have it happen for my grand babies. And I realize that I encouraged embracing the outdoors for my own children, allowing them to delve into the messy of outdoors.

IT is fun times in the great outdoors. Time and space and freedom to interact and learn and make connections with nature in an unstructured way.

So much so, as I reflect on my own childhood and how much we loved dirt (grass, trees, bugs, frogs, sticks, mud, ponds, flowers, horses, dogs, you get the picture) and constantly eroded Dad's sand pile (hauled in for a specific purpose), so much that he never was able to use it for the intended project. I thought about my carefully landscaped yard, where each section has a purpose.

And where is the free exploration place for my babies? I think I need to add another planter box and fill it with dirt. Nothing fancy. Just dirt. Rocks maybe. Add some spoons and containers. He (and soon she) will love it!

Back to the book. I've always loved nature. I feel so relaxed and the stress just drops off when I'm out in the forest and take deep breaths of the evergreen air. Or strolling on the beach and smelling the briny salty water and running my toes through the icy cold water and sand of the Pacific Northwest. That nature connection is very good for my health.

Rating: Great read. Relevant for NOW. Green. Back to the basics and what is really important for our younger generations. No electricity OR internet access required.

Go unplugged. Take this book outside and sprawl on the grass under a huge shady tree. Pretty soon the book will be laying by itself. You'll be daydreaming about days gone past or excursions soon to come.