Jon J

In homeschool today we had a play date at Annmarie Garden with some families from a local Mom's Club. I've decided to bite the bullet and join (having resisted for almost 6 years) mostly because my little girls need some boys to play with. I did get them a book on construction equipment, having realized that I was inadvertently being sexist and neglecting that aspect of their education, which was fantastic because when we arrived at the sculpture garden they were pouring a sidewalk for the new visitor's center and we got to stand and watch. After walking around and looking at the art for about an hour the children and I went to lunch with Katie and her mom Sarah. We had Chinese food, something my kids are not that familiar with, so that was a special treat. I packed up the leftovers to take home for Natalie to try. Her class is studying China this week as part of their World Tour.

Next Tuesday Natalie is leading her class as the tour guide to her chosen country, Japan. Two days ago we made a big backdrop with a mountain on it (she colored a white cardboard backboard) and the title JAPAN on it. I had her trace and color a red circle on a white piece of paper to be the flag and we glued it on the backboard in the upper lefthand corner. Now it looks really cool because it is the flag and the sun in the sky above the mountain. Hopefully that will help the children in her class remember the Japanese flag.

In Natalie's school, being tour guide is a huge deal. You help the children off the plane (or whatever mode of transportation they used to get to your country -- the kids actually line up in the hallway to enter the country) and take them around, teach them about the country and even take them to eat in a restaurant there! My role as parent is to help her learn about Japan but not to take over. I had a parent conference with the teacher just to make sure I was walking the line properly and not turning it into "Rhoda's Report on Japan." :-) But we have planned some really cool things. The backboard will stand on a table with a volcano diorama in front of it -- my parents NEVER let me make a volcano model and I always wanted to so this is the perfect opportunity!!! -- and she will talk about how the islands of Japan were formed and then make the volcano erupt. She will have a box of artifacts to help her remember the salient points about Japan. We will read the book Taro and the Bamboo Shoot by Masako Matsuno and then head over to our "restaurant" table to try bamboo shoots! Then the best part... Gyotaku: The Japanese Art of Fish Printing. I'm also going to leave some books (I thought when we first got this country that I didn't have any picture books about Japan but, of course, I was wrong) for the teacher since they'll be in that country for the rest of the week. Here are the other books I'm recommending

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson
Basho and the River Stones by Tim J. Myers
Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! by Eric Carle & Kazuo Iwamura

By the way, if you love Jon J. Muth (and who doesn't???) I've heard he has a brand new Zen book for children out, also featuring the lovable panda Stillwater. It is called Zen Ties.