Week 20: January 29 - February 2 - "Taste and See...Africa"
“Taste and See…Africa”
It’s always fun when food and cooking are part of the lesson plans for the week. We had great fun sampling some dishes from Africa as well as enjoying more music lessons with Mrs. Emily.
Scroll below to see this week’s home readings
Family Book Package Readings
The readings listed below are optional, but are great ways to reinforce the lessons taught during this week. The entire family, from the youngest to the oldest, can explore new topics and enjoy great stories together.
Our Family Memory Verse for this week can be found at the end of this page.
The Bible - the Book of Matthew
Matthew 15:1-39
Matthew 16:1-4
Window on the World
p.76-77 Israel
Children’s Atlas to God’s World
P. 60-63
THE GARDEN
God is so wonderful and the greatest miracle worker. We saw this in worship this week as we studied Naaman’s story of how God used the prophet Elisha to heal him. Since we have been talking about Living Water, we have been learning new songs along that theme. This week's new song starts out like this: “I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul”.
This week at the big park the children played Duck, Duck, Goose. If only you could hear their excited screams and laughter! In the small park, the new hit is playing all together “Pillo policía”. They even had the thieves masks this week brought from home.
For activity time during block time, Lucas and Estela were playing together. “Vamos a jugar a un bosque y que las personas se metieron en una cueva”, said Lucas to Estela. They started building together and ended up building a big cross. During playtime there was some imaginative fighting going on between the wooden figures and Estela jumps in and says, “Dios es muy poderoso. No le pasó nada”.
This week’s highlight was when Carolina (our new Thursday helper) and Emma built the most amazing obstacle course for the kids and each and everyone of them participated and enjoyed it! Great gross motor skills were practiced.
SEEDS
Worship
As we continue studying the book of Matthew, we continue to be amazed at Jesus and like the disciples, remind ourselves that he “truly is the Son of God.” This was the disciples reaction when after walking on the water and rescuing Peter, he calmed the wind and the waves. Just as miraculous, Jesus invited the disciples to feed over 5,000 people with 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish. He then continued to heal the sick, some of which were healed just by touching his garments. The Seeds students participated in acting out these stories and it was so much fun to do this together.
We also had the opportunity to honor our volunteer Marlena this week. Happy Birthday again!
Afterwards, in parktime, the Seeds kids enjoyed discovering funnel ball in the park and just being outside on these days when we still feel the “cool winter breezes” that January offers here in Puerto Rico 🙂.
Geography
The students have done a great job learning where the countries of southern Africa are on the map and this week, we began to explore the northern half. We looked at Egypt this week and talked about some of the stuff we already knew about Egypt and learned a few new things. The Seeds were also able to enjoy a Kenyan dish called Irio that was leftover from the Oaks African Feast. Almost all of the Seeds were brave enough to try this new food they hadn’t had before and it was a hit! (See video below) Most of the kids wanted me to send the recipe to their parents, so here it is! Try making it with them at home. It’s very easy, delicious, nutritious and fun to make.
Science
This week, as we studied the grasslands of the world, our focus was on the pampas in South America and the prairies in North America. Although the pampas are mostly treeless, we were amazed to learn that pampas grass can grow up to 13 feet tall! Our older students went outside and traced the 13 feet with chalk to compare their height to that of the grass. It was also cool to learn that pampas grass is very popular for decorating homes and even weddings. The kids loved seeing pictures of several examples. The main animal we focused on was the Andean condor which is considered the largest flying bird in the world with a wingspan of ten feet. We also talked about some of the smallest creatures like termites and how some birds make their nests inside old termite nests since they don’t have trees to build their nests in.
For the prairies in North America, we learned that unlike the savannah in Africa, they are mostly used for farmland and that many of the animals that lived there have been displaced or the populations have been reduced like the wolves and the American bison. We highlighted two very interesting burrowing animals: the prairie dog and the burrowing owl. Both animals make their homes underground where they can protect themselves from predators. The burrowing owl chicks’ call confuses predators because it actually sounds like a rattlesnake! Prairie dogs build elaborate tunnels and chambers that even include a toilet chamber. Finally, we learned about North America’s fastest mammal, the pronghorn.
Studio Time
On Wednesday, Mrs. Emily started to teach the students some of the music ntes and where to place them on a music sheet. The kids got to use their music notebooks for the first time. They also practiced the chorus for “Not Alone.” On Friday, some students finished their African mud cloth inspired paintings while others worked on a sketch of King Tutankhamen. We also talked about hieroglyphics and signed our names in hieroglyphics using a guide provided.
THE OAKS PROGRAM
Worship and Park
One of the best parts about the Oaks program is that the students are of the age where they can study the word of God and discuss it in depth. This was the case this week in chapter 14 of Matthew, where the students were specifically intrigued about the fact that Jesus took action when he felt compassion for people. Despite the fact that he was very tired in his humanity and often needed time away by himself, he always acted to help the people that came to him, be it those who were hungry or those who were sick. It reminded us that Jesus has compassion on us too when we go through difficult times and He is able to help us when we come to Him.
And finally, the Oaks kids, inspired by Joshua’s interest, enjoyed discovering funnel ball in the park and just being outside on these days when we still feel the “cool winter breezes” that January offers here in Puerto Rico 🙂.
Geography
This week was quite “hands on” in our Geography class. We continued our study of several African countries this week, specifically Egypt, and compared some of the bodies of water and mountains in and around Africa. But the highlight of the week had to be our African feast. The students prepared dishes at home and brought them in on Thursday for a special banquet. We followed some traditional customs, such as only eating with our right hands and scooping up some of the foods with Ethiopian Injera. It was fun to discover why the students chose the recipes they did and also which ones they enjoyed the most.
Science and Studio Time
This week, as we studied the grasslands of the world, our focus was on the pampas in South America and the prairies in North America. Although the pampas are mostly treeless, we were amazed to learn that pampas grass can grow up to 13 feet tall! I challenged them to look outside in the grasslands in Puerto Rico to see a species of this plant growing wildly here as well. The main animal we focused on was the Andean condor which is considered the largest flying bird in the world with a wingspan of ten feet.
For the prairies in North America, we learned that unlike the savannah in Africa, they are mostly used for farmland and that many of the animals that lived there have been displaced or the populations have been reduced like the wolves and the American bison. We spent our time learning about several interesting animals like the burrowing owl, the prairie dog, and the pronghorn.
Memory Verse #18
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
Photos from this week’s Arts Academy Classes: Drama and Art Clubs
