MFW ECC Week 18-20: Kenya

When we arrived in Kenya we were shocked to be greeted in English - one of the official languages. Of course we quickly learned to say "jambo," which is hello in Swahili.  While in Africa, we needed some traditional clothing.  We headed to Nigeria for a buba or blouse (pronounced boo-ba), Iro or wrap, and Gele or head-tie (pronounced gay-lay).

We enjoyed several art projects.  Our favorite was the galimoto - a toy vehicle usually fashioned out of old wire.  They can be out of sticks, cornstalks, or pipe cleaners in our case (top left).
 We also used chalk to draw a Kente ("KEN-tay")cloth (below). At first kente was intended to be worn solely by kings and chiefs. They would often wear the bright cloth to festivals. Now kente is worn by many different people in Ghana

In Science we studied grasslands.  Instead of the suggested mural in week 19, we made big/ little African savanna dioramas.  My youngest insisted on putting the baby elephant on the little side.  LOL.   Download instant habitats here

Our Elephant Experiment

week 19 day 1

Why do the elephants fan themselves after spraying the water?
When air moves quickly, water evaporates faster, helping to cool the animal.

Our read-a-loud is the David Livingstone biography, but I only highlighted parts of each chapter .  This has been our least favorite novel.  I question the spiritual importance and don't understand why he abandoned his first calling - his family. We focused on his exploration of Africa and how that paved the way for future missionaries.   I also love how he trained the natives to be missionaries to their countrymen.  "Africans just think we are talking about our odd European ways and customs.  But when their own people tell them about Jesus, they see the truth."
                                                   
Just as Lvingstone explored we set out on our own exploration with Walkie Talkies.  One girl hid and used her air alphabet to communicate her location.  The other girl decoded the message and set off to rescue her sister.

 

The girls thought a GPS would have been so helpful for Livingstone as he navigated the desert. I was so proud of my 4th grader.  She completed the aviation challenge all by herself.  She first answered in minutes, but easily came up with the correct times!

Bible surprise: We know that Jesus is truth and that the world often distorts the truth, but we were all shocked in our Window on the World reading.  We had no idea that the Koran teaches that it was Ishmael (not Isaac) that Abraham planned to sacrifice on Mount Moriah.

Mom's Media Links:

African Country Tutorial	African Animal Quiz	African Animals

African Bodies of Water	Wild Kratts Savannah	African Puzzle

Click Watch on Vimeo to see the Galimoto Reading Rainbow show.  Story starts at 3:00

 What We Learned:

• Geography
  
  
  
   
  
  
• The capital of Kenya is Nairobi.  
• The official languages are Swahili& English.
• The Kenyan Shilling is the currency of Kenya. (print Shillings here)
  
  


• The nation's motto is Harambee - "pull together"
• The Kenya National Anthem is “Oh God of All Creation” or in Swahili: “Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu”. 
  
• Exploring World Geography:  Climate(13), Water (15), & Climate (18) 
• Geography From A to Z Vocabulary:  Grassland       
  
  

  

     


• Science


• Grasslands have warm summers & cold winters, receive about 10-30 inches of rain, have lots grasses but few trees(due to lack of rain).
• Savannas are located in parts of central Africa and south of the Sahara.
• The grasslands provide food for herbivores.  Large numbers of plant eating animals provide food for carnivores.
• Book of Animals - African Animal  Pages 113-142: Elephant, Giraffe, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Hippo, Lion, Ostrich, Rhino, & Zebra.
  
• Pilots use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to know where they are.
• Bible


• Memory Verse: Matthew 6:19-21 & Matthew 6:24-25
  
• Read Matthew chapters 13:31-16:4
• Riffi Berbers, Kal-Tamashaq,& Pygmies - Window on the World
• We started reading the biography of David Livingstone
• Hero Tales  Mary Slessor, Samuel Morris, & David Livingstone
• "Courage is standing up for what's right even when it means danger." 
• "Mercy includes acts of kindness toward both the innocent and the guilty."
• "A peacemaker is someone who brings enemies together with a peaceful soltion."
• "Peacemaking sometimes means being willing to risk your safety in order to prevent harm to others."
• "Thankfulness is seeing God's goodness."
• Download Mama Jenn's Hero Tales copy work
      
• Art


• Global Art Decorative Necklaces (16) "For hundreds of years, Central African women have been wearing beautiful metal collar necklaces. 
•  Global Art Galimoto Sculptures (page 24). In Africa, children make galimotos by twisting wire into toy vehicles.
• Dough Safari animals. 
• African pyramid (click here to down instructions)
• African Kente Cloth (click here to down instructions)



• Spanish


• We use Duolingo.com  
• Duolingo is a fun, free, & fantastic learning tool. 
• Much of the learning happens in the form of quizzes, which switch between testing speaking, listening, and writing. The grammar and sentence constructions become progressively difficult as you go along. It keeps reviewing previously learned words, allowing you to progress from basic words all the way through various verb tenses and abstract ideas. 
• We love that we can compare progress with our friends.



• Book Basket/ Read-Aloud


    



             


    
    
 
Curriculum for Exploring Countries & Cultures