Fun Fact Friday - Haiti

Sometimes facts are not so fun. I know that this is called Fun Fact Friday, but last night DD and I listened to a woman who has gone to Haiti several times on missions and has now begun her own orphanage in Haiti. Inspired by her, we felt that we should learn a little more about the country. You will be sad to read the following facts, but turn your tears into action, finding a way that you might help.


Haiti and its attached Dominican Republic are the original Hispaniola that Christopher Columbus “discovered” in 1492.

It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html

The average Haitian families are living on less than a dollar a day.
http://www.bemhaiti.org/tp40/page.asp?id=87578

Haiti has the highest rates of infant, under-five and maternal mortality in the Western hemisphere. Diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are the leading causes of death.
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti.html

Haiti became the first black republic in 1804 after a successful slave revolt against the French.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_haiti.html

UN experts say just 2 to 4 percent of forest cover remains in Haiti, down from 7 to 9 percent in 1981
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/16/AR2008021602511.html

Some Haitians eat mud pies to quell their hunger. Watch a video:
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs4141

Some Haitian Artwork for purchase:
http://stores.ebay.com/Haitis-Back-Porch

Appreciating Art While Feeding the World

DS and I got caught up in my own post yesterday. We have been enjoying the art section of Free Rice. We started on the vocabulary, but then moved our way over. Vocab can only hold his attention for so long, but pictures, paintings, or anything visual can hold his attention forever. This section was kind of neat because it had classic paintings and you were supposed to identify the artist from the four listed. DS caught on right away. He was not familiar at all with the artists, but once he realized that you could identify the artist by looking at their style, choice of subject, and color pallet, he was hooked. This was right up his alley. He is the dear boy who while still in diapers pulled all my cans out and reorganized them by height and volume for fun. When he was younger, he would not eat his m&m’s until they were in order and matchboxes weren’t for driving, they were tools to classify and organize.

Of course, in the beginning it was easiest for him to identify Vincent Van Gogh

with his deep strokes and repetitive subject matter, but then we moved on to Monet, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt. He particularly liked Franz Marc,

a Picasso style but with wildlife. He also asked for a Van Gogh print for his room. (He is really becoming my kind of man – a Kenny G. listening Van Gogh fan who likes long walks in the woods – boy will he be able to write a personal ad one day). He also quickly caught on that we could identify Georges Seurat by his use of dots and Pieter Bruegel the Elder by his use of detail.

We also cheated a little or you may call it using your resources wisely when we found out that some of the pictures were signed in the corner. Albrecht Durer’s signature was the most interesting (look in the plaque just below the horse's lifted hoof - there is a "D" inside a rough "A")

.

I guess it is time to head back to the Wadsworth Anthenum or maybe a trip on the T into Boston.

Homeschool with Heart Means Helping Others

Here is a game that you and the kids can have fun playing while helping others at the same time. The game includes vocabulary, world capitols, language, art, multiplication. Free Rice asks questions which get more difficult based on correct answers. If you get a question wrong, it reappears again to reinforce the knowledge. And while you play, grains of rice are being calculated and donated to the UN World Food Program. A simple and fun way to become more educated and change the world at the same time.

For those that are interested in learning more about the poverty side of things, you can follow the links in the FAQ section and learn about poverty issues around the world.

Volunteering for Homeschooling

Part of my day today involved trekking DD back and forth to the Library. She has been volunteering countless hours at the Library reshelving movies, readings to youngens, and tracking summer reading of the patrons. Volunteering has been a great way for her to spread her independent wings. I drop her off and come back a few hours later. Occasionally, DS and I find a quiet corner to do his work while she works elsewhere in the library. You would be amazed how much less complaining occurs when you do your lessons in public. I also appreciate the volunteering because they learn new skills, work with other adults, and fulfill their community obligations. Volunteering also gives teenagers an opportunity to test career possibilities.

Some great places for teens to volunteer include:

Fire department
Ambulance corps
Library
Hospital
Convalescent Home / Veterans Home
Sunday School Program
Food Pantry / Soup Kitchen

If you have ideas about places for teens to volunteer, please let us know.

The Mission of Missions

There is one week a year when no school books come out in our house: the week that we join our church on a trip to Kentucky on our annual mission trip. We opt to drive ourselves separately than the main group and join them down at Bonanza. Months before we go, I crawl the internet to find places for us to visit on the way down. The first years that we went, this was done out of necessity. With our children only being 6 and 8 at the time, the idea of a 15 hour car ride was not appealing to us. But now these diversions have become an exciting and informative part of our trip. Some of our favorite stops have been:

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center– Cincinnati, Ohio

Philadelphia – Where instead of following our plan we got wonderfully side tracked with the storytelling at the “Once Upon a Nation” stations (We have also since visited their stations at Valley Forge). We also loved the Lights of Liberty show that made the history come alive as we toured the city at night.

Gettysburg – We were lucky enough to catch a reenactment behind Boyds Bears.

Lancaster, PA – It was amazing to see buggies for real, sharing the road with us (I would love to live with them for a month to see if what I think of their society is what it is really like – I think that I could learn a great deal). We did learn one thing on this trip – Sunday is not the best day to visit – dUH! But who thinks of that when their real purpose is to get to Kentucky.

Carter Caves – We have found that we love Spelunking. Our trips have included Lurray Caverns and a couple others, but we really enjoyed Carter’s Caves and their 52 degree constant temperature was certainly welcome against the heat.

We have done tons of other things as well including DC, Zoo’s, other historical sites, but the above are our favorites.

When we get there and join our church, we spend the week building houses for the economically disadvantaged. The first year that we were there, we were lucky enough to have a guest speaker who explained to us how Appalachia became as we see it now. Our kids, while not understanding all the implications of signing away mineral rights on your land, were amazed at this different lifestyle. A true appreciation for all they had started to arise. Where we live, we may seem to be on the poorer side of the spectrum - - - my car is 12 years old, our house is only a raised ranch, their clothes don’t have labels on them all the time, but in the area of Kentucky we were in, we seemed wealthy beyond comprehension. Then the real work began. Although young, the kids were part of the crew and they were expected to work as such. They got to hammer and saw. They got to backfill foundations and lay in roof trusses. All the skills that they learned in school books suddenly had application – measurement, area, volume, angles, linear feet - - - created houses. They built houses.

During this one week, actually two if you count the travel to and from, we probably experience and learn more than in the other 51 weeks put together. Most importantly, they learn how truly blessed they are and that with their blessings, much is expected. Through their hands, God touches the world. Their hands help to bring heaven to earth. Their hands ease the difficulty of others. Their young hands are powerful. We have had to forgo this trip twice since then and we miss it greatly, but are thrilled to know that our church continues the mission.

What ways do you make learning real for your children?