I am Alexis, World Traveler and I would love for you to join me on my many travels to different countries. Together we will learn about the children and families of these lands. We will learn it is ok to be different, that we are all God's Children.
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Alexis's mother and I feel it is important to teach Alexis about diversity and cultural awareness. We want Alexis to know that people of different cultures may be different from us but that it is ok to be different. We want her to know that if we understand their culture that the differences are not really that great. From the time Alexis was born we have been talking to her about world events, and racial tolerance. She has never heard a racial slur in her six years of life. The foundations for racial attitudes are laid as infants and toddlers and after the age of nine their racial attitudes tend to stay the same. That is why it is so important that we never let our children hear or see any form of racial intolerance. When you live in rural Indiana it makes it more challenging to teach about diversity and different cultures. We came up with the idea to have her study about a different country each month and we will do fun activities such as eating at restaurants, playing games, visiting museums, dressing , and listening to music depicting the country we are studying. Follow Alexis on her many travels around the world and feel free to join her as she learns about the many different cultures.

~Mamaw~

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Black History Month: Henry's Freedom Box

Posted in | 9:38 AM | by Diana

February is Black History month and each year we choose books related to slavery and the civil rights movement. This month we will be reading about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, as well as other stories.

We started out with a picture book called Henry's Freedom Box. This is an amazing story of a slave named Henry. Henry devised a plan to mail himself to freedom. He purchased a crate and arranged to mail himself from Virginia to an abolitionist in Pennsylvania. Henry traveled inside this crate for 27 hours. He was transported by wagon, railroad and steamboat and often the crate was place upside down making an uncomfortable journey unbearable. Henry's hope for freedom gave him the strength to remain still inside that crate and Henry did make it to freedom and he became known as Henry "Box" Brown.

This book is based on a true story of the underground railroad. The story of Henry "Box" Brown can also be found in The Underground Railroad by William Still.


Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

Alexis was very amazed at this story. She found it fascinating that someone would mail themselves inside of a crate. Some of the questions she asked is "How did he breathe? Could he get air?" We learned from the author's notes that Henry took a tool to drill holes for air as well as a little water and a few biscuits. You cannot read this story without taking the time to reflect about what it would be like to be in a crate for 27 hours. I imagine it to be an extremely painful experience.

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