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~

Showing posts with label Teaching Social Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching Social Justice. Show all posts

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Books I Am Reading

Posted in , | 3:10 PM | by Diana

Our family was first exposed to the crude realities of homelessness on a trip to Washington DC in the fall of 2009. Before that we had only viewed the occasional panhandler. Washington DC really opened our eyes to the homeless population and we have reserved a special place in our hearts for those less fortunate. Since that time, we have learned much about homelessness in our own state.

Last month Alexis participated in Make Your Mark Week and donated hygiene items to a homeless shelter. The following are books we found that portray the hungry and the homeless.

The Can Do Thanksgiving Oak St. School is hosting a canned food drive. Dee buys a can of peas with her very own money but she is curious to know where her peas will go. She puts a note on her can of peas with her name and school. A week later the church who receives the food contacts the school and arranges for the students to volunteer with their soup kitchen in serving a Thanksgiving Dinner for the needy. Dee volunteers, finds her peas and makes a new friend.


Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting - A 6 year old boy and his father are homeless and live in an airport. The boy and his dad must avoid being detected and have invented ways to blend in with everyone by wearing all blue and they never linger in one area for too long. They long to have a place of their own. Even though the father works as a janitor he doesn't make enough money to rent an apartment. A very sad story, told by a child's point of view. This story does not have your usual happy ending and is a vivid portrayal of homelessness.


Someplace To Go by Maria Testa - Young Davey, his mother and brother who are living in a homeless shelter. During the day, Davey's mom works and his brother is looking for work which leaves Davey with no place to go. The shelter doesn't open until the evenings, so Davey wanders the streets, visits libraries and stores just to pass the time until he is reunited with his family each evening at the shelter.

This week we are linking up to Read Aloud Thursday and What My Child Is Reading and Feed Me Books Friday.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Collecting Hygiene Items For The Homeless

Posted in | 12:01 PM | by Diana


Last week was Make Your Mark Week and Alexis pledged to collect hygiene items for the homeless. Together with other family and friends Alexis has collected :
  • Toothbrushes
  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Lotion
  • Toothpaste
  • Razors
  • Dental Floss
  • Deodorant
  • Body wash
  • Bars of soap
  • Socks
Alexis boxed everything up with a few handmade cards and Daddy is delivering it to a nearby homeless shelter today.

Homeless shelters are always in need of travel sized items and many of these items can be purchased for $1.00 and if you use coupons sometimes you can pick these items up for cheap or free! We also save our travel size samples that come in the mail, they are great to use on projects like this.

Oh...and all of the items in the pictures above were purchased at the Dollar Tree...$1 will provide 4 toothbrushes to a person in need.

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Children's Picture Books On Poverty

Posted in | 11:54 AM | by Diana

For our current project of learning about poverty and hunger, we have searched for several picture books on the topic and the following is a list of what we have read so far.

One Hen -This is an amazing true story of how a boy from Ghana got a small loan from his mother to buy one brown hen. That one hen helped that little boy grow into flourishing entrepreneur and the largest chicken grower in all of West Africa. That one business put many people to work lifting them out of poverty and inspiring others to obtain small loans and build their own businesses too. This boy didn't change one lie he changed an entire country. This is an inspiring story of how it only takes one person to make a difference in the world.


Beatrice's Goat Another true story, about a young girl in Uganda, named Beatrice, who's family is very poor and cannot afford to send her to school. Beatrice's family receives a gift of a goat from the Heifer International Foundation. This small gift gives the family a sustainable resources of milk. Later the goat has 2 kids and with the money from selling the milk and the 2 kids, Beatrice is able to attend school. Each person that receives a gift of livestock from Heifer agrees to pass on a female offspring to a neighbor in need, that is what Heifer calls passing on the gift.


Give A Goat After a teacher reads the book Beatrice's Goat to her fifth grade class, the students decide to raise money to give the gift of a goat to a family in poverty. The class organizes a fundraiser and raises enough money to buy a goat and other livestock through the Heifer International Foundation. The students also learn that giving to others makes them feel good and their project inspired other classes to do fundraisers as well.

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food We used this book to show Alexis why it is important to eat a balanced diet. We felt she needed to understand that everyone doesn't have access to all of the food groups needed for a healthy diet. Without a healthy diet we will become weak and sick. People living in poverty often only eat one meal a day.

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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Teaching Social Justice: One Hen

Posted in | 9:18 AM | by Diana

We began this project of Teaching Social Justice in order to teach Alexis about poverty and hunger. According to Bread For the World, we are facing the worst hunger crisis in over 50 years. Everyday 16,000 children die from hunger. We want Alexis to learn that it is possible for anyone to change the world...even a child her age can do something to make a difference. One small act can make a big impact on the world.

We are going to teach through literature and the story of One Hen is an excellent example of how one small act changed the world.


Review from School Library Journal

After his father dies, Kojo quits school to help his mother collect firewood to sell, but there is little money or food. However, his small Ashanti village has elected to try microlending, a system where the village loans money to one family to buy something that will hopefully improve their lives; once it is paid back, another family borrows it, etc. When it is the boy's mother's turn, Kojo uses a few of the coins to buy a hen. The story then follows him as he grows and slowly but steadily builds the proceeds from that one hen into the largest poultry farm in West Africa. Throughout, the author shows how his success impacts the lives of everyone it touches, from the people whom Kojo is able to employ to the taxes he pays that will build roads and medical facilities. The story is based on the experiences of an actual Ashanti poultry farmer and could open diverse avenues of discussion, including how a community's mutual support and teamwork operate for the good of all. Fernandes's large acrylic paintings capture the warmth of the climate and include numerous details, such as splashes of kente cloth, that authenticate the setting. There are also many illustrations that spark the imagination, such as the one of a tree with Kojo's first hen at its roots, growing more hens as the tree grows, with eggs blossoming from the branches.



This is a very inspiring story of how reaching out to people with a small loan can have a big impact. Change can happen one person at a time.

Take time to visit the One Hen website. It is a wonderful interactive site that provides lesson plans for teachers and librarians, interactive games, an online quiz of the story, and stories of real people that have received micro loans as well as guidelines for fundraisers.

One Hen also has a school curriculum that teaches children financial responsibility, global awareness and how to become social entrepreneurs.

Alexis has an entrepreneurial spirit, so I am contemplating the idea of providing Alexis a small loan for a bake sale. If she holds a bake sale she will be donating the proceeds to charity.

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