I was looking for a good (big) world map for her to stick up on the wall in her home corner, and found one (expensive but worth it in my opinion) in the Peters World Map project (from Oxfam). It has been done to preserve the proportions properly, so you can see relatively how tiny Europe and North America are, and how much of (for example) Africa there really is.
Anyhow, the same day we found this book.
It is really very cool - lots of maps, simple information about a lot of countries, how people live there, what kind of climate and wildlife... We are loving it. :)
We also got these from the library this week, so we have a lot to be taking in right now.
I can't answer even a fraction of the questions she comes up with though - not without consulting Google and/or Wikipedia. My Encyclopedia at home is just not up to the job. As usual I wonder how much of it she takes in, whether she sometimes asks questions for the sake of it, but the questions themselves are the clue. They are intelligent questions, she really *cares* about the answers she gets, and the answers provoke more questions - sometimes weeks later.Is this what Unschooling looks like? Well it seems like fun to me!
Aw, how wonderful! If you want, at some point, I can pass on some pictures of some of the places I've visited (Italy, Hungary, South Africa, Zimbabwe) and she is of course always more than welcome to talk to me about these places. I love childhood curiosity:) xxx
ReplyDeleteYes please, she'd love that. She'd like it even better if you showed her yourself next time we see you. :)
ReplyDeletefantastic books and map, we too were thinking of sponsoring a child but don't know where to start xx
ReplyDeleteIt was one of Jenna's wishes for the new year, so we started looking around and settled on World Vision. We weren't particular about who to sponsor but Jenna did want it to be a child her age. A week later our pack came full of information about our new friend, where he lives, and how to send letters if we want to. I think there are a few places that do sponsorship now, but World Vision was a name we already trusted.
ReplyDeleteMy first instinct was to discourage her tbh, I know how emotionally involved she will get. It's a long term financial commitment too, and I can see that being hard for us sometimes, but I want the children to see that giving is something we do - no matter how little we have, there are others who have far less.
The Multicultural World Atlas is a great book. It is one that I use at school with my class. In fact it is out in the classroom at the moment for our weather around the world topic. Enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteLou xx
£2! Love our Oxfam. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool book! And I love how curious Jenna is--it makes me excited for when Ingrid can understand more. And, I love your comment that you show your kids you give no matter how little you have. I think that's a great thing to pass on to your kids.
ReplyDeleteWe've just read a great book called "Father Knows Less" by Wendell Jamieson - he decided to answer every one of his child's questions by personally contacting the leading expert in the subject! It's fab, and very funny in places - great for the questioning phase!
ReplyDeleteSINFUL"S wife
My DD loves this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Like-Mine-UNICEF-Children/dp/0751339822/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263567008&sr=8-2
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation - it was already on my wish list but it's good to know others love it! :)
ReplyDelete