Fibers and Flags

This week is Flag Day and Grandma, who likes to knit, is visiting so we will be exploring different materials and different things to do with yarn.  We started Monday off with a nature walk where we spent some time watching bees pollinate flowers and found a dead lizard.  Then we created paper bag puppets with yarn hair and had a conversation as puppets.  Since its Monday, we also worked on our Animals of the Alphabet book.  This week was G, H, and I.  For G, we found gorillas, grasshoppers, gharials, gerbils, and giraffes.  We stretched our necks like giraffes and pounded our chests like gorillas.  We explored horses, hippos and hummingbirds for letter H and had a horsey ride. There aren't a lot of I animals, but we included an impala and an iguana.

Tuesday, at story time, we heard stories to get us ready for Father's Day this weekend all about fun with dad.  There was a great Eric Carle book called Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.  We came home and talked about flags for Flag Day.  We looked at the American Flag, our state flag, and several flags from other countries.  We talked about how most flags are simple shapes, in part so that if you are ever lost and don't speak the local language, you can draw a picture of your flag and others can help you find your way to your embassy.  It also served as a way for troops to easily identify where they should gather to find companions.  We discussed the bold colors we commonly see in flags.  We talked about how the first American flag was not really made by Betsy Ross, but most likely by a group of women.  Betsy Ross did other work for George Washington though.  We also brought up the cool point that our current flag was designed by a kid.  Genevieve created her own flag.

We had an extra fun afternoon.  The library had a special fun summer activity in association with a local Raptor rescue.  A few of the rescued education raptors came for the kids to see.  We were able to see a kestrel, a great horned owl and a hawk.  Raptors can be identified by their sharp beaks and talons and the fact that they only eat meat.

Wednesday we started dance class.  It was cute seeing the ways the instructors introduced some of the elements of dance like arm positions and different jumps.  The kids danced with ribbons, creating small circles and big circles, then small waves and big waves.  They jumped in and out of hula hoops and over foam blocks.  Then they played a cat and mouse game, where one foot chased the other.  It's a cute little dance class for the 2-3 year old crowd.

In the afternoon, we looked at different knit and crochet items to compare the texture.  We also looked at some of my cross-stitch work.  Genevieve has been practicing stitching with her own plastic canvas and yarn so we looked at that as well.  There are all sorts of things we can make with yarn.

Thursday we made Huichol yarn art.  We used collage boards and stuck yarn to them.  The Huichol are a people native to Mexico.  They have beautiful, bright artwork.  Artwork is a divine practice for them, and often includes the peyote plant which is important to them.  They also often include other aspects of nature, like animals and the sun.  The colors may have meaning as well, often depending on the artist.  The Huichol are known for yarn painting, ojos de dios, and bead work.  Yarn paintings are created by pressing yarn into a base, often resin.  We used collage boards because it allowed us to press the yarn into a base as well.

We went to the park and continued to explore texture.  Genevieve used her magnifying glass to explore bark on different types of trees, a pine cone, and some ants.  (And we managed not to learn about burning them.)  Tobias has been exploring textures too.  He compared grass and his blanket in the park and at home he's been playing with tissue paper, crinkly wrappers, soft cloth, and a hard toy car.  We also read Puppy and Friends, which is a touch and feel book.

Friday, we started a new session of gymnastics.  This coach teaches a skill of the day, so we practiced safety falls.  Baby story time was focused on Father's Day this week.  We also read Mister Seahorse and No Naps for Father's Day.  I appreciate the examples of different fish fathers that take care of their young.  Some moms complain that No Naps sets a bad example but my daughter has been fighting naps anyway.  Its not always a parent's choice when your child decides to give up naps.

We finished our week of fiber activities with some fabric markers and a new purse for her to color.  Yes, this can be a scary activity but we talked before hand about how these special markers could ruin her clothing.  We also only had one marker out at a time and put them away as soon as we were done.

Saturday after soccer, we made our Father's Day presents.  Genevieve helped make brownies and cookies.  She loves helping in the kitchen.

Book Review: How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm and Other Adventures in Parenting by Mei-Ling Hopgood

This book examines parenting practices around the world, to place into a better context our own parenting practices and question why we make the parenting decisions we make.  Mei-Ling is a mother and journalist from Michigan but living in Argentina.  She has birth siblings in Taiwan and a birth sister raised in Switzerland as well as a sister-in-law from Korea.  When she first discovered she was going to be a mother, her journalistic instincts started her quest into this research on parenting.

Each chapter examines a topic from a different cultural perspective and her personal experience.  She also includes an additional tidbit from another perspective. 

The first chapter questions her experience in Argentina watching parents allow their children to stay up quite late.  She notes that most parents in Argentina are not early risers, and tend to drop their children off at daycare on their own time.  Kids are typically welcome at events.  She called the National Sleep Foundation in Washington D.C. and Jim McKenna of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame to get additional perspectives.  She ends her chapter with a tidbit about sleeping arrangements in a few other cultures.

The second chapter explores French techniques used to help their children eat healthy food.  The school menus she examined sound amazing and students at the school she explored are told they should try everything twice.  There is no difference between adult and kids meals.  She discusses additional techniques used in France and America and the importance of taking time to unplug and enjoy your relationship with your food and the people with whom you are sharing it.  She ends with a tidbit about different foods children eat around the world from kimchi to coffee.

The third chapter explores the benefits of carrying babies versus using strollers.  She looks to Kenyan mothers as an example of people that carry their children as their roads often aren’t convenient for stroller use anyway.  She explores bonding and response to children’s needs.  She looked at different methods cultures used to carry the infants.  She mentions the studies about the benefits of vestibular stimulation versus “bucket time.”  She shares the story of her attempts to go stroller-less on a trip from Argentina to Chicago with her nearly two-year old daughter.  She ends with a tidbit about some interesting products offered to parents in Japan.

The fourth chapter explores the challenges of potty training and looks to the Chinese techniques of elimination training using a special kind of pants.  Chinese parents often have their children potty trained earlier than American parents, but as disposable diapers become more popular worldwide, that is not really the case anymore.  She ends with a tidbit sharing the Argentinian secret to preventing diaper rash.

The fifth chapter looks to some of the best fathers around the world.  She explores the Aka and others.  She ends with a tidbit about paternal leave.  The sixth chapter examines keeping family close through the lens of Arab families and the challenges of balancing family ties with the independence and privacy cherished by many American families.  She ends with a personal tidbit about her experience as an adoptee and adoption views around the world.  The seventh chapter explores the ways pregnancy is treated around the world.  She explored Tibetan beliefs and how religion can play an integral part in pregnancy.  She includes her personal experience with miscarriage in this chapter as well.

In the eighth chapter, she explores how Japanese parents let their children fight.  Rather than butting in and solving problems for their children, she observes the way children are encouraged to create a community by solving the problems together.  Teachers and parents step in to prevent injury, but realize the children can do an excellent job of managing each other.  She ends with a tidbit about the different stories cultures tell to scare their children into behaving.  Chapter nine is another example of parents standing back, this time giving them space to play on their own.  Most parents recognize the importance of play and many understand there is bonding and learning occurring when parents play with their kids but there are times and spaces when it’s better to give kids room to play on their own or with their friends as they see fit.  She also discusses the way children may learn from older playmates.  She ends with a tidbit about some historic toys.

Chapter ten is a discussion of why Mayans expect their children to work and the sense of responsibility children can experience from chores.  She ends with a tidbit about the talents of children around the world.  The final chapter discusses schooling in Asia.  She discusses the studies about the stereotype about Asian scholastic success and the stress on achievement.  She ends with a study of 15 year olds around the world ranking reading, math and science success.

This book explores many topics and many parts of the world, offering a personal perspective on most topics as well.  She talks to real people rather than relying solely on studies to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind the techniques.  If you are interested in understanding where some of our practices come from or why others may parent a little differently, this is a great book.  And it helps remind you not to judge others for their parenting practices because they may have a different culture than your own.