The Travel Book – A Journey through Every Country in the World

The Pre-Test

When I was earning a teaching credential at UCLA (this would be during the bronze age), esteemed professor of education, Dr. P., stressed the importance of THE PRE-TEST.  How could one possibly know what to teach without evidence of a student’s grasp of particular subject matter? 

Thus, from a recent “Around the World” unit PRE-TEST: 

1)  If given a blank map of Africa (with border outlines), how many countries can you identify?
– My son could color in Egypt and Algeria (we have studied both)
– Me?  Oh my gosh, this is so unacceptable:  I could correctly label Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Madagascar.  The end.  There are 54 countries and 4 territories in Africa and I could identify 5.  Yikes.  

2)  List everything you know about Africa:
– Both my son and I:  the pyramids, the Sahara Desert, Victoria Falls, Nelson Mandela.  The end.  

Pre-test results are in –  the students pretty much need to know EVERYTHING:

So, Africa.  Only half way through this unit, we are alternately perplexed and fascinated, as we become more aware citizens of the world –

– Two different countries: Niger and Nigeria
– Two different countries: the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Like the Euro, several African countries use the same currency:
          West African CFA Franc: 8 countries
          Central African CFA Franc:  6 countries
– Newest country:  South Sudan (established 2011)
– Côte d’Ivoire’s Basilica of our Lady of Peace is the largest church in the world
– The territory of Western Sahara confuses us.  Why is this a territory?
– We found out where Timbuktu is (Mali).  We didn’t know Timbuktu was a real place
– There are 2,000 distinct languages spoken in Africa

(pre-test and African countries studied so far)

Our “Around the World” Unit – We are augmenting our Lonely Planet Kids book, “The Travel Book – a journey through every country in the world”, with two atlases and we love them both:  

–  “Maps”, by Alessandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski.  We refer to this most enchanting atlas nightly.
–  “The Hammond World Atlas – Super Edition”, printed in 1966.  We love comparing the new with the way out-of-date.  Always a discussion starter.

Even More Maps? –  my son is also learning the location of states in the USA.  We locate few states at a time, each night a new theme.  So far: 

– States we have lived in:  California, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, and Texas
– Fun shaped states:  the “L”-shaped Louisiana, and the mitten-shaped Michigan, the square states Wyoming and Colorado
– The four “corners” of continental USA:  California (again), Washington, Maine, and Florida
– States of the “Four Corners” region:  Utah, Colorado (again), Arizona, and New Mexico
– “Compass” states:  North and South Dakota,  North and South Carolina, West Virginia
– “New” states:  New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico
– Dream destination states:  Hawaii and Alaska

Story Problem Time (YAY!):

Pickle Day at Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand – There’s an excited buzz around Hankville:  it’s almost Pickle Day at Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand!  Pickle Day is held every spring and features Farmer Brown’s favorite cousin, Miss Kate (state fair champion in both sweet pickle AND dill pickle divisions!) giving a pickling demonstration.  

– After the demonstration, Miss Kate autographs her pickling instruction booklet (which sells for $10).  
– Jars of her dill pickles sell for $5.  
– Jars of her sweet pickles sell for $6.  
– Also for sale:  a festive basket, suitable for gift giving, containing the booklet PLUS a jar of each pickle style, priced at $18.

If the roadside stand receives 10% of Miss Kate’s sales, how much money will the stand realize if 400 booklets, 100 jars of dill pickles, 120 jars of sweet pickles, and 20 gift-giving baskets are sold?
a)  $64     b)  $225     c)  $360     d)  $558 
(answer at bottom of post)

Finding the original A.A. Milne, “The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh” (“Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner”) on our bookshelf, enrobed in a thin (it wasn’t really thin) layer of dust, was like finding buried treasure (literally, a treasure buried in dust).  Would it be just as good a read as it was 25 years ago?  YES!

– Milne’s refreshing manner with words –
– unpretentious poems (hums) that beg to be read out loud over and over –
– the capital letters strewn about –
– perceptively defined characters who assist each other in and out of situations –
–  the winsome illustrations of Ernest Shephard – 

What a most pleasant way to conclude each night’s studies.  (I just came across an A.A. Milne quote that has apparently been taped to my office wall since 2009:  “One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”.  This speaks to me.  Maybe this is how we rediscovered our dust covered book.)

Classical Music, The Pre-Test –

The majority of my acquaintances seem to have limited knowledge regarding classical music:
–  I was jolted into reality when one of my more educated friends asked what a symphony “movement” was.  
– When another acquaintance asked me what type of music I would like to listen to, I responded, “how about anything recorded by the New York Philharmonic?”  Acquaintance squinted his eyes and said, “hmmmm, I’ve never heard of that band.”  

Whoa. OK, that is what I am here for.  Anyway, if my son and I were giving an introductory class in orchestral music, we might pre-test by asking –
– What distinguishes music from the classical and romantic eras?
– Traditionally, how many movements in a concerto?
– Can you put these composers in order, according to when they composed:  Bach, Beethoven, Brahms?
– Can you tell the difference between a viola and a clarinet? (Please, can you at least get this right?)

Here is a micro-sampler of what we think everyone should have a chance to listen to. My son and I have renamed these pieces to reflect what we can hear in the music.  There’s no law that says we can’t.

– The Goat Symphony – really, Alexander Glazunov’s, Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, movement II, composed in 1893.  It is so easy to visualize a team of goats on meadow clearing detail, pouncing about in the fresh air.

– Popcorn Pizzicato – really, Leroy Anderson’s Jazz Pizzicato, composed in 1939.  Before we changed the name, we had listened to the piece about 3 times and thought it was sort of OK.  Then, we matched the music up with a popcorn cart story problem.  Game changer!  This piece has become one of my son’s favorite evening selections.  Every pluck of the violin strings tells us popcorn is popping.

– Elephants! – really, Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome, movement I (Villa Borghese), composed in 1924.  We can hear elephants trumpeting throughout the piece.  We know Respighi was capturing children pretending to be soldiers in battle (and we do hear that), but darn it, we cannot ignore the elephants!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  d).  $558)

Topics from the Tropics

My son and I are immersed in facts and flavors of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  (And yes, yes, yes, we recognize that much of South America cannot be classified as “the tropics”.  Let’s move on.)

The Travel Book – A Journey through Every Country in the World, a Lonely Planet Kids Book –  We are enthusiastic about opening this book every night, but alas, we do have a complaint:  every page is set up as a graphic collage by somebody who certainly has an eye for color and composition, BUT!!! on almost every page there is content printed in a teensy font (black ink), and positioned on a dark color background.  Really, really difficult to read.  I have to hold the book “just so” and hunch forward to read.  Couldn’t ya just weep?

But I digress. With this book, our globe and atlas, my son and I have trekked our way through the countries of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  Favorite takeaways:

Nicaragua:  the streets have no names.  One arrives at one’s destination by use of landmarks.
Costa Rica:  all radio stations broadcast the national anthem every morning at 7.
El Salvador:  the US Dollar is the national currency.
The East Caribbean Dollar:  this currency used by 6 countries (Saint Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada).
Saint Lucia:  only country in the world named after a woman.
Guyana:  English is the national language.
Paraguay:  no doorbells!  (clap your hands if you want in).
Uruguay:  the tradition is to eat gnocchi on the 29th of each month.
Trinidad & Tobago:  STEEL DRUMS!  The history of this instrument is compelling, we loved learning that steel drums of yore could be tuned and adjusted by use of a hammer, and we are in a smiley place while listening to steel drum (more correctly, the steelpan) music.

Marcus  Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, by Pablo Cartaya.  We are following Marcus Vega’s family from Springfield, Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico to visit with extended family.  I am mortified to admit that before this book I was not exactly sure where PR was located. 

Before Music – Where Instruments Come From, Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Madison Safer.  This sort of looks like a little kids book, but – HAPPY SURPRISE – it is filled with impressive scholarly research.  Great page on the history and development of the steel drums (steelpan).  A perfect enhancement to our listening.

Veering off the tropics topics:

  • 150 Mornings of Volunteer Work.  Once a week, my son does a bit of volunteering at a local nursery.  We hit day 150 last week!  

  • Brave Like That, by Lindsey Stoddard.  Not sure if my son got the message of the book (which was basically:  be confident about being yourself), but this was a sweet, sweet read.  Good kid, excellent father.
  • Four new poems for my son to memorize:  The Spider and the Fly, The Road Not Taken, The Land of Counterpane, and The Duel.
  • Funniest piece of classical music – I am not sure how we came upon Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls” (1890), but I am sure we have never heard a more startling piece of classical music.  This recording demonstrates the conductor’s grasp of comedic timing.  We hear an aggressive troop of trolls wreaking havoc with some poor soul’s quiet moment of reflection.  The final jarring insult (percussion) takes us by surprise every single listen. 

 

Story Problem – Sampling Birthday Cakes at The Local Diner

The Local Diner has hired a new pastry chef, whose specialty is birthday cakes! The first day of every month the chef hosts cake sampling day, so everyone will know what to order when their birthday rolls around.  4 different flavors are offered and 20 mini-servings can be cut from each cake on sampling day.

cake flavors:
lemon zing  – confetti cake – gingerbread – dirt cake (kids favorite)

  • If 40 people show up for sampling day and everyone wants to try all four of the cake flavors, how many cakes of each type need to be baked?
    a)  2 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  40 cakes
  • Customers who place orders on sampling day get 20% taken off the cake price.  If each cake costs $20, how much will the pastry chef collect if 10 people order cakes on sampling day?
    a)  $16     b)  $40    c)  $160     d)  $200
  • If among the 10 orders 60% are for the dirt cake, how many dirt cakes will the chef need to bake?
    a)  6 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  60 cakes
  • Which of these days would be a cake sampling day?
    a)  February 14     b)  February 29     c)  March 1     d)  July 4

And back to the tropics:  Steelpan Music –  bouncy, optimistic, full-of-cheer –

  • Steeling the Show!  We viewed historic footage of the first steel drum band (the Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra) to introduce itself to London in 1951 at the Festival of Britain.  In 2023, the United Nations General Assembly designated April 11 as World Steelpan Day.  Yay! ( I am sure the UN General Assembly had pressing items on the agenda, but seriously, 70-plus years to deliberate on whether to support a World Steelpan Day? Did certain delegates need to be strong armed?  Is there a story here????)

  • Steeling our Hearts!  We watched young learners on the steelpan.  This joyful performance made our hearts sing and we were doubly enchanted by the A+ audience response –  

  • Steeling Away!   A piece of steel drum magic that transports us to an idealized undersea world AND a piece my son is well familiar with – “Under the Sea”, from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” movie of 1989, melody composed by Alan Mencken – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story Problem answers:  a)  2 cakes,  c)  $160,  a)  6 cakes,  c)  March 1)