In the summer of 2003, I got a temp job at a local museum. It was not a job, but rather a one day gig. I was supposed to check visitors' stabs to a particular exhibit and after lunch I sat bored at coat check. For a rather unremarkable gig, this turned out to be a rather remarkable day. The day I first heard the name of Jane Goodall. Wait! For a highly educated person, it is highly surprising that I dismissed her achievement as rather mundane and I did not pursue my finding by getting a book and learning more. In my defense, I was burnt from four years of college, having just finished, and frustrated that I did ot see value in what I had learn in the previous 4 years, and even the previous 16 years of life. So, sitting around and observing chimpanzees was hardly something I cared about in my insecurity.

Move forward 13 years, and I am very jealous of this Jane Goodall. Somehow she was lucky enough to want something at an early age, and to remember it, and to pursue it. I also adore Jane Goodall, and now is the right moment to share her inspirational story with my daughter and my son. So before we hit science, we will learn about the people who make science possible and who make progress possible.

"Untamed" is a great introduction to the scientist and the person Jane Goodall. It is presented by National Geographic and is filled with engaging photos and vivid stories which capture young minds. "The Watcher" is the picture book with which we began. It is wonderful - it is simple and points out the wonder of this woman's life.

"Gorillas" is a facts book. Aside from the illustrations and the maps there is nothing inspirational about this book. However, the illustrations are so beautiful that it is a must skim through for young readers and students when learning about the great works of naturalists like Charles Darwin and Jane Goodall. 

"Primates" is for older kids so we did not read it but I did. It is good and walking in, it is useful to know something about Leakey, Goodall, and the other two ladies. Great illustrations, definitely a wonderful read, but for middle school or even high school kids.

"Bone by bone" is wonderful too, to get little kids thinking about the human body, and what differentiates and connects us to other living things. Before jumping heads on into evolution, I decided that this is a fantastic stepping stone. I loved it.It engages the kids by invoking a response and teaches them at the same time.

"The truth about Poop". With little kids you can never get enough of poop talk. It is a favorite topic. For my purposes it is also a great vehicle to think about in what ways people and animals are alike in regards to poop. In what ways people and animals alike take advantage of the mere existence of poop. Strategies, thinking is demonstrated by various creatures and it is worth learning not to dismiss them as simpletons. And don't forget to emphasize that this encyclopedia of facts could not have been accumulated hadn't there been someone actively observing the creatures in their natural environment.


"The one and only Ivan". I love this book, it ties nicely with people and nature, as well as with our topic of evolution. We have already read the shorter version, which clearly states what has happened to Ivan. Now, we are about to venture into the story about Ivan, told from his point of view. I want to hear what the kids' reactions are before I provide my commentary.

We already read the real story about Winnie, now we are putting real living people into the picture in order to make the story even more valuable and real. Nature inspires us. It inspired the stories, the movies, an entire empire of amusement parks. The jungle book and Dr. DoLittle inspired Jane Goodall to study, love and protect nature. Books are fabulous tools for us to grow. This is the ultimate message that I will drive home. Books inspire us. Be inspired. Dream and pursue your dreams, however unconventional they may be. Go for it!

Fall in Focus

Little by little we are moving forward with history. Ancient Chinese history is particularly interesting because China and India's riches were the motivating power for the rise of imperialistic Europe. We start with fictional stories which contain sufficient real information to tie to more serious readings I weave in as the month progresses. Thus we started with "Adventures in Ancient China". The story is silly, but the important thing is that the characters are familiar and the format is fabulous. The characters are reading a book which takes them to experience the life during the time of the Hans dynasty. The travel guide reads like a textbook, but the kids are seeing with their own eyes, what archaeologists work hard to deduce. It's fabulous. Since the story referred to the Great Wall of China, I opened up the "The Great Wall of China" by Fisher book which I find quite well written and appropriate for my audience. Last week we visited the Field's museum and walked through an exhibit about China. Funny enough, we tied things we saw at the Ancient Egypt and the Vikings exhibits, to things we read about Ancient China. Example is the fact that when the smaller kingdoms were united they were quite different-used different money, different measures, etc-and this made the governance of the united entity difficult. We saw examples of different measures and money in the other exhibits and the kids understood that.

 We also briefly went back to picture books. Since we saw a Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit at the Fields museum last week, I figured it will be appropriate to read something, somewhat related. This is the silliness that I found in the library catalog. Nothing memorable, really, not by any stretch of the imagination even good, but otherwise, super easy, free flowing, and light in spirit, that I really did not mind reading these pair aloud one bit.


Here are the jams of the month. The adorable bear, a real bear. A real bear, a real boy, a real veterinarian. And then a real gorilla, mistreated by men, and then loved by men. The kids were saddened by both, but also left hopeful with the knowledge that something good happened. A war ended and a book for many was written. A resilient gorilla survived beyond anyone's wild expectations and taught people about the wild.  We will read the story "The one and only Ivan" after we acquaint ourselves with Leakey and Jane Goodall.

We are moving well along.

Soccer season is almost over and we are taken a two week break from sports activities before gymnastics begins! I am excited about gymnastics. It will carry us through the end of January.

Book Recommendations

I participate once again in the my local library's summer reading program. This year the theme is numbers-read books which contain numbers either in the title or as a strong motif and you earn more tickets towards prizes.

This book is the first number book I absolutely loved. It's great for busy families. For parents and for children who are so soaked into following their dreams. A few years ago at one of my daughter's birthdays I was taking so many pictures that I completely missed the party. I remembered this when I was reading this book. It's wonderful. It's very human, very simple, touching, funny, witty. It speaks to the potential of all kids, to the dreams of all kids, to the struggles and ingenuity of all kids and the adults in their lives. Please read this book with and to your children. You will laugh and you will feel closer. I guarantee it.


Then there was this gem. One beetle too many. I missed on learning about evolution while I was in school. Mind you, I also attended one of the top science schools in the country and in the world! My career has taken me into the exciting path towards thinking about evolution, thinking about how small changes to a system can have profound long term effects, something clearly cut for a dynamics studies. Well, this book is a wonderful and may I say, cleaner account of evolution and the genius of Darwin and the people who believed in him. The theory that very easily could have been so wrong if it wasn't for the genius of this man who happened to believe something unfathomable. It took generations and a lot of learning and understanding to finally believe this theory. One more reason to admire people with ideas and to let them thrive. Today, when funding is scrutinized by people who do not understand how science works, who do not understand how you can spend hours and hours on something and turning in nothing or something completely different than what you started on to look for. Science is the drive, and the discover is just the cherry on top of the ice-cream. Darwin was the foundation. It took, however, many scientists, many lives, many visionaries to make him as renown and his theory as revered.
Here is a You Tube narration of Charlie and the Kiwi, which explains in a very simplified and incomplete way the concept of evolution-a good beginning, but only a starting point.

Speaking of understanding Evolution, this book offers a fabulous starting point. Very little biology is required. The book clearly walks through the evidence that Darwin had in support of his theory along with the exact arguments and objections and exceptions he had considered. From a historical perspective, the book offers not only a point in time account of Darwin's genius but also long-term to current day account of the support that science from various fields has provided for the theory. After reading this book carefully, I also recommend: Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne from the University of Chicago as well as What Evolution is by Ernst Mayr


The kids have also been participating in the kids' summer reading program and along with the other books I have listed already, here are a few additional once we have enjoyed in the last week:

                         

From Head to Toe, I used in Portuguese and we sang Cabeca,Ombro, Joelho e Pe. We will use it again when we are learning the parts of the body. Marco and his adventures we also used in Portuguese to talk about travel and destinations and animals we know of in our other languages. I am happy with this use and highly recommend it as an alternative to buying bi-lingual or foreign-language books. If you know sufficiently a language, or better yet if you are native speaker, there is no reason you cannot translate. You should for your children's sake! Happy reading!

Update 6/16/2014:  Due to some teething issues on my end, I was home all of yesterday and I spent the day reading. I read the following very good books-I enjoyed reading both but without the training as a kid I would have fallen for the first one without much thinking. The first book is nothing but a really bad propaganda piece and should be studied as such with all of its incompleteness and mistakes pointed out. As I said, as a child I was bombarded with similar propaganda and while the stories were fascinating, early on I realized they are a BS. The second book is great-a fairy tale from the Oriental that may very easily appeal to girls 6th grade and up. 

As I have already pointed out in prior posts we are reading a lot about the Rainforest. Tthe kids' portuguese books emphasize recycling and the need to care for the Rainforest ecosystem.  Since we are learning about South America, I have decided to extend out study and read stories from South American countries. For some of these, I have visuals to enhance the comprehension and the learning: pictures, newspapers, other books. Here are the books I absolutely loved (there is one more on the way about Argentina):

This book is a fairy tale from Argentina, and the importance of rain to the people; it's about the beliefs that they held and how they acted on these beliefs.Update 7/25/2014: We will not be reading this book because it is complicated to understand by little kids. I will come back to it when we discuss legends and various peoples' beliefs.

Update 7/28/2014: This book, On the Pampas, is wonderful. It's about a real girl who spends the summer at her grandparent's farm away and learns to care and ride horses. Ballet girl is starting to enjoy books about real people and real places. Sunlight boy is absolutely fascinating with South America because the Ring of Fire passes through there and anything related to volcanic activities is highly prized in his world:). I am going to print a large (2x2) South America map that we will use in our studies of the people and the countries. I am going to use the maps available at this site. 

This book comes from Chile and points out two characteristics of the country-its wine production and its earthquakes. Great for putting into geographical context the kids' knowledge of the tectonic activities in this area with the outcome-rich soil and unpredictability. This is a sweet book.

 This is my person favorite. I can support it strongly with personal records which makes it that much more special to me. The book is very easy flowing, very colorful, very truthful. My favorite part were the last 4-6 pages which present a very concise but also very appetizing summary/insight into the Inca culture-then and now. A very good read.

 This books is fabulous. With very simple images the authors teaches the contemporary american child about simpler life and connection to the earth and true friendship. This book comes from the author's personal observations of a Costa Rican family and how they related to each other and their land. Touching story, beautifully narrated and beautifully captured.

Update 7/28/2014: We are also using the following books from the Country ABCs series. Costa Rica ABCs and Guatemala ABCs. I found the information in them very good and relevant to the current news. Today many immigrants, especially children, from Central America are escaping into the US. It is good for my children to understand how lucky they are to have been born here and how much people elsewhere struggle, and the reasons for that.