A Mother’s Journal

Yesterday’s co-op (Grass Sandals) turned out to be one of my favorite co-ops so far!  Or is it that they just get better and better?

It started out with a reading of the story.  The perfect way to begin the co-op.

From there we moved into learning about how Chinese (and the derivative Japanese) characters are written, how they evolved, and how very different the Japanese language is from our own.  As I listened to Laura talk about this, I was struck at how much of it explained why my Joseph cannot spell worth a hoot in English, but takes to the Japanese language like a fish in water. 

After learning about many of the symbols and how they were simplified over many years, each child and parent was give a card with a symbol.  We had to put together what we’d learned and then guess what it meant.  Mine is a hand, which looks like it could be holding a utensil (underneath the hand, the rod-like utensil), and of course that looks like a bowl and a mouth, so I guessed “eat.”  Wrong.  It is a hand, but that is a drum stick and a drum underneath, and the mouth is a smile.  Music = joy.  Yes, that’s the symbol for joy.

If you’ve read Grass Sandals, then you know the hat and walking stick are prominent parts of the story.  When Miss Laura asked the children if they’d brought their hats and walking sticks, they looked puzzled.  She said, “Oh, it’s okay, we’ll come up with some!”

Our co-op teachers had gone to great lengths to make hats for each child and to come up with Japanese symbols (or a Japanese name) for each child.  The children then decorated their hats.

It was fun for the parents too, to go around the table and look at the various symbols and what each one meant.

Wouldn’t you like to have a cool hat like this to wear on your walks?  I know I would!

The children compared designs.  I heard one say, “Oh, I like yours!”  So sweet.

Next, the children took their places around a bamboo mat to learn about bamboo:  what can be made from it, how it grows, where it grows, how many species eat it as food.

Once the children were seated, Miss Laura began to pull out some fabulous pictures she’d put togehter of bamboo — two-sided pictures where one side had a clue and the other side had the answer.  She had come up with guessing games to help the children learn what animals eat bamboo.  And, yes, people eat bamboo!

Here the children go through 22 pictures, placing the pictures of the animals they think do NOT eat bamboo in one stack and the pictures of animals they think do eat bamboo in another stack.  I love how they worked as a team!  The kids did a great job!

One this part was over, each child was given a bamboo walking stick and told to explore the great land (the yard), for they’d find someone serving food.  The co-op ended with fried rice and bamboo shoots.   It was so much fun!

Well, today is a work day for me, so I must transition myself.  The sun is shining so brightly and I’m about to take a little ramble through my tiny garden to clear my mind. 

Enjoy this day.