READY TO ROW:

Cover Art:

Parker created a covert art page in his FIAR notebook.

BIBLE:

Bible Verse:

I created a Paper Lanterns Bible Verse pack.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT store. There’s a tracer FREEbie in the preview!

Parker traced his Bible verse and we glued it in his FIAR notebook.

Bible & Character Lessons:

I bought this row as a digital unit with coordinating Bible lessons. What a great resource! Unfortunately, you can’t purchase them until the new Bible and Character Supplement is available.

Each day was filled with scripture verses and coordinated Bible lessons. I assigned Bible verses every day and Parker looked them up and read them aloud. This gave him practice locating various books in the Bible. Afterwards, I used the teacher’s manual as a springboard for our Bible lesson. Most aren’t pictured, because they were tender heart-to-heart moments and not really picture-worthy.

Boasting & Gifts:

We talked about how awful boasting is. It’s better to let others compliment you rather than “tooting your own horn”, so to speak. We also discussed how God makes room for our gifts. At just the right time, He’ll allow us to use those gifts in the right capacity, like Little Mouse.

Looking Like the Master:

Little Mouse became more like Old Chen as he spent more time with him. Parker has a similar relationship with his papa. The same is true with our relationship with our Heavenly Father. The more time we spend with the Lord, the more we become like Him

Persistence:

When channeled in the right direction, persistence pays off. The best story I could share was of my grandmother’s salvation. She was a strong, independent woman who loved her family, but she didn’t want anything to do with God. My dad and his sister shared their testimonies with her when they accepted Christ. For years, she refused to listen to anything else regarding the Lord. Prayer was our only option, but it was a powerful one.

God used her declining health and moving into a rest home to soften her heart. She started attending church with our family, which was a miracle in itself. One Easter, she heard a sermon that really touched her heart. My cousin led her to the Lord. The rest home staff even mentioned a change in grandma. It wasn’t long after that she went home to be with the Lord.

Though we were sad she was gone, we were happy she was up in Heaven. It took over thirty years, but God answered our prayers. Keep praying. Keep reaching out. Keep sharing and inviting others to church. Persistence pays off.

Friendship:

We learned about friendship and how to be a good friend. We discussed how to be kind and put up with characteristics we don’t like in others. Don’t others put up with us? Friendship is give and take. How much sweeter would friendships be if everyone tried to “be the friend” they want to have. “The Golden Rule” applies to every friendship.

Two are Better Than One:

This was the only Bible lesson I actually caught on camera. The verse set the stage for a wonderful object lesson.

We read “two are better than one” and I handed Parker a single string. He broke it easily. Next, I wound four strings together and handed it to Parker. He was unable to break it apart. It’s such a simple, yet powerful message. We have strength in numbers. It’s better to be surrounded by godly friends than to be a lone ranger.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

China:

Parker and I read Living in China together.

Parker also completed the All About China worksheet from our Paper Lanterns Story Review.

History of China:

Paper Lanterns was the perfect book to pair with our history program. It complimented our ancient China study in Journey to the Eastern Hemisphere. The Ancient China Unit Study book was also wonderful. It provided such wonderful details for each of the Chinese dynasties.

We added Chinese Historical events in our History of the World sticker book.

We learned how Ming vases were made with unique white clay excavated from the mountains of China and painted with beautiful blue designs. I brought out our miniature tea set that faintly resembles the ancient pottery.

We also read The Discovery of Fireworks and Gunpowder on our Epic app. We learned how the ancient Chinese discovered gunpowder in their search for the elixir of life. This was a great addition to our Chinese history unit.

Geography and Agriculture:

Parker enjoyed putting together our map of Asia.

We also read about the land, bodies of water, and climate in China. Parker marked key rivers and cities on his map.

Wildlife:

Parker added all the animal stickers to the Eastern and Western maps in his Sticker Picture Atlas Map of the World.

Religion & Politics:

We read about the life of Confucius and his teachings. We also learned about other religions like Buddhism and Taoism.

After reading about the dynasties, we read about the origins of communism in China.

Culture & Cuisine:

We watched a clip about chopstick manners on our Paper Lanterns playlist.

We read about the history of Chopsticks in An Uncommon History of Common Things.

We also read some fun books about chopsticks we found on our Epic app.

We read Mooncakes, because the Harvest Moon Festival occurred while rowing Paper Lanterns.

Relationships:

Friendship:

I read The Year of the Dog aloud to the boys.

They loved this wonderful story about friendship and family through the eyes of a Taiwanese-American.

Mentor & Apprentice:

The boys and I also read Young Fu. This read-aloud perfectly depicted the master-apprentice relationship. It was a wonderful addition to this row. I never would have read it had it not been a part of Parker’s history curriculum.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Story Review:

I created a Paper Lanterns Story Review for this row.

You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.

Vocabulary:

Parker and I reviewed the vocabulary words for this row.

Creating Characters:

I decided to merge our character and dialogue activities into one creative writing assignment. I printed a copy of the Creating a Character worksheet from the Paper Lanterns Story Review.

First, Parker created two characters using the worksheet I printed. Then he wrote a dialogue between them for his creative writing piece.

MATH:

Circles, Disks, & Spheres:

We identified various objects in the classroom as circles, disks, and spheres.

Polyhedral Figures:

First, we talked about polyhedral shapes. I explained they could be four to twenty sided objects, like those used as dice in board games. Next, I brought out play-doh and some 3D cards.

Parker used the Play-doh to make the various 3D shapes.

SCIENCE:

Bamboo:

We read Life Cycles Bamboo on our Epic app.

I created a bamboo page in Parker’s notebook. He color-coded the parts of a bamboo plant and colored and labeled the bamboo lifecycle.

Rice:

We read The Road to Rice on our Epic app. This was a great farm to table story.

We read Everybody Cooks Rice which covered many different cultures.

Tea:

We read The Tale of Tea on our Epic app. This provided a full picture of how tea is grown, harvested, dried, etc.

I created a “Tea Journey” notebook insert for Parker to color. He also designed his own tea cup and colored his favorite tea.

Fireworks:

I thought it would be fun to create a science-based art project. First, Parker read The Explosive Story of Fireworks.

I thought it would be fun to add all the elements used in making fireworks. Using black construction paper and a silver pen, I created a Periodic Table of Elements scavenger hunt.

Second, Parker used the Periodic Table of Elements to complete the worksheet. I also sent him information that explained what each element did.

Once Parker was done, we headed to the kitchen to make the fireworks. We traced fireworks shapes with white glue and sprinkled them with a pile of salt. Then we set it aside to dry.

Once it was dry, I used water colors to paint the salted fireworks.

It looked so cool and was super fun to make. He said it was his favorite art project ever!

ART, CRAFTS, & OTHER:

Crafting Lanterns:

We stapled it together and cut out a top band. Parker wrote the Chinese character for light. I used a LED tea light to illuminate our lantern.

Attention to Details:

We spent some time reviewing the shapes, colors, and other artistic details in the illustrations.

Paper Lanterns:

Chinese Take Out:

We ordered a variety of different Chinese dishes to enjoy.

Everyone had fun picking the various dishes to eat. It’s always fun to sample cuisine from the country we’re studying.

Movie Night:

We’ve seen the original Karate Kid movies with Mr. Miyagi, but the kids hadn’t seen the new Karate kid with Jackie Chan. This version is set in China so it was a perfect pair.

They really enjoyed the movie. It’s hard not to like , so it was a perfect pair for this row!

HELPFUL LINKS:

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our Paper Lanterns board.

Youtube Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created a Paper Lanterns playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.