READY TO ROW:

Kick-Off Breakfast:

This was both our back to school breakfast as well as our kick-off breakfast. I set the table with festive back to school decorations, sprinkled treats and served pancake muffins!

Story Disk:

Parker colored the story disk and placed it on Ghana, Africa.

Cover Art:

Parker used pen to create a version of the book cover as his cover art page.

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

I created a Bible Verse pack for Emmanuel’s Dream.

You can purchase your cope HERE at our TPT Store.

Parker used the copywork page to write his Bible verse.

African Missionary Stories:

I brought out I Heard Good News Today to use during our time rowing Emmanuel’s Dream..

We read several wonderful African missionary stories while rowing Emmanuel’s Dream.

Fulfilling God’s Purpose:

Emmanuel had purpose. His mother raised him to push himself past his disabilities. He felt called to change the perception of disabled people in Ghana. He fulfilled this calling by showing people, “disability doesn’t mean inability”.

Samson:

The story of Samson is a tragic example of missing God’s purpose. Samson had so much potential, but he chose to live selfishly rather than fulfill his calling.

Parker and I read Arch Book’s Samson together. Afterwards, we reviewed his life. We talked about living according to our will versus living according to God’s will.

Changing Perceptions:

I chose to include this unit as a Bible lesson too. Jesus challenged the Jewish leaders of His day. He pushed the social boundaries. The early church followed his example too.

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector:

Jesus came to save the lost. “All the people saw this…they said, ‘Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

After reading the story, we talked about Jesus changing the perception of the day. The Jewish people were to be set apart from anything “unclean”. Why would Jesus associate with sinners?

You can almost hear the whispers, people horrified that Jesus would associate with sinners. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Jesus walked among them. How could they know the path of salvation unless he taught them. We must follow His example. We live, work and interact with unsaved coworkers, neighbors, and the-like. Let’s be His light, pointing others to Him.

The Man Born Blind:

People often assume affliction is a sign of God’s punishment of sin. Personally, I don’t agree. Sometimes people are born with infirmities. Other times, God uses them to strengthen us, teach us and grow us.

I have found that God is very patient with His people. He warns us through his word or messages we hear at church. If we defiantly rebel against Him and remain in our sin, we may force His hand to use more extreme measures.

The disciples questioned Jesus about the man born blind. They assumed that his infirmity was caused by sin – either personally or a result of his parents sin. Jesus set the record straight. This man’s infirmity was allowed so that God’s power would be revealed through Jesus healing him. I would have loved to hear the silence that followed.

Sometimes infirmities are meant to show God’s power and strengthen our faith.

Paul’s Affliction:

Sometimes God chooses to keep our infirmities, as was the case with Emmanuel. He can use our afflictions to refine us, strengthen us and make us into a vessel for His service.

Paul asked God to remove his affliction several times. God had other plans for Paul. He chose not to heal his affliction. Paul trusted God and chose to persevere despite his illness.

Persistence:

Noah is a man who persisted. Not knowing what rain was and not located near water – Noah chose to trust and obey God. He continued obeying God’s command despite persecution from his neighbors.

We read Noah’s 2-by-2 Adventure by Arch Books. I enjoy reading the Arch Books Bible stories, because they cover each story without compromising the Biblical content.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Africa:

Parker read about Africa in Rookie Read-About Geography Africa.

Afterwards, we brought out our Africa Montessori puzzle. He dumped it out then put it back together, paying particular notice to Ghana.

We also read Discover the Continents Africa on our Epic app.

Parker painted Africa on his Beautiful Feet World map.

Ghana:

We brought out our National Geographic Kids World Atlas to find Ghana, Accra and the cycling journey Emmanuel took.

We read about Ghana in our Book of Nations.

Later, Parker worked on his report using the template from our Story Review.

Persistence & Problem Solving:

You can’t cover the topic persistence without reading The Little Engine That Could.

Parker read Who Was Helen Keller? and gained a better understanding of all the obstacles she faced and still persevered to achieve a successful education and career.

We also read Rescue & Jessica, a heart-warming story about an amputee and her rescue dog. Books like this allow us to better understand particular disabilities.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Story Review:

I created a Story Review for this picture book.

You can purchase your copy HERE at our TPT Store.

African Literature:

I assigned daily poetry reading pages from Off to the Sweet Shores of Africa and Other Talking Drum Rhymes.

Vocabulary:

Parker worked on the vocabulary worksheet.

The Power of a Word:

Parker and I read Romeo and Juliet from Usborne’s Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare.

As suggested in the guide, we read A Name for Baby. It was geared for a much younger audience, but it was a cute story about the importance of choosing the right name.

Read-Aloud:

As suggested in the FIAR Manual, we read The Boy Who harnessed the Wind as our read-aloud while rowing this book.

MATH:

Distance, Time & Speed:

We discussed this portion of the story using our white board to calculate and solve the questions. Sadly, I didn’t capture pictures.

Pitching In:

Emmanuel pitched in and helped raise money for his family when his mother was sick.

We read One Hen and My Rows and Piles of Coins. They were wonderful stories about children pitching in, helping their families, and saving money.

SCIENCE:

African Terrain:

Emmanuel cycled over hills, rainforests and other terrain on his quest to show his ability rather than his disability.

Rivers:

Parker read Living Near a River.

He also read The River That Flows Beside Me.

I bought this book since Parker enjoyed reading The Street Beneath My Feet from the look closer series.

Mountains:

We read about mountains from The Usborne Book of Wild Places.

Parker completed the mountain worksheets from our Story Review.

Rainforests:

We read Over and Under the Rainforest. Though it covered the South American rainforests, it was still beneficial to our rainforest unit.

In addition to reading about African rainforests in The Usborne Book of Wild Places, we read Panther Dream. This book was perfect for our row, because it covered the African rainforests.

Parker completed the rainforest worksheets from our Story Review.

Grassland:

The Water Princess depicts the life of an African family as they travel each day to collect water. This picture book reminded me of A Long Walk to Water. It would be a wonderful read-aloud to accompany this unit.

We read several books about life on the African Savannah. Over in the Grassland was geared to a younger audience, but still beneficial for this unit.

The Tree of Life centered around the baobab tree’s role in the grassland habitat. It was a wonderful addition to this science lesson.

Afterwards, Parker painted the plants and animals for our Flora and Fauna worksheet.

African Products:

Plantain Farms:

We read Platanos Go with Everything and Plantanos are Love.

Parker color-coded the plantain farms in Africa on his world map.

We also picked up a plantain at the supermarket.

After ripening, we followed the plantain recipe in the manual. It’s always fun to be culinary adventurers and try new foods!

Cocoa Beans to Chocolate:

Parker read From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate.

Afterwards, Parker completed the From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate worksheet.

Gold:

Parker also read about gold in Our World in Pictures The Elements Book.

Afterwards, Parker completed his Periodic Treasure Hunt worksheet.

Physics – Bicycling:

We read Bicycle Book by Gail Gibbons.

We also read The Red Bicycle, as suggested in the FIAR manual.

Afterwards, he color-coded the parts of a bicycle using nomenclature cards (Montessori Print Shop).

Newton’s Laws:

Parker read Who Was Isaac Newton? and learned about his discoveries.

ARTS, CRAFTS & OTHER:

Mixed Media Art:

First, we read several books illustrated by Sean Qualls. We also read about Mary Blair’s wonderful illustrations using mixed media.

He brought out art supplies at his grandfather’s house and created his own mixed media scene.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our Emmanuel’s Dream Pinterest Board.

Youtube Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created an Emmanuel’s Dream playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.