Category: Non Fiction

Studying Africa

Unit 6 of our homeschool involves studying Africa. We studied history and geography of the region from the book: Journey to the Eastern Hemisphere by April Lotempio.

We watched following talks of Shri Mataji:

  • 1996-1029 Talk to yogis, Cairo, Egypt
  • 1996-1028 Public Program, Cairo, Egypt

We read following books:

  • A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park (Listen to Arjun’s retelling of the story of Salva Dut)
  • Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
  • Beat the Story Drum, Pum Pum by Ashley Bryan (Arjun created a picture word story from one of the stories in the book: hen and frog)
  • Nelson Mandela “No Easy Walk to Freedom” by Barry Denenberg
  • Journey to Jo’burg: A South African Story by Beverley Naidoo

Arjun created a travel brochure for Africa: Great African Tours.

Arjun also wrote an African parody of the poem, Ladybird, Ladybird, Fly Away Home: Impala, Impala, Bound Away Home

We watched following African movies to get a sense of African culture:

  • Cook Off on Netflix
  • Meet the In-Laws on Netflix
  • Just in Time on Netflix
  • Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom on Amazon Prime (we forwarded the inappropriate parts)
  • Sarafina on Amazon Prime
  • Invictus on Netflix

We made following food (Arjun cooks mostly all on his own):

Studying Middle East

Unit 5 comprised of studying Middle East. We studied history and geography of the region from the book: Journey to the Eastern Hemisphere by April Lotempio.

We watched only one video of Shri Mataji in Middle East: 1998-0416 Talk to Yogis, Dubai

We studied following books:

  • 52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure by Lawrie Raskin and Debora Pearson
  • Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 by James Rumford
  • Ali and the Golden Eagle by Wayne Grover
  • Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
  • Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy (I skip the inappropriate parts while reading). Arjun tried to make predictions before each part in the book.

We watched Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet on Amazon Prime.

We made following food:

Studying India

Unit 4 comprised of studying India. This unit we relaxed a lot as we are of Indian origin. We studied history and geography from the book: Journey to the Eastern Hemisphere by April Lotempio.

We studied following books and watched a few movies:

  • Swami and Friends by R. K. Narayan (we saw the TV series on YouTube. Also, Arjun made a comic strip based on the book.)
  • Rikshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins (Arjun wrote a cause and effect essay based on this book.)
  • Gandhi: Young Nation Builder (we saw the movie Gandhi on Amazon Prime)
  • Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (listen to Arjun’s review on Just So Stories)
  • Daughter of the Mountains by Louise S Rankin
  • Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (we saw the movie on Amazon Prime)

Have you ever used shaving cream for an art project?

When my brother wrote the poem “Children of The Sun,” we loved it so much that we wanted to get it illustrated. I really wanted to do the illustrations. So, my mother spoke to our art teacher, Ms. Vicki Farmer. She agreed and guided my brother and me in illustrating this poem. I was very excited when we started doing them. Here I’ll describe the steps of one of the illustrations done by me. Continue reading Have you ever used shaving cream for an art project?

Children of the Sun

Kabir wrote a poem on the Solar system and then both Kabir and Arjun created illustrations with the help of Mrs. Vicki Farmer.  Here’s a little back-cover summary of the book.

Designed to introduce children to the solar system, this book attempts to teach facts about the planets around our sun, from Saturn’s Rings to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. However, in this case the story goes a step further. What if… every planet wasn’t just a sphere of rock or gas? If they each had personalities, what would they be like? Here is one artist’s attempt to represent their unique personalities, each with his or her own distinctive qualities and behaviors, through The Children of the Sun. Follow this poem through our solar system, and read for yourself these special virtues of each of the children of the Sun. At the same time, readers can learn scientific facts about the solar system. We hope that you may enjoy this poem, written and illustrated by children.

Please buy this book at Lulu.com (you should be able to find coupons).  It’s a 50-page full color book.  You may prefer Kindle version of “Children of The Sun.” You may want to purchase the audiobook of “Children of The Sun.”

Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu.

Here’s are the social media pages: Facebook page for Children of The Sun, Twitter page for Children of The Sun,  and Instagram page for Children of The Sun.

Continue reading Children of the Sun