Journey Through the World Of Books

The Journey through the world of books was the theme of an exciting program called PARP (parents as reading partners) sponsored by our school PTA. I had the pleasure of being the chairperson for the planning committee (it was a committee of two, see how important I was?) For two weeks the children were encouraged to read nightly with their parents, tales and stories from around the world and log their reading into their passports. The last night proved to be fun and rewarding for all and we were so pleased with the participation of parents, students and teachers alike. We had three guest readers, the one pictured here a retired teacher dressed up, and read stories about the Inuit people, you can see that she was sitting near her student built igloo of recycled milk cartons! The children were enthralled with the tales. We also had our principle dressed as a penguin reading stories about penguins and Arctic living, and a princess from England with her castle and fables from her land.

Two crafts were very popular among the children, above are Ariana and Nikolas getting started on their drums from Africa. It was the first stop on their journey. (each family was given a passport with write ups on the activities that night and a schedule of their events to break everyone up into smaller groups) The children really enjoyed finding the flags for each country and rotating to the next activity.

This is a shot of all the drums that the kids made. The just looked so cool all drying on the table.

The kids then tried their hands at Tinikling, from the Philippines. The learned the origination and how it came about. It was originally done with reeds with thorns and was a punishment, today it is very popular and has become a competitive choreographed sport. I was so pleased that there was so much laughter coming from the kids and parents...

They also played a game from Australia called Down, Down, Down, a throwing and catching game.

One of the most favorite activities of all was making the Ojo's de dio's AKA God's eyes. I remember making these in Girl Scouts as a kid but really didn't know there was a history behind them. "In Mexico, The central eye was made when a child was born. Each year, a bit of yarn was added until the child turned five at which point the Ojo was complete. In Bolivia, "God's Eyes" were made to be placed on an altar so that the gods could watch over the praying people and protect them. "

All in all it was a great and busy night. We had prizes at the end in the form of a drawing and certificates of participation and completion for those that earned it. What a great experience it was to be part of the planning and see how much joy it brought to so many people.