Around the World (the first two weeks)

This summer I am busy teaching children ages 3-6 in an eight week summer program with an "Around the World" theme.  With two weeks under my belt so far, I've learned that teaching the preschool/early elementary set is quite different from middle school.  I'm learning the ropes as I go, and hopefully the kiddos are learning some things along the way too!

Our first week we learned about Oceania, focused mainly on Australia.  We made paper mache globes, boomerangs, Australian aboriginal art, learned Australian games, and made damper bread as our bread of the week.

Paper mache globes drying

Australian damper bread

Last week we focused on Asia, studying the countries of Thailand, Japan, and China.  We read stories, did origami, made Chinese accordion dragons, painted Thai elephants, and ate Japanese melonpan (a Japanese sweet bread with a bread inside and a cookie layer outside).  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the bread... they ate it all up!

Thai elephant paintings

I'm enjoying learning new and fun things each day and making cool crafts with the kids.  It hasn't all been easy (especially keeping little ones in line!), but I'm hopeful that it will get smoother as I continue to build relationships with the children.  Stay tuned for future posts about our happenings!