Happy New Year! This was our first day back to co-op after a long Christmas break. It was good to get back in to the normal swing of things! This week, our history classes took a trip to Asia and learned about things going on in China and Japan. These countries are quite content with their cultures and were not seeking trade relationships with other countries. However, Western countries were very interested in some of the things they had to offer them--silks, porcelain and tea. Eventually, the Opium Wars opened up trade with China and the US Navy, under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry pressured the Japanese to once again open their ports to Western traders. The Dialectic Class did not spend much time discussing China and Japan--they were busy finishing up their Oregon Trail simulation that was left hanging at the end of 2012. The pioneers made it to Oregon, suffered some losses, but had many successes along the way as well! The Upper Grammar and Lower Grammar kids both started class with a Chinese food feast. The kids loved sampling the dishes! Then the Upper Grammar boys made Chinese Peasant hats, while the Lower Grammar kids made Chinese lanterns. A big thanks to Mrs. Lee, who was a guest speaker for both classes. She answered questions from the kids about life in China, and taught the kids how to hold and use chopsticks! The Five in a Row class read the book Katy and the Big Snow. Persistent Katy never gives up as she digs out the city of Geopolis from a big snow storm that buries the entire town! The kids then had a blast making yummy snowmen out of marshmallows and frosting!
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