Ethics, Morals and The Story About Ping

I really like the FIAR (Five in a Row) curriculum.  Let me state that upfront.  It is very well done and I would recommend it to anyone.

I also don't agree with everything in it.  In The Story About Ping, the author's take on Ping's decision is different from mine.

Ping chooses to avoid physical abuse.  He hasn't done anything wrong.  (Not that doing something wrong somehow validates hitting...) He accidentally didn't hear the call to come home.  Are the consequences of his actions horrible?  No, not really.  He spends the night sleeping on the bank and then wakes up to a grand adventure.  He sees new boats, new birds and has a tasty snack of rice cake crumbs.  He also enters danger and potentially could have died.  However, he also made a new friend he wouldn't have made otherwise.

Also, is it right to avoid physical abuse knowing that someone else will suffer it instead?

Adventures often bring unexpected outcomes.  That is why they are called adventures.  Yes, we try to avoid adventures we know will harm us (well, ok, some of us do), but all adventures have risks and rewards.

That's my take....I'd certainly welcome other's thoughts.

The Story About Ping

This week's FIAR story is The Story About Ping.  I remember reading this story when I was young, so it brings back memories.

The story offers a chance for an interesting discussion around the ethics of the last duck to get on the boat getting swatted with a stick.  Is it right to hit the ducks?  How would you feel if it were you?  Is it right to hurry so that someone else gets swatted?  Does that make it ok?

The story also offers an opportunity to talk about adventures and consequences.  I don't like the FIAR book's take on Ping's decisions, so I simple ignored that part and reconstructed it more inline with my own beliefs.  I'll make a separate posting about that and link it back here..

In addition to our regular reading and writing practice, we did the following:

We made "junks" out of romaine lettuce leaves and filled them with cashew butter and banana, cranberries and cashews.  She liked the concept, if not the actual lettuce.

We found a new app that I really like.  Let me repeat that....really like.  It is called Reading Raven and she loves it.  It helps kids learn to sound things out.  With five levels, it builds and enables the user to actually record his or her attempts to say the sounds, which when you are three, is pretty darn fun.

In the continual parade of wildlife through the front yard, this morning a black squirrel with a scar on his back came to eat bird seed.  He shows up regularly, so we are thinking of giving him a name.

We added a story disk to the world map showing where China is.

We started a mapping curriculum.  Rachel really likes maps, so we are exploring maps.  She likes to try to answer questions "If I want to get from A to B, how would I go?"

I also bought this over the holidays.  We can rearrange the village and play mapping games with it now. Later, when she is a bit older, we can play the real game.

We're using the Kumon books for beginning writing practice.  Yes, I know there are a LOT of resources available for this.  These books are not the cheapest, however, Rachel seems to like them.  She will occasionally grab a book and run off to her room.  Then, she returns with a dozen pages done. That's worth paying $8 a book.  

Practicing writing her numbers.

This weeks math game involves 100 baskets, each with a unique number on it from 1-100.  We started playing by hiding Ping under a basket and then I would tell Rachel which basket and she would free Ping. Right. She knows all her numbers, so it got boring fast.  I switched it up to an adding game and got out the Cuisenaire rods.   I drew two boxes, put a plus sign between them and then an equal sign at the end and another box.  We reduced the basket cards to 0-10 and I would hide Ping and then write the numbers out below the boxes on the sheet.  (2 + 2, for example)  She would count out the blocks and then write the number in the third box.  Then, check to see if Ping was under that basket.  She then wanted her turn creating a math problem.  Fine by me!  She really likes the game.

\

On Thursday, we did our first geocaching adventure.   It was a tad cold. (Note sarcasm...thermometer read -6 C)  The treasure we found at the end was only one of many that Rachel found along the way. She noticed everything!

Then, we had a tea party using GrandBetts' Chinese tea set and read poetry.  I got this idea from: I Capture the Rowhouse   She had a good time, enjoyed the reading, and finished up with dancing...then wanted her yoga DVD.

Chains and Links

Getting Rachel to help with chores and stuff has been challenging.  I don't want to keep asking her to do things, so I constructed a chain out of construction paper.  The links are color coded:

blue = responsibility

white = treat

yellow = learning activity

pink = priviledge

I construct the chain for the day and it has eliminated our fussing over picking up toys and now she will help me unload and load the dishwasher.  She also doesn't bug me all day for treats or television.