Storybook of China, Chinese Version

 My husband and I just finished the Storybook of China, Chinese Version. We want to start working on some Chinese versions of some of the English books that I wrote last year. We hope to do a Geography of China, Chinese Version next. The Storybook of China, Chinese Version goes through Chinese history in 42 lessons (it stops at the end of the Qing Dynasty while the English version goes through modern history as well). We hope it'll help kids learn about end enjoy learning Chinese history. They are available as a PDF on www.lulu.com or as a printed book on www.lulu.com or www.amazon.com. 

Frog Eggs

 We went to the park the day before yesterday with another homeschool family and the boys found frog eggs! We also found a magpie nest (magpie nests are super huge so they're easy to spot!) and an old wasps nest in a tree. I didn't think this park could have so much nature! We're also so thankful to have another homeschool family to go on outings with. Our homeschool community shrunk drastically from over 20 families to just a few in the last 2 years. 

 

The frog eggs are the black dots in the water.

The wasp nest in the tree

Kublai Khan's Gardener

 I just finished a book about a gardener from the Yuan Dynasty. Here's the description on the back of the book:

Kublai Khan is one of history’s most famous kings. He had a huge palace built in Beijing, built the city walls, had a forest of trees on one of the hills, and did lots of other building projects. Sadly, the majority of his building projects aren’t around today. This story is about the head gardener who was in charge of the forest of trees on one of the hills. Kublai Khan had trees from all over brought over and this man had to make sure that they all did well. It was a hard job and this gardener had to travel sometimes to pick up new trees. By reading this book, you’ll not only see how life was like in China during this time period, but also learn a little about a variety of trees.

Snowflakes

 It snowed today so I got some more close up pics of snow. I love it when you can see the snowflakes!

Pu'er Tea Delivery

 I had the opportunity to work with a mom and her two daughters to work on a book together. They did the illustrations (and did a fantastic job!) and I did the writing. It's a book about a family in Yunnan who help take care of some old Pu'er tea trees. They pick leaves a few times a year for tea, dry them, and get them ready to be sold. Then they have travel to a few places in Yunnan to sell their tea. This book talks not only about the process of how tea is made, but also describes Yunnan geography. Yunnan is the province next to Tibet in the Southwest part of China. This book is available as an ebook on www.lulu.com or as a printed book on www.lulu.com or amazon.com. 

Vegetable Market

 Today we went to the vegetable market to buy some veggies and food before it closes for a few days for Chinese New Year. I thought I'd take some pictures of some of the veggies and other things they sell there. Many times when I go to the veggie market I see veggies, dried beans, and things that I don't normally cook with and it sometimes inspires me to learn how to cook some of these things. My hunch is that if you ask the average Chinese grandma, they could tell you how to cook any and all of these things. If you ask the average Chinese young person, they could tell you how to cook some of the things, but not all of them. Cooking is a skill that is slowly being lost (in my opinion) as more young people either prefer to eat out or are too busy to cook or to learn to cook. 

Growing Plants in the Winter

 There's often a lot of smog in the winter where we live, which means a lot of "bad air, stay inside" days for us. This means that nature study can be a bit different. One thing I did last year and also started something today is growing something and drawing it regularly to have a record of how it grows and because it's interesting. I just started growing garlic today from a garlic clove by putting it in water. Each of the kids have one too so we're all going to check in how they grow every day and keep a record for part of our "smog days" nature study.