When my mother suggested taking my oldest daughter, Rebekah, on a trip
to China, I immediately knew we would try to get her academic credit for
the trip. Because we were making this an academic course, my husband
decided to take money out of her college fund to pay for the trip. That
helped with finances!
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My Grammy, Grandma, and I on a boat in the locks at the Three Gorges Dam
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We started Rebekah’s research about two months before the actual trip.
Once my mother settled on an itinerary, I gave it to Rebekah and asked
her to research the areas to which she would travel. I collected some
books on China from my library and from friends, then told her to look
the rest up on the Internet and in the library. I helped her look for
books that would tell her about each place.
A friend had recently sent me a copy of the course contract she uses
with her high school students, so I used that to figure out how many
hours Rebekah would spend, and how much credit she could get. Figuring
out the hours was the tough part. I looked at each book I had chosen,
and guessed how much time it would take for her to read, and totally
guessed on the rest of the research.
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My grandma (Lois Kimminau), my Grammy (Berta Riley), and me in front of a Suzhou pagoda
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Because I wasn’t sure if my times
were accurate on the course contract, I also made up a matrix for her to
use as she studied. She was supposed to keep track of how many hours she
spent on each requirement, then write it on the matrix. With that I
could write it on the course contract. Unfortunately, she did not keep
good track of her time, so I was back to guessing for the number of
hours to use for her credit. However, since my estimated total hours
were 247, and 50 hours count for 1 credit, I will have no problems
putting three credit hours on her transcript when I get to that point.
I expected Rebekah to produce a photo album, a written report about
China and the areas she visited, and a journal she would keep on the
trip. When she had finished everything, it was very different from what
I’d expected. The photo album was good and we made three copies, giving
one to each of her grandmothers for Christmas. Her journal was
incredible. Her grandmothers and I helped type it from her notes, and we
each added comments from things she told us or her grandmothers
experienced on the trip. We emailed it to all our friends and got many
positive comments, including, “You should publish this,” which is why we
submitted it to Practical Homeschooling! The last thing she did was her
report, and it ended up being much like her journal. I would have liked
it to be a little more “formal,” but her dad and I decided that it was a
good job for her grade level (8th grade).
In the end, it was an incredible experience. I have used the course
contract for other non-traditional activities in which my kids have
participated. Now my mother is planning to take my second oldest
daughter to Ireland in summer 2009. So we will be using this format all
over again!
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Some Dragon decorations we saw on a river boat tour in Nanjing
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Excerpts from Rebekah’s China Journal
Day 1-The Flight
Yesterday morning we got up at 4 A.M.! We got to the airport around 5:30
and we got all checked in with no problems.
When we got to the Chicago airport we went to the duty free shop. I got
hazelnut chocolates!
We raced to our gate and boarded the plane to Shanghai. I loved business
class. I had a seven-course lunch! I slept on and off throughout the
trip, watching movies and reading in between. They brought us food
around every 3-4 hours! It was very weird to think that we skipped 13
hours of the day. (There is a 13-hour time difference between Chicago
and China during daylight saving. Afterwards it is a 14-hour
difference).
Once we arrived in Shanghai, we went through customs and met Hua (Hua is
my Grammy’s friend. She lived in North Carolina for a few years, and
lived with Grammy for two years. She is the main reason we took this
trip. Hua has been inviting Grammy to China since she went back.) We got
to the hotel finally and went out to dinner. We shared a bunch of
platters. My favorite was the duck, and Hua ordered me a drink called
“tea with milk and black pearls.” It tasted like something you would get
from Starbucks! I saw a McDonalds and KFC coming home from the
restaurant and a very tall hotel that had a cool top (it had a big arch
through it with lights through the top-I have a picture of it). I need
to go to bed. . . .
Day 3, Saturday-Nanjing
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A beautiful building on top of the Nanjing City
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Today we had to be at the lobby at 8:15 so that we could get to the
train station on time. Hua’s son, Billy, took us to the train station
and went with us to Nanjing. My mom called us while we were in the taxi.
(Hua gave them one of her cell phones. I had signed up with Total Call
International for 5.5 cents/ minute to China. If you know anyone in a
foreign country, TCI is a great way to go for making phone calls-Trish).
We waited in the station and then got on the train. We each got
first-class seats for only $13!
For lunch we went to a local restaurant that featured local delicacies
and I found out I really liked duck.
Next we went to the Nanjing city gate. I like that a lot. It had three
gates that people used to have to go through. And it had tons and tons
of space for soldiers to hide out in. I liked going up and down the
stairs.
Next we went to Confucius’ place. We took a 40-minute boat ride on which
I just looked at the sights because the tour was in Chinese. Next we
went to Hua’s cousin and his wife’s restaurant. Dinner was good. I liked
a lot of the things we tried. The Chinese eat a ton. (I learned later in
the trip that a good host serves at least 30 dishes-Grammy.) We saw
some shows; my favorite was the mask-changing one. A man raced around in
a costume, and all of a sudden his masks changed! Then, after talking a
lot, we went home.
Day 4, Sunday-More Nanjing
Today we were going to the Sun Yat-sen Monument. Sun Yat-sen was the
first president of China (after the emperor was overthrown. He was also
the brother-in-law and mentor of Chang Kai Shek-Grandma).
| The Course Contract
Here is the contract I came up with. Feel free to use it as an example,
template, or idea generator for your own course contract!
You can also see a larger version online at:
home-school.com/phs88/coursecontract.gif
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He overthrew
the last emperor. His famous saying was “The world belongs to the
people,” in contrast to the emperor, who said, “The world belongs to the
emperor.” His monument was very pretty, but it was way up high in the
hills; you had to climb 392 steps to get to it! The 392 steps
represented the 392 punctuation marks that were in his last speech. I
climbed up and down the steps twice. In his monument there was a hall
with a huge statue of him sitting wearing a Chinese outfit. The Chinese
outfit was significant because people fought over whether he should wear
a modern suit or a Chinese outfit; they compromised-two statues, one of
each.
After the monument, we took a trolley to another part of the park. We
got to the Linggu Pagoda, but I did not want to walk up all seven
stories! Then we headed to the open-air music hall. On the way we saw,
in a lake, a bunch of people in huge balls, floating! They kept trying
to stand up and walk, but they just kept falling! It was hilarious to
watch.
Next we went to lunch in a restaurant that was close to the top of a
mountain. Then we went up to the observatory. Then we left for the train
station and rushed! We got on the train with two minutes to spare. I am
writing this on the train. . . .
In all, Rebekah and her relatives spent 18 days in the trip. They also
visited Yiching, cruised the Yangtze River, saw Tiananmen Square,
visited the Great Wall, went shopping, and lots more.
You can read a text-only version of her entire journal online at
home-school.com/phs88/chinajournal.html.
| How Rebekah Made Her Cool Online Photo Album
One tool I used to give Rebekah academic credit for her China trip was
to have her make a photo album. Since she returned close to Christmas,
we thought it would be fun to also make photo albums for her two
grandmas. A friend showed us photo books she had created online, so we
decided to do the albums that way. I researched prices, and ended up
using www.mypublisher.com, because we got large discounts through our
Costco membership.
The process was very simple. We went to the website and clicked on the
“photobooks” link. That enabled us to download the free software. The
program walked us through the whole process, including choosing a book
cover, design, placing pictures and writing captions. The program uses
digital pictures from your computer, and was quite easy to use.
Since then, Rebekah has experimented with other programs. She now
prefers mycanvas.com. She says it’s much easier to use, and gives her
more options.
In an earlier season of my life, I was an avid scrapbooker. Now that I
have experienced the ease of online photo books, I’m torn about going
back to the old way. Photo books don’t require me to print the pictures.
Plus I don’t have to buy stickers, glue, paper, etc. But I’d miss the
social element of scrapbooking with friends. Two different mediums, each
with their own benefits.
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Trish Kimminau has homeschooled for 10 years. She has four children.
Rebekah, who co-authored this article, is 15 and the oldest in the
family. Rebekah was 13 when she went to China. Rebekah’s father is in
the US Air Force, and they are moving from San Antonio to Virginia this
summer.
