The Red Bike

We had a great time last week at our second play group One Hen! We read the true story of Kojo and how a microloan led to a hen that changed the lives of a family, community, and country. We were able to take a trunkful of high-need supplies to Community Action House. I’m so thankful for all the families that have taken the time to come out to the park this summer. Above you can see a talented group of egg balancers!

So many sweet world changers.

We really hope to see you this coming Tuesday evening, June 30 at 6:00 pm. (Kollen Park, on the east side of the public bathrooms.)

We will be reading The Red Bicycle about the journey of one red bike!

If you are able please bring $1.00 for World Vision USA to purchase bicycles for girls needing safe transportation to school!

Bring along a scooter, bike, skateboard, stroller! Anything with wheels! We’ll be having a bike parade around the upper sidewalk loop of Kollen Park.

After our Make Difference Bike Parade come over for play stations! Bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sack races, world volleyball, hula hoops, and a bicycle craft.

Advertisement

One Hen

Last Tuesday evening, we held our first summer service play group! We were able to gather about 100 welcome kits for Holland Rescue Mission. We had super intelligent kids during the story If the World Were a Village, great helpers, and sweet families making a difference together. Wetfeet ACTS shared beautiful artwork about the book.

I’m so thankful to everyone for taking time from a busy summer evening to give back to our community. It made my heart so happy. Also, I am so thankful to everyone who helped and offered encouragement, projects like this take a village, just like we learned in the book!

I’m so excited for this week’s group, around the story One Hen.

Tuesday June 23: One Hen
6:00 PM at Kollen Park! (We are on the east side of the public bathrooms)

One Hen is the story of Kojo and the one hen that changed the future of an entire village. Join in on the egg and spoon relay race, farm animal puppets, sidewalk chalk, sack races, world volleyball, soccer, and bubbles.

We will be supporting Community Action House. Here are the items they shared with us that are high need. Items they continually run low or completely out of. Please bring an item or more if you are able!

Laundry Soap
Dish Soap
Bar Soap
Multipurpose Cleaners
Toilet Paper
Shampoo and Conditioner
Feminine Hygiene Items

We are so excited to see you!

#TalkJustice: Education Access

Whenever we talk to our kids about justice issues we can be positive, because there are so many ways we can help! Even though the topics can be heavy, we can make a difference, and that’s something to be excited about.

In the United States we have many options for education. Even here, not every opportunity is equal, nor every school district. Globally this is even truer. Many students, especially girls will never have the opportunity to attend school and better their lives. Opening up kids worldview of school is a great place to start. Once they understand that education is a gift that others don’t have so easily, families can begin making a difference beginning in their own schools and expanding locally and globally.

Equal Access to Education Discussion Starters:

Help your family go deeper:

• What factors make acquiring education difficult for kids?
• Child labor- some kids need to support their family instead of going to school
• Access- some kids lack transportation or a close school to attend
• Money- some areas lack resources to have school supplies, teachers, or safe buildings
• Disabilities- some schools do not have resources to help students with disabilities
• Gender- poverty forces some families to choose who to educate and they choose boys before girls (so girls can work, do chores, or watch siblings.)
• Violence- war or conflict keep some kids at home instead of attending school safely
• Hunger- can make learning difficult for students
• Immigration- language and cultural assimilation can create challenges to learning
• Are their schools in our area that have less than others?
• After thinking about barriers, how do you feel about receiving free education through twelve grade?

Kids Books About Equal Education Opportunities

Read more about this selection of kids book here. 

 

 

 

 

 

16 Ways to Take Action!

• Watch the documentary film Girl Rising. (Watch ahead of time to pick the segments you want to show, some are more appropriate for middle school age and up.)
• Girl Rising Youtube channel shows many small clips and features about the film
• Read a book on-line with your kids and a book is donated with We Give Books.
• Five toolkit ideas for raising money for the organization Room to Read.
• Read the book Kaboom Go out and Play to support KaBoom efforts to create play spaces for all school kids.
• Encourage your kids to help with school support: have them cut boxtops, participate in programs, and see you volunteer your time.
• Read The Story of Maya on-line, every time you share or like a post money is donated to CARE through General Mills.
• Watch the slideshow 20 Unique Ways Kids Get to School
• Watch a slideshow of the life of Malala advocate for global education and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Watch the slideshow 10 Barriers to Education around the World
• Pick a book to give through First Book Gift Catalog (you can even dedicate it to a loved one.) Book are then donated to schools in need.
• Use the lesson Should All Children Go to School from Generation On
• Watch the PBS Time for School Series that visits seven classrooms on seven continents.
• Help your students THANK the teachers in their lives
• Use the Global Education First Youth Advocacy Toolkit on Issuu
• Cultivate thankfulness in your kids at their opportunity to attend school

An Access to Education Twitter List to Follow.

Follow our About Proximity #TalkJustice Pinterest Board.

#TalkJustice Summer Serve Play Groups! Come over to our Facebook Event Page to learn more. Invite friends! We will be exploring topics and making a difference in community, using a series of books donated to us from CitizenKid. Hosted by About Proximity (that’s me) and my Mom, a public school family advocate for two decades.

What have been your insights into equality and access in education? 

Talk Justice: Hunger

Talk Justice: Hunger

Hunger is something most kids will understand. Everyone can relate the feeling of a hungry tummy from time to time. We can broaden our kids understanding of true hunger by helping them learn about the people around the world that feel those tummy rumbles and don’t have access to a snack or meal like most of us do.

Help your family go deeper:

• If you didn’t have dinner would it be hard to sleep that night?
• If you didn’t have breakfast would you have trouble concentrating in school?
• How would you feel if you didn’t have a lunch to bring to school?
• If you had a week where there wasn’t much food at home, would you begin to feel worried about having enough?

Talk about root causes of hunger:

• wars
• disasters
• climate change
• famine and floods
• joblessness
• rising food costs
• poverty
• inequality

Help older children understand common misconceptions about hunger:

• WIC in the United States helps with supplementing woman, infants and children, school lunch programs, school breakfast programs, and summer lunch programs.
• SNAP Myths and general information.

Whenever we talk to our kids about justice issues we can be positive, because there are so many ways we can help! Even though the topics can be heavy, we can make a difference, and that’s something to be excited about!

Kids Books About Hunger 

The Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by: Peter Menzel

Beatrice’s Goat by: Paige McBriar with Heifer International

One Hen by: Katie Smith Milway

The Good Garden by: Katie Smith Milway

 

21 Ways to Take Action!

• Host a No Kid Hungry Bake Sale
• Map the Meal Gap lets you look at hunger statistics for your county.
• Know where your town’s Food Pantry is located.
• Find a Feeding America Location near you and serve as a family (many distribute food monthly from church parking lots)
• Watch Lily, her Mom and No Kid Hungry 
• 10 Faces of Food Assistance with the World Food Programme Slideshow
• Bring Heifer International’s Read to Feed to your kids school.
• Read the World Ark Magazine together on-line or via app
• Watch the documentary film A Place at the Table
• Rice 2.0 quizzed on vocabulary and other subjects 10 grains of rice is donated for every correct answer.
• Watch the true story that inspired the Good Garden Maria’s Journey
• Watch the Story of Hungry. 
• A great list of Most Needed Food Pantry items; shop and donate together
• Cook a meal together for someone who is ill, a single mom, the elderly, a new parent or anyone in need.
• Deliver or mail a surprise grocery gift card to someone in a tough place.
• Participate in the Stone Soup Activity with Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
• Download the Cooking Matters Kids Handouts
• Download these activity and coloring sheets from Canadian Foodgrains Bank: staple foods, rain, livestock, Harold and the goat, Haleema’s Chapattis, food assistance, disasters, deserts, Tanisha and changing weather, hunger facts, and even more educational resources here.
• Try the World Renew Feed Your Fish App to help world hunger.
• Use the great resources from Food for Thought from Sesame Street for younger kids.
• Download a world hunger map from the World Food Programme here.

We have a new Pinterest board called Kids #TalkJustice where I will be pinning many of the resources featured in this series.

Do you twitter? Here is a Hunger List to follow.

I really hope to hear from you all week long! Tell us about your conversations! What resources did you try? What did your kids teach you? 

Next Week… Clean Water and Summer Justice Play Groups.