Long Overdue....

* I preface this post by saying that I began writing this in Feb. 2017, due to life, which tends to just happen, I am just publishing this post in July 2017, forgiveness is requested.

I mentioned once before that Nairobi is the land of many malls.  Last weekend after the kids soccer practice we went to check out one of Nairobi's newest malls called Two Rivers Mall.  The mall is set on a huge land complex planned for multi-use development. Construction is ongoing and plans include hotels, housing, and commercial offices.

I was pleased to see ample parking as parking often seems to be an afterthought.  We chose the underground parking and found that finding a parking space was easy enough.  Security is heavy and one must be digitally scanned to enter.   Once inside one may feel as if they have stepped into a mall in the US.  The floor plan is well laid with open walkways and and plenty of light allowing for a bright open feel. 

 There is a nice apparel store at the mall equivalent to a H&M in the US.  The chain is called LC Waikiki and the prices are very reasonable.  I can see myself shopping there regularly for the children.  There was also a nice home goods store on the third floor that had quality items at a reasonable price.  I believe it was called Mr. Price Home.  The highlight of my visit though, was the Carrefour grocery store.  Carrefour is a French grocery chain that now has two locations in Kenya.  I discovered the first a couple of weeks ago and fell in love.

  The Carrefour is similar to a Walmart Super Center in that it is a supermarket as well as a department store all under one roof.   This is not the first of it's type here in Kenya.  One of the older more known supercenters or hypermarkets in Kenya is called Nakumatt.  It has a similar concept, but to me, the feel is very different and this is how:  

(1)The Carrefour has a large, open produce area with a selection of local and imported produce all at reasonable costs. Nakumatt stores generally have smaller produce areas and often have limited produce selection.  However, neither Carrefour nor Nakumatt match Zucchini Market or even Chandarana's variety and quality of produce.  For those of you in the states and abroad, Zucchini Market is specifically a produce market catering to upscale clientele and Chandarana is another grocery store chain.

(2) Upright freezers  for easy viewing of abundant convenience items at reasonable prices.  Nakumatt has freezers you look down into and convenience items are often priced at a premium.

(3) Large cheese and luncheon meat deli, bakery, and prepared food area. The availability of some of these departments are not consistent across all the Nakumatt stores and when available and are smaller (less selection).

(4) The Carrefour offered sale items and reasonable prices for items that I buy regularly. 

(5) Selections are wide and are consistent across both the Carrefour store locations that I've visited where as Nakumatt's inventory varies depending on the store location.

In a nutshell the three big advantages that I feel one will experience while shopping at Carrefour is consistency, value, and a great shopping experience.   As a side note, I tried to take a photo inside the Carrefour grocery store, and a guard stopped me stating they don't allow photos to be taken.  Below  is a photo that I found online.

As stated at the start of this post, several months have passed since I started this post.  I continue to visit Two Rivers Mall regularly.  We frequently shop at Carrefour on Saturdays and visit again for the "food court" area after church on Sundays.   Burger King is one of the dining choices that the kids enjoy as a little taste of home.  They also enjoy watching the water show set to music and playing along the river front. 

For those in Nairobi, have you visited Two Rivers Mall?  What are your thoughts?  For those abroad, does this mall remind you of any near you?

Gotta love those promotions!  This may actually be taken in the Karen Hub location.

The water show on the river in the evening with lights and music

Love the bright open feel.

                             

Mini-water park at Two Rivers Mall.

Baby Steps

         We've been here in Nairobi for seven months now.   I've made a few new friends and have reconnected with old friends (people who lived in our area in the States who moved to Kenya before we did).  Our family has developed routines, we have activities we do weekly that have made life feel more normal again.  We've found a church that the entire family looks forward to going to on Sundays.  We finally feel settled.  

Saturday morning soccer, one of our routines.

        One thing that I hadn't been doing that I did daily in the States is driving.  There are several reasons why I chose not to drive here in Nairobi.  The most obvious is that we drive on opposite sides of the rode.  While my husband could arrive at the airport and hop in a vehicle and drive within an hour of arriving, I could not.  I wanted to give my brain sufficient time to adjust to the switch, so that I was not constantly questioning whether I was on the correct side of the rode.  Next, the roads in Nairobi can be quite intimidating.  Many roads are very narrow barely able to fit two cars through at once, let alone people who are walking (there are few sidewalks).  There are also tons of unmarked speed bumps as well as potholes.  Lastly, no one seems to follow any road rules.  Stop signs are ignored and there are very few traffic lights.  I am so used to driving in the United States where road rules are followed (most of the time), that I couldn't imagine myself driving in Nairobi.


         So, what changed you might ask.  Well, I have a friend who is also a homeschooling mom, with whom I've started exercising in the mornings.  We don't live too far from one another so some days we jog together, meeting somewhere in between our homes.  On other days, she brings her children to my house, and while the kids get some physical activity, we exercise together.  And on other days, I drive to her house and we exercise there.  Like I mentioned, she doesn't live too far, so this is definitely a baby step, but it is huge for me, as I never imagined I'd drive in Nairobi at all.  With this milestone reached,  my next goal is to drive to church on Sunday.  I'll definitely keep you all posted.

On route  (no, this is not a one way street)

        In other news, we've welcomed a new member to our family.  And like us, she is part foreigner and part local.    We adopted a puppy!  She is part Japanese Spitz and part unknown type of Terrier breed.  She is playful, energetic, and loves to be around people.  She has really brought additional joy to our home.  When we first got her, we wrongly determined her to be a boy and we called her Buddy.  But on her second day with us, we took her to the vet and learned that our he, was in fact, a she.  As a family we researched appropriate dog names and voted to decide.  Given her color and the fact that she is part Japanese Spitz, we named her Kaya-Yuki which means "pure snow" in Japanese.

The children with Kaya-Yuki

     
         In school, we have started doing nature studies once per week.  We simply go outdoors on a nature walk.  If we find something interesting we explore it further.  We snap a photo, draw a picture, and google.  Each child has a nature journal.  In it they record the date, time, and location.  They draw a picture of what we are focusing on, then they write down some interesting facts.  It will be a good record to see how their perspectives, penmanship, and artwork changes over the months and perhaps years.

        Yesterday we went out to focus on a pretty flower that's growing in our compound.  While there, we happened to see a bee enjoying the flowers as well.  Being flexible as we are, we shifted our focus to learn more about this bee that was hovering about the flower.  We learned that there are over 20,000 types of bees.  The particular bee was a honey bee.  So we learned the three castes of the honey bee, their functions and how they differ morphologically to serve these functions.  We learned how and why the bees develop into into each of the three types.   I was surprised how much we learned in an hours time.  The children couldn't wait to share what they'd learned with dad.  Well, that's all I have to update for now.  Until next time, enjoy life's safari !!!

       

A Quick Montessori DIY (Color Tablets)

     Before we left for Kenya I made several trips to Lowe's and Home Depot for one thing of another.  While there I picked out two things thinking to myself that they may be useful at some point.  The first were the free paint stirrers from Home Depot.  I've used a few of those already for a project I did for our co-op.  Secondly, I picked up paint chips.  The ones I happened to pick up were the ones with four related colors on each card.

     These cards have worked great as quick and easy color tablets!  Color tablets are a Montessori work that helps the child with color discrimination among other things including color vocabulary as you will be using words such as shades, gradation, darkest, lightest, etc.   Click here for a sample presentation of all three color tablet boxes and here for color tablet games and extensions.
      I separated the colors of each card as they came four shades on each color sample card.  My littlest sorts the cards by color and from darkest to lightest (as in color tablet box 3).  I love that the cards are a heavy card stock and so won't tear easily.   I only wish I had gotten a greater variety of shades as there should be seven gradations of each of the primary, secondary and tertiary colors included in the tablet box.   This is something that can easily be done at home for children as young as 2 1/2 and can save over a hundred dollars by avoiding buying all three color tablet boxes.

     Other diy tablet box ideas can be found here from Planting Peas and here at Montessori Monday.  Many diy color tablet projects require printing the color squares and then affixing the paper to wood, or painting pieces of wood. This turns out beautifully, but color ink is precious in our house and a project like this would use a lot of it.  For our purpose, given that our little one is an older preschooler, who has previously seen these tablets at his school, the paper cards work well.  Also, if you like the heaviness of the wood tablets, I bet you could find all the shades needed at Lowe's or Home Depot.  That way, instead of printing, you could use the paint chips to affix to the wood pieces. You would in that way avoid printing or painting!

What we've been up to...

School is now back in full swing!  A couple of weeks ago, we started the week out with a day off on Monday in celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.  Instead of wasting the day away, we learned more about Dr. King.  I reminded the children of our visit to his home in Atlanta a couple of summers ago.  Of course my youngest didn't remember, but I showed him photos.  We spoke about segregation and the civil rights movement in America.  The children had many questions to ask on these subjects and the older two were eager to share what they've learned from books they've read.

This month for art we are focusing on the artist Claude Monet.  We talked about how Monet was an impressionist artist at the turn of the 19th century and how he painted in dabs and short strokes instead of long strokes.  We spoke about the difference between impressionism and and idealism.  We used the video Art History In A hurry as a brief introduction to Monet.  Click here for the video. I think the video was excellent as an introduction and would recommend it as a good unit starter.    We've done three art projects so far, one a wax resist/water color, another with oil pastels, and the latest using chalk.  We've talked about the benefits and drawbacks of using each medium.

Our impression of Water Lilies using oil pastels

Water Lilies using chalk 

This month I introduced multiplication to my littlest one by way of the Montessori multiplication board.  He enjoys this work and doesn't  whine as much as he did for the snake game.  I am also going beyond the fraction skittles with him this month.  I found a free Montessori math resource/ album.  So we've moved beyond naming the fractions to writing them (knowing numerator/

denominator) and addition of fractions, next week we will get into subtraction of fractions.  Click here for the link to that resource.

My littlest one using the multiplication board for the four tables.

Labeling fractions

Writing fractions

Adding Fractions: As you can see, when asked to make his own addition problem, from his own curiosity he choose 0/4 + 4/4, he has figured out that any fraction with the same numerator and denominator is equal to one.  We used our  DIY fraction circles to illustrate all the addition problems.

In other news, we went to see our first movie in Kenya over the holidays.  We saw Moana  If you are here in Kenya, let me suggest you make that a frequent family outing!  Why?  You might ask.  Well they practically give away the tickets.  I love seeing movies in the theater.  But, we rarely did in States because for a family of five, it was so expensive!  The theater at West Gate Mall has so many deals!  First, the eleven o'clock movie is 300 Ksh.  That is equivalent to a bit less than $3 USD.  Then at other times during the week, you can get a movie with a meal for less than 700Ksh ($7).  Where I lived, you'd pay no less than $15 for a ticket.  No extras.   With that said, later today I plan to take the kids to see Sing, one of the newer kid's movies out.
Besides the movie, we will spend the afternoon learning about the Chinese New Year and I have planned several activities around that.  The children remembered celebrating the Chinese New Year at their other school and insisted that we celebrate this year. The year of the rooster has finally come after a daily countdown since the first of the month!

So, that's it in a nutshell, this is what we've been up to! More news to come!


 

Back In The Swing of Things!

We started school again last week.  Some of us struggled to get back in the swing of things while others dived right in head first.  By the end of the week we were all back on track.  For the girls we started  the year with a quick review of the Revolutionary War and now on to the War of 1812.  The four books we are currently reading integrate well into the curriculum and the girls are enjoying them.

                             

 Their curriculum, Trail guide to Learning  (Paths of Settlement)  is inclusive of all subjects except foreign language and math.  It's really nice because everything they are learning ties in and relates to one another.  For example, while they were learning about The Revolutionary War, they did copywork and dictation from the Constitution and Patrick Henry's famous "Give me freedom or give me death " speech.  They read books about John Adams, Abigail Adams, and George Washington to name a few.  I found a nice add on book at a trunk sale during coop that nicely showed King George's perspective during that tumultuous time.  For those of you who may be covering the Revolutionary War, the book is titled "Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?" by Jean Fritz.

   They learned about the different branches of government and their roles by way of the Constitution.  They are learning about each of the 50 states.  As battles and events are taking place in the books they are reading, they learn about the geography of where these things occurred and how the geography may have shaped the outcome of events.  Spelling and vocabulary words largely come from the books we are reading.  For art they are exploring water color.  They've painted landscapes depicting the vast expanses of the developing US at the time.  They have also cooked recipes of popular dishes from the states they have studied.  I can go on and on, but I'll save that for a review of the curriculum which I will do at the end of this school year.

  For the little one, I've continued with a work plan system that I nabbed from What DID we do all day? Click here to see her post.  I believe she found it by way of another homeschooler.  The system allows my little one to visualize what work he has done for the day and what he still needs to do.  It also allows him to see the bigger picture as far as what I expect him to cover throughout the week. Each time he completes a task, he can move the corresponding paper clip from the left side to the right side of the work plan.   I like this system so much, that I even created one for each of the girls for things that I expect them to do daily and weekly that are not included in their curriculum.  All three enjoy the visual aid and the fact that they need to physically move the paperclip.  I imagine there is a sense of accomplishment that they feel when all the paperclips have been moved.

All in all it has been a great start to a new year.  We are back in the swing of things and enjoying

Holidays Away From Home

       The holiday season in the US starts with Thanksgiving.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  A special time to spend with family and for us, with friends as well.  We'd cook lots, eat well, and then usually we'd spend an evening playing games, laughing and really having a great time.

       Wonderful to say,  this year was no different.  In fact, I've never had a fuller house!  We had at least 25 of our friends and family over for our first Thanksgiving in Kenya.  Of course Thanksgiving is not a holiday normally celebrated in Kenya, but alas, after a wild turkey chase through Nairobi, a turkey was found!  We followed our family tradition and everyone in attendance got to mention one thing they are most thankful for this year.  The holiday was really embraced by all.

       Next, we headed into the Christmas season!  This is a time my family usually heads farther north to PA and NJ to visit family and spend the holiday there.  There were many things that I missed about our normal Christmas traditions.   Above all else I really missed family and friends in the US.  I actually missed the winter chill in the air (not the snow).   I missed the sounds of Christmas that I just didn't hear here in Nairobi (sleigh bells, Christmas carols).  We actually ended up going to the mall  and I noticed they were playing Christmas songs, so I'd accepted that this would be my Christmas carol fix then to top that, some friends from our co-op came over to our place and carolled for us.  It was such a wonderful gesture!  I can only describe as awesome,  and unexpected!!!

       I missed seeing houses beautifully decorated with outdoor Christmas lights this is not done here in Nairobi.  First, most of the homes are behind large natural or stone fences so you would not see the lights even if they were up and also electricity costs are sky high so it would not be practical.  I also just think that culturally it's not done.

Our Christmas tree all decorated by the kids and I

Our Elf on the Shelf  "Peppermint" found us in Kenya and decided to take a flight

       I also missed Christmas shopping.  I love the idea of shopping for others.  Finding that perfect gift that would put a smile on the face of loved ones.   There are many, many, many malls here in Nairobi. Ummm .... did I mention there are many malls in Nairobi?  There is no shortage of shops.  The problem is there is little variety at these shops and the prices will make you cry especially if you are knowledgeable about the true costs of these items.  On average toys, clothes, and shoes are about three times the cost of the same items in the US.   This is partially because these items are manufactured outside of the country and the government places large import duties on them.    So, on principle, I refuse to buy them.  There were also a few trunk sales during Co-op where people came to sale used items, but I also felt that for used items, they were too pricey.   I passed on those as well.  So up until a few days before Christmas, I had done zero Christmas shopping.

        The children ended up with one gift each; My oldest got a book, the middle child a hoola hoop, and the youngest a toy car.  No one complained, and they were totally satisfied.  I 'd tried to scale back on Christmas shopping several times in the US during the holiday season, but because things are so easily accessible, and the sales are unbelievable, I never could.  I am so thrilled with this years outcome!

       So, although I missed the shopping, it turned out not be such a bad thing.  This lack of material items really allowed us all to enjoy what this season is all about.  Rejoicing in the birth of our saviour!  We spent this Christmas being thankful for all that we do have, and we have indeed been blessed with so much!  We really are truly grateful to have this opportunity here in Kenya.  Never would I have ever thought I'd get to live in a different country and experience a different culture.  Never would I have thought I'd get to spend so much time with my children and even my spouse for that matter. For, this we feel truly blessed!  We are grateful for new friendships and strengthening old ones!  We are grateful for the support of some great people here in Kenya and those in the US.  So, we spent this holiday with these people celebrating and truly having a great time.

          After a busy Christmas holiday with one gathering after another, we topped it off  with a kid free getaway for the New Year.  While the kids tipped their cups of sparkling cider with their grandmother, we enjoyed fireworks on Lake Naivasha!  Naivasha, is a town in the Great Rift Valley located north west of Nairobi.  We rented a five bedroom home on the lake with a group of other folks.  There was a cook and a house keeper on site.  The house grounds boasted beautiful gardens and spectacular views of the lake.   The combination of the serene environ, great food, and the perfect combination of people made this truly the icing on the cake that topped off a perfect holiday season!  Happy New Year to All!!!

The Children toasting the new year at their grandmother's house

The house we rented in Naivasha

A view from one of the balconies

One of the properties gardens

Our view of Lake Naivasha

Bird's eye view

So, I've been wanting my youngest to be able to do the bird's eye view or 45 layout of the Montessori golden bead materials for some time.  The Montessori golden bead material includes a golden bead representing one (a unit), a string of ten golden beads representing ten, a square (10 ^2) of one hundred connected beads, and a cube (10^3) of 1000 connected beads.

 The bead material is very expensive, so wooden squares and cubes can be used as well.

The wooden thousand cubes, although a lot less pricey than the beaded thousand cubes, can still be costly ( a value price, when shipping is factored in is about $30 for 9 cubes) and there are not many works for which you will actually need 45 of them.  I didn't feel it was practical to buy three more sets so that I can have 45.

So.....I did what any homeschooling mom would do.  I searched online and found a diy alternative at mummy's homeschool.  Paper cubes!  To print your own,  click here .   I just printed the remaining 27 paper cube pages.  I cut each individual square, laminated, then cut them out again.  Then I taped the pieces together into a cube.                                                   

   The 45 layout helps the child to visualize the quantities of the decimal system from 1 to 9000.  The layout requires that you have at least 45 of each golden unit beads, forty-five tens bead bars,  forty-five hundred squares, and forty-five thousand cubes.  I had all the materials except for the later of which I only had 18 wooden cubes and one golden bead cube.

Taping both sides adds more support to the cube.

one down, twenty-six to go!

Making the 27 cubes took about three days.  Of course this was not a none stop project, this was a do it when I think of it sort of thing.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, my middle child is always in the mix when it comes to Montessori works.  So, she kept a watchful eye on her younger brother as he set up this work and she made sure she was in the final picture!