Books, glorious books :: by mama

Last summer, I read The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. I found it to be informative and inspiring, although much of it was confirmation of things I already knew or suspected to be true. Still, it was good to have all of the evidence for reading aloud laid out in one place, and it was even better to have some concrete ideas and suggestions to incorporate in our reading routine.

One of the ideas that I latched on to was a mother's practice of giving her children a new book every week. Of course, in the States, we would go to the library and regularly check out 15 children's books at a time, so one book a week is pretty paltry in comparison. However, given that our reading selection is fairly limited here, I thought this would be a good practice to institute in our home. So, after a great deal of research and stocking up, we have been able to maintain a pretty regular weekly routine of a new book every Saturday evening. Kaya knows the routine and looks forward to his new books -- his Saturday Stories, he calls them -- and will remind us if we forget.

In case other families are interested in starting a routine like this one, I have put together the full list of all the books we gave Kaya this school year. These are all available in paperback, which means they are more affordable and easier to transport. I hope this list can be of use to other families who are looking for great reading material for their kids!

Picture Books (in alphabetical order, because I am crazy):

A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon

Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina

Carmine: A Little More Red, by Melissa Sweet

A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce

George Shrinks, by William Joyce

The Gruffalo's Child, by Julia Donaldson

Harry and the Dinosaurs and the Bucketful of Stories, by Ian Whybrow

Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, by Jerdine Nolen

How Are You Peeling, by Saxton Freymann

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, by Mark Teague

Inch by Inch, by Leo Lionni

If I Built a Car, by Chris van Dusen

Jack's Garden, by Henry Cole

Koala Lou, by Mem Fox

Library Lion, by Michelle Knudsen

Possum Magic, by Mem Fox

Me and My Dad, by Alison Ritchie

Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook, by Michael Garland

The Paper Crane, by Molly Bang

The Raft, by Jim Lamarche

Roger, the Jolly Pirate, by Brett Helquist

The Runaway Dinner, by Allan Ahlberg

Scranimals, by Jack Prelutsky

Snow, by Uri Shulevitz

Souperchicken, by Mary Jane Auch 

Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola 

Thunder Cake, by Patricia Polacco

Tyrannosaurus Drip, by Julia Donaldson  

What Pete Ate from A to Z, by Maira Kalman

When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry, by Molly Bang

Nonfiction
First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs

Chapter Books

Magic Tree House Nos.1-26

Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren

Stuart Little, by E.B. White

Special thanks go out to both sets of grandparents, who provided quite a few of these books.  We hope to be able to continue this tradition for the next school year as well.  Kaya still has about 80 books on his Amazon wish list, so we have plenty of choices... and we are always open to new suggestions of other great books for our kiddo!

Amazing Dhaka :: by mama

I don't normally blog about random Internet articles, but this one just begs to be shared.  It's an article about Dhaka as an extreme example of urbanization.  Maybe this is of interest to nobody but me, Chris, and my brother (the future city planner, who should have spent his semester abroad studying Dhaka instead of eating cheese in France).   Still, I just have to share some highlights:

• Dhaka could be the most inconveniently placed urban area in the world, even worse than New Orleans. The urban area sits on the world’s largest river delta, the Ganges – Brahmaputra Delta.
• The urban area is the world’s most dense, having recently passed Hong Kong. Covering a land area of little more than 100 square miles, Dhaka’s population density is now approaching in excess of 100,000 per square mile (40,000 per square kilometer). At that density, the New York urban area would accommodate all of the population of the United States and Mexico. 
• There is a single north to south thoroughfare through the whole urban area. Needless to say, ... Dhaka’s traffic is horrific.
• Population densities in the slums have been reported as high as 4,200 per acre, which converts to more than 2,500,000 per square mile or more than 1,000,000 per square kilometer. At that density, the population of the world could be accommodated in the Tokyo-Yokohama urban area, leaving 10 percent of the land for open space.

I'm not sure what to say about this.  I knew the situation here was bad, but I didn't realize it was this bad.  Honestly, I don't think we have any concept of how bad it really is, living in our little expat-y neighborhood with the single-family homes and the American Club nearby.  Still, the overcrowding and traffic problems are obvious to anyone in this city, no matter where they live.  And yet, we choose to stay on here, in our adopted home.  Ah, Dhaka.

[Update: I just ran across this other article that talks about another of Dhaka's geographic challenges: the fact that it is located "dangerously close to a major fault line."  Buildings here are not built to withstand earthquakes, so the article says that "almost 80,000 buildings would be destroyed if a six magnitude tremor originated beneath Dhaka, according to a government study."  Is there anything that is not working against this place?]

Schools of Thought :: by mama

Even before we first arrived in Dhaka, I began hearing about St. Joseph's School.  I have a friend back in the States who had lived in Bangladesh for a time, and she told me about this boys' school where the children learn carpentry, and where many expats go to order custom furniture.  I was curious, and I even brought along pictures from catalogs of furniture I liked, but our apartment here was already furnished, and we really didn't need anything at all.

Then, last summer, I got the book How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way.  From what I've gathered, the Montessori philosophy strongly emphasizes independence and self-sufficiency in children, with the idea that a child who feels capable and competent will be more ready to learn.  Three-year-olds in Montessori classrooms are taught to help out with tasks from preparing meals (including cooking on the stove and using a knife) to cleaning up and doing all sorts of self-care activities. 

The book has lots of suggestions for ways to foster independence, many of which we put into practice right away. We hung towel hooks low enough in the bathroom so Kaya could hang up his own towels; we moved all of his plates, bowls, and cups down to a low shelf in the kitchen; we bought more stools for reaching sinks, shelves, and switches; and we made sure that his toys were organized in a way that was clear and manageable for him to clean up on his own.  Finally, we went to St. Joseph's and ordered a child-sized table, easel, and two chairs for Kaya's room.

As it turns out, St. Joseph's is a pretty fascinating place.  It's a trade school, so they have all sorts of workshops where they teach carpentry, electrical repair, machining, plumbing, welding, metal work, etc. to boys, who are age 14 and up.  About half of the students are local, and half are boarding students who come from all over Bangladesh.  The dormitory is this old, colonial-style building of the sort one sees only in Old Dhaka.  They have a big yard for the boys -- highly unusual in this overcrowded, densely populated city -- and a small pond.  They are also, as the name implies, a Catholic school, which is another unusual thing for this predominantly Muslim country.
 
 

We went to the school back in February with printouts of photos from the Internet, with dimensions for everything.  While they were examining the photos and coming up with an estimate, we walked around the school grounds.  Then we picked out our wood, paid a deposit, and were on our way.

:: Woodshop

:: Machining

:: The welding area

We went back a couple of months later, and all the furniture was ready.  Kaya was so excited about his furniture.  We brought it home, and he immediately set everything up just the way he wanted it, organizing all of his art supplies, filling the drawers, and sitting down to write and draw.  Prior to this, he would just spread out on the living room floor, which was not really ideal for him or for us.  Now, he sits at his table, where he can have everything at hand, and it all stays out of the way.

We are really happy with the way everything turned out.  It is the perfect combination of Montessori inspiration and trade school skill.  We are happy to have supported a school like St. Joseph's, and we already have ideas for more pieces to order from them.  But most of all, we are happy that Kaya now has a little space that is all his own for creating, imagining... and maybe eventually even doing a little homework.

Apropos of nothing :: by mama

I just can't let this go by without mentioning it.  I've already publicly admitted to my Bangkok-based addiction to So You Think You Can Dance.  Over my seven weeks in Bangkok, I watched Season 5 from the auditions through to the final four.  All that was left was the finale and the winner, but suddenly it was time to leave.  I may even have considered, in a post-partum, Bangkok-besotted haze, staying an extra week just to see the end of the season.  Maybe.  Instead, I returned to Dhaka and never found out who won.

And now.  It turns out that there is an Indian cable channel here that shows SYTYCD.  They were just starting Season 5 when I returned from Bangkok, and they have finally, finally, arrived at the finale.  The finale!  Finally!  I get to find out who won!!  Who is excited??!!  Oh, okay, I guess it's just me, then.

[Update: I watched the finale, in which the final four dancers competed, and all that was left was the award show, in which the winner would be announced.  And -- drum roll -- the Indian channel that was showing it mysteriously disappeared from our cable service, and has been replaced by the WB.  So after five months of waiting patiently and not googling the winner, I once again missed the end of the season.  Thank you, Bangladesh.  The End.]