Geography Travels: Haiti

I’ve had a big place in my heart for Haiti even before the devastating earthquake.  Our church supported a long-term missionary to Haiti, and I sponsored a child in Haiti for a number of years.  We also have a friend in England who is originally from Haiti.  Haiti was the 2nd country Isaac and Moriah studied this past school year.  Here’s what we did:

Week 1

Found Haiti on a globe and wall map; located capital Port-au-Prince.

Listened to West Indies Song (Geography Songs).

Colored the flag of Haiti (More Coloring Pages).

Labeled a map of Haiti (Enchanted Learning).

Discussed terms from Geography From A to Z: island, sea, archipelago, coast, mountains, lakes, plains, rivers

Week 2

Discussed culture, history, language of Haiti.

Learn Haitian Creole (YouTube)

Worship service at church in Haiti (YouTube)

Read book Tap-Tap (by Karen Lynn Williams).

Explored the National Geographic Kids webpage on Haiti.

Discussed earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding.

Learned about the American flamingo

Amazing Animal Facts—Flamingos

ABC Kids—Flamingo

Did flamingo art (we made the “feathers” from a pink pompom we pulled apart, and the flamingo color page came from Color Me Good).

Filled out a notebook page (Homeschool Creations)

Discussed missionaries to Haiti and what they do.

You Can Change the World (prayers for Haiti)

Haitian meal with our friends—I asked for recipes, and we got an entire Haitian feast instead.  It was amazing!  This was a definite high point in all our geography unit studies.  I can’t tell you what each dish is called, but it involved plantains, a type of slaw, fish, and rice and veggies.  Here’s what the meal looked like:

Isaac bravely trying the fish (eaten heads and all)—he enjoyed it all (it WAS delicious).

Other websites:

The Julia Project:  Haiti Facts for Kids (with quiz)

Haitians (lots of info on Haiti)

Countries and Their Cultures (Haitians)

I’m linking this post to “History and Geography” at All Things Beautiful.