The Mindful Homeschool

C had her art class on Friday.  She was one of three students in the class which meant she and the other students had more individualized attention from the teacher.  She, as usual, had a lot of fun and created some really neat art, a Fante flag.

The Fante people of Ghana, West Africa, have been making brightly colored patchwork flags for over six hundred years.  The flags are paraded through the streets of towns and villages at festivals and at the funerals of important people. 

Fante flags are sometimes made of cotton, silk, satin or felt.  Sometimes they are embroidered to give them an even more interesting texture and look.  There can be as many as 15 different colors on one flag.

The pictures sewn on the flags tell stories of historical events or African proverbs.  They show details of the beliefs and traditions of the Fante.   

Each student in C’s class made a flag of their own from felt applied to a very thick piece of paper.  The flag C created has a bright red border with a dark black and blue rectangle at the upper left hand corner.  The center of the flag is blue with a white unicorn in the middle of it.  There is a colorful rainbow in the lower right-hand corner of the blue rectangular center. 

“The magical menagerie” is the name of the company on which her flag is based.  I plan to ask her more about how she came up with the name and what it means.

While C was at art class, H, W, and I went shopping.  We picked up some Valentine clearance items, including some adorable “Sweater bears”.  They are polar bear plush toys with soft sweaters with hearts on them.  The children have been playing with them ever since they got them.  These bears are so cute that I am starting to play with them!

W has been interested in polar bears ever since he was little.  He received an adorable plush toy one from Santa one year.   He reminds us to pray for them during bedtime prayers every night.  He is concerned about them becoming endangered species.  He knows that global warming is affecting their living conditions and that this may be reducing their numbers.  

We have learned a lot about polar bears over the past few years and like W, I pray that the effects of global warming will be reversed and the polar bears will once again have lots of ice on which to roam.  Polar bears are the largest carnivorous mammals in the world.  They are famously devoted mothers and stay with their cubs until they are 30 months old.  They “attachment parent” and nurse their young for up to 30 months.  It is only when the cubs are ready to hunt and fend for themselves that they are separated.  Once I was asked the question, “If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?”  I told them I would like to be a polar bear because they are such good mothers.

God bless these animals and keep them safe.