What is Streams and who is it for?
What is Streams: Chinese American History for Kids?
Streams is a forthcoming resource from Resilient Panda for kids to learn Chinese American history. It is not a textbook to read through though. It is much more engaging than that. Nor is Streams something that parents have to TEACH their kids, rather the whole family can learn together. Streams contains a list of selected picture books on Chinese American history, and it puts them in chronological order. There are links to short videos that help set these books in their historical context and highlight Chinese Americans for whom no picture book exists. This is supplemented with a chapter book and poems by Chinese Americans about the Chinese American experience. These books and poems include author’s notes and background information and they are ripe for family discussions in themselves, so Streams does not include any busy work or worksheets. However, the Angel Island poetry includes references to history and mythology not often covered in American education, so we have provided notes and a discussion guide for the Angel Island poems included in Streams. Some of the richness of these poems is best seen in the original Chinese language of the poems, and the discussion guide points this out. But don’t worry if you don’t know any Chinese characters, we walk you through it and it is fun and empowering to work with the characters just a little!
We didn’t want kinetic learners to be forgotten so we have included events that kids can write on their own timeline to reinforce and review the people and events that have been covered by the books and videos. If kids go through future Resilient Panda guides to Asian American history, they can put that history on the same timeline and see connections between Chinese American history and Japanese American history, Indian American history, Vietnamese American history, etc.
Who is Streams for?
Resilient Panda believes that Asian American kids should see themselves in our great country’s history. We also believe that it is just as important for all kids to see that Asian Americans have been contributing to the building of America for a very long time. So we think all families can get something out of Streams. That being said, it is an especially good fit for Asian American families, families with Asian American adoptees, homeschool families who value diversity in their history, and families who value quality children’s “own voices” literature. Streams is made to be easy for parents to do at home with their kids, the only real prep on the part of the parents is to get the books, and most of these books should be available at your local public library, and all if you use inter library loan. The short lessons, poetry, and living books will fit well into a Charlotte Mason-style education, however they are flexible enough for any style of homeschooling and short and low-prep enough for kids who go to public, private or charter schools. Teachers can also easily use Streams in their classrooms or co-ops.
The lessons are aimed at kids in 4th-6th grades. However, parents and older tweens and teens would also enjoy and learn from the material. Many adults were never taught Asian American history, and honestly, picture books are an easy on the eye way to get familiar with a new area of history in a very short amount of time.
Most of the material is appropriate for kids in 1st-3rd grades as well so families can do it together. A few things are a little long or deal with some complex and hard history that sensitive kids in that age range may not yet be ready for. So there is a section each week called “Grades 1-3/Extra”. This has books about the Chinese American experience and culture, and some just with Chinese Americans doing the same things everyone else does - to “normalize” seeing Chinese Americans in books. Some of the books in this section are folk tales or poems that connect to the material in the core books that week, and these will greatly enrich your enjoyment of the material. For example, if a poem that was carved into the walls at Angel Island alludes to the 1500 year-old Ballad of Mulan, doesn’t it makes sense to read a picture books about Mulan along with it?
Families who are raising their children to be bilingual in Mandarin or Cantonese will find opportunities in Streams for their kids to practice their language skills in a new context, but no Chinese language knowledge is required.
Is this only for homeschoolers?
If yours in not a homeschool family, you don’t have to approach this like lessons plans. Most families read to their children, at bed or when snuggling on the couch. So just start working the books in Streams into that reading time. Most kids have to do summer reading, so they can read the one included chapter book then. During AAPI month or Lunar New Year you could watch a couple of the videos, and you read some Chinese American poetry during National Poetry month in April. These poems only take about 2 minutes to read, so grounding your kids in their heritage can be don
What is the time commitment?
There are many ways to use Streams to enrich your children’s appreciation of American history. It is organized so that if you spent 10-15 minutes per day 4 days a week, you would finish the core books and videos in 8 weeks, and then there is a suggested short capstone documentary, which could be watched in the 9th week. If all of the Grades 1-3/Extra materials are included, it would be a little more time each week. One mom with 4 kids just started by reading the picture books in order to her kids as “story time with Mommy”. Our kids are Chinese Americans, and I want this to be an ongoing part of their childhood, not just an 8-week thing, so I started reading the books in the Grades 1-3/Extra section to them when they were little, just a little at a time, here and there. Then as they got older I took them through the core material for 4th-6th graders.
Next week’s blog will go more into what you and your children will learn from Streams and how to use with different styles of education.