Awesome Academy: All in the Family!

 

Welcome to another day at Awesome Academy! Today, we’re going to explore family heritage with fun questions that will help you learn more about your family members and why it’s important to discover your background.

By asking different questions, you’ll discover how much the world has changed, hear interesting stories that your mom, dad, or grandparents have experienced, and feel much closer to everyone around you.

Before we begin, let’s take a look at what we’re talking about when we say family heritage.

 

 

 

What Does Family Heritage Mean?

Family heritage is the background that you and your family come from. And it’s not just your parents or grandparents, but your great-great-great grandparents (who are known as your ancestors) too. They can all be from different countries and have different nationalities, like Australian, Egyptian, Norwegian, and many others.

When learning about your heritage, you can tell you which parts of the world your ancestors lived in, if they celebrated different holidays or traditions, and it can help you discover new information about yourself that you didn’t already know.

 

How Can I Learn About My Family History?

One of the best ways to understand more about your history is to ask your family members the right questions, which can lead to new knowledge, valuable lessons, and even playful activities.

Our friend Avia learned that her ancestors were from Sofia, Bulgaria. And she even tried a traditional snack called Lyutenitsa that she made with her grandmother. It’s a mix of tomatoes and peppers that can be spread on toast or crackers and was a very popular food choice with children!

To help you get started, we prepared a printable worksheet of questions along with other fun options from the categories below. The best part about these questions is that you can ask them anywhere: at the dinner table, family gatherings, or even on a picnic.

Family Questions

1. Where did you grow up?

2. Did you share a room with your siblings?

3. What is the most important lesson your parents taught you?

 

Generational Questions

1. Tell me about some of your favorite songs (can also be books, movies, and television shows).

2. Do you remember any trends from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?

3. How is the world different today than it was when you were younger?

 

School Questions

1. Did you have a lot of homework when you were younger?

2. Did you wear a uniform?

3. What school activities or sports did you participate in?

 

Career Questions

1. How did you choose your career?

2. What did you do with your first paycheck?

3. If you could have had any other job, what would it have been?

 

Hobbies Questions

1. What was your favorite toy and why?

2. What was your favorite thing to do for fun?

3. What is one activity that you always had trouble doing?

 

Personal Questions

1. What world events had the most impact on you when you were a child?

2. What’s your recipe for creativity?

3. What are you most proud of in your life?

 

Every activity deserves a round of entertainment! We added a few silly questions to help you and your family explore fun possibilities. And we think some of their answers might surprise you.

 

Silly Questions

1. If you could have one free hour in the day, what would you do with it?

2. If you could choose any super power, what would it be and why?

3. Would you rather be able to breathe under water or fly?

4. Would you choose to go to the past and meet your ancestors or travel to the future to meet your great-great grandchildren?

 

There goes the bell! We hope you enjoyed today’s lesson, and that you’ve learned a lot more about family heritage. We’ll be back with more fun learning at Awesome Academy very soon!

On Our Best Bee-havior

We’re sitting down with our beekeeper Melina to learn more about our bee friends and how they play an important role in our environment. She even has some funny fun facts to share and will show us how we can help the bees in our community.

 

Hi Melina! I understand that you are an expert when it comes to honey bees.

Hi there! Hehe, I don’t know if I’m an expert, I just love learning about them and what they mean to our environment.

 

What are some of the things you learned?

Well, honey bees help flowers and other plants grow, which helps them make seeds for fruits and vegetables like apples, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots more for us to eat.

 

Also, the bees that look for flowers are girls, and they are known as worker bees who collect pollen, help feed the other bees, build and protect the hive, and make honey. They can even circulate and clean the air by flapping their wings 200 times per second!

 

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work.

It is, which is why I like bees. They’re one of the hardest working insects on the planet.

 

So, what exactly is pollen?

Pollen is used to make seeds and grow more plants. It’s already on the plants and flowers, but it needs help getting to the right places to work. That’s where bees fly in to help!

 

How does that work?

When worker bees land on a flower, pollen sticks to their bodies, and when they fly away, pollen is carried to different parts of the flower that the bees land on. They can visit 50-100 flowers in one trip!

Without bees, we can lose all the plants that they pollinate, and humans and animals could go hungry. It just shows how anyone in the world, even the smallest of things, can make a huge difference.

 

That’s very true. Did you always like bees? I get a little nervous when I think about their stingers…

No not always. At first, I didn’t like bees because I was afraid of getting stung too, but I learned that they get scared of us; more than we do of them!

Most people wave their arms and try to shoo them away, but that only makes them buzz around more. Instead, I stay perfectly still and they fly away. Being calm and kind always leads to a better result over anger or force.

 

Wow, I didn’t think of it that way. I love learning something new!

Plus, bees usually use their stingers if they feel like others are bugging them too much.

The more you take the time to learn about something that seems scary, there’s a chance it can turn into something friendly.

 

Do bees have a way of telling each other where to find the best flowers?

They dance!

 

Really?!

Haha yes! They communicate through movement.

To share information, they perform a “waggle dance” and move their bodies in a figure-eight to show the other bees where to look.

 

Is there anything that we can do to help the bees?

Oh yes, and it’s both easy and fun!

We can plant some of their favorite flowers like lavender and sunflowers so they can find the food they need. I have my own plant guide that tells me which are best.

 

Thank you so much for sharing about bees, Melina. We’ve learned a lot more about these friendly insects. And we wish you happy planting!

Thank you so very much!!

 

Learning new information can lead to big words. Here are some words that Melina used during her interview:

 

Role – a person or thing that plays a part in a situation

Expert – a person with knowledge about a subject or topic

Pollen – powder found on flowers that helps grow seeds and other plants

Circulate – to move around

Pollinate (Pollination) – carrying pollen from one part of the plant/flower to another

Result – a conclusion; an end

Communicate – to talk; sharing information, news, or ideas

DIY Mother’s Day Love Jars

 

The best gifts always come from the heart, and we’re making our very own Love Jars filled with care and kind words for Mother’s Day!

This gift is EXTRA special because we have to think of all the awesome things our moms have taught us, helped us with, and how they always made everything better. That’s why every reason that goes into the jar will help bring a smile to her face.

And even though sometimes we forget to say it, it will always be written down for them to read.

 

Follow our easy tutorial to get started!

 

 

SUPPLIES

● A jar with a lid (we cleaned and reused one we had)

● Sheets of paper

● Crayons and/or markers

● Scissors

● Scotch tape

● Ribbons, yarn, hearts, and decorative flowers (optional)

 

*Safety first: this colorful craft requires scissors. Please get help from an adult to make sure you complete this craft safely.

 

STEPS

1. Write all the reasons why you love your mom on the sheets of paper. You can also use construction paper with colorful markers to write each one!

2. Next, use the scissors to cut out the reasons in slips (with adult supervision) and decorate them with pretty colors.

3. Fold the slips of paper in half and put them in the jar.

4. Create a title for your Love Jar by writing “Reasons Why I Love You” on another piece of paper.

5. Cut out the title (with adult supervision) and tape it to the front of the jar.

6. Optional: Tie a ribbon/yarn around the jar and add mini paper hearts or flowers for extra decoration.

7. You now have a special Mother’s Day gift!

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the MOMS around the world!