Do you know what the favorite breakfast food is for young people in Mojo, Spain? Toast with olive oil, tomatoes, cheese, and meat. How about a favorite lunch in Pakistan? Beson ki roti (flat bread), Chappli Kabab (beef and spices), sweet rice, and lassi (yogurt based drink). Do you know what they serve for lunch at the Syuejia Elementary School in Taiwan? Noodles with meat sauce, miso soup, and tangerines. The Talking Stick Learning Center Maker Exploratorium homeschool program was given a scholarship to participant in IEARN: International Education and Resource Network. The young people in our program have joined several different IEARN groups that they will be participating in throughout the year including the Global Food Show and Tell where we compare traditional foods throughout the world. The Global Food Show and Tell has monthly challenges. October’s project was to post what you pack for lunch. We had fun taking pictures of our lunches and posting them for the participating countries.
The monthly challenge for November is holiday food. Since several American groups posted about Halloween candy, we decided to try something a bit more original and came up with some monster pancakes. By putting down the facial features first, we found we could create different shades and make some cool pancakes that looked awesome and tasted delicious. 
My son enjoyed the leftovers after program.
Our next project for Global Food will be our version of a Thanksgiving lunch. We will be bringing food from home to share and have decided to bake pies together. We will video some of the process to share with our international friends. We are also participating in the IEARN Calligraphic Arts sponsored by Pakistan. Last week Rodi Steinig joined us to facilitate calligraphy. It was so much fun! Thank you Rodi, for taking the time to work with us.
We will be exchanging holiday cards with seven different schools from Taiwan, Russia, Georgia, Belarus, and Slovenia. We have completed our first batch of cards that include Halloween and Thanksgiving cards. Other plans in the works are calligraphy cards, pop-up cards, Hanukkah cards, New Year cards, and various group collaboration cards.
Other IEARN groups we are participating in include My City and Me, where we share the cultural, social and environmental aspects of the cities we live in; My School, Your School, where we compare school life in different parts of the world; and One Day in the Life, where we will write about, photograph, and discuss our daily lives. Through our various IEARN groups that we have signed up for so far, we will be exchanging ideas and customs with Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Canada, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Next week we will begin mapping out where all the schools are located. Meanwhile we are also continuing work on our individual projects and enjoying some of our favorite collaborative games. Check out the photos below or click on the Flickr symbol at the bottom of the page for more program photos.