Field Trip: Cultural Feast - SF Chinatown

As part of our Cultural Feast book club, we knew we wanted to cover Chinese culture - the only question was scope since we could easily spend the whole year on it given how rich Chinese history and culture are. We decided to focus on San Francisco - it is especially vital as the first landing point for Asian immigrants (see our Angel Island field trip), as well as being the oldest Chinese community and largest Chinatown outside Asia.  We were blessed to have members who grew up in Chinatown who could guide us. With their guidance, we put together the following field trip.

Stop #1: Portsmouth Square

Chinatown can be intimidating to drive around - thankfully there is a central garage, Portsmouth Square Garage, which costs $4/h. Additionally, it was free for the first 2 hours when we visited during Luna New Year!  Families taking public transport would get off at Rose Pak MUNI station. Portsmouth Square would be our base to walk around Chinatown, but first we started with a scavenger hunt to explore Portsmouth Square's history - we searched for traces of events including: 

 Where the American Flag was first raised in San Francisco.

 

The first public school in California

The Eastern Terminus (endpoint) for the first cable car

Other historical notes about Portsmouth Square: The discovery of gold was first announced here in 1848, and Robert Louis Stevenson lived nearby in 1879-1880.

Stop #2: Chinese Railroad Workers' History Center

Dr. Gordon Chang has written an excellent book detailing the harrowing experiences of the Chinese railroad workers in laying the western section of the Transcontinental Railroad. However, their contributions have not been acknowledged until recently. From the book description, "..those of them who survived this perilous effort would suffer a different kind of death—a historical one, as they were pushed first to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory." 

(Due to intensity of some of the memoirs, this is better for high schoolers. For younger readers, we recommend "Coolies" by Yin and Soentpiet- it is beautifully illustrated and warmly told).

As part of recovering a fuller perspective, we were looking forward to exploring the Chinese Railroad Workers' History Center which is just down the street from Portsmouth Square at 653 Kearny St,. Unfortunately they were closed when we visited but you can look forward to artifacts from the railroad and descriptions of their lives. As a bonus, it's free though donations are gratefully appreciated.

Stop #3:  Walking Grant St to Jackson St

Not quite a stop, but as we walked up Grant St., we could see several Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels, though hotel is euphemistic given its dimensions. Per SF.gov, "A typical room in an SRO hotel is a single 100-square foot room with shared bathrooms and kitchen facilities". We asked families to preview these KQED and BoldItalic articles to determine how much to share, but we think it is important to understand/empathize with those living in difficult conditions just a stone's throw away. 

  

We also saw landmarks like the Old Chinese Telephone Exchange, which makes for great photos. In fact, most of Chinatown has "classic" Chinese architecture by design. Per this page from the Bancroft Library in Berkeley: "after the 1906 earthquake and fire reduced Chinatown to smoldering ashes, there was a movement by the Reconstruction Committee to move the Chinese..In an effort to save their community from being uprooted, Chinese leaders convinced municipal leaders and the neighborhood's white landlords that the "New" Chinatown should be rebuilt in a distinctive Oriental style that would attract more tourism and business. The results were the familiar curved eaves, colorful street lanterns, recessed balconies, and gilded facades that we associate with Chinatown".

Stop #4: Golden Gate Cookie Factory

This was more a tourist stop than a cultural/historical stop given that fortune cookies aren't traditionally Chinese, however it is a landmark of Chinatown and the cookies are popular with all ages. 

Step #5: Wong Lee Bakery

That said, we tried not to gulp down all the cookies because our next stop was a hidden gem - Wong Lee Bakery at 732 Jackson St. It is a sister bakery to Good Mong Kok which is well known for its dim sum and is always crowded. There was a line at Wong Lee too, but it moved quickly and we were delighted by the variety of common dim sum as well as staples like noodles, all for reasonable prices. 

(Following photos courtesy of Yelp - we weren't able to get photos before our families inhaled the food!) 

Don't forget the 蛋挞 !

Stop #6: Woh Hei Yuen Park

Our children are troopers who can walk miles for field trips, but we know it's important to get the wiggles out so we had built in some park time. Woh Hei Yuen park, at the corner of Powell and John, was a welcome oasis after the crowded streets. The children started running around, tossing a football which had mysteriously popped up out from nowhere. 

Adults chatted about our next steps - some of us decided to walk a few blocks over for a quick visit to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum on 1201 Mason St.One of our young students was so charmed by the cable cars, he insisted on waving goodbye to every cable car that came by.

Another recommendation for homeschool families is the San Francisco Chinatown Library on 1135 Powell. Families can apply for a library card as long as they are California residents and the SFPL system often has electronic resources that aren't available in the SMCL system. 

Stop #7: Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Our last stop was a meeting with the youth coordinator of Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 865 Jackson St. It is a multilingual church with deep roots, dating back to 1894. We were touched by the Lord's faithfulness in starting it from small beginnings (a store front rental) to its current size (two campuses - downtown San Francisco and Daly City). Throughout the years, it has served its community, e.g. a Chinese school for families who wanted to retain their Chinese roots. It has also risen to the multi-cultural challenge - it runs English, Mandarin and Cantonese services. 

San Francisco tends to evoke strong associations, many negative, e.g. doom loop, homelessness, and lawlessness. Certainly we were careful during our walk, and for the most part it was like any other city with its residents going around their day shopping and chatting. The positive and negative impressions don't cancel each other out - they are part of its fabric - but the last picture of the church overlooking the city was a fitting finale for our field trip. It reminds us that the Lord is sovereign above all, and of His faithfulness in sustaining His people throughout their challenges. Having been saved by faith, what remains for His people is to "do the good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10) and to wait faithfully for Him. 

Notes for future exploration

• If you are touring Chinatown on your own, consider the free walking tours offered by the San Francisco Public Library.
• We would like to highlight Chinatown Alleyway Tours, a non-profit group. Tours are run by students, many of whom grew up in Chinatown, and who can give insider experiences of its culture and history. Costs go toward improving the alleyway district, and are (as of Feb 2024) $20/adult, $10/student.
• Hang Ah Tea Room lays claim to be the oldest dim sum restaurant in America. 

Vacation Bible Schools/Camps Summer 2024

 

 

We have a new HEART tradition - asking HEART members to share about church-led camps or Vacation Bible Schools this summer. As before, they responded readily!

Northern Peninsula (Millbrae to San Francisco)

Church	City	Dates	Ages	Cost	Notes
Hamilton Square Baptist Church - The Great Jungle Journey	San Francisco	July 22nd - July 26th (9am to 12:30pm)	K5 to 8th grade	Free	Registration
New Covenant OPC - Olympion	South San Francisco	July 15th - July 19th (9am to 12pm)	2 to 12 years	Free	Registration Form
Reality Church	San Francisco	June 25th - July 27th (9am to 12pm)	2 to 12 years	$20/child Financial assistance available	Registration Form

Central Peninsula (Belmont to Burlingame)

Church	City	Dates	Ages	Cost	Notes
Calvary Church - Dive Deep	Belmont	July 15th to July 19th (8:30am - 12pm)	4 to 11 years old	Free	https://calvarysanmateo.org/vbs
Central Peninsula Church - Koinonia Camp	San Mateo (camp is in Santa Cruz Mountains)	July 9th to July 12th	Rising 6th to 12th grade	$500 (scholarships available)	https://cpc.org/2024/03/06/2024-middle-school-and-high-school-summer-camp/
Central Peninsula Church - Summer XP	San Mateo	July 22nd to July 26th (9am-12:45pm)	K to 5th grade	$125	https://cpc.org/2024/02/29/2024-summer-xp/ Volunteer opportunities available.
Fellowship Bible Church - There is S'more to this Life	Belmont	Multiple weeks available (9am to 3pm): June 17th to June 21st June 24th to June 28th July 1st to July 5th (no camp 7/4) July 8th to July 12th	Rising 1st to 7th graders	$200/week, discounts for multiple weeks. Weekly field trip.	Registration Form If you have any questions regarding Day Camp, please contact us at daycamp@fbc-belmont.org.
Waypoint Church - Dive into Adventure	San Mateo	July 8th to July 12th (9am-12:00pm/12:30pm)	4 years to 11 years (rising 6th graders)	$100/child (discounts for multiple registrations)	https://www.waypoint.church/children Several volunteer opportunities available.

South Peninsula (Palo Alto to San Carlos)

Church	City	Dates	Ages	Cost	Notes
Vineyard Church - Breaker Rock Beach	Palo Alto	June 17th to June 20th (1pm-4pm) Optional childcare available	K-5th	$15	https://www.myvbs.org/pavineyard
Peninsula Hope Church	Redwood City	August 7th to August 9th (1pm-4pm) Bilingual (Japanese/English)	K-5th	Free	https://jp.peninsulahope.org/index.php/vacation-bible-school-2024/ Email toshi@peninsulahope.org

South Bay (Los Altos to San Jose)

Church	City	Dates	Ages	Cost	Notes
Hillview Bible Chapel	Cupertino	July 8th to July 12th (9am-12:30pm) Mandatory in person check-in on Saturday July 6, or Monday, at 9:15 after others have been dropped off)	4 years to 12 years	Free (to be confirmed)	https://www.hillviewbiblechapel.org/page?pagename=vbs_registration

Field Trip: Cultural Feast (Mexico)

 

Poster for Folkorico Dresses Display 

When we first saw the poster above, we immediately thought of the Cultural Feast book club/field trip series that we have been doing this year. When we called, Redwood City Library was quick to respond and offered to do a special field trip for us! 

Arriving at the library (appropriately enough, right after their bilingual Spanish/English story hour), they had cleared out a space for us near the dresses and were playing catchy folklorico music. 

Armando started us with a list of countries in the Americas and how recently they had gained independence. Maria then read aloud "What Can You Do With a Rebozo?".

When she came to the part where a rebozo can be used as a blindfold when hitting a piñata, she asked if we knew the piñata song. Everyone shook their head, so she promptly played it - though we couldn't follow along, it's definitely catchy. 

Armando then introduced the beautiful dresses and the regions they were from - all were privately owned and had been generously loaned out for the display. Though only a small percentage of regions of Mexico were represented, they were all stunning.

Chiapas - colorful flowers on a dark background represent the jungle and its flora

Oaxaca - color and geometry

Oaxaca - square blouse and wrap skirt

Oaxaca - geometric shapes often resemble animals

Gorgeous embroidery on an Oaxacan blouse

Jalisco - what people most often associate with folklorico dances

Jalisco - extra long skirts, lace and ribbon

San Luis Potosi - colorful ponchos

Colima - Danza de Apaches costume

The variety of the costumes fascinated us - given a map of Mexico's regions, we could guess at some geographical influences but history has also played a role. The Houston Institute of Culture has an interesting writeup - for example, Jalisco shows Spanish influences because of a longer colonization period, and Nuevo Leon shows German influences from the German immigrants living there and neighboring (now) Texas. 

At the end of the session, Armando and Valeria brought out an "Ojo de Dios" craft kit, and taught us how to make one. It is a great craft for all ages - the students brought their own personalities into choosing the yarn and wrapping them. Although it originally represented indigenous beliefs of a god's eye, we can instead see the colors and the central cross as a reminder of God's love for us. 

 

After all that crafting, we were hungry! Librarian Armando had recommended MexCal Taqueria as a personal favorite - it was only five minutes from the library, and has a small parking lot which is handy since that section of Middlefield Rd ("Little Mexico") in Redwood City can be crowded. We didn't get any pictures of the food, but take our word for it, it was delicious! 

Menu is a mix of English and Spanish - try something new!

We would like to thank the librarians of Redwood City for sharing their time and putting together a wonderful field trip just for our homeschool group - we are so blessed! Also, we would like to thank Casa Circulo Cultura - they do important work supporting the local Latino community and although the timing didn't work out, they would gladly have hosted a tour for us as well.

Field Trip: San Mateo County History Museum (People of Many Places)

Photo credit: San Mateo County History Museum

Where: San Mateo County History Museum (2200 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063) 

When: During the school year 

Who: All ages, but recommended for 3rd-6th grades. 

Cost: $110 for a group, max 30 students per group

This year, our group decided to try a Cultural Feast - a book club paired with a series of field trips to a restaurant, store or museum linked to a culture. The San Mateo County History Museum's "Land of Opportunity" exhibit formed the basis for deciding which cultures to explore. 

Photo credit: San Mateo County History Museum

In the entrance to the exhibit, the docent showed us various flags and asked us to guess their countries. Historically, San Mateo County's largest immigrant groups have been Irish, Chinese, Portuguese, Italians, Japanese, Filipinos, Mexicans and African Americans. We were also asked to think of reasons that people might leave their countries (push-pull factors of migration). 

She then brought out a "traveling trunk", divided our group into pairs and gave each team an item from the trunk. Each team was to find that item somewhere in the exhibit and figure out - Where did you find the item? Which country was it from? What was it used for? 

Well, that was enough to send the children scampering around in excitement. The cases were beautifully arranged, and some had interactive elements, e.g. you could hear recordings of Irish songs, or smell dried Italian herbs.

Photo credit: San Mateo County History Museum

When the students had spent enough time matching their items and exploring, we sat down in the "Finding Work" section. The students were asked to imagine what some challenges new immigrants faced: language, skills needed in the new country may not match their own, lack of support from family or community. This naturally led to immigrants grouping together with others from the same country.  Some of the exhibits were a testament to the immigrants' tenacity - the docent pointed to one case holding the tools (including an egg-shaped iron for puffed sleeves) used by a Chinese laundry that had been the oldest, continuously operating laundry in California. There was also a beautiful carved marble which had come from Fontana marble, opened by an Italian immigrant.

Amazing draping marble shawl from Fontana

We then discussed the items the students had found - they showed motifs treasured by each culture. For example, Japan has Boys' Day and Girls' Day holiday, China has Lunar New Year, Portugal has the Holy Ghost Festival to honor queen Isabela, and Mexico has Fiesta Patrias and Dia de los Muertos. Naturally, Italy has food and Ireland has music. 

 

 Close up of Japanese culture case

Photo credit: San Mateo County History Museum

Photo credit: San Mateo County History Museum

We ended up by discussing difficulties that immigrants faced, namely discrimination. Perhaps because of the age of our students, we did not go into much detail but the walls had informative panels, plus the associations and groups formed in response. 

 

Finally, we went downstairs and the children did three crafts - an Italian paper horse marionette, an Irish drum and a Mexican papel picado.  Despite the large age range of our group, every student enjoyed the crafts. Thus we can recommend this field trip for homeschoolers of all ages. 

Notes:

• The field trip starts at 9:30am, before the museum officially opens at 10am. This allows the group to have the museum to themselves before crowds enter. 
• Street parking was available for $1/hour, but the Jefferson Ave garage is also not far. Plan for at least two hours. 

Biology Lab Intensives : A Homeschooling Take

What homeschoolers think of when they hear 'high school science'

Note: Photos below include a dissection specimen which may be distressing. 

Homeschoolers often dread the middle and high school years because the subjects seem too difficult, and they lack funds or equipment. Ironically, Covid partially allayed these fears because classes moved on-line so now an entire year of virtual labs can be found.  However, hands-on experience is still a more effective means of learning for several students, so we hope the following can encourage others to be creative in seeking options.  

Goal: In our case, we had a group of middle school students who would be taking Biology next year and had different levels of exposure to its topics. We designed a four week series of lab intensives, focusing on microscope use and dissection. The goal was to become comfortable with the tools used. 

Where: We opted to meet at a member's house, though a church or community facility rental would also have worked. Note that dissection specimens are well preserved, so although there is some smell while working on it, it does not smell when everything is bagged up at the end of class. 

Who: The LORD provided a alumni homeschool father who is also a doctor and who volunteered to teach our class. Other options would be asking independent teachers, e.g. HEART Academy (not affiliated), recent homeschool grads who are home from college, or the community at large, e.g. BioCurious.  The class was open to middle and high schoolers, as well as parents who wanted to refresh their skills before teaching their younger students.

Equipment: 

• Microscopes: We rented microscopes from HEART Academy (~$15/scope/month), some families borrowed from their charter lending library though they would plan to request months ahead. Families can also purchase them - Home Science Tools and AmScopes both have a section dedicated to high school microscopes.
• Slides, staining reagents: We rented prepared slides from HEART Academy (~$2/month), and purchased Methylene Blue and Eosine Y from Home Science Tools  (~$5/bottle) as well as a box of glass slides (flat and concave) and covers. 
• Pocket Microscope (optional): This was recommended by the teacher as a field microscope for students who want to keep exploring. Also suitable for younger children.
• 7" preserved rat: Since some students might take anatomy in high school, we wanted to cover mammalian systems. To keep the scope manageable, we went with a rat since a mouse might be too small to see the organs or, and a pig too large. 
• Dissection tools: We rented the kits from HEART Academy (included in price above), but the most important tools were the sharp dissecting scissors and forceps (~$5 for both at Home Science Tools). For gloves, we used disposable gloves from Costco.

What:

• Week 1: We learned the parts of a microscope and examined different slides, drawing them. Students were initially unused to squinting (most microscopes were monocular), and not losing focus when moving between their paper and eyepiece.
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• Week 2: We collected pondwater and put it on a concave slide to observe. Students were amazed at the diversity of life when magnified. They also scraped their inner cheek cells and stained them using different dyes to observe (methylene blue highlighted the nucleus, eosine highlighted the cytoplasm).
• Week 3: Our teacher first emphasized that dissection isn't for fun, but a tool to understand God's creation better. We defined terms - remembering that left, right are from the ANIMAL'S point of view (this worksheet is helpful). He provided various models using balloons and pumps on how our circulatory and respiratory systems work. Students then made their first incisions (with much squealing) and realized it is hard work to cut past the fur, epidermal, muscle layer and get to the organs. It is also very easy to cut too far.  At the end of the session, we bagged up our specimens for the next lesson (they don't need to be refrigerated).
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• Week 4: We covered the digestive system, and pulled out the corresponding organs. In the rat, the distinction between small and large intestine isn't as clear as in human's, nevertheless we had several opportunities to point out how finely God had made the systems, e.g. the loops and vilia to help maximize surface area and uptake absorption of nutrients. Our instructor had also bought some cow hearts so he could demonstrate the chambers, and poured water to demonstrate the valves preventing the liquid from flowing backward. 
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Thus we wrapped up our series of intensives. We praise God for providing a knowledgeable teacher - he would have been able and happy to teach to more detail, but we felt the material was enough for the students to feel comfortable when doing their classes next year, and eager to learn more.

We hope this post encourages the homeschooling community at large - equipment and materials cost came to about $45 per family, and students had an entire specimen to themselves (or shared with a sibling). If the LORD has provided a school or co-op near you with facilities, praise God! But if your options seem out of budget, pray and wait on Him - it is amazing what He brings about. 

Field Trip: Swensens Ice Cream

Where: Swensens Ice Cream (1999 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94109)

When: All year, by appointment
Who: All ages, but group size limited to ~10 people (bigger groups will have to take turns).
Cost: Free, but you may want to budget for a scoop ($5) at the end of the tour.

Have you ever wondered where homeschoolers get ideas for field trips? (OK, probably not). Standard places like museums, libraries and gardens are great places for homeschoolers, but there are wonderful options to be found just by looking around us. 

In the case of Swensens, it was actually a SFGate article about its 75th anniversary (it was started 1948) that got us thinking. In the Bay Area, there are unfortunately few opportunities for factory tours - 510families has a nice article, but some amount of driving would be required from the Peninsula. On a whim, we emailed Swensens and were delighted when they agreed host our group!

Getting to Swensens was straightforward - because we were visiting mid-morning on a weekday, our families found free street parking on Hyde Street (yet another advantage of homeschooling - enjoying popular places without the crowds). The owners were ready and waiting to give us our tour. 

We were taken to the back kitchen area, where we saw the waffle makers (for the cones), and the array of scents used to make their ice cream.  Those, and the cartons of cream were reassurance that only simple ingredients were used (have you tried reading the label on the ice cream at grocery stores recently?). 

Waffle cones are made in-house
Photo credit:  Jenny L

Even the row of stamps hanging on the wall added to the charm.

A history of flavors
Photo credit: Jenny L

After the owners told us about the store history, a team member showed the machine which mixes the ice cream ingredients. This machine can be seen from the store window, and must be fun to watch and guess which flavor is being made.

Something crunchy and sweet is being made..
Photo credit: Jenny L

The mixture is then brought to the back freezing room. The size and temperature of the room were fascinating to the kids.

The freezer room stays at -10F

We were given samples of the newly mixed ice cream (good!) and Jim and Diane answered our questions:

Q: Who creates new flavors? How often do you make a new flavor? 

A: Mostly Diane. It depends, if an existing flavor isn't doing well, we swap in a new one to try. 

Q: Which flavor is most popular?

A: Hard to say for in-store, but to-go the Swiss Orange Chip sells best.

Q: What is the hardest part of running the business?

A: Employees - we like to hire young people, and train them. It can be challenging to build good habits and discipline, but they are necessary.  

After the tour, most of us opted to stay and purchase a scoop of ice cream. Warning: it can be hard to decide which of their many flavors to go with! They are ready to offer samples though. We were thankful for Diane and Jim for sharing so generously of their time. I suspect more than one of us wishes Swensens had a store on the Peninsula, it looks to be a great place for our teens to work over summer and gain a strong work ethic as well (and. ice cream is always a plus!).