A recent lesson we did with the 4th and 5th grade boys was about global issues involving children. We learned about child soldiers in different African countries as well as the problem of child labor and child slavery worldwide. We focused mostly on the plight of children in the Ivory Coast, where more than 280,000 aged 9-14 are working to produce some 43% of the world's cocoa. Up to 12,000 of these children are thought to be illegally trafficked from surrounding countries.

In response to these heartbreaking realities, our kids decided to write letters to the CEO of Nestle, asking that they offer Fair Trade chocolate that would ensure fair wages and humane working conditions for chocolate producers. Read more about the issues here.