We finished up Year 1 of Tapestry of Grace with a short study on Roman aqueducts.   We read aloud the section on aqueducts from David Macaulay’s “City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction” and watched THIS VIDEO by BBC about aqueducts.   Then we made our own aqueducts using boxes & paper towel tubes.  Fun Day!

Ready to build…

Our version of an aqueduct.

Little Miss Blue Eyes likes to be a part of things too…

Mary, striking her “Egyptian” pose from Vacation Bible School.

Savvy’s little biscuits and toes- I couldn’t resist a picture of them.  Delicious!

I’m posting these for B.. to see- hope this gives you some sort of idea of how I do my planning for History and other extras.  For Bible, Math, Phonics, Grammar, Handwriting & Science I use the “do the next thing” method.

Week 1:  Twilight of the Western Roman Empire

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World  (pgs. 3,6,16)

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Alaric the Visigoth, Attila the Hun, Genseric the Vandal, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and Clovis)

-Brigid’s Cloak

-Saint Valentine

Do Make a “Valentine” card for someone you love and mail it to them.

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 1

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Bulgaria, pg. 30

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 325 Nicean Council

453 Attlia the Hun dies

Week 2: Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 4-5, 7, 38-39)

-Life in a Medieval Monastery

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Justinian the Great, The Two Monks: Benedict and Gregory)

-Caedmon’s Song

-Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland

Do Make a Byzantine mosaic using graham crackers, white frosting and mini m&m’s for snack.

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 1

Art Look at pictures of Byzantine mosaics- link saved under bookmarks.

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Children of the Streets, pg. 36

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1204 Crusaders capture Constantinople

Week 3: Byzantine Empire and the Rise of Islam

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 8-11, 62-first column only)

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Muhammad and Harun-Al-Rashid)

-The Legend of the Persian Carpet by Tomie DePaola

Do Watch the movie “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” (in Netflix queue)

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 1

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Druzes, pg. 52

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 570-632 Muhammad

Week 4: The Making of Medieval Europe: Charlemagne

*Maybe switch weeks 4 and 5*

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 18, 22, 28-29)

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Charles Martel, P epin, Charlemagne and Egbert the Saxon)

-The Adventures of King Arthur

-Sir Cumfrence and the First Round Table (check the math section in the school room)

Do -Days of Knights and Damsels, pgs. 69-70 Make a family tree.

-Have Daddy demonstrate juggling and try to learn.  (K&D, pg. 97)

-Watch Disney’s “The Sword and the Stone” (in Netflix queue)

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 2

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Egypt, pg. 54

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 742-814 Charlemagne

Week 5: Developments During the Viking Age

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 12-15, 17, 20, 58)

-The Vikings by Shuter

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Rollo the Viking, Alfred the Great, Henry the Fowler, Canute the Great, El Cid, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror)

-The Tomten

Do -Watch video- “Viking Ships 1” on Youtube (saved in bookmarks)

-Movie- “Vikings: Journey to New Worlds” on Netflix queue

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 2

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Ethiopia, pg. 56

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 793 Viking Age begins

1066 William the Conqueror invades and conquers England

Week 6: Medieval Life:  Feudalism

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 19, 24-27, 34-first column only, 56)

-Knights by Turnbull

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV)

-The Making of a Knight

-See Inside Castles by Daynes

Do -Get out castle & knight playset and put it up in the schoolroom.

-Visit the Renaissance Faire in Huntersville, NC

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 2

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Greece, pg. 66

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1081-1106 Henry IV is Holy Roman Emperor

1073-1085 Pope Gregory Reforms the Church

1170 Thomas a Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral

Week 7: The High Middle Ages

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 23, 35-36, 40, 42-43, 54-55, 61)

-You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Crusader!

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Peter the Hermit, Frederick Barbarossa, Henry the Second and His Sons, Louis IX, St. Francis and St. Dominic)

-The Minstrel in the Tower

-Francis: The Poor Man of Assissi

-Cathedral by David Macaulay

Do K&D, pgs. 127-129:  Learn to embroider (possibly ask Susanna to come and give us a lesson in exchange for a meal?).  Mary’s project?  My project- embroider a tracing of Mary’s hand.  Redwork?

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 3

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Gypsies, pg. 72

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1096 First Crusade

1189 Richard I “The Lionheart” rules England

1208 Francis of Assissi

1232 First Inquisition

Week 8: The Mongols, Marco Polo, and the Far East

Read               -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 37, 52-53, 66- second column, 75)

-Marco Polo

-Chanticleer and the Fox

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Marco Polo and Tamerlane)

Do -K& D, pg. 121- Maps: Create a map of our home or our street.

-Using Nathan’s compass, give the kids a map and have them search for something hidden on our property (a snack or toy from the dollar store)- do this with Daddy.

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 3

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett-  Hazara, pg. 76

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1206 Genghis Khan

1254-1324    Marco Polo

1368- China, Ming Dynasty begins

Week 9: The Reshaping of Medieval Europe

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pgs. 21, 3-33, 34- second column, 41, 44-51, 57, 59)

-The Story of Joan of Arc

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Robert Bruce, Edward the Black Prince, William Tell and Arnold Von Winkelreid, Henry V, Joan of Arc)

-The Squire and the Scroll

Do

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 3

Art

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- India, pg. 84

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1347 Black Death in Europe

1412 Joan of Arc

Week 10: Early Lights of the Reformation

Read -Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World (pg. 89)

-The Renaissance by Shuter (pgs. 10-11)

-Johan Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press

-Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Gutenberg and Warwick the Kingmaker)

-Marguerite Makes A Book

Do -K&D, pgs. 116-117- Make a Book

-K&D, pgs. 110-111- Decorate the borders of pages in the book you made.

-K&D, pg. 118- Secret Letters in Invisible Ink

Geography “A Child’s Geography” by Ann Voskamp- Chapter 4

Art Look at pictures of real illuminated manuscripts- link saved in bookmarks.

Pray “Window on the World” by Spraggett- Iraq, pg. 88

Poetry “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Timeline 1391-1468 Johan Gutenberg

1382 Bible translated into English

Summer School

We are flying through school these last few weeks.  We are studying the Romans.

We’re reading “Who Were the Romans?” and “Going to War in Roman Times”.

Watching videos Hannibal’s War Elephants and looking at images of Etruscan mosaics.

We’ve read some fun Roman picture books- “Saving Cloelia” and “Cleopatra” and are working our way through the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

Pictures below are of the kids making their own mosaic pictures for a snack one day- they’ve got graham crackers spread with white frosting and a bowl of mini M&M’s.   They did these after looking at some pictures on the Internet of Etruscan mosaics and discussing how small tiles were used to form a larger picture.  Savvy of course just played around.   Mary tried to make the outline of a castle wall.  I can’t remember now what Nathan’s was (It’s 6/18 as I write this).

A few pictures from some recent school days…

Can anyone guess what we’ve been studying for science this past month?

   Nathan, in particular, is utterly fascinated by the human body, veins, arteries, blood, bones, etc.

Mary, working on her geography puzzle of the United States & Canada.

Savvy, very diligently trying  to work the big kids addition puzzle.  (she’s a little young for it though! )

Nathan working on a 4 layer puzzle that covers the seasons- each layer is a picture of the same scene in a different season.

All three kids have been thoroughly obsessed with the poet Shel Silverstein- we’ve read from this book every day for the last 3 weeks!  Here are a few of our favorites:

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

Layin’ in the sun,

Talkin’ bout the things

They woulda-coulda-shoulda done…

But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

All ran away and hid

From one little did.

The Folks Inside

Inside you, boy,
There’s an old man sleepin’,
Dreamin’ waitin’ for his chance.
Inside you, girl,
There’s an old lady dozin’,
Wantin’ to show you a slower dance.

So keep on playin’,
Keep on runnin’,
Keep on jumpin’, til the day
That those old folks
Down inside you
Wake up … and come out and play.

The Toy Eater

You don’t have to pick up your toys, okay?
You can leave ‘em right there on the floor,
So tonight when the Terrible Toy-Eatin’ Tookle
Comes tiptoeing’ in through the crack in the door,
He’ll crunch all your soldiers, he’ll munch on your trucks,
He’ll chew your poor puppets to shreds,
He’ll swallow your Big Wheel and slurp up your paints
And bite off your dear dollies’ heads.
Then he’ll wipe off his lips with the sails of your ship,
And making a bur pity noise,
He’ll slither away– but hey, that’s okay,
You don’t have to pick up your toys.

Mary with her phonics book.

Savvy, engrossed in some books.

Can you guess what we’ve been studying for the last two weeks?

We’ve read piles and piles of books on Egypt- the above stack isn’t even all of them.   The kids have learned about life in Ancient Egypt, papyrus and hieroglyphics, the mummification process, the location of Egypt on the globe, where the Nile River is located in Egypt, who lived along the Nile (farmers), types of animals in the Nile, travel in Ancient Egypt,  how pyramids were built and what they were used for, we’ve looked at some pictures of Egyptian art and read about life in the desert.

As we’ve been studying Egypt, we’ve read the entire book of Exodus from the Bible outlining Moses’ difficulties with the Pharaoh and the subsequent journey out of Egypt.

We’ve mummified a potato.

We placed the potato mummy in a container and covered it with a mixture of salt and baking soda.  We changed the mixture every three days or so for two weeks.

After just three days, the mummy had turned black and shrunk up quite a bit.  Also, it smelled bad!   Every time we changed the salt & baking soda mixture, I recorded the kids observations about the mummy.

After two weeks the mummy is ready to be wrapped up.

 

We made salt dough maps of Egypt.

Mixing up the salt dough.

Using a printed outline map of Egypt, the kids formed the salt dough into the approximate shape of Egypt.  After they dried, they painted the Nile River, then the green farming land alongside the Nile and then the desert was painted Red.   The Ancient Egyptians called the desert “the Red Land”.

Sample copy that Kip & I did so that the kids would have an idea of what to do.

Nathan’s map of Egypt.

Mary’s map of Egypt.

In addition to reading, math, history, science, handwriting & piano we also do a fair bit of memory work. Here are some things the kids have memorized so far this year and a few things they are currently working on.

Here’s what they’ve memorized so far:

Bible Verses:

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth.

Poems:

(Mary)  The Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti

Brown and furry

Caterpillar in a hurry;

Take your walk

To the shady leaf, or stalk.

May no toad spy you,

May the little birds pass by you;

Spin and die,

To live again a butterfly.

 

(Mary) “Work” by Anonymous (Nathan will memorize this one next)

Work while you work,

Play while you play;

This is the way

To be happy each day.

All that you do,

Do with your might;

Things done by halves

Are never done right.

 

Important Info/Miscellaneous:

Mommy & Daddy’s name

Address

Phone Number

Birthday

The Four Seasons- winter, spring, summer, fall.

We’re currently working on memorizing:

John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father, but by me.

Days of the week- Sunday through Saturday

Skip Counting by 5′s: 5-60  (in preparation for learning how to tell time)

Sight Words from The 100 Most Commonly Used English Words:   the, of, and, a, to.   (We’ll continue through the list, 5 words at a time)

Poem:

“Try, Try Again” by T.H. Palmer (Both Kids are working on this one)

‘Tis a lesson you should heed,

Try, try again;

If at first you don’t succeed,

Try, try again;

Then your courage should appear,

For, if you will persevere,

You will conquer, never fear;

Try, try again.

Prayer:

A Child’s Prayer

Lord, teach a little child to pray,

And then accept my prayers,

For thou can hear the words I say,

For thou are everywhere.

A little sparrow cannot fall

Unnoticed, Lord, by thee;

And though I am so young and small,

Thou does take care of me.

Teach me to do the thing that is right,

And when I sin, forgive;

And make it still my chief delight

To serve You while I live.

Catechism

One thing the children are working on memorizing is A Catechism for Young Children.   There are 145 questions so I imagine it may take us several years to get through it BUT I think it covers the important basics of Christianity.   They have memorized the responses to questions 1-10 and are working on 11-15 currently.

Q. 1. Who made you? A. God.

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Q. 2. What else did God make? A. God made all things.

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Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ? A. For his own glory.

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Q. 4. How can you glorify God? A. By loving him and doing what he commands.

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Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God? A. Because he made me and takes care of me.

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Q. 6. Are there more gods than one? A. There is only one God.

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Q. 7. In how many persons does this one God exist? A. In three persons.

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Q. 8. What are they? A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

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Q. 9. What is God? A. God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.

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Q. 10. Where is God? A. God is everywhere.

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Currently memorizing these 5 questions:

Q. 11. Can you see God? A. No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.

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Q. 12. Does God know all things? A. Yes; nothing can be hid from God.

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Q. 13. Can God do all things? A. Yes; God can do all his holy will.

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Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey God? A. In the Bible alone.

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Q. 15. Who wrote the Bible? A. Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.

Whew!  What a Busy Week We’ve Had!

I haven’t blogged much lately because I’ve been to busy to sit down at the computer for long.

On Monday I took the children to Colonial Days at Alamance Battleground with some other homeschoolers.

Tuesday was a light day, just piano lessons here at our home.  I also spent time working on our Christmas Cards (DONE!) and our Calendars that we send out to the grandparents (DONE!).

Wednesday I went to the viewing/funeral for our 102 year old neighbor who passed away last weekend.  We will surely miss Ms. Irene- she was such a nice lady.   That afternoon the children had belt testing (they passed!  They are now high yellows!), Tae Kwon Do class, Flu shots, a stop at Party City in search of a pink cowboy hat for Mary’s Halloween costume and grocery shopping at Costco.

On Thursday my cousin Amy came to spend the day with her two little boys- 3yo Landon and 5 WEEK old Liam- as always, we had lots of fun!

Friday was my errand day.  Kip and I also spent Friday evening taking the kids annual Halloween Costume Pictures and Christmas Outfit Pictures.   We needed these done early in order to include them in the calendars.

There was a LOT of running around this week- far more than I like to do.

Pictures from Colonial Days

Apple Cider Press

Canon- we skipped the daily firing of the canon because Mary is quite afraid of loud noises.

The Jewell Kids and the Lanier Kids- most of them- missing the 1yo.

Revolutionary War Soldier- there were two of them with their tent and all their gear.  Pretty neat.

Colonial era School Teacher

Colonial Cooking and Preserving

It was COLD that day!

Spinning

Writing with a quill & ink.

Colonial Doctor and all his instruments.   Some of them were pretty…scary.  Yikes!

Blacksmith

Picnic lunch afterwards.