Medieval Times: Knights, Castles, and Dinner

For the last 5 weeks, we have been learning about all things Medieval.  Our history work in Classical Conversations has taken us through the Middle Ages and given us the chance to focus on castles, knights, and important events during this fascinating period.  We decided to take a family trip to the nearest Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament so that the boys could experience life in the Middle Ages.  And I can't recommend it enough!!!! 

We were taken back to a time of knights, castles, falconry, horsemanship, and jousting.  We loved that everything we had read about came to life before our eyes...from the jousting tournament to eating without utensils.  This also gave us a great topic for a presentation once back with our CC group. :)

Along with our trip back in time, we have also been busy at home.  Here is a look into how we keep the Middle Ages fresh in our minds.

As we wandered through the toy section of Target, Old Crow found this Castle Lego set.  He was so excited!!  We brought it home and he quickly got to work.

They enjoyed painting this castle with Q-tips.  

Crazy Horse pulled out this boy magnetic doll and realized he could make him into a knight!  

After reading about life during the time of knights, they wanted to draw a picture of a castle in their journals.  This is Crazy Horse's picture.

We also built a castle from building blocks, held our own knighting ceremonies, watched a portion of A Knight's Tale, and read some great books.

Their two favorite books were:

Until next time,

Jenny

A Child's History of the World

Once we made the decision to join Classical Conversations in the fall, it was full steam ahead in the planning department.  Coming from an early American history overview for 1st grade, I wanted to give Old Crow a solid introduction into world history.  History sentences covered in Cycle 2 of CC cover a large time period.  I struggled with this for a long time.  Do we jump around in different Story of the World volumes to follow along?  Read only one volume of Mystery of History?  Or do nothing at all?  

I finally decided to give Old Crow (2nd grade) a gentle, one year world history overview.  

We chose A Child's History of the World (CHOW) by V.M. Hillyer. 

I like for things to be neat and tidy.  So I couldn't quite grasp how we could learn about Charlemagne on week 1 of Classical Conversations but then not read about him in CHOW until many weeks later.  So I went chapter by chapter through CHOW and correlated it with the history sentences in CC.

Charlemagne is first mentioned in CHOW in Chapter 47.  So we will be reading the beginning chapters over the summer and in August.  Then only 2 or 3 chapters per week are required to keep up with the pace of the CC history sentences.  CHOW's sequence actually goes along quite well with the sequence of the history sentences.  I will be reading the chapters aloud and then the boys will narrate.  While this book is geared perfectly for a 2nd grader, I will also have my Kindergartner listen along.  Hopefully, everything will go as planned!

Click here to download the CHOW chapter correlations.

Jenny

Tuesday's Top 10: Learning about Pilgrims

Thanksgiving is such a special time.  We remember the history of our country, enjoy the harvest of crops, spend time with family, and share our blessings with others.  Turkeys are a big part of the Thanksgiving celebration, but this year in our homeschooling we will focus more on the Pilgrims and their journey.  I've gathered together 10 activities that will help us both learn and celebrate the Pilgrims' voyage.

Top 10 Activities for Learning about Pilgrims

1.  Read Stories of the Pilgrims.

As part of our Heart of Dakota curriculum, we will be reading about the faith, bravery, and hardships of the pilgrims.

2.  Watch Charlie Brown:  The Mayflower Voyagers.

This film is added as a bonus feature in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  

It is also available on YouTube.

3.  Use Pilgrim and Native American figures to retell the story and for play.

Another mom shared these on our Heart of Dakota facebook page.  These figurines will be perfect to go along with our stories of the pilgrims and their encounters with Native Americans.  

Jamestown Settlers

Powhatan Indians

4.  Make a Mayflower craft.

Here are two handprint ideas I have found.

And here is a Mayflower ship that the boys can easily build.

It will go great with their Jamestown settlers. :)

As a Mayflower craftivity, we will also make a suitcase for the Mayflower with a list of items needed for the journey.  The writing can be expanded to tell a story of someone on the trip.  Many possibilities!!

5.  Compare and contrast our life today with what we learn about the life of Pilgrims.

We will use a Venn Diagram to compare modern times to Pilgrim times.  

Two books that describe the life of pilgrim boys and pilgrim girls are Samuel Eaton's Day and Sarah Morton's Day.  After reading them, we can compare and contrast the lives of pilgrim boys and girls.  Here is a Venn Diagram example:

6.  Thanksgiving Story Bracelet

We plan to read this poem about the Pilgrims journey and the first Thanksgiving.  The colored beads on the bracelet match the poem.  You can download the poem here.

7.  Pilgrims Blessing Mix

Here is a snack mix that represents the Pilgrims' life.  It could make a great gift. :)

Here is the original post.

8.  Make a Pilgrim hat and Native American headband.

You can find the Pilgrim hat directions here. 

And here are the directions for the Native American headband.

9.  Visit a Colonial Village

The American Village in Montevallo, AL is a "nationally pioneering classroom and American history education center."  They offer a one-of-a-kind Thanksgiving experience for children...Living America's Story.  This is just one example of such a place near our home.  I'm sure there are many others throughout the states.

10.  Read Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving.  

This entertaining and historical book shows that God is the hero of Thanksgiving...not white men or Indians.  It comes highly recommended!

After reading about Squanto, we will make a craft (with goldfish and corn) to show the way Squanto taught the white men to plant corn.

We will make a Squanto Snack to go along with his planting corn technique.

And we will also create Indian names for everyone.  Hmmm, maybe something like...

"He Who Talks too Much." ;)  This should be fun!

I can't wait to get started!  And I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jenny