Book Group-- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

We absolutely loved this book!!!!   It was a bit "draggish" at the beginning, but for my reluctant crew this was an engaging book.  I didn't have to bribe, conjole, threaten or beat them into coming for read aloud time.
We talked much about judging people....and the how hurtful and wrong it is.  We found a story from the Friend to share about this topic during Family Home Evening.  This book is a historical fiction.  Jen had the kids do some research about certain topics mentioned in the book.  Connor did research about the English Civil War...
        King Charles I, a strong believer in an idea called the divine right of kings, was abusing his power as king of England. What is the divine right of kings? It is the belief that kings, being appointed of God, cannot be wrong in any way. Charles got this belief from his father, King James, who had outraged parliament on numerous occasions. The final act that started the war was when Charles tried to assassinate five members of parliament. After failing, his failure being due to the parliament members having been warned, he fled to build an army as parliament gathered theirs. The aftermath of the war was that king Charles was executed, although no further progress to ending kings was made. Why was it right for parliament to attack with guns? To begin with, they had been attacked first. King Charles tried to assassinate various members of parliament. He then began putting an army together. Parliament began constructing their army as well. After several battles that held no decisive results, Parliament formed the new model army. The biggest difference between the new model army and the army of King Charles that the new model army had leaders who were promoted because of their ability to lead, not because of their money or social status. It was also meant to have speedy strikes which relied heavily on cavalry. The English Civil War lasted from 1641 to 1645, ending with parliament's victory and the execution of King Charles.

Ryan's was on the Salem Witch Trials:
The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem village during the winter months of 1692. It all started with Betty Paris,age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11, who were the daughter and niece of Reverend Paris respectively. They started having fits beyond elliptical fit or natural disease according to John, the minister of a nearby town. Rev. Deodat said the girls screamed, threw things around, made weird sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into strange positions. The girls themselves said they were being pinched and pricked by needles. A doctor named William Greggs couldn't find any physical ailment, but there were other women in the town showing similar behaviors. A Mr. Lawson preached several times in the town church but was interrupted each time by outbursts from the afflicted. Historians believe that one of the major causes of the Salem Witch Trials was a family feud. This rivalry was between the Putnam and Porter families. The citizens of the town were in on the feud too. They would engage in heated arguments, which would sometimes become full blown fights all based solely on a person's opinion of the feud. The first three people to be arrested for witchcraft were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. The accusation was made by Ann Putnam Junior and is seen as evidence of this family feud being a cause. Sarah Good was a homeless beggar, who was known to beg for food and clothes from her neighbors. She was accused of witchcraft because of her appalling reputation. During her trial she was accused of rejecting the Puritan values of self-control and discipline because she chose to scorn children instead of leading them to salvation. Sarah Osborne rarely went to church. She was accused of witchcraft because people believed she only had her own self-interest in mind. She used to be a widow but had remarried to an indentured servant. The citizens of the town found it distasteful when she tried controlling her son's inheritance. Her son was from her first marriage. Tituba was a black slave, which of course made her a target for accusations. She was accused of attracting girls with bad stories from an evil book.    

Cailin researched about corn husking bees:
There is hardly anything I found so don't expect much.
    Corn Husking Bees were social gatherings where they would shuck tons of corn. It was followed by dancing, food, and games. That's it.

After reading about Kit, Judith and her mom, Rachel dipping candles I hoped that we, too, could dip candles....and we did.  I tried it with Cailin and Delaney a few years ago.   Here's photos from our fist go around in March 2009....


       



Ohhh, my have the grown.  This time we had better success.  I believe our first go around the wax remained too hot.  We learned that if the wax cooled a bit, it would stick to the wick better (yarn for us),  thus producing a fatter candle.

I don't think our candle would pass "quality control" in the 1700's be we sure had fun!!

Hannah Tupper, the witch in the book, had a sure fire way to solve all sadness and evils of the day....corn cake studded with blueberries and a kitten.  It must work, as these two look quite happy!