History Happenings in December

The Beginnings of the Revolution--The Boston Tea Party:

Today we discussed the first major act of defiance toward King George III--the Boston Tea Party!    The war had not begun yet, but the Colonist were growing quite tired of being ignored by the King.  They hoped that this act would garner some attention...and indeed it did!  Here our band of roughens loosely dress as "Indians"  (as we read the colonist did).

They then boarded the "ship" and threw the tea over board!  Oh yeah, that was fun!

The Men of the Revolution  

  Each one in the older group spent some time with past week researching a different personality from the Revolution.  They gathered with Barry and discussed what they learned.  This was the first time Barry was able to take some time out (it helps when he's not so busy with school work of his own), anyhow, he led them through discussions about these men and women and what parts in the Revolution they played.  I asked Cailin how she liked it...."It was fun, Dad made us laugh with his stories."

The younger group will be focusing on different personalities too.  This week we learned about Benjamin Franklin (last week too).  They had fun creating and decorating kites in honor of his discovery of electricity while using a key and kite!


Paul Revere and the Declaration of Independence 

Our last week of school for 2012....the younger group and I read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,  while Barry and Christine lead the older group through a discussion and analysis of the Declaration of Independence.

My little group thoroughly enjoyed this book and we used some ideas from my FIAR book to work on.  We made a velco timeline of events.  As we learn more of the Revolution we will add more to our paint sticks

We begin our day with devotional., saying the Pledge of Aligence is included.

Discussion time with Dad.  We've recently restructured our history time with the older group.  We are asking this group to come prepared for discussion, by studying the topic on their own beforehand, so they can participate and not just listen. Barry tries to lead them by asking questions for them answer and not just lecture....although he's very good at this when it comes to history.  He's quite the story teller and we enjoy listening to his talk of history for hours.  We were inspired to incorporate these changes through prayer and learning more of the TJEd model of education.

Working on the Revolutionary War timeline--velcro stick......and the finished product!

Christine snapped this photo of me writing the 'story' that Liam and Amber narrated to me that went along with a picture they each drew.  These two sure do love it when they get special attention all to themselves.

After lunch it's play time!! Connor, Beryl and Cailin enjoy playing games...indoors or out!  Here they are enjoying Dread Pirate.