When in Rome...

X shall stand for playmates TEN.
V for FIVE stout stalwart men;
I for ONE, as I'm alive;
C for ONE HUNDRED, and D for FIVE;
M for a thousand soldiers true,
And L for FIFTY, I'll tell you.
~from A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme

We started out by looking at how our hands can make the numerals: One finger held up looks like an I. When you hold up five fingers, you can see the V between the thumb and first finger. And when you cross your thumbs, you get the X for 10.

Then Michael worked on these in his main lesson book. Michael has some small motor issues, so I'm always really proud of him when he perseveres with something that isn't really his forte. But he had an idea--to hide the Roman numerals in the gladiators weapons or outfit--and he stuck with it. He wrote an explanation on the shield as well. He's planning on adding more details and a background tomorrow. He's a great kid.