Story of the World: Ho, Hum.

I must say, Volume 3: Early Modern Times, isn't really doing it for me. Don't get me wrong. We do the reading, fill in our little maps, answer the review questions and do our narrations, but it's just not terribly exciting.

I did crack up at Katie Grace's narration today re: Peter the Great:
Peter the Great wanted to make Russia more Western, but not so Western that he was no longer czar.

We will be heading into Colonialism soon, and the the Revolutionary War, so I'm hoping things will get a little more exciting. Or at least interesting.

Main Lesson Book

Michael's narration and illustration of the Susan Constant and how she carried Englishman to North America on King James's command to find gold.

Michael's definitions and illustrations of the three types of rock.

Katie Grace's multiplication wheel for factors of 3.

And factors of 4.

And factors of 2. She's really been enjoying these!

One was the only wheel with curves.

Michael's diagram of the layers of the earth.

Story of the World: The Lost Colony

Everybody loves a mystery, and my children are no exception. Today, when we were all finished with school except for reading a little Story of the World, I could tell they just wanted to be done. As I read about Roanoke and how all the inhabitants went missing, I could feel them leaning in and paying attention. Where did the colonists go? Why was the village stripped not only of its inhabitants, but also its dwellings? What did "Croatoan" mean?

My children were intrigued. We talked about the standing theories: the settlers died of disease or were wiped out by a natural disaster, they went to live with the Native Americans, they stripped their colony and found another place to live, they were massacred. Michael had his own theory: aliens.

We've found some online resources that look promising as well:
KidInfo: Roanoke
Coastal Guide's page on Roanoke
Social Studies for Kids: The Lost Colony of Roanoke
A Timeline of Events

Something wicked this way comes...

Today we found the best Story of the World activity since mummifying a chicken-- Eye-of-Newt Soup. We have been studying Shakespeare. Macbeth, to be exact. Michael made the connection between Shakespeare's "weird women" and the Weird Sisters from Harry Potter. They also enjoyed seeing how many common phrases were originally coined by Shakespeare. But they were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that we were making Eye-of-Newt Soup for desert.

Imagine their surprise when they walked into the kitchen and found this:
Eye of newt? Severed fingers? Hey, are those chocolate frogs?!?! Yes. Yes they are.

We didn't use all the suggestions from Story of the World. Our recipe included:
Severed fingers: Tootsie rolls
Eye of newt: Chocolate chips
Tongue of dog: Red licorice bits
Lizard's leg: Broken up pretzel bits
Fillet of fenny snake: Gummy worms
Owlet's wing: Cake decorating pastel circles
Scale of dragon: Smarties
Tooth of Wolf: Good and Plenty
Gall of Goat: Chai chocolate drops
Baboon blood: Grape juice

Daniel was very excited to see what would happen next.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hot broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Gall of goat removed in the dark






Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

Daniel REALLY like the baboon's blood.





Stir it up.
And then we snack.
Sigh. They don't get much candy.

Daniel liked the fillet o' snake, possibly even more than the baboon's blood.

The discerning reader may note that there are some changes between Shakespeare's original scene and our version. I'm totally OK with it, although I wish the authors of Story of the World would make a note when they change the text in this manner.

Tomorrow we're trying our hand at stage fighting.

How does a nice Catholic girl teach the Reformation?

I really dislike Martin Luther.

It's the whole package-- I don't like his looks. I don't like that he married a nun. I don't like that he broke the church.

Imagine my discomfort when I realized we had reached the Reformation in Story of the World.

I like this book for the most part. I've had a few uncomfortable moments when I felt like it was leaning towards the "Oh, these silly natives! *wink wink, nudge nudge*" style of writing, but for the most part, I've found it fairly well written.

But I must say, I didn't care for how this chapter was written. And I realized that, at the end of the day, every text has it's bias (or, as my husband reminded me, "All history is told with an agenda"), and SotW is no exception.

I'll admit, I skipped the poorly constructed analogy of the Catholic Church as the Evil Aunt who says she loves you but won't let you sit on her couch, and Luther and Protestantism as the Kindly and Loveable Aunt who gives you cookies and slips a ten in your pocket on the way out. And I went into a much more detailed explanation of indulgences that made my little Lutherans' eyes glaze over. And when Pastor Hubby came home, I made him teach it all over again, just to be sure I hadn't let my own biases get in the way.

We'll continue to explore this over the next few weeks, and I'll continue feeling uncomfortable. For the love of my children and husband, I'll also continue to look past my discomfort and try to teach this topic in a way that both honors the Church I love and respects a man who loved the faith enough to walk away from a Church he felt was obscuring the truth. Like much in our inner-faith marriage, it will be a balancing act, but God-willing, we'll make it through.

Story of the World: Aztec Hot Chocolate

Mmmmm... we're looking forward to trying this!

In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, and a pinch each of ginger, cloves, and red pepper.

Heat to boiling over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for three minutes. Remove from heat.

Using a wisk, beat in 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa and a teaspoon of vanilla extract until frothy.

Serve in mugs and top with whipped cream.

Story of the World: Exploring New Worlds

This week we move into some hairy territory in Story of the World. We'll be learning about Vespucci and Magellan, Cortes and Columbus. And while they may have been exploring a world that was new to them, the "New World" was already home to thriving civilizations.

I suspect it's going to be a week full of questions, as we not only talk about brave explorers, but also about slavery, genocide, and oppression.

Louise Derman Sparks, in her fabulous book Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children suggests telling the stories so commonly accepted as history from the point of view of Native Americans. Tell the story "Christopher Columbus's Mistake" or "My House and the Strange People". Ask your children what they know about Native Americans, and explore the stereotypes. Be sure to help them distinguish between daily life and ceremonial activities.

RESOURCES:
Christopher Columbus's Mistake (A reader's theater play)
Rethinking Columbus

And finally, I would like to share a brand new resource for this crazy parenting gig: Raise the Change. From their "about us" page:

Raise the Change is committed to respectful and open discussion about political and cultural topics that affect us as women, mothers and global citizens. Our worldview is liberal and progressive.

The site is new (and run by two dear friends of mine!) and not only has wonderful resources, but a growing discussion community. See you there!

I'd love to hear your ideas on presenting a balanced, non-biased view of historical events!

Story of the World: The Mongols and The Mysterious East

We're doubling up on our Story of the World chapters this week. We don't have much going on by way of extra activities. I was going to make peanut chicken, but the kids still haven't gotten over the peanut butter noodles I made a few months ago, and they outvoted me.

We did learn today that Genghis Kahn was not a very nice person. And that the Mongols could go days without food. If they got hungry, they would open a vein on their horse, drink its blood, close the vein, and ride on. Ew.

I did find this online game I may let Michael play. Not sure if I want to encourage him to try to conquer the world though.

Tomorrow we move on to the Mongol conquest of China. There's a great map on the Wiki page that shows how they expanded the conquest. And here's a kids' page about the Mongols conquering Asia.

For the rest of the week, we'll be studying Marco Polo, the City of Ming, and the Silk Road.

You can find a map of Marco Polo's route here and more information about Marco Polo and his travels here. There's also a Marco Polo word find here.

We'll also be doing the Silk Road activity from the Story of the World. Who knows? If you're lucky, maybe I'll remember to post pictures! :D

Story of the World: The Bottom of the World and The Kingdom of the Franks

Last week, we visited the bottom of the world: Australia and New Zealand.

One thing that's been interesting to the children is the universality of creation stories. The one that's popped up again and again is the idea of world/island beginning on the back of a sea creature. First Sinbad the Sailor visited an island on the back of a sea monster. Then the Maori people believed their island started when a small boy caught "the biggest fish of all" that turned into an island when his older brothers hacked at it to stop it from eating them. In Michael study of Pennsylvania Native Americans, we learned the creation story about the first man and woman coming from a great turtle's back. And in Katie Grace's Celtic saints block, St. Brendan visited an island that was actually a whale.

It was a great week for reading Australian and Maori legends and folk tales. The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Dianne Arnold was a big hit.

One highlight of the week was making moth mix. The Aborigines ate insects as a protein mix. We made "moth mix" but substituted peanuts as a protein source. Popcorn, peanuts, a tablespoon each of honey and cooking oil-- yum!

We were going to paint our faces like Maori warriors, but couldn't find the face paint. There's always tomorrow!

We left Australia and New Zealand today and move into the Frankish kingdom tomorrow. I just like the name Clovis. I've often thought if we ever get a cat, I would name it Clovis. If I ever lose my mind and we get a hamster, I would name it Grendl. But I digress.

Besides reading in Story of the World and doing dictation and map work, we'll also be looking at a great book I got from the library, Medieval Tales that Kids Can Read and Tell by Lorna MacDonald Czarnota. The kids will also have an opportunity to map out their own dynasty. Seeing how Michael is convinced that God has called him to a life of celibacy (The Talk didn't go so well), his paper should be rather short.

The other suggested activities are mostly dress up projects. Since we're already drowning in dress ups, we'll pass on making anything new, but maybe we'll dress up as Frankish Kings.

The Ajanta Caves in India

Today we went on an internet field trip to India.

The Ajanta Caves, carved out of rock and mountain by Indian monks back in the Dark Ages, are absolutely incredible.


The children were amazed by the sculptures and the frescoes.


Here is a wonderful 3D "map" of the caves.

And a lesson plan on painting frescoes. And an art lesson!

Finally, we're going to paint pictures tomorrow and tape them at the top of the stairs where little hands can touch them often. Then we'll see what happens to the "frescoes" over days, weeks, maybe even months. This will help them better understand how public art needs to be protected from the elements and the public.

Happy March!

Things have been a little nutty here (thus the lack of posting!) but I'm hoping to catch up tonight. I'm going to warm up with a few Story of the World pictures.

Today a good time was had by all using our blocks to create a labyrinth. For reasons I don't want to explore to closely, they love the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.


We also made a siege tower out of legos. Take that, Nineveh!


To tell the truth, I'm kind of happy to be moving out of Mesopotamia and into Greece. Although now we won't have a reason to sing this song any more.

Candlemas, but not candle-less

Our Brigid's Bread was yummy! And yes, all the best bakers wear tutus.


We didn't get to read Brigid's Cloak until today--the roads were a sheet of ice and I couldn't get to the library to pick up my holds--but we read it tonight, and it was beautiful. I definitely need to score my own copy.

Tonight was our Candlemas-Africa feast. We learned about Ancient Africa in Story of the World, and for dinner we had chicken with figs, rice (it was going to be papaya rice, but the papaya went over and I didn't know in time to get a new one), peas, and fried plantains.


After dinner, we talked about the Presentation and had some snow-white meringues for desert. They were definitely a hit!

We ended our day with a lovely story and prayer time.


Good night, and have a blessed Sunday!

Today dealing with the children was a little like being pecked to death by a duck. Do they always talk to me this much or is it just because I'm overtired?!?

We caught up on our Jesse Tree. It's really kind of lame this year. Or I could say it's very child-driven. Michael drew the tree and the kids are adding an ornament made of paper each day. I'll have to take a picture eventually.

We're also doing our own spin on O Antiphon Windows. We're making them from black construction paper frames and kite paper/tissue paper and hanging them in our kitchen window.

Katie Grace is wrapping up a math unit on probability, fractions, and geometry, and Michael learned about centimeters and decimeters. Ah, the metric system.

I decided to wait on mummifying a chicken until we hit book one again. Everyone will be three years older, and it will probably be more meaningful. I have this feeling mummifying a chicken is a project you only do once.

Michael finished excavating the Egyptian tomb painting reliefs and coins that were part of a kit I found at T J Maxx, and both he and Katie Grace made crayon rubbings.


Then we painted our names in hieroglyphics:




We started our exploration of which stands the test of time better: clay tablets or papyrus parchment. We put both outside and we'll see what happens.

We're planning on wrapping up the day reading Tomie de Paola's The Night of Las Posadas and listening to Harry and the Potters sing Wizard Chess.

Mummies on Monday

We're carrying on with Story of the World. We're doing some experiments on parchment vs. clay tablets. The kids made cuneiform name plates for their doors






And Katie Grace rolled out the papyrus for our homemade parchment (we bought a kit from Rainbow Resources)

It's getting kind of stinky to work with!

We're trying to decide if we're going to mummify a chicken or not. On the one hand, it's a pretty big expense and seems like a waste of supplies (baking powder, baking soda, salt, oil, and, of course, a chicken). On the other hand, it's mummifying a freaking CHICKEN-- how cool is that?!?!

Clueless comment of the day goes to DH: "You're not bringing a dead CHICKEN into the house--that's gross!!" Um... honey, I bring dead chicken into the house all the time. Usually you think it's yummy.

We also put up our tree today. Daniel seems very confused by the presence of this much nature in our living room.






It's our 13th wedding anniversary as well. We celebrate with the little ones, telling them it's the birthday of our family. Michael keeps insisting our family began the day he was born and not with our wedding, LOL!