Our Week In Review

About three weeks ago we finished up a mini-unit on Victorian England.  This time period in England was really fascinating to learn about.  In addition to our reading, we watched several movies as a family that took place during this time period.  Two of them, the musical Oliver and Pride and Prejudice, showed two very different aspects of everyday life in England so after viewing and discussing, we did a Venn diagram to compare and contrast them.

We discussed together as I wrote on the whiteboard, and then the children copied this info down onto their own Venn diagrams.  Little Man did some of the writing, but mostly drew pictures inside his diagram!
 

A few days later we had a tea party with some of our favorite girls!  We spoke politely to each other during our tea party, and practiced proper manners (asking for things to be passed, saying please and thankyou, etc).  Probably the hardest thing for everyone was not interrupting each other!

It was a fruitful time of learning.  Since then we have covered four U.S. presidents, the concept of Manifest Destiny, and the Mexican/American war.  When we return to school in January we will be studying westward expansion and wagon trains!

New Season

My few faithful readers have undoubtedly noticed that I have been awol from my blog for a couple weeks.  Sorry about that.  During these last two weeks we have acquired another family member ~ a sweet 13 year old girl who is going to live with us for a time.  We love her dearly, and all the family is very supportive of this move, but it also means adjustments for everyone.  

Sometimes life takes unexpected turns.  But God is never surprised! 

What a comfort that is.

As we prepare to celebrate His advent, I am reminded of a poem my mom shared with me earlier this year, called "The Work of Christmas."

"When the song of angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, and the shepherds are back with their flocks: then the work of Christmas begins...

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart."

~ Howard Thurman

Pray for us as God uses us to do the work of Christmas.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving ~ 2012

For a country in which a day was set aside for giving thanks and praise to God, and for a home in which to gather for this purpose, Lord I thank you.

Making schnetken (sp?) with the leftover pie dough!

 

For loved ones that gather together, and for traditions that help glue our family together, Lord I thank you.

For good food to eat, and the means to purchase and cook this food, Lord I thank you.

For the gift of life, so that I can enjoy another Thanksgiving with those I love, Lord I thank you.

Gathering in a circle after dinner and sharing what we are thankful for.

 Our "niece" Hailey!

 

My mother in law, sister in law, and nephew.

 My hubby and his dad.

For family, both near and far, and those who are family by the blood of Christ we both claim, Lord I thank you.

Watching funny youtube videos!

For laughter and silliness and good, clean fun, Lord I thank you.

Fixing Hailey's hair with every scrunchy and bow in the house!

For your great love, which covers a multitude of sins, and for your GREATNESS, which is over and under and around us all, Lord I thank you.

Thursday's Thankful Things

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."

—George Washington

Wordless Wednesday

Hailey is here for Thanksgiving!!  Woot, woot!  (my cousin's daughter, who visits periodically from college)

She taught us how to make homemade tortilla shells.  Super easy and super delicious!

Our Week In Review

This would be for last week.  :-)

Last week we began a three week study of Victorian England, but the week before that had been a study of the Texas War for Independence, including the battle of The Alamo in 1836.  Because I have several boys, and they were so into the desperation and heroism of the Alamo story, we let the Alamo spill over into our first Victorian England week quite a bit.  Which is a somewhat odd mixture I must say!

I went to the library and checked out every book the children's department had on The Alamo.  I selected one in particular to be our fifth grader's history book for that week, and left the rest in the family room for everyone to look at during book time.  This one captured the imagination of son G: The Alamo, a day that changed America, by Shelley Tanaka.  It is the story of the battle as told through the eyes of a young Mexican boy inside the Alamo with his mother when the fighting began.  Some of it was historical fiction, but much of it was historical fact, and the pictures were AWESOME!
  

I read a short book about Davy Crockett to Little Man, and afterward he made a flapbook of Davy Crockett's life.  He dictated to me what he remembered from the book we had just read, I wrote down his words, and then he drew accompanying pictures.  This is the page about Davy's childhood.  The picture on the right shows him atop his horse, whipping some cattle into shape!  (when he was just 13 years old he helped herd cattle across several states).

Then we got the idea to make a diorama of The Alamo mission/fort itself, and that idea grew into this:

The perfect size for little Lego Mexicans and Texans!  Take a note of the flag ~ at the time of the battle, the flag did not yet bear the symbol of the lone star.

The boys poured over their books to break the battle down into smaller pieces.  Who was defending what part of the fort?  Who fell first?  They designated a lego man to be Davy Crockett, one to be Jim Bowie, and another to be Colonel Travis (who was very likely the first, or among the first, to be killed on that fateful last day of fighting).  They carefully set everyone where they were thought to be in real life on that day.

And then....

Some revisionist history began happening.  Somehow the Texans acquired medieval era weapons.  And blood began to spill....

We even had a few beheadings.

Here is Davy Crockett in the middle of the picture, with a pile of dead Mexican bodies nearby (which did happen in real life).

Here is Jim Bowie, fighting from his bed inside the chapel of the fort.  He was sick with pneumonia at the time, but bravely fired from his bed until his ammunition ran out, and then fought with his famous knives until he finally succumbed.  He was very likely one of the last ones killed.

Our boys have had tons of fun with this, and aside from the medieval revisions they made (which they *know* are revisions!) they also learned details of the battle that I am sure they would not have known otherwise.

We watched the John Wayne movie version of The Alamo, and the three middle boys are all polishing up writing assignments having to do with The Alamo (son C wrote a story about Davy Crockett, son G wrote a biographical essay on Crockett, and son L wrote a report about Jim Bowie).

Son C usually had a dog by his side as he did his history reading!

We have acquired a second dog to "dog-sit" and while I have never really cared for the look of pugs, we are learning to love this one!

Next week:  Pride and Prejudice, and tea and scones!