That process of growth and character building is such a treasure – and I hope, lessons that will last a lifetime. What we’re doing everyday, the mundane and the mighty, really is sinking in and taking root! It’s amazing! The second is watching my two oldest kiddos put their heads together, learn to compromise, practice working together to make something that they both can feel proud of. The first is marveling at the depth of their understanding of a subject as it comes to life before our eyes.
I have two favorite parts of a project like this. They selected the Great Plains tribes, and we’re in love with how it turned out! Then, they selected one of those regions to represent. They read about the lifestyles, food sources, clothing and culture of different tribes based on geographical region. This Kids Discover magazine was our primary source – as well as tid-bits gleaned from our many other readings. If you remember our World War I unit, we kind of fell in love with the process of making a visual representation of what we know. The kids finished up their exploration of early Native Americans with a diorama. We’ve had a good few weeks studying the letters X and G – though I didn’t take many pictures. On the preschool front, I am using God’s Little Explorers (our 4th tour! I can’t believe how time flies!). During the French Revolution, he served as a Colonel of the first all-black batallion in France! And incredibly… his is a name I’d never heard before! He both inspired and, according to some sources, was deeply envied by Mozart. Raised in France, he became a prolific composer, even becoming the personal music tutor of Marie Antoinette. Le Chevalier de Saint-George was the son of a French aristocrat and a slave. In an effort to expand our collection of largely dead, white composers, I went looking for a composer of color. I am particularly excited about our composer study this term. It’s always amazing to see what comes out… and how they grow and progress throughout the year! There is no such thing as “finished!” As they draw, I might ask them questions about what they’re making or what they remember. We did our first Friday Fun of the school year… a little rhythm I picked up from a social studies teacher I worked with who allowed his students to draw instead of write everything they could remember about a certain topic.Īlthough we don’t do it every week, this has been a fun practice to add in! I give them only a few expectations: 1) that what they draw pertains to a specific week of learning, 2) that they draw what they remember – not just a copy of what a sibling has done, 3) they must use THE ENTIRE TIME to draw.
We made several crafts, including these fun feather necklaces, and learned about the symbolism behind different tribes’ art, which we then translated into Native American headdresses. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie de Paola Thanks to the Animals by Allen Sockabasin The Adventurous Life of Miles Standish by Cheryl Harness
So, although we have not started back in community yet, a 3 week study of Native American history and culture was the perfect way to kick off our school year! We are currently in Cycle 3, which means that American history is the broad focus.
Whew! It has been a whirlwind first three weeks of school, but we are so glad to be back!Īs you probably know, we use Classical Conversations as the spine of our year.
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