History Fair, March 2015

We finished our studies of the Renaissance and Reformation, and the kids worked hard to get their display together for the history fair.  Emily insisted from the start that she wanted to dress as Leonardo da Vinci, so Leonardo she was, gray beard and all.  The beard and wig were purchased, but the rest of her costume started out as thrift store garments, repurposed and altered by me.  I made the hat following the instructions at the "sempstress" site. 
 

Jacob informed me that this is the last year he will dress in costume.  We shall see how it goes next year.  :) His Martin Luther monk's robe was made from old sheets, and his hat was made from instructions from the above listed site.  Emily tea dyed the 95 Theses, A Mighty Fortress, and the other documents related to Martin Luther.

Jacob designed the Wittenberg Church, and both kids made the tissue paper "stained glass" windows.  Jacob also came up with the idea for the display and made the timeline and other sign boards.  I wish I had gotten some better photos taken of their display including the catapult model, fresco paintings, and Shakespeare Globe Theatre that the kids made.  Oh, notice the plate of gummy worms...and the sign that reads "Diet of Worms."  (The worms were a big hit at the fair!)

The history fair was a well-attended event, and we all enjoyed the evening.  It was a great culmination to the end of the unit.

Ancient Greece Unit Study

History Fair:  

No explanation needed; the pictures tell the story.  What a great culmination for the end of our unit study on Ancient Greece.

My son and I made his costume with paper mache and cardboard following the excellent instructions found at Storm the Castle online. The three of us each made a paper mache vase inspired by Art Lessons for Kids. I am so very thankful for all the wonderful people who share their projects online.

Notebooking Ancient Egypt

We have made lapbooks in the past, but I have found that I much prefer notebook pages over lapbooks. The following notebooking pages are a sampling of some that were made the past 3 weeks by my 12-year-old and 8-year-old, in no particular order of how we studied the material.  Both children enjoy looking through their notebooks, as do I.  

If we keep up with notebooking pages, each child should have a full binder by the end of the year.  I know this will probably be the last year for Jacob to record his studies in this way as he needs to be transitioning to longer reports and essays.  But for now, it's a good medium for documenting what we study and what we are learning. 

Reed Boats

The "reeds" we cut last week were too big and inflexible for our boats, so we came up with something else--dried out grass from the fence line.  It worked perfectly for our Egyptian reed boats.

After gathering the grass into bunches, we tied the ends with string, cut off the excess grass, and then shaped the bundle into a canoe shape.  We were pleased to see that the grass bent easily and held its boat shape.  

 

   Jacob and Emily played a good part of the afternoon with the boats and their little plastic Egyptian figures.  They built a model Egypt in the sandbox, complete with the Nile River, and then got out the hose and proceeded to flood the land.  At one point, Emily put on her swimsuit and played in the bathtub with the boats, which actually did float quite well.  All in all, it was a good way to end the school week.  

 

 

 The Great Sphynx

Paddle Dolls

We are two weeks into Year 1 of Tapestry, and both Friday afternoons have become project days.  It has been rather fun.  Last week we painted the wooden paddle dolls that Mark cut out of wood for us.  I asked him to drill holes in their heads, and today we tied lengths of jute into the holes for the dolls' hair.  Since I couldn't find the beads I thought we had, we just left them off.

This afternoon we also made reed boats out of dried grasses.  Both kids enjoyed this project immensely.  It helped that we made our boats outside and the weather was not-too-hot, something I'm thankful about in Oklahoma this time of year. 

I also planned for each of us to make a clay cartouche this afternoon, but the kids are having so much fun playing with their reed boats and the little Egyptian figures I found at Hobbly Lobby that I decided to just let them play.  It is a beautiful day to be outside.

 

 Jacob used a Sharpie marker to color his doll's hair black. 

 

 This (above) is the way boys take pictures with dolls--"This is lame, Mom."

And this (below) is what boys really do with dolls--Guitar Hero.

The Finished  Paddle Dolls

If you look closely, you'll see that Emily painted her doll like a cat.  :)

Cat Mummy

This cat-loving child of mine was entranced when we read this week how Egyptian cats were often mummified and buried with their owners.  She decided to mummify one of her stuffed cats and even made a coffin complete with hieroglyphs and a portrait mask.  No, she did not remove the cat's stuffing or embalm it.  Ick.  

Our studies about mummies were somewhat abbreviated as I could not quite bring myself to look at the gruesome photos in some our books.  Jacob, at 12, was not so queasy as Emily or me, but was intrigued by the mummification process.  All in all, we learned what what we needed to know.  

 

the Royal Cat before mummification

 

and after mummification  

:)

Ancient Egyptian Pectoral Collars

Today we wrapped up week one of our Ancient Egypt studies by making Egyptian pectorals and paddle dolls.  Jacob was not too thrilled about having his picture taken, but he did enjoy painting.

Our Tapestry plans include many project and craft ideas, but I also found numerous ideas online.  The instructions for the pectoral collars and paper headdress came from this site.

Photos of the Paddle Dolls will be posted after we get their hair put on!