For week 5 of Felicity we had two fun projects. First off the girls made quill pens and learned to write with them. I brought a copy of the Constitution for them to see that we bought on our trip to Washington D.C. I wanted to show them an example of how beautiful the writing could look. Then we set to work to make our own quill pens!
The process we used was simple.
Soak quill tips in warm water for 15 minutes.
Use scissors to cut the tip of the feather off at an angle.
Use a sharp knife to cut a small slit from the highest point of the tip to the back.
Use a straight pin to clean the gunk out of the inside of the feather.
Dip in ink
Blot on a piece of black felt
Write on your paper
Repeat the dipping and blotting steps as needed.
(There are a lot of directions online if you Google it, but all the ones I read made this WAY too complicated. I am giving you my simple version that worked great!)
Here are some pictures of the girls using their quill pens.
For the ink I bought powdered ink when we were at Colonial Williamsburg. (You can buy it HERE.) I highly recommend ordering it. It cleaned up easy and was cheaper than other ink I could find. (Update: Since I wrote this I have learned that watered down tempera paint will work just as well.) For writing paper we used some watercolor paper and also some Felicity stationary. I was worried that the ink wouldn't do well on regular paper, but it was fine. The girls really enjoyed writing with the quills and it wasn't as messy as I expected. We did lay down LOTS of paper and put a drop cloth on the floor just in case. Thankfully we had no spills or stains though!
Book 5 was a good time to do the quill pens because in this book Felicity is visiting her grandfather and writes letters to her friend and Father. :^)
The other project we did was spinning wool on a drop spindle. I bought the drop spindle when we were at the Claude Moore Farm in Virginia. (You can learn how to make one here.) I thought I would be able to figure it out easy enough, but BOY it was challenging! LOL Thankfully one of the mom's had used one before and was able to demonstrate.
The girls were able to try their hand at it too!
I think the lesson we came away with it that it's NOT easy, but it can be fun!
The girls also watched the following video about how to use a drop spindle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXid5cT0y8
We have only one week left of American Girl Club for this year! The girls would like to continue through the Summer. As much as I LOVE that they don't want to take a break, I need one! So we will resume with Josephina in the Fall.
Happy Homeschooling,
Jamin
Click HERE to view American Girl Club - Felicity Week #1
Click HERE to view American Girl Club - Felicity Week #2
Click HERE to view American Girl Club - Felicity Week #3
Click HERE to view American Girl Club - Felicity Week #4
i wanted to share a tip about quill ink--watered down tempera paint works REALLY well. just water it to whatever consistency you like. it cleans up easy, you can make any color, and, if you add a drop or two of dish soap, doesn't stain. :)
We have homeschooled our children from the start and we love every minute of it! This is my place to share my thoughts on homeschooling, my kids and living for the Lord. All the while being a little outside the box!!
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