The freshly painted bookcase came back into the loft last Saturday. It looks like a completely different piece of furniture!  The room finally looks tied together instead of full of disjointed pieces. I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out the best arrangement for the books.  I decided to put a lot of the resource books that the kids use all the time in this bookcase, so it would be more convenient for them.  Last summer I bought wicker baskets to put on top of the bookcases to maximize storage.  I have filled those with various odds and ends.  The next phase is for my husband to build the doors for the wall unit. 

     This past week in TOG, we studied the Alamo!  During our socratic discussion, my daughter commented that it was pretty cool to study a TOG topic on our own state.  We've caught several errors in our various books and have learned that our most trustworthy sources come from Texas. ;)  Today we visited the Alamo and this information came in "mighty handy" as Davy Crockett would say.  

     Interestingly, while we were in the gardens of the Alamo looking at huge placards of the history of Texas under each of its six flags, I overheard my daughter explaining some of the Spanish history of Texas to some men.  Then my son jumped in and answered a few of their questions.  I was exceedingly pleased at the amount of information they had retained from their reading. The group was amazed as well and said they really should read the placards themselves, since they were English teachers from New York.  lol They complimented the kids on their terrific education and they said they were homeschooled. The men looked at me in amazement and chuckled and said that they now have a more favorable impression of homeschoolers. Then they started asking me several questions about the Alamo.  I'm not sure if they were part of a large group, or if others overheard and started gathering around, but there I was giving a tour of the Alamo history in the gardens!  It was a lot of fun!

 

     While we were inside the Alamo,  I told the kids to look for the list of names of the defenders of the Alamo and find out where they came from.  They might be surprised!  Did you know that the defenders came not only from Texas, but also several states in America and several different countries in Europe?  We were surprised by some of the names of the defenders as well, which probably revealed a lot about the loyalties of their parents.

George Washington Cottle of Missouri

Andrew Jackson Harrison of Tennessee

Patrick Henry Herndon of Virginia

William J. Lightfoot of Virginia

George Washington Main of Virginia

Napoleon B. (Bonaparte?) Mitchell

     Then there was Benjamin Rush Milam. (he was likely named after the Benjamin Rush who  signed the Declaration of Independence) Milam died in an early skirmish in San Antonio.  He is famous for saying a famous phrase while trying to enlist men to journey with him to fight for Independence, "Who will go with old Ben to San Antonio?" 

Then there was the early Texas settler, Washington Lafayette Denman.

     Naturally, after Texas Independence, many babies were named after William Travis, Davy Crockett and Sam Houston.  We've all probably known someone personally with at least one of these names.

     Tonight we watched the Davy Crockett movie with Fess Parker.  Since my son and I had read Davy Crockett's journal a few weeks ago, we were able to more accurately separate myth from reality in the movie.  Throughout the movie, my son kept saying, "He really did that.  No, that's a bit different." 

     Davy Crockett did fight in the Creek Wars with Andy Jackson.  When Davy insisted on leaving the Creek Wars for a while to provide for his family, he did face cannons. However it was the General and not the Major who threatened to fire at him if he left. Andrew Jackson did make his classic comment, although in more colorful language, when Davy Crockett called his bluff.  Davy did live by the motto, "Be always sure you are right, then go ahead."  Davy did represent Congress in his state legislature in Nashville.  Davy did represent Tennessee in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC under the Jackson administration.  Davy did open his first session of Congress with his famous descriptive yarn.  Davy did get in a heated argument with President Jackson over the Indian Removal Act and left Congress. Davy did travel to Texas to see about becoming a land agent. Davy did accurately shoot the Mexicans from the Alamo. Whenever they saw him over the walls of the Alamo with his gun, they fled!  Partly due to him, Santa Anna lost 10 men for every man killed in the Alamo.  Santa Anna suffered huge losses during that seige. Although he considered it a victory, his officers knew another victory like that would do them in.

     Davy did not enter Texas in the desert fighting Indians! Despite the movie set for the Alamo being in West Texas, the real Alamo is near a river in a city that had buildings (even in 1836) in South Central Texas where the hill country meets the blackland prairie. Within this region is an aquifer from which bubbles numerous rivers such as the San Antonio River.   After a long, hot, dry journey through the desert from Mexico City, the Spaniards found this area to be an oasis. As a result, the Spanish established San Antonio de Bexar as the seat of government and built the Spanish Governor's Palace, presidio and five missions, such as the Alamo, there.  Davy actually entered Texas from the Northeast and into the Piney Woods.  Yes, there are Piney Woods in Texas.  In fact, East Texas is home to Davy Crockett National Forest as well as Sam Houston National Forest.  Texas is far more diverse than movies typically show.    

     The New Yorkers' questions allowed me to see the missing pieces of the Texas puzzle for them.  I tried to help them put the pieces in place. 

     Moses Austin, an entrepreneur from America, negotiated an arrangement with Spain to bring settlers from America to Texas.  Spain had tried unsuccessfully for years to bring their own colonists.  Some Canary Islanders had settled in San Antonio but that was about all that came.  Then the French claimed Texas for a while which angered the Spanish.  Additionally the Comanches kept invading from the north and west.  Therefore Spain realized that American settlers on the untamed Texan frontier could make this a win-win situation for all.  Unfortunately Moses Austin died about the time that Mexico gained its independence from Spain.  His son, Stephen Austin, renegogiated with Mexico and successfully brought the first settlers into East Texas, called The Old Three Hundred.  Men who brought settlers into Texas under these terms were land agents who were called empresarios.  Another empresario was the Baron de Bastrop who was a delightful gentleman with a secret past from Holland who helped the early settlements of Texas in numerous ways. Although he left Holland in disgrace, Texas loved and honored him.  Today an East Texas town is named after him.

     Seeking land on which to settle and begin new lives, many Americans chose Texas due to better land prices than they could get in America.  As the settlers immigrated into the Mexican territory of Texas, they willingly made agreements with the Mexican government to become Mexican citizens and convert to the Roman Catholic religion. 

     In time, Santa Anna  declared himself not only dictator of Mexico, but also the Napoleon of the West.  (My kids thought we were done with Napoleon!  I keep telling them that Napoleon is classic.  He will not quietly go away.  In fact, he's like the Energizer bunny.  His influence will continue to pop up in history again and again and again...)  Santa Anna destroyed the Constitution and took away the rights of the Texas settlers.  As a result, they had taxation without representation.  Hmmmmm, is this sounding a little familiar????  When Stephen Austin went to Mexico City to negotiate, he was thrown into prison for over a year.  Hmmmm, isn't this called tyranny? As a result the Texians (American settlers) and Tejanos (Mexican citizens living in Texas) banded together to seek a return to the original consitution.  Hmmmm, doesn't this sound like the Colonists' first efforts with England in the 1770s?  Unable to come to terms, the Texans finally declared Independence.  

     In my reading last week, I found it fascinating to read how the massacre of every gallant defender of the beseiged Alamo, under the valiant leadership of William Barret Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, has been added to the pages of history with heroic figures of yore like King Leonidas and Roland.  King Leonidas led the Spartans who were annihilated by the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.  Only one man escaped to warn Athens of the loss, which inspired the victorious Greek success over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. 

      Roland, part of Charlemagne's army, led his men against Spain.  When the Basques killed Roland and every one of his men, their heroism spread through the land.  The Song of Roland is a classic piece of literature that commemorates his heroism.  Likewise, the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad led to the infamous battle cries during the final battle at San Jacinto.  "Remember Goliad!" "Remember the Alamo!"  On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston captured Santa Anna and Texas became a Republic.  Texas is the only state in the nation to have been a Republic.  Every April 21, San Antonio celebrates Texas Independence with Fiesta with parades by the Alamo and on the San Antonio River.

 

     Because of the uniqueness of Texas history, I am having the kids write a research paper on the similarities of American Independence and Texas Independence.  It has been a fascinating study for me to outline the direction this paper will take.  Using the IEW methods of doing a research paper, the kids will do one paragraph a week over the next several weeks.  They add to their "Works Cited" page weekly. Then at the end they will put all the paragraphs in order, write the transitional sentences between paragraphs and write the introductions and conclusions.  Done!  To guide them, each week I present the kids with the topic of their paragraph. Then they have to pull the resources from the shelves and learn to use the index or table of contents to find the pages with appropriate information. Although this is not really difficult, my kids prefer to "write from the brain" instead of taking the time to back up their facts from sources.  So I guide them in their thinking, by asking questions and giving them tips if needed.   

     Although we have studied Texas history before, my kids have enjoyed studying some of their own state's history within the TOG curriculum.  It will be interesting to see which aspects of this, if any, will makes its way to our next unit celebration. Stay tuned! 

Updated:  After more digging, I have learned that both of my kids have several of their articles published!  Great job, kids!  For the details, see below...

     A few posts ago I shared our excitement over our son getting published in the literary magazine, Magnum Opus.  I just found out that they have published my daughter's article too!  Whereas my son's article made the actual magazine, my daughter sort of got an honorable mention, so she has been published at the magazine's web site.  I hesitate to share which article is hers, since the web site publishes the students' full name.  Like her brother, this article was written a few years ago and was submitted the following autumn when the call for submissions was made.  If you'd like to read the article, just e-mail me.  In the right hand column of this blog, under the "Prayers for Noah" picture, you will see "Email me."  Just use that to get in touch with me and I'll send the link and details.  

     There's been a bit of publication fever going on around here, which has been quite exciting!  I have had the honor of being contacted by two different groups to send them links to specific articles that I write, which they have/will publish through their sites for their readership.  My kids and husband are always delighted to hear when I get contacts for this. In fact, we have all been amazed at "who" has stepped into the world of my blog and shared a comment or writing request. My kids have even said in awe, "Mom, you're getting famous!"  I don't know about that, but it is exciting!       

     About a week ago my husband installed the new bookcases over the cabinets. The shelves are primarily full of our history and literature books.   Of course the literature books correspond to the historical era we are studying.  Since we use TOG, there will be more books coming!  I am thrilled to finally be able to have all our history books available for perusing whenever a question arises, instead of stored in boxes. We are constantly referring to them for various bits of information.  Thomas Jefferson once said "I can't live without books." I wonder what he would think of our growing library? ;)  These books have made history informative and interesting.  My kids love it and would be upset if we returned to traditional textbooks. They have definitely been a worthwhile investment to their education.

     It took over a week to organize the shelves correctly.  lol  I had seriously considered dotting, but I have not yet succombed to that colorful venture. (Only my TOG friends will understand this. lol) Yet, my books ARE in chronological order from the beginning of time to the present.  =)

Now for my other "organized" set of books... 

     Here are other books that belong in the bookcase on the opposite wall. By the way, these are typically shelved by category in alphabetical order by author.  With this method, I always know how to locate a book. Because this bookcase needed a little tlc, my husband decided to paint it before he builds the doors on the lower cabinets on the big wall unit.  In the meantime, I do have an extremely "organized" layout of books on the floor!  lol  Once the other bookcase is painted I will be playing around with the final arrangement of all of the books.  It is difficult to think out the best arrangement when part of our library is on the floor! ;)  My husband says I should be getting the "new" bookcase this Saturday.  Stay tuned!

     This week we took a time off from our usual history studies to focus on "Yorktown" through Colonial Williamsburg's award winning Electronic Field Trip series.  I have been yearning to have my kids partake in these for years, but the expense made them cost prohibitive.  They are now made affordable to homeschoolers by homeschool buyer's co-op. 

     Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution.  Numerous events miraculously fell into place for the badly beleaguered Continental Army to finally become victorious.  Over the course of six years, this was only the second major defeat of the British (the first being Saratoga), but it was enough to cause England to withdraw from efforts to dominate America.  Within the next two years, King George III finally recognized America as being "...free, sovereign and indepedent states."

     One of the story lines was about Lt. Col. John Laurens who not only helped to capture Redoubt 10 at Yorktown, but also negotiated the terms of surrender with the British.  Laurens' story on the screen piqued our curiousity, so we dug deeper to discover more about this fascinating indivudual who fought for liberty for all, even slaves. His personal story came to the surrender table and, following General Washington's orders, he firmly resisted British pleas to lighten the terms of surrender.  Washington strictly ordered that as the British dishonored General Lincoln in Charleston in 1780, so would the British be treated the same at this surrender ceremony.  Denied the honors of war, they could neither fly their flags nor play a song of the victor. The kids and I agreed this was contrary to our way of thinking.  We cannot imagine a conquered group wanting to play a song of the victor.  As I told the kids, we have to put ourselves into their shoes.  For the conquered, to play the music of the victor is a sign that they fought honorably.    

     Col. Laurens spoke some French in the movie and that intrigued us.  Why would an American officer speak French?  Further research answered this question and helped us to more fully understand his story.  Since we don't speak French, we felt we were missing out on that part of the story. Therefore we went through the script and found the French parts.  I had the kids look for words they recognized that relate to English, like "courage".  Other words are similar to the Latin we are now studying. My son recognized one word immediately, "hommes" which was also part of the name of John Paul Jones' ship, he reminded us.  My daughter knew the actual meaning from her Latin. The rest we put through a French/English translator.  This was not easy but it was fun. We were surprised by the translations!  It definitely brought more meaning to our understanding of the story.     

     The on-line activities provided at the EFT website were enjoyed by my kids.  One, in particular, assigned them the duty to become an amabassador and tour Europe seeking aid for the American cause.  That was not as easy as it sounded.  They were sent back a few times to seek more aid. They were quickly feeling the fatigue of the real life ambassadors they had studied.

 There was also an interactive timeline of events leading up to Yorktown.  

     The Teacher Resources included informative diagrams on how earthworks were built, by means of gabions and fascines.  There were also diagrams of the inside of a cannon and how it was loaded to fire.  We have been to numerous cannon loading and firing demonstrations on our trips to Virginia.  The diagrams clarified, for me anyway, the precise process. 

     Additionally, there were diagrams of the 4 types of artillery used and their differences in trajectory, mobility and type of shot.  This has prompted much discussion around here.  In fact, my husband shakes his head in disbelief at what we have learned about artillery!

     Of course artillery is right up my son's alley, a real guy's topic.  My daughter and I, who are girlie-girls, were surprisingly able to get into this topic as well, because of the positively engaging field trip!  While evaluating the different types of artillery, many questions arose.  We did some extra digging for details at some extra websites.  Since my kids had the opportunity to e-mail General George Washington this week, they decided to ask him for burning details!

     My son was insistent that bombs could be shot from a field cannon which has a straight trajectory.  I figured they could, but I didn't think it was practical.  Not satisfied with my explanation, he e-mailed General Washington about it that night. In the morning my son asked if I had checked the e-mail yet and had General Washington replied?  Well, no.  I told him that the general was an hour ahead of us and probably was thinking about bed the night before.  My son piped up and said the general might have e-mailed early this morning.  I suggested he let the general eat his breakfast first!  It wasn't even 7am our time!  Shortly before the morning's live broadcast of "Yorktown", the e-mail to my son arrived!  General Washington seemed a bit surprised at the idea of using a bomb in a field cannon.  The trajectory is all wrong to use it effectively.  Of course he was extremely patient and polite in his explanation, which he signed, "Your most obedient servant, G. Washington."  Thank you General Washington for answering my son's imaginative question!

     Wed night my daughter e-mailed General Washington "What were the advantages you had with the field and garrison cannons, as opposed to the howitzer and the mortar?  Which ones were often preferred for use in battle?"  After the morning's EFT live broadcast, we found the reply in the e-mail and we were pleasingly surprised!  General Washington wrote an entire page to answer her questions in fascinating detail.  Thank you General Washington for taking the time to answer her questions so completely!  I gave each of my kids printed copies of their e-mails for souvenirs. My kids were elated to have had this exchange from the busy general, whom they got to meet a few months ago!  

     Over lunch, we started talking about artillery.  (Doesn't everyone?)  My son was still asking questions about all the various possibilities of how bombs could be used in the 18th century, none of which were practically done. It finally dawned on me that my son is approaching this like a 21st century boy who has lots of time and imagination to fiddle with all of the possibilities of an item, because he lives in a free society and doesn't have to worry about an enemy marching down our street and pillaging our home.  I told him that warfare is life or death.  The soldiers use proven methods. They look at their objectives and use the means that will attain the best possibility of arriving at their goals with the least amount of work in the shortest amount of time.  (This sort of made sense to him, due to all of the GA Henty books we read.)  We went through what seemed a million scenarios for him to figure this out. Through this discourse, I also realized he kept thinking of a bomb as a missile.  Once I mentioned that, everything seemed to fall into place for him. Whew!  By George, I think he's got it now! 

     This week, we've listened to Colonial Williamsburg podcasts from different people involved in the Battle of Yorktown: General Washington, General Lafayette, James Armistead, and the Rhode Island Regiment. There is also one about when "Yorktown" premiered in October 2006. The podcasts for this week and the next are about how the Colonial Williamsburg blacksmiths are recreating an 18th century 3# cannon.  They even have a special blog about the ongoing process, which my son is avidly reading! 

     The day before the live broadcast, we previewed the "Yorktown" video and watched the Q&As from the 2006 broadcast.  One of our favorite questions answered then was "Why did the British wear red uniforms?"  Col. Laurens gave a fantastic answer that we understood completely.  It goes all the way back to the fierce Spartan soldiers whom the British wanted to emulate.  Even my son  wanted to recreate their fierceness when we studied them a few years ago!

     Before the live presentation of the field trip started, I ran the live stream which had period music from a harpsichord in the background. I played that softly, while I shared some interesting tidbits of information from a recent book I had read, Victory at Yorktown: The Campgaign that Won the Revolution.  The various scenarios prompted lots of discussion and we started digging into other sources until the music ended and the field trip began. 

     This year's Q&A featured Colonel Laurens, a loyalist, a historian from the Yorktown National Park Service, and a historian from Colonial Williamsburg in charge of the African American program.  As in the 2006 program Q&A on the Yorktown website, we not only learned from the excellent answers given, but also thoroughly enjoyed Col. Laurens and the loyalist being respectfully rude to each other!  lol We could easily imagine how they would act if they were real people instead of actors.  Representing different viewpoints of the war, neither one of them liked the other's answers! My kids greatly enjoyed the field trip and I've already called in an order for a DVD.

     My kids each chose a different activity from the Teacher's Guide to work on. There are many from which to choose for various ages and from writing to art.  I wanted my 13yos and 15yod to do a three page writing assignment from the CW EFT.  They each chose the one they liked the best, then worked diligently on it to present to their dad on the weekend.

     We had read 4 different accounts of the Battle of Yorktown, from different points of view.  Using the perspective of one of these accounts, my daughter decided to write a letter to a friend about the seige on Yorktown.  She chose the perspective of a German soldier, who was in the French army, fighting for America.  (Isn't that an interesting combination?!)   Since my daughter already had a colonial dress that she wore for our "American Revolution Celebration" and to Colonial Williamsburg last summer, I suggested that she dress up for the part.  Here she is reenacting the letter writing.  She typed her paper into her computer, changed the font to a fancy script, then we printed it out on parchment.  She began her little skit by finishing the letter with her quill.  Then she read the entire letter aloud to us.  This writing assignment was an excellent challenge for her, since she needed to stay within the parameters of the viewpoint of the Continental Army instead of telling the British viewpoint of being stuck in that defenseless position.  It was also a challenge for her to stay within the 1781 mindset in predicting the impact of Yorktown.  She had some excellent ideas and had fun with the assignment.   She also used some information we learned from Col. Laurens during the Q&A.  She represented "baggage" (what a term) or non-combatants who followed the army to do laundry and cooking.

     My son chose one of the historical figures we had studied during Yorktown.  He had to write a speech about the seige of Yorktown from the perspective of this person and tell what happened to them after Yorktown.  Then he was to dress up and play the part!  Hmmmm, we do this type of thing all the time, so I wasn't surprised that he picked this activity.  He decided to be the Marquis de Lafayette.  He met Lafayette last summer in Williamsburg. (Lafayette happens to be played by the same actor who played Lt. Col. Laurens.)

     While in Williamsburg, we only got to hear the events of the Marquis' life up to Yorktown.  Now my son had to include perspective during Yorktown.  During our research, we learned that Col. Laurens was under Lafayette's command.  Also we learned that Lafayette made the decision for the method of attack made on redoubt ten. 

     Here is Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. (My son and I both had fun learning how to pronounce that in French.  And yes, we do have it memorized! Can you imagine his mother calling him that when he was in trouble as a little boy? lol)  My son was ecstatic to finally have a General Lafayette costume! He already had parts of the costume from other occasions. While I sewed the vest and coat in the last couple of days, he worked industriously on his speech. He described Lafayette's involvement and impressions at Yorktown.  Then he told about his life afterwards during the French Revolution, the era of Napoleon and his Grand Tour of America. Then he finished with what America and independence meant to him.

     They finished their presentation with a joint Q&A session where they went into more detail about artillery, fortifications and anything else enquiring minds might want to know. Actually, one question my husband asked we could have never answered had it not been for Col. Laurens answering the very same question during the live broadcast's Q&A.  How high can earthworks be?  During the course of explaining the method and importance of cleaning out a cannon before loading, we got a new question.  How does one safely load hot shot into a cannon?  We can't e-mail General Washington, as he is no longer available.  But my son can load that question onto the Yorktown message board where it will be answered by a CW historian. 

     While answering questions, they used illustrations from some of their sources.  The binder in the top left of the photo has all of the CW EFT resources provided for "Yorktown."

     Because of this electronic field trip, I think our Yorktown experience has almost come full circle. Four years ago we had been to the Yorktown Victory Center, which is a hands-on area for kids (young and old) next door to the actual battlefield. 

     When we were in Williamsburg last summer, I had suggested that we see the actual battlefield. Two weeks go quickly when a wish list is long, and my children simply could not imagine a day at a battlefield where nothing was happening. They thought it would be boring, so we did not go.  Since then, I have been looking for something to give us enough background information to make a future trip to Yorktown interesting for them.  Well, this EFT on Yorktown was the ticket!  Hopefully we can make a future trip back to Yorktown (and Colonial Williamsburg).  While walking the quiet fields of Yorktown, I trust that we will be able to look upon the cannons, seige lines and earthworks that are still in place (albeit some from the Civil War) and have some imagination recreating the historic events in our minds.  Until then, we are thankful for these Electronic Field Trips from Colonial Williamsburg which boost our knowledge and imaginations!  Huzzah!  

     I am often asked about the unit celebrations that we do for history.  Just like visiting Colonial Williamsburg, which brings history to life, so do unit celebrations.  Encouraged by our history curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, this becomes a time to celebrate the fun and hard work in the course of our history studies.  Although book work and writing are excellent means of learning, they only engage part of the brain.  Adding fine arts, movement and role-playing, cooking and eating foods of the era, dressing up in period clothes do more than appeal to the various senses. They also engage the other part of the brain, which enhances the learning experience.  For more information on engaging the different areas of the brain to maximize learning, I highly recommend the book, Brain Based Learning.

Hosting unit celebrations for extended family has also created a stronger bond in our relationships, as they come to understand the benefits of homeschooling.  We have more support for homeschooling from extended family than ever before.  If we no longer had unit celebrations, my husband, children and extended family would revolt!  lol

I've had a number of moms say they want to do a unit celebration exactly like we do.  Then there are others who say they could never do it.  However, I do not encourage anyone to do it exactly like us.  Instead I encourage them to focus on their interests using their strengths.  Believe it or not, I find sewing therapeutic, so I enjoy sewing costumes.  I used to sew costumes for the children's choir and I learned a lot of tips on how to think outside the box while creating costumes.  Therefore, for me, sewing costumes is an exciting challenge.  I spend hours pouring over period pictures and modern day patterns, researching to simplify yet make the biggest impact.  Also, my kids won't do this without me, so I dress up with them.  It's been a lot of fun!  

Although TOG often suggests specific details on certain unit celebrations, we often go our own route.  My kids usually pick their favorite character from the period we have studied to reenact for the unit celebration.  Then we plan how to represent that character.  With each unit, I ask them to do a little more in the way of writing, speaking and memory work.  Also, I try to focus on the theme of the era and incorporate that into the unit celebration.  

Here are the eras we have recreated to date...

We have portrayed an Ancient Egyptian family...

My daughter and I portrayed Hebrews while my son portrayed a Phoenician trader of purple dye during the time of the early Greeks (which are prior to the Ancient Greeks)...

We've portrayed Ancient Greeks...

We've portrayed Ancient Romans...

We've had a Medieval Feast...

We've portrayed the Renaissance...

We've portrayed Native Americans during the establishment of the Thirteen Colonies...

We've portrayed the American Revolution... 

We've portrayed the Napoleonic Era...

We are now studying 1825-1850.  Can you guess who we will portray at our next unit celebration?

My son has recently been published in the literary magazine, Magnum Opus!   A couple of years ago we were studying Ancient Greece.  My son became fascinated with the hoplite soldier, so he not only did a research article on hoplites, but also made a costume and dressed up as one for our TOG Year 1 Unit 3 Unit Celebration. 

Other articles I have read, submitted by kids, in Magnum Opus, have been excellent.  I've wondered if my kids' writing would ever be good enough for publication in this professional looking magazine.  Before IEW, my children struggled with writing.  My son gave too many details, whereas my daughter couldn't organize her thoughts.  Despite lots of success in teaching other students how to write, I was at a roadblock with my own children.  Then I discovered IEW.  IEW teaches students how to organize their thoughts with basic structural models for every form of writing imaginable.  In addition, they are given concrete tools for flexibility and originality in style.

Two years ago was not only our first year of TOG, but also our first year with IEW.  My children learned how to do about one model of writing a month, applying the concepts to a topic being learned in history.  How better to learn history than to Read, Think and Write? By the spring, my kids were learning how to write research papers while they were learning about Ancient Greece.

One of the principles of IEW is not to perfect every paper.  Instead, why not make writing accessible and fun? Actually, during the writing process, I do give feedback and have them complete a basically good paper, based on their current writing skills. As one skill becomes easy, I give them a new challenge.  Then to make it meaningful, we usually write on our history topics, to help them make connections between major events in history.  Finally. we make it fun, by coordinating our writing projects with our fun unit celebrations four times a year! 

At the end of the school year, IEW encourages students to choose one paper previously written to perfect and turn into a magnum opus (Latin for "great work").  A few months after our Ancient Greek studies, IEW announced the beginning of their new literary magazine just for kids who use IEW.  Appropriately named Magnum Opus,  the cream of the crop from the submissions get published in the magazine.   

My kids selected their favorite papers and submitted them.  In the second issue of Magnum Opus, their names were printed.  However, my son's hoplite article was returned in the mail, with encouraging and helpful comments from the editor, who hoped he would tighten the paper for a future submission.  Wow!  What mom/teacher could ask for anything more?  I didn't even have to pay for this!  My son willingly redid his paper and we resubmitted it.  Now that he has had feedback from an editor, he is more willing to listen to my guidance on his papers.  This has turned into a win/win situation!

Yesterday, in the snail mail, we got our copy of Magnum Opus.   Hurriedly, I flipped through it and found my son's hoplite article!  I excitedly called my son to see it!  We loved it! The entire family was elated! The editors did a terrific job of making it look professional!  Also, they used a wonderful picture of an authentic hoplite shield for the background!  I am  proud of my son!  Additionally, I am thankful for this terrific project from IEW to encourage young writers...or should I say, young historians?  ;) 

We went to the museum today to see the bluebonnet paintings of famed Texas Impressionist, Julian Onderdonk.  He grew up in San Antonio in the late 1800's and studied art at Long Island, New York, from the same art teacher his father had.  Later his sister received an art education from the same teacher.  We got to see a reenactment of this sister who shared about her brother's art work.  She specialized in miniatures herself, and eventually became curator for the Witte Museum.

We haven't officially studied impressionistic art, since we are only up to the 1820's in world history.  My family was a bit confused by the blurry art when we walked into the gallery, so I shared the little bit I knew about appreciating this lovely style of painting. I told them about Claude Monet and the series of his famous "Water Lily" paintings. He painted the same theme in different parts of the day and different times of the year...each has a different look.  Seeing the paintings in person is an experience I hope to enjoy someday. 

Impressionist art does look blurry because it's meant to be viewed from a distance.  While watching hgtv one time, a designer recommended impressionistic art to a couple for some art niches on the second story of their two story wall.  I have wanted to do the same thing for our two story foyer.  But I can't afford the art.  I told the kids when we study impressionism, we'll get some canvas and oil paints and try our hand at painting impressionistic art. That gave them a goal to keep in mind while looking at the art. 

After touring the gallery, everyone was able to explain their opinion of their least favorite pieces, as well as their favorite pieces.  We also saw that we could look at the art historically.  Onderdonk painted scenes of many places in and around San Antonio that look drastically different today.  One spot was Alamo Heights, which in the early 1920's was a field of cactus and bluebonnets.  Today it is a busy metropolitan area.  We also got to see scenes of the misisons, the San Antonio River, the Guenther flour mill and more.  There were also sketches of studies in individual flowers from different angles, which I especially enjoyed.

We also compared the numerous bluebonnet paintings that were painted during different times of the day, from morning, to midday to twilight.  We also compared paintings in different types of weather, from sunny to foggy to rainy to the one of dark clouds rolling across the sky due to an impending storm. That particular piece moved me the most. I could feel the gush of cool air blow up, the flowers and grasses waving frantically in the gale, and the fear of how severe this particular thunderstorm could be. 

Additionally, Onderdonk painted scenes from where he was trained in Long Island, New York City and even the Thousand Islands.  There was even a sketch of Washington's headquarters in New York City!   

After experiencing the bluebonnets, we went to a different gallery upstairs which housed paintings from a variety of painters from Onderdonk to Theodore Gentilz.  Gentilz, who was trained in Paris, was from the nearby Alsatian town of Castroville and he painted Texan scenes in and around San Antonio in the old European style.  Initially, we were a bit disappointed in them.  Although they were incredibly sharp and crisp in detail, he was extremely sparing overall in detail and left out much of the intricate Spanish carvings in the missions.  Later, I happened to view the paintings from a distance and they suddenly looked terrific.  I called the family over to look and they had to agree.  From a distance, the paintings looked incredibly perfect, as if one could walk right into the painting.  

As we walked around and looked at the various paintings at our leisure, I had gotten ahead of the rest of the family and noticed a scene of La Grange, Fayette County, Texas.  I didn't realize we had a county named after the Marquis de Lafayette in Texas!  I thought I'd wait to see if the kids would notice.  They aren't museum buffs and I've been trying to train them in how to experience a museum.  I had told them to read the little signs and look for the painters Gentilz and Onderdonk.  Hmmmm, this would be a test to see if they were really reading these signs or not.  By the time I reached the other end of the room, the kids started calling me in hushed enthusiasm, "Mom!  Mom!  Come here!  Look at the sign...La Grange, Fayette County, Texas!"   (I was smiling from ear to ear!)  It was fun listening to them talk to each other. "It's named after Lafayette!"  "Well sort of."  My son fixed that problem!  He took his fingers and covered "Grange" so it would read "La Fayette."  They were quietly giggling!  They are so funny!  They had more excitement over that La Fayette sign than they did with any of the paintings today!     

Saturday evening we had our Tapestry of Grace Year 3 Unit 1 Celebration.  The theme was Napoleon's World.  This is our little time machine in the foyer, where guests enter a different historical era. 

We had a major costume glitch right before my parents arrived.  My son's boot busted!  I had to grab my sewing kit and sew it back together while my husband took my parents into the garage to show off his cabinetry project for the schoolroom.  Finally, the boot was fixed and the show could go on! 

My son had the idea to begin the unit celebration with a small skit.  Hmmmm, I think he was inspired by the DVD we had watched the other night, Jefferson and Adams: A Stage Play!  On the left is my daughter, playing Lizzy Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. She is reading the astonishing letter she has received from Mr. Darcy.  On the right is my son.  Can you guess who he is???  No, not Napoleon as many have predicted!  lol  While in Colonial Williamsburg, he purchased a bosun whistle.  He insisted on being someone in Year 3 Unit 1 who used this whistle.  It took a few weeks to find someone, but we finally discovered a fascinating man who probably used this.  My son portrayed Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry who won a famous naval battle on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. (And my son was elated when he learned that the  Marquis de Lafayette visited the scene of this battle on his Grand Tour of America in 1824!)  He is doing paperwork at his desk.  I portrayed Thomas Jefferson's daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph.  She was an interesting lady.  She was homeschooled in the classics by her father, then she lived in France at the on-set of the French Revolution when her father was Minister to France.   While living at Monticello with her father, husband and children, she homeschooled her own children while running the household.  After a few moments of our skit, my son stood up and blew his bosun's whistle to announce the opening.  Then each of us introduced ourselves.  After I introduced myself, I invited everyone into the dining room to enjoy some food from the Monticello kitchen.

Jefferson had some of his cooks professionally trained in Paris.  The kitchen at Monticello was specially built to accomodate French cooking with the delicate sauces and slow cooking of meats, making them more tender than the quick cooking over an open hearth.  The kids and I spent all day Saturday cooking.  The kids got to learn lots of French cooking techniques. (I was very thankful for my training in years past from watching French cook Jacques Pepin on tv! It allowed me to understand some of the techniques.) We used a cookbook I had purchased while we were at Monticello a few months ago, Dining at Monticello. 

This is a French inspired recipe for asparagus marinated with herb vinaigrette.

 We pretended this was a Virginia Ham.  There is none to be found in Texas.  I had some Virgninia Ham while we were on vacation a few months ago and it is delicious. It is very salty, but a little bit of ham goes a long way in flavor.  I meant to buy an actual Virginia Ham while we were on vacation for this unit celebration but I forgot. 

 This is a salad with edible flowers.  I had my daughter dress the salad and I think she got carried away!  LOL  It looks more like a bouquet! =) There are several types of gourmet lettuce underneath the flowers!

There was fresh herbal vinaigrette to use to dress the salad.

This is baked macaroni with cheese...much different from versions of today.

We also had Vermicelli Soup.

We added homemade pasta to the soup.  Here is some extra drying for future recipes!  It is called Nouilly a maccaroni.  There is actually a copy of this recipe in Jefferson's own penmanship today. 

My daughter also made fresh lemonade.  That was delicious!  After a terrific dinner, we served the dessert course.  There was homemade chocolate ice cream, made to recreate the texture Jefferson would have known.  It was decadently chocolate!   

We also had Snow Eggs!  These were delicious!!!  The white is poached meringue with a subtle hint of orange.  They are laying in a delectable custard sauce. 

 After dinner, we were treated to an entertainment of music.  My daughter read the historical background of "The Star Spangled Banner." 

Then my son played the tune on his fife.

He was very military in his manner...

Then my son gave an introduction to the "Ode to Joy", which my daughter played on the piano.  After that, my daughter read the historical background to "Angels From the Realms of Glory", which my son played on the piano.

After enjoying the music, my son shared his Lewis and Clark journal.  He gave some background on the expedition.  He pretended to have been on the expedition as well, and wrote journal entries for the different things he saw.  He enjoyed this project immensely.  I  couldn't stop him from researching and writing! He'd say, "But Mom, I want to do this animal too!" A teacher/mom's dream!  He wrote an introduction to his journal, after he finally ran out of time for more entries.  He bound all the papers together by stitching them and then glued on a suede cover.  

He chose one entry to share, which was about the buffalo.

Afterwards, everyone oohed and ahhed over his other pictures too.  Here is the frisky Eastern Grey Squirrel...

a stately bald eagle...

the ferocious grizzly bear...

the abundant salmon...

and the Clark's Nutcracker, many of which we actually got to see on previous vacations to Colorado.

Then my daughter read her literary analysis paper on Pride and Prejudice.  She had never done a literary analysis paper before.  This was her favorite book of the entire unit and she fully understood the literary terms to use to describe the plot.    

After that, she gave a recitation of Lizzy's reaction to Darcy's letter.  She actually had it all memorized. She was using Darcy's letter as a prop.

Then my son gave his Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry speech.  This man was a low ranking naval officer, who felt cheated that he didn't get to sail on the open sea where all the action was.  Instead, he was stuck on the quiet backwaters of Lake Erie.  

Well, the War of 1812 came to Lake Erie.  He hoisted the flag he had made, bearing the final words of a good friend who had died in a previous naval battle. 

Even though America had a tiny navy and were fighting England, who ruled the seas, the Americans won the battle of Lake Erie against all odds.  Afterwards, Perry wrote this letter...

to Brigadier General William Henry Harrison...

and sealed it.

My daughter acted as courier and took it to Dad, who opened it and read it. 

Then my daughter explained the history of some of the art projects they did, like these silhouettes.

Then she domonstrated how to do quilling.  It is a simple matter of wrapping a piece of paper around a quill.

My daughter created this picture...

and my son made Thanksgiving dinner...

Finally, my son read his comparison/contrast paper on George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte.  At the end, my son explained that Napoleon could not come as a guest to our unit celebration, because he was in exile.

Over the course of the nine weeks of our unit, we read many books and watched DVDs, most of which referred to Napoleon's influence in some way. My children are amazed that there is no getting away from Napoleon! Before Tapestry of Grace, we used a history textbook where we learned about Napoleon in a few paragraphs and never realized what an influence (for better or worse) that he had on the world.  Even this week as we open our unit 2 books, we have found Napoleon's influence on the pages, even though he had been dead for several years.  He really stirred things up while he was alive.  And from previewing Unit 2, it appears that remnants of his influence, and those that are forthcoming with his nephew, will continue to create quite a stir! 

These are my daughter's rhetoric literature, government and fine arts books.  In literature we studied Pride and Prejudice.  We also learned about the Romantic influence on selected portions of Goethe's Faust and early nineteenth century poetry and short stories.   We studied poetry written by James MacPherson, Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Percy, William Blake, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats.  We read short stories by Washington Irving, including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Wrinkle."  We both were surprised to find the scene of the final demise of British Major Andre from the American Revolution in  "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."  That brought lots of emotions since we remembered how personable he was but he did aid Benedict Arnold in treason.  She also read interesting stories by Francois-Rene de Chateaubraind and Alexander Pushkin.  Whew!  It was a lot of work but she is learning to appreciate the classics and how to understand the underlying themes and meanings.

In government she has studied several original source documents.  We have compared the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights to France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Code Napoleon.  Additionally we have studied the constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Furthermore, we have analyzed Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden.  Also, we have read Volume I Part I of Frenchman's Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America.  

These books include the Dialectic history books that both kids read, in addition to the Dialectic literature books my son read.

We had fun shopping for fruits and vegetables like the ones that Thomas Jefferson grew at Monticello.  We'll be trying out lots of new vegetable recipes in the next week!  Most interesting, we discovered that Jefferson even had spicy peppers from San Antonio, Texas that had been sent to him by a captain!

While at Monticello, I had gotten some seeds from Thomas Jefferson's gardens.  We are looking forward to growing them next spring and reliving memories of our Year 3 Unit 1 studies. 

We had a good unit celebration last night!  My son in costume was worth all the effort!  I have to lesson plan for this week but will try to upload pictures this afternoon and do the unit celebration entry asap. 

During a delicious dinner (which was from a famous home...and one which the Marquis de Lafayette visited on his Grand Tour...hint, hint) my dad asked if all we study these days is the 19th century or do we do any current events.  I said we discuss current events too.  So he asked my son, "Do you know about ACORN?  Is that related to almonds and pecans?"  My son seriously told him about those nuts in Ohio who are illegally getting people to register multiple times to garner more votes for Obama.  My dad managed to get my son and I riled up about Obama. 

Why would anyone vote for someone who wants to distribute the wealth?  My MIL was talking to me on the phone a few weeks ago and of course she was very worried about all the money she has lost in the stock markets.  Who isn't?  Well, Obama just wants to redistribute the wealth...which is socialistic in nature.  In other words, this is communist!!!!  The hard working money we earn he wants to give to other people.  We have the freedom of choice in this country, hard fought by our Founding Fathers.  We have the freedom to help the poor through charities.  My husband and I cheefully donate to charities and I know many others do as well.  

The communist system has already proven itself to not work.  When people do not get to personally benefit from the product of their hard work, then why bother?  The people of the Soviet Union lost the motivation and the country ultimately collapsed. The silversmith at Colonial Williamsburg and I talked about this last summer.  Someone asked him if they sell their pieces of silver they create, or do they burn them down to start fresh.   The silversmith played around with that question a bit and asked how they (the tradespeople) feel if they had to melt down every project.  I piped up and said, "Discouraged!"  Precisely!  It is with pride that they get to display their lovely pieces of work in the shop next door and we get to ooh and ahh over every piece.  I know I was hoping my husband would buy some little trinket for me for my birthday.  How rewarding to a tradesperson than to have their piece valued like that?  

Why would people of America choose Obama, who wants to turn our country into a failing socialistic system?  We have studied about feudal societies in our history the last year.  The poor in these societies were controlled by the rich and had no choice.  We are currently learning how every country wants to have a constitution like our wonderful document.  America has proven that we have the best type of government around, where people have freedoms.  Feudal societies have been overturned in order to have a government like ours.  Obama wants to destroy all of that.  If Obama becomes president, he wants to ignore the Constitution in making decisions for our country.  Who wants a president like that?  Not me.  I don't want to lose my freedoms!

Time for Soapbox Sadie to get off her soapbox and ready for church.  But these are a few things that weigh heavy on my heart right now.       

We had our first Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip last week and the kids enjoyed it immensely. We learned that the negative campaigning tactics of today are nothing new.  That surprised us!  The first bitter election was in 1800 between Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist John Adams.  Then tensions increased when Thomas Jefferson tied with his Vice-Presidential candidate, Aaron Burr!  Because of this the 12th ammendment to the Constitution was ratified.  Although we had studied these topics a few weeks ago, we had not made the connection with negative campaigning of today. 

We began the week by reviewing this historic election in the Teacher Notes provided by EFT.  Since much of it was review, we were able to whiz through that and focus on some new vocabulary and ideas that were presented.  The notes took us through a brief history of elections in Colonial America, and I realized I had a Colonial Williasmburg Journal with great pictures of the CW actor/interpreters reenacting the election process...the very thing we were talking about.  So I pulled the journal out and we looked at all the pictures (and of course looked to see if we could recognize anyone from our previous trips.)   

Another topic of the EFT was the voting qualifications in Colonial America.  I began this by asking the kids if they remembered our trip to Colonial Williamsburg when we were sitting in front of the Courthouse. Someone came out and told us we could be part of the jury for the trials coming up.  We all stood. Then he called out the qualifications to be on the jury. We sat when we didn't qualify.  Out of our large group, only a handful were "in".   Hmmmmmm, the point was well made. Those of us who had to sit certainly felt historically excluded.  These are the same qualifications for voting in the eighteenth century: white male, property owner, Protestant, over 21 years of age.  The kids remembered and that prompted discussion.

Then we looked at two sets of original source documents, provided by "The Will of the People" EFT.  First we studied actual documents that showed  how discriminated groups of voters worked to gain the right to vote.  We also learned when the right was granted with a Constitutional Ammendment.  Then the kids got to play an interactive game at "The Will of the People" web site on their computers, about the history of voting rights.

After that we looked at another set of historical documents and analyzed negative campaign tactics.  Because we did not live in the time period  of these papers, we could easily detect the bias and slander.

Before the day of the actual Electronic Field Trip, we previewed the videos.  I am glad we did, because the kids were able to ask all of their questions and comment about everything they saw.  We also got to look over the script to answer any other questions we had.  Best of all, we got to pause and review any parts we missed because we were laughing so hard!  The script writer and actors competently took a negative topic and lightened it up with some terrific humor!  The kids tried finding some of the humorous stuff in the script but it wasn't there.  We've done a bit of theater and I know that with a group of clever people, once they get together and get on a roll, one never knows where it will go!  We wondered if this happened with the production of this video.  

The videos added a new dimension to the concepts we had studied. We recognized some of the actors from our previous trips!  (In the credits, my daughter found the name of the Patrick Henry we met in 2004.  He plays someone else in "The Will of the People" and it was fun to finally find him!  So that's what he looks like without a wig!  LOL)  

Of course, Thomas Jefferson was played by the same actor whom we got to meet in Colonial Williamsburg in 2004 (but we couldn't find him on our recent trip a few months ago).

He did an excellent job, as always!  When I saw this video, I got to thinking that this actor must like kids.  When we met him in 2004, it was at Kimball Theater at a program for kids.  Thomas Jefferson spoke specifically to the kids and answered only their questions.  He did have to raise his eyebrow a few times when parents snuck in a few questions via their kids.   And no, I wasn't one of them!  lol   Then Poplar Forest has a special program called "Conversations on Democracy" where this same actor portrays Thomas Jefferson.  He and various historical figures answer questions for students.  During this video as well, Thomas Jefferson acts with a brother and sister, teaching them about elections.  Thomas Jefferson engages well with the kids, respecting them, and patiently answering their questions, often times with humor.

On the day of the Electronic Field Trip, I tuned the computer to the video streaming and Colonial Williamsburg had beautiful classical music playing.  I kept that low and in the background while the kids knocked out some math.  When we heard the music stop, we knew it was time for the Electronic Field Trip. What a good excuse to put math to the side! 

The video is broken down into 3 parts.  After each part, the cameras went to the studio where Thomas Jefferson, a historian from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a political science professor from nearby Christopher Newport University, answered questions that were called in from students across the country.  Some of this was funny to watch too. Thomas Jefferson acted perfectly innocent about how his supporters handled information about opponent John Adams, while the CWF historian begged to differ and told the other side of the story!  The political scientist related everything to this year's election...and some of that information shocked Thomas Jefferson!  I think they did an excellent job telling both sides of the story without bias.  

There were two sessions of the EFT, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We watched both, since the questions would be different at each one. It was so much fun to hear the various questions and the actor/interpreters' reaction and answer to them.  A few days before when we had previewed the videos, the kids told Dad about how funny the video was.  He couldn't understand how they could be learning anything if they were having fun.  Well, during the afternoon's live broadcast, he came home early and had to pull up a seat and laugh (and learn...gasp) with us! ;)

After the sessions, I called to order a DVD.  The lady was very nice and asked me what I thought of the program. We talked for a few minutes about how wonderful and unique this particular EFT was.  The DVD should arrive in about 6 weeks, since it has to go through post production.  It will include the videos, the best of the questions and answers (I hope they include all of Thomas Jefferson's funny reactions!), closed captioning, and chapter titles for easy search.  Anything CWF does is quality, so I am content (though eager) to wait for it! 

My kids also had an opportunity to e-mail questions to Thomas Jefferson.    My daughter e-mailed two questions: 

"Dear Mr. Jefferson (we weren't sure if he was e-mailing as president or after), If Aaron Burr had been chosen President of the United States, would you have minded? Do you have any foresight in how his presidency would have been like? Thank you for teaching about the elections. Sincerely, _____"

She got a reply shortly before the Electronic Field Trip.  She enjoyed not only his answer, but was tickled when he signed it, "Your most humble servant, Th. Jefferson."

After the Electronic Field Trip, my son finally thought of a question.  He asked, "Mr. Jefferson,  Were you influenced by anyone to run for President or did you come up with the idea on your own? Thank you for taking the time to answer this question.  Inquisitively yours, __________"

My son had a blast reading the answer he received from Thomas Jefferson, which began "Master __________". The answer was very interesting!  I printed out copies of the e-mails for each of the kids to have as souvenirs.  It was the highlight of their week!  We are looking forward to the next one in November...Yorktown!

Now for those who would like to know how I organized our EFT information... 

In preparation for the Electronic Field Trip, I felt a little overwhelmed!  lol  There were many details to note, to see if my computer was set up properly for the live stream, remembering the time for the test stream,  remembering the time for the actual EFTs, correctly converting from Eastern Time to Central Time, and remembering how to access all the parts of the EFT.  I printed out the different pieces of information and put them in a general Electronic Field Trip binder for handy reference at any time.  To help me remember what this notebook is for, I got some scrapbooking paper that reminded me of some of the prints I saw in Colonial Williamsburg.  

Then I printed out "The Will of the People" pdf file of Teacher Notes and Student handouts and activities, phone numbers in case we called in a question, etc.  I put that in a seperate binder.  I also included my own copies of the e-mails between Thomas Jefferson and my kids!  ;)  To decorate this binder, I chose a French Toile since part of the contension the Federalists had with Thomas Jefferson was his love for France!

This week we are finishing unit 1 of TOG and will have our unit celebration this Saturday.  I also hope to focus on some more aspects of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, as a review, with some great videos I have gotten.  In addition, I hope to focus on Jefferson's restored friendship with John Adams. We will lighten up on math, Latin and science as needed to complete week 9 of TOG and finish our projects and rehearse!  Although the costumes are almost done, they have been quite the challenge!  Nevertheless, they are coming together!  Stay tuned!    

(Edited: New picture and commentary added.)

I can't believe my son is officially a teenager!  We have been through so much together, namely doctor appointments.  I had a complicated pregnancy and was ultimately air evacked 350 miles to a major military hospital where he was born 6 weeks early at 4 pounds 13 ounces.  He was in the NICU for 3 weeks while learning to breathe...because sometimes he'd forget.   

 Over the years, the doctors have kept a close eye on him medically for a host of concerns. I don't remember them all but off the top of my head some are cystic hygromas, brain bleeds, failure to thrive, feeding issues, developmental delays, reactive airway disease, scoliosis and constantly being checked for Marfan's Syndrome.  I used to be on the phone with the pediatrician on a weekly basis, but the thrilling news is that all of these issues have been overcome!  Honestly, our knees have gotten worn out from much prayer, yet our faith has grown through the process.  He has 2 surgeries down and a third one is looming in the near future for pectus excavatum.  It looks like a caved in chest that will only get worse with puberty, eventually squishing his lungs and heart.  In the next few years, he will need surgery to correct this, which has an excellent prognosis.  However, he is wearied from all the medical treatment.  I told him that when the time comes, he will want the surgery because he'll be in pain.  Thankfully, he is now more open minded about the surgery.  

Through it all, it's taken a while for him to grow.  The doctor ordered a bone x-ray that determined that his bones think he is 6 months younger than he really is.  Here he is, a month and a half old and he still didn't fit into newborn clothes...

Eventually, he started crawling. Watch out world!   I've been chasing him ever since!  He always wants to get hands-on with everything.  Here he is helping his Dad screw the doors onto the cabinet...

We celebrated his first birthday a week early.  He didn't eat much food and his weight had dropped off of the growth chart. We were headed 350 miles to a major military hospital for testing.  As a result of this visit, he (and his sister) was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder.

This is not a kid to turn your back on!

Despite the constant poking and prodding by the doctors, he has always had a positive outlook on life. He was always running...

Did I mention he always had to get involved?  I'd put him to bed and then try to have story time with his big sister.  She never got one on one time with me because he couldn't stand being left out.  He loved story time!

Either he was always ready to jump into the middle of things...

or he was always running away...

Fortunately, Texas sized "sand pits" slowed him down for a while...

He loved riding horses for Sensory Integration Therapy...

We rarely kept him on the Sensory Integration equipment for long.  This is a rare picture...

He always enjoyed loving on Luke, the therapy dog...

He enjoyed going for hikes...

This is one of many silly pictures.  He always thought the Mr. Potato Head glasses looked better on him.  Actually, he was never one to use toys for what they were intended, like the time I found his tinker toy container in the middle of the wagon in the back yard.  Inside the tinker toy container were the tinker toys...and dirt and grass and leaves and water! Horrified I asked him what was going on.  Seriously he told me, "But Mom, my train needed steam!" (I never got a picture of that.)   

I had his crib taken down and we were waiting for a new bed.  Actually he was waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

First history costumes for school!  I think we were destined to do this! (He's holding his Wishbone, "a little dog with a big imagination."  They loved the tv show about Wishbone encouraging kids to read the Classics!)   

Here he is reading to big sister.  Shhh.  Don't interrupt.  

Enjoying the River Walk immensely one moment...

and bored out of their gourd the next...

Who?  Him in trouble with the law?  Never!  Actually, a lady here had him turn around so she could check his back.  She wanted to know if he had one of those wind up things.  He is a steady chatter box and she wondered if I wound him up every day! I have no idea where he gets the "gift of the gab".

We were visiting the San Antonio Missions and I was excited that they let me work the loom.  Ahem.  Have I mentioned yet that he likes to get in the middle of things????? I nicknamed him "Stealth" because when he was little I would suddenly became aware that he was sitting on my lap and I had no idea how long he had been there.  He was so light and little, he just sort of snuck in.

Here he is helping John Meusebach negotiate the peace treaty with the Comanches for Fredericksburg.  (BTW, this peace treaty is still in effect today!) 

Here we are at a living history farm near the LBJ Ranch.  The good news is that he successfully got the turkey eggs.  The bad news is that when he took them into the house, he tripped over the sill, landed on the floor and the eggs went splat!  He was so upset about that, but I am sure this has happened to many a child in the past.  However, one of his goals in life has been to go back and conquer the turkey eggs! 

Continental soldier at Yorktown in 2004...

At Rocky Mountain National Park at over 12,000'...

In Colorado he dreamed of catching his first fish.  He persevered every night while I cooked dinner at the cabin.  Everything went wrong...he talked the owner into giving him a reduced price for one fish instead of 3, the fishing pole broke, his fly didn't work so he needed to buy bait with his dwindling money, his line constantly got tangled and broke...Finally the night before we left, he caught his first fish, a rainbow trout!

Last year at Rocky Mountain National Park we went horseback riding.  My son couldn't wait to get a fast horse and gallop across the snow capped peaks into the sunset.  However, they gave him a plunky horse that usually stopped in the middle of the path. My son got so frustrated, kicking his heels into the horse to nudge him along.  A few times the guide had to help him out.  (I was the one who got the fast horse! lol)   

Over the years, the medical specialists have also kept a close eye on his intellectual growth, since he's had so many inhibiting medical issues.  At one point, he was seeing a physical therapist, speech therapist and occupational therapist.  He was like his sister in that he always refused to do treatment with the therapists. So the time became OJT for me to learn how to do therapy at home with the kids at teachable moments.  By age three though, the therapists strongly suggested I put them into special education classes at the local public school.  I put my foot down.  I had taught for 6 years in public school in an excellent school district.  Nevertheless, I knew those kids got stuck in the cracks and never advanced to their potential.  I started to consider to homeschool them.  I knew I could at least do as well as the special education teachers, and with the Lord's help, perhaps even more.  My philosophy of education is to help a child reach the highest stars.  I had no idea how high those stars were for my kids, but I was determined to let them have that opportunity.  I was elated when the pediatrician one day asked me if I was going to homeschool my kids!  I took that support and ran with it! After six years of teaching public school, teaching my own son has been an adventure.  I never know what question he will ask next.  He keeps me on my toes and I am always trying to stay one step ahead of him.  Between this and the way medical professionals used to worry about him, I get a great big smile when he amazes people. 

When my brother came to visit with souvenirs and pictures from his recent vacation to England and France, he was stunned when my then 3 year old son and 5 year old daughter told him everything they knew, which was mostly what he had planned on telling them himself!    

When my son was 5, he had quite an intelligent conversation with a USAF general about the 2000 election. The general was impressed!

On most vacations, tour guides are amazed.  Then my husband and I had the most wonderful time seeing the Marquis de Lafayette's reaction to my son's question about the Hundred Years' War a few months ago. 

Last week we met a Christian author at our church and my son went to talk to him afterwards.  I enjoyed standing nearby to see the reactions.  My son had a question and also gave the speaker words of encouragement.  The author afterwards told my husband and me that we had a sharp son.  =) 

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to homeschool my son, so that he can reach his unique potential, instead of being severely limited.  That is one thing I like about our unit celebrations.  I allow the kids to pick their favorite historic or literary character, or to create their own character from the era we have studied in the 9 week unit.  Then we creatively plan how they can present that individual to our guests.  He loves his art projects that he gets to show off.  Also, he loves to make noise!  

He's been an Ancient Egyptian blowing on the shofar he made...

He's been a Phoenician trader of purple dye which is made from the murex shell.  I think he did try to blow the murex shell he made.