The age of discovery

Sunburst and I have been enjoying reading about the age of discovery and the renaissance.  Normally this is a grade seven subject, but we're inevitably a bit behind schedule.  Six months to be exact.  With all the moves over the years, and the breadth and depth at which homeschooling allows us to study a subject, we will never truly be "on schedule" again.  And that's okay.  In fact, I prefer it this way rather than rushing ahead to the next thing.  It's one of the blessings of learning at home.

We are truly enamored with this new age of exploration, and Sunburst's abilities just keep expanding.  Every year I find myself amazed with her work, both as an artist and writer, and this year is no exception. She has really come into herself lately.  Her summaries and artwork are all done independently now, with only the smallest bit of advice from me from time to time.

Last spring I could see a glimpse of this coming, as I did very few drawings with her towards the end.  Now she feels completely confident to work alone.  It's a wondrous thing to watch.

For discovery, so far we have focused on Prince Henry the Navigator, Magellan, Columbus, and the conquistadors Pizarro, Almagro, and Cortez.  She has enjoyed writing about each and every one, and the illustrations in her main lesson book have been more map-centered.

Here's just a little taste of her work.  I love the caravels.

We've also been studying the renaissance painters, with an emphasis on Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michaelangelo.  Though it takes an inordinate amount of time, it's a wonderful opportunity to try to copy work from the master artists.  I let her sift through their images and pick the ones that spoke to her.  So far she has attempted artwork from both da Vinci and Raphael.  Michaelangelo and Giotto are still yet to come.

And then what?  I don't know!  Architectural changes... or whatever catches our fancy.  It's the age of exploration and inspiration, after all.

Here is a taste of her work from the master artists, Leonardo and Raphael.

 

Her portrait drawing leaves me breathless.  I remember when we first started homeschooling and it was all we could do to manage the block crayon drawing.  If you would have asked me then if Sunburst's drawing would ever reach this level of wonder and skill, I would have laughed.  I would have hoped, surely, but honestly?  I would have said only in my wildest dreams... and yet, here we are.

St. George's play

At the end of April we had St. George's Day here in England.  Apparently it's a big deal.  Since we were in the midst of a local geography lesson, it seemed only right to learn more about it and how it's celebrated here.

We already knew the story of St. George slaying the dragon.  It has been told and retold countless times, by countless people.  Usually it's something we do at Michaelmas, and my go-to version comes from one of the Waldorf books.  However, this time I told a version I found over at the Baldwin Project from C. S. Bailey, entitled simply: St. George and the Dragon.  And the girls were quick to say that they preferred this retelling much more than the others.

Because Sunburst had been studying the Crusades a few months ago, we were reminded about how St. George's cross was used to identify a crusader and then brought to England by Richard the Lionheart to identify English troops in battle.

We set out to hear the poem by William Blake ("And did those feet in ancient time") that was turned into a hymn of sorts and named "Jerusalem."  It's a wonderful song-- even Emerson, Lake and Palmer covered it in the 70s.  The girls were so enamored with the song that we were inspired to learn it.  And that was Monday.  Our first attempts to get the tune down were hilarious, but by Tuesday we had begun to show signs of improvement.

The girls both made some lovely St. George drawings for their books.  Sunburst wanted to draw hers in pencil, while Moonshine asked if she could use pastels.  Moonshine's drawing had such an otherworldly quality to it that it reminded me of program covers from Waldorf school plays.  The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that we finally had a large enough cast to put on a proper play.  The kids were immediately excited by the idea and thought it would be a great surprise for their dad Einstein.

We created a program using artwork from the girls' main lesson books.  I included the words to "Jerusalem" so that it would be a nice keepsake for the kids.  Even Kitty Bill picked up the lyrics rather quickly.

 Here is Sunburst's drawing on the inside of the program:

And Kitty Bill was inspired to draw a picture, as well: 

Both Sunburst and Moonshine wanted to help write the dialog, so we worked on it together in the afternoons as they found the inspiration.  Somehow the entire thing took on a life of its own and turned into a musical-- this is what happens when you have children that don't ever stop singing.

Sunburst played both the king and the dragon.  She managed to transform a cereal box into a convincing dragon's head.  Moonshine took the part of the Princess Sabra, with the comic exception that she wanted to be eaten by the dragon.  Kitty Bill played St. George.  His role was fairly straight forward, but he managed to bring some comedic personality to the role when, overcome with wonder by Sunburst's convincing dragon death scene during rehearsals, he shouted, "Awesome!"  We laughed so hard that we decided to leave that line in for the performance.

They had a fantastic time, and Einstein was completely impressed.  He couldn't believe that they had pulled off the show without him catching any hint of it.  And of course he was taken with their performances.

We managed to capture the entire performance on video to send the grandparents back in the states.  I think it will be quite the treat for my British grandmother in particular.  I fully expect she will be singing along.

Braving the rain

I'm happy to announce that we have survived what the locals tell me is the wettest April England has seen in over a century... or perhaps ever, depending on who you ask.  I cannot even begin to tell you how relieved I was to hear that it wasn't normal spring weather: cold temperatures, several days of hail, superior amounts of wind, and a daily wallop of rain.  We've been feeling a bit like the beginning of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat:  "Too wet to go out. Too cold to play ball..."

Although we did a lot of staying in the house and guzzling tea to keep warm, we did manage to get out and brave the rain a few times.  One of those trips was to tour the manor and grounds of a local 12th century Tudor mansion.  It was another adventure in local geography that answered the question, "What is there to see around here?"

 

Exploring the "old" kitchen.

 

The kids were intrigued by the landscaping.  They decided that it made a great place to take cover from the intermittent rain.

After a strong shower passed, we had a chance to explore the grounds a bit.  It would be a great place to go walking on a sunny day.

Out and about

 Our car finally came back from the shop-- it had been there an entire month getting primped up with flashing lights and other gizmos so it would pass British car inspections.  I cannot even put into words how happy we were to see our car again.  To celebrate, after a desperate trip to the grocery store, we took the weekend and went exploring.  It was so nice to get out again!

On Saturday, we went downtown.  We live on the edge of a fairly large town, but for some reason, we still hadn't been to see what it was all about.  Probably too busy fighting mold and trying to keep warm.  Since Moonshine is in the midst of a local geography lesson, we decided it was time.  It turns out there was much to see.  So much, in fact, that we didn't quite see it all.

Our city, like every other city in England, is ancient.  It dates back to the bronze age.  It has its share of preserved medieval buildings, including a few gates left from the old city wall.

 

 

We got a bit distracted by a huge museum downtown.  We wandered inside just for a minute, and an hour passed.  I didn't take many pictures, as my camera is eating batteries like candy lately, but it was filled with all kinds of memorabilia through the ages.  Kitty Bill was a bit taken with all the cars on display.  Sunburst and Moonshine loved the part where everything was decorated like you were transported back in time-- old buildings and shops, mannequins in period clothing, horses and carts, bicycles... The lights were dimmed so that everything looked somewhat real.

 
There was a part with an air raid siren, and Kitty Bill and I got a bit spooked out, but luckily it was over fairly quickly.  And there wasn't too much to have to explain to the younger kids about it.  It could have been much worse.

On Sunday we went for a drive to see some houses for rent.  We're actively looking for a place that suits us better.  We didn't find it, but we did come across seemingly endless fields full of Rapsblume, or canola, as it's called in the US.  I don't know what they call it here yet, but I have to tell you, it's my absolute favorite flower.

I unwittingly forgot to bring my camera along on this walk, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that it was an absolutely amazing sight to behold.  It was more lovely than anything I have yet to see in England.

We had fields full of Raps near where we lived in Switzerland, and they were a familiar sight as we drove all across Germany a few years ago.  They smell like fresh beeswax, and they're so neon yellow that they truly glow.  It's impossible to not feel happy next to a field full of them, and while we were easily reminded of them and transported back to Switzerland for a few minutes, this was clearly better.  Because it wasn't just one or two fields.  When we climbed to the rise above the field, we could see them glowing in the distance.  The Rapsblume spread around us far and wide, it was like being suddenly dropped on the set of the Wizard of Oz, where the Raps were both the yellow brick road and the poppy field all rolled into one.

If we get a bit of sun next weekend, we're surely going back.  This time I won't forget my camera.

Meanwhile, Kitty Bill and I collected some feathers and a few Raps that we found on the footpath. Bonus points if anyone can tell me what bird the feathers on the left came from.

Been there, done that

create your own visited states map

Forty-three states and counting. Though I've only actually lived in six of them for longer than two weeks. Einstein and I spent a long ago summer before kids driving around the country, pitching a tent, and seeing the sites. We went from the deep South up the coast to Maine, across to Washington State, and down the West coast. We hit all the major attractions-- Statue of Liberty, Ben & Jerry's, Acadia State Park, a Dead show in Albany, Niagra Falls, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Powell's Bookstore, The Redwoods, Zion National Monument, and everything in between. Gas was 98 cents a gallon that summer!

Sunburst joined our traveling family eight years ago, and because we've since toted her along with us, she has seen her fair share of the country as well. She's been working on her own "been there" map of the states since just before our move from Texas. She works on it sporadically, maybe every couple of months she'll sew a new state on. Not because we travel every couple of months, but because her pile of "been there" states has not been exhausted yet. She hasn't even come close!

I caught her working on it again, the other day.

I copied the artful map from the very cute book The Scrambled States of America as a template. I cut the states out from wool felt, matching the colors from the book, and then handed Sunburst a needle and some embroidery thread. Her sewing skills have greatly improved from the first few attempts.

I've promised Moonshine that I would make her a map just like this one when she was old enough. We're slated to move again next summer. I think by then she'll be more than ready!

World Cup Geography

Our lives have recently become ruled by the World Cup soccer tournament. Einstein has been watching them faithfully at a local restaurant and keeping our family apprised of all newsworthy goals, wins, and red cards. I no longer ask him about meetings for the day ahead, instead I ask, "Who's playing tomorrow?"

Sunburst has been really interested in all this soccer talk. One day he took her along to watch one of the games, Portugal vs. Netherlands, and she came back with her eyes alight with the wonder of learning something new. After bringing me up to date on all the scoring, she and Einstein went out back and kicked a soccer ball around.

Today the whole family loaded up and headed over to join Einstein for the second half of Brazil vs. Ghana. Einstein used to live in Ghana, so of course our family cheered them on. I was surprised how friendly the Ghanain team was... helping the other team's players up, rubbing their heads, hugging them, smiling. They lost the game, 0 to 3, but what sportsmanship!

All this talk of other countries and teams has ignited a curiousity in Sunburst. She wants to know more. Who are these people? What are they like? Where exactly is Portugal? I think by watching these games she was touched with a larger sense of humanity, and she longs to situate these places/people in her head and make connections.

We found a few thrift store finds tucked away in the closet that helped her along with that:

• Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego? - giant floor puzzle
• Maptitude, a world geography card game
• Usborne Children's Picture Atlas

The puzzle and the Usborne book were very similar-- lots of pictures of animals, major landmarks (mountains, rivers, temples,) and both were drawn in that same whimical style. The puzzle was actually a game where you have to search for different sites to uncover some crime (i.e. Mr. Crud stole Sugar Loaf Mountain and hid it in France.) That was less enjoyable than simply putting the puzzle together. But she got a basic sense of continents, oceans, and climate from it.

Maptitude, the card game, is labeled for 10 yrs and up. It's a mild game of world domination, each card bearing a different country. It teaches what countries border each other, area, population, and similar statistics. She learned that Russia and China rank pretty high in area and population, but she didn't learn anything about the people or the culture or what makes each place unique.

To fit that bill we picked out this kids' geography book:

• My Picture Atlas, by Roger Priddy

It divides up each country and gives a little synopis. Some countries have more detail than others, but Sunburst loved hearing what each country was famous for, what the major exports were, and how to say hello in the native language. We learned that Ghana grows a lot of cocoa, and you can speak in English there. Brazil, she was amused to read, is famous for winning the World Cup soccer tournament. They also grow coffee, cocoa, and speak Portugese: bohn DEE-ah.

Sunburst also looked up Spain, who lost to France today. She learned that Spain has two famous artists, Salvador Dali and Picasso. "Oh," she said, "I know Picasso." Some of her best friends are Mr. Picassohead experts and have emailed us their creations. Einstein pulled an art book off the shelf and showed her a few examples by Dali and Picasso.

She was off and running with new inspiration:

The first is copied from Picasso's Harlequin, 1915. The second is from Joan Miro's, Nocturne, 1935. Miro is also from Spain.

Somehow we've managed to bring this learning experience full circle again. I love it when that happens.

Scotland, the brave

She's a brave wee lass to stand up in front of a crowd of folks and give a presentation.

It's painful to be the parent watching it though. Sunburst introduced herself, said, "I'm doing Scotland," and froze. Just for a minute. She stared at all the faces, turned around and stared at her display, and tried to sort out in her brain what she was supposed to do next. The crowd was very patient with her, and I watched her take a deep breath and ready herself. "This is a picture of Scotland that I watercolor painted. And there are lots of castles in Scotland..."

I almost didn't tell her about this international geography fair. I thought she might be too young for it, and I recall reading that with littles you should start geography with where you are, which makes perfect sense. You can own where you are, you can see it, smell it, feel it, and connect with it on a heart level. Formally, we haven't really done local geography. Shouldn't I get out a map of our current state and go from there?

We watch the wildlife outside our window. We see the different colored blossoms on the trees, and notice that the squirrels here are red and fat and fearless. We watch the birds and the bunnies and the deer. We walk and drive. We meet people and see things. We experience the change of seasons and stick our hands in the dirt. How can you live and breathe and not learn local geography?

So I let her jump right in. It helped that bits of Scotland are already familiar to her, that her dad plays bagpipes, and that haggis is utterly foul sounding. It helped that the Loch Ness Monster is a thing to wonder about. And it helped that we're reading Little House on the Highlands. and we have Scottish ancestry, too, just like Mary and Laura Ingalls. That pretty much sealed the deal. The heart connection was there.

And she had fun. The kids that presented were homeschoolers ages 3-16. Some of them whispered and others cracked jokes. It was a chance for homeschooling kids to come together and be a part of something bigger than themselves. And that, at least at our house, doesn't happen every day.

When it was over she turned and said to me, "Mom, I think they really liked my shortbread cookies."