I have fond memories of studying the middle ages when I was a girl. We visited that era multiple times. Being in a household of all girls, I’m sure you can imagine our rapt attention as we learned about courtly behavior, medieval dress and the day of good ol’ chivalry! It was all quite ‘romantic’ and the brocades and silks… :sigh: I still swoon, even now, when I watch Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. (Makes me wish I had the time and skill to sew up a bunch of cool costumes.) What was supposed to be a 4 week study turned into three months of eating, breathing and living the middle ages.
Although they love it for different reasons (there is zero appreciation for silk gowns over here), my boys are equally enthralled with the middle ages. Last week we focused on castle construction and warfare. Yes, that is what they are into! Xander’s favorite book was Siege!: Can You Capture a Castle? It is amazing how even a detailed and somewhat complex book can capture their attention when curiosity is piqued.
After I soothed my parched throat from all that reading, we proceeded to make portcullis’ for our castle! I’m all about using what we have around the house, so we used a mix of bamboo skewers (to get enough height) and popsicle sticks (a crafting essential if you have kids).
We began by surveying our castle drawbridge and entry gate. With their trusty measuring tapes, we noted the height and width we would need our portcullis to be and then set to work. (We’re nipping that ‘who needs math in real life?’ myth in the bud!)
Glue and sticks made for 3 happy boys.
Great post – I love remembering the fun we had with homeschooling and KONOS! I homeschooled my kids through high school, and we used KONOS during elementary and KONOS History of the World during high school. It looks like your kids are having a wonderful time and learning a lot along with way! Visiting from Hip Homeschool Hop.
Deb @ LivingMontessoriNow.com
How fun! Love the idea of building a portcullis.
I love the castle. I bet they played with it for hours and your throat was able to heal.
Thanks for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.
Your posting is inspiring me to get out my KONOS books and do a unit study! I used KONOS for several years and then switched to Sonlight when my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I needed something that was planned out for me.
However, I miss the hands-on, fun (and memorable!) activities that we use to do with KONOS.
Thank you for showing a glimpse into the Obedience study.
Ann
http://harvestmoonbyhand.blogspot.com
Utterly engaging and totally educational! Kudos to you and your boys for demonstrating yet again the wonderfulness of hands-on home school!
Fabulous! I remember being disappointed that this castle did not have a portculis. But this is even better – they got to build one!
Camille,
Thanks for your kind comment and encouragement! It is amazing how adding just a few ‘outside the box’ aspects to our learning goes such a long ways!
Heather – yes, this is part of our KONOS unit on Obedience. The project in the book was actually to build a draw bridge, but we already had one and I figured I would end up making most of that. We’ll try that project when they are old enough to tackle that one on their own!
Families of the Nations – thanks for the encouragement. It does take a bit of extra effort but the payoff is huge when kids can get their hands dirty!
Love it, love it, love it!
You are so inspiring! What a way to make a story and medeival information come alive. Is this part of your Konos unit?
What a fun post! What a fun Mom!! I enjoyed reading through this post….your humour I *get*. 🙂 Your boys will remember these special things you did with them. Thank you for being an encouragement to *think outside the box* when it comes to school. It’s wonderful.
Have a lovely weekend.
Many blessings,
Camille