Homeschool Weeks 29-34

We are done!  Actually, a few of the kids have some loose ends to tie up, but we are finished with our curriculum.  Russ keeps taking Nicolas away from his schoolwork to move library shelves for the seminary or to shingle a fellow seminary student's roof, but Nicolas doesn't seem to mind.  Caleb isn't finished until the 7th of June, so Nicolas just wants to finish his last few chapters/sections in math and science and complete his Leonardo daVinci paper by then.

The last six weeks were crammed with information.  We learned so much about the Renaissance, Reformation, and early explorers from Spain, Portugal, England, and France.

On a map we traced the routes of Vespucci, Magellan, Cortes, Walter Raleigh, Jacques Cartier, and John Cabot.   We also studied the Mayan, Aztec, and Inca civilizations, as well as the early Native North Americans.  We made Incan clay pots, our own Mayan codex, and enjoyed a Mayan drink (hot chocolate!) while we read our history one morning.

Making clay pots

Back in Europe we learned about the invention of printing press by Gutenberg and how important is was to the Reformation and distribution of the Bible.   We talked about the abuses in the church which led to Luther's 95 thesis and the spread of the Reformation.  We studied King Henry VIII, his wives, and England's Catholic/Protestant conflict that followed, including the yucky reign of "Bloody" Mary.  It was much more fun to read and learn about "Good" Queen Elizabeth.

People we studied in more detail include:  John Huss, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, Anne Askew, John Calvin, Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer, John Knox, Copernicus, Galileo, Shakespeare and the Globe Theater (we read a little Macbeth and decided it was a tragedy, not a comedy), and Jeanne d'Albret. 

Colored and put together our own Globe Theater

We had so many art projects during the Renaissance time that I just picked a few that looked like fun or would be good to learn.  We studied the lives and masterpieces of Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael in more detail.   Nicolas and I watched The Agony and The Ecstasy, an old movie about Michelangelo and the other kids watched another DVD from Nest Entertainment about Leonardo daVinci.  Nicolas wanted to know if Charlton Heston was in all old movies since he was in this one on Michelangelo, Ben Hur, El Cid, and Julius Caesar.

We decided to see what it was like to be Michelangelo and paint on the ceiling...

We also tried to be Leonardo's and draw Mona Lisa...

Several of the art lessons spent time on how to draw hands--draw your own hands, Mona Lisa hands, and finally draw the hands of God and Adam as depicted in Michelangelo's Creation on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

In science the girls finished up the astronomy unit by learning about the rest of the planets, constellations, the space station, and what it takes to be an astronaut.  They worked hard on little booklets containing facts on each of the planets.

We also finished our unit on Beethoven and listened to several musical pieces while in the van driving to the Homeschool Building or to track meets.   We wrapped up our memorization of Philippians 2: 3-16 and reviewed the verses from Romans and 1 Cor 13 that we also learned this year.    Now if we could  just put what we have learned into practice...

Seth finished up his school year a week before the other kids, but I kept him busy with math and reading assignments!  Seth completed his study of the fifty states adding Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii to his notebook.

During these weeks he also learned and read some fun books about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and colored a picture of Mount Rushmore. We all enjoyed eating Navajo fry bread for lunch one afternoon!   He also had a couple weeks that focused on various important inventions. He was able to learn about McCormick's Reaper, the sewing machine, the telephone, Thomas Edison's inventions, Henry Ford's automobile, and The Wright Brother's Flying Machine.

Seth added the last few names of Jesus to his poster including Jesus as the "Resurrection and the Life", the "Word", and the "Alpha and Omega".      

He finished up his science unit on magnets which included lots of fun magnet activities.  

After the magnet unit in science Seth returned to the bird book that he started in the fall and learned more about birds.  This was one of Seth's favorite parts of  his school day...to read aloud to me about the birds he was studying.  I finished reading Grandma's Attic as his read aloud.   The girls usually were able to find a reason to sneak into the room to listen, so we all enjoyed the book.   Seth faithfully worked through his art book, I Can Do All Things this year and also listened and learned some of the lyrics to special songs about America from the Celebrate America CD.  

Overall, a busy, busy year, but I think we learned a few things.  (I hope!).