HMJ: Plymouth Colony
In life this week...
We got more snow!!! Oh yea, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The kids blew through their school work to get out in the fluffy stuff. My son made the mistake of jumping around the ice on our shallow pond. He came in soaked from the hips down ;-) Sometimes he really does forget how big he is getting. We look each other in the eye... wow moments for mom ;-)If you have reviewed an Apple app and would like to share it with others, I have a page dedicated to App Love. Feel free to share yours or find some for yourself.
In homeschool this week...
We are studying Plymouth Colony this week. If ever I felt bummed about the move to Alaska last summer, it is this American History unit. In Maryland we visited so many great historic places, but we didn't get up to New England. It would have been so much easier to take a field trip from the East Coast to these places. But we have to be content with where God has placed us right? Right.The kids did a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the Jamestown Colony with the Plymouth Colony. What a difference a King's Land Grant makes!!! Studying the hardships and trials these people made to attempt a new life for themselves was eye opening. We are a military family, and we have to move around A LOT, but this leaving was different in so many ways. There was no job waiting, no wives group to welcome them, no neighbors who have gone through the same sort of relocation process ready to assist. Not all of the settlers had noble intentions, the Virginia Company had profits in their cross hairs, but many of these early settlers just wanted freedom. The natives also responded differntly to each colony. Those seeking their own freedom tried to work alongside the Native Americans. Those seeking fortune exploited the Natives.
This was a good life lesson moment for my kids. We talked about how selfishness and greed can corrupt our own household. The kids easily saw how this affects others. It was a wonderful teaching moment.
Videos this week:
- Awesome video of the history of the Pilgrim's!!! The Mayflower Pilgrims
- Great video concerning the first social pact of the New World: The Mayflower Compact
- Fun facts about the Mayflower ship: Mayflower Deconstructed
- The inception of the Dutch East India Trade Company (VOC) maps
- Shorter history of the Dutch East India Trade Company
- A brief history of the Thirty Year's War, done by students
- Almost Home, based on the diary of a girl aboard the Mayflower
- The Lion of the North, a Henty book, historic fiction written for young men, AWESOME books!!! Many are free for the Kindle ;-)
All these links can be found in the History Hunting page, Colonial Era. If you have a post dedicated to history, please link it in. We love history!!!
We also made silhouettes of the kids. That was a bit more challenging for this non-artistic mother. After discovering that the old light-casting-shadow wouldn't work with our standard 8x10 paper, my daughter suggested just tracing her profile. So she laid on the table and I traced her profile (after much giggling of course!!). We chose to do the silhouette in reverse simply because she can be just as lazy as me with attempting to cut 2 papers at one time carfully ;-)
If I plan to do this 'for real' some time, I am going to follow these very easy instructions from Rachel on making silhouettes!!!
Nice post! Stay warm up there! :-) Stopping by from HMJ link. Love the silhouettes.
ReplyDeleteWill do :-) The trick is layers, like crazy lots of layers.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Love the silhouettes...and the snow. Thanks for sharing and please consider linking this to Its a Wrap, an end of the week link up.
ReplyDeleteI would love to link in, but I couldn't find your wrap post. Last week I went looking for your linky, even put the button in my post, but I couldn't find it.
DeleteWe saw a moose close for the first time last fall. It walked across the road in front of us, so I stopped and we watched...and then IT stopped and watched us. Crazy big! Either a young male or female. No rack. Animal awe!
ReplyDeleteWe're visiting Alaska in August! We can't wait! :)
Wow, if we are in the state at that time, wanna have a meal? If you happen to be going through the Valley anytime. I am so glad you get to come for a visit!! If you visit Denali be very careful!!! Last summer a tourist was trying to get some up-close pics of a brown bear...calling to it and everything. The bear attacked and devoured him. The wildlife up here is nothing to sneeze at!
DeleteWe're going to miss Denali. ::sigh:: I so wanted to go there! We're taking a cruise up the coast, hitting the major places. I'm not sure where the Valley is yet, but we're delving into Alaska in the spring! LOL We might have questions! Oh! My son is thinking of making a Flat Stanley! Would you be willing to host him?? That would be really neat for the kids.
ReplyDeleteWe are so excited to host Stanley!! We even grabbed the book yesterday from the library and read it. Thank you for thinking of us :-)
DeleteThe silhouette is a good idea. I think my kids would like that.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for the late reply. My boys didn't quite get into it as much as my daughter did. She and I just laughed over our tactics :-) Let me know if you come up with a better solution for casting shadows.
DeleteI know how you feel being eye to eye with your son, only mine by-passed me in the fall. I now look up to my 14 year old. Thanks for the comments on Plymouth. I will be there soon with my 3rd grader. I'm making note of some of the video and books you shared. Have a blessed week!
ReplyDeleteOh man, passed you up?? Yipes! It will happen to me someday soon. Crazy!
DeleteSorry for the late reply, very busy week.
Thanks for linking up to Its a Wrap. I featured you in today's post and I hope you'll return and add another link today.
ReplyDeleteWill do and thank you very much!!
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