“We cannot escape history,” is what Abraham Lincoln said, and as we listened to Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait this morning, Michaela and I worked on our project of re-creating Lincoln’s birthplace for our homemade doll house collection.
It is simply a cardboard box that we are coloring the logs and mud plaster onto. We cut out the one door and one window and hung a bearskin (felt) over the door. The single window in the small cabin was covered with oiled paper (we used wax paper). The floor was hard dirt so we painted on a thick layer of Mod Podge and sprinkled sand into it and let it dry. After allowing it to dry and shaking off the excess, we had a nice dirt floor.
We have several items to add yet, including a bed of saplings, a homemade coverlet and a fireplace. We will continue to add items as we read on through Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster. It’s one of Michaela’s books for Ambleside Online Year 5. I have gotten questions before regarding what to do for handicrafts and boys, and I think a project like this is so much fun! It’s does not have to be classified as a doll house!
Lately our school days have been full of history, made even richer by our participation in our Five In A Row co-op activities. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy being a part of a co-op and learning alongside other moms (super nice friends) and their children.
A few weeks ago we had a two-hour co-op class here. All activities were centered around the book Cowboy Charlie, which is the story of Charles M. Russell, American painter of the American Wild West. It ties in nicely with our other current reads as the times of Charles Russell pick up where Abraham Lincoln’s world left off.
We read the book, Cowboy Charlie, as a group and then set off to travel around the yard by pretend train to different areas set up to represent different phases of Charles Russell’s life.
Michaela and I had made a tepee ahead of time, and you can barely see it because it blended right into the background on this cold, gray day, but the children enjoyed it and some of them came dressed up and ready to re-enact!
One of the parts of the co-op that I worked on was “passports” to the west. There was a mystery character for each child, sealed in an envelope until everyone had received theirs. The children then opened their envelopes. We had many famous people there: Buffalo Bill, Crazy Horse, Annie Oakley, Laura Ingalls Wilder and others. It was really fun to see the children open their envelopes and find out who they were!
The original passports were made from luggage tags and then laminated. I made a quick black and white photocopy of each one to keep a laminated set on hand for personal reference. (Not to mention I wanted a tangible reminder of the day.)
My co-teacher (love her) talks about an area concerning one of the historical figures we had chosen to tell the children about.
After being outside and getting almost too chilly but not quite, we all came in and learned about the 12 constellations that tell the story of Jesus’ birth, death, and return. Cowboy Charles M. Russell worked under the stars, remember.
We then crowded into the toasty kitchen and had warm apple cider, coffee, venison sausage, rice cakes, peanut butter and carrot sticks. Everyone was so kind and I enjoyed so much having everyone over. It was a day that made some precious memories for Michaela and me. (Leslie, thank you for the pictures!)
We cannot escape history.
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
This was such a neat post to “see” your learning experience. Very inspiring to watch learning come to life.
~Mrs.Cuddles
I have never heard of the 12 constellations that tell of Jesus’ birth. Can you tell me where to get that information? It’s looks like y’all had a wonderful day!
Dear Lynn,
Look at you, the perfect school marm! It looks like everyone had a blast, and the cabin is such a great idea.
Thanks for the inspiring post.
Love,
Marqueta
We are HUGE fans of Charlie Russell. John Sterling (one of our ministers) used to read it to us when we were kids. Trails Plowed Under is an absolute masterpiece! We love his art and everything else about him. The story his painting of the Montana State Capitol mural is truly amazing.
Lynn,
What a delightful way to learn! I thoroughly enjoyed your post. Is there a story I can get that tells of the 12 constellations you spoke of? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that story. And your costumes were awesome too!
Thanks for the trip to the Old West.
Diane
Mrs. Cuddles, thank you for your visit and your comment! I enjoyed visiting your lovely blog.
Amber, I didn’t see your comment at first because it was held for moderation, but Diane had the same question which I answered below. Thank you!
Marqueta!
We did have fun that day, but I always have fun with this group. There are a couple of other trips with this group that I need to post about and get caught up!
Ken, thanks! We plan to learn more about Charles Russell. We have a set of books about the wild west, so Michaela and I went through and looked at the art in there done by CMR. The detail was magnificent. I’ll have to look into the mural you speak of. That’s very nice that John Sterling used to read you those books.
Diane, I consider that quite a compliment from you.
From what I understand, there is a book called Gospel in the Stars. My friend has studied it and included it in her portion of exercises for the day. While I know we are not to be taken up with zodiac signs, it would not surprise me one bit for the gospel to be written in the stars. I have not read the book and have really not had much time to look into this idea further, but from a quick search I know there’s a lot of info out there about the idea. At any rate, we enjoyed learning about it.
Lynn
Very Cool!!!
Ha! Love the lesson, and of course – the use of Mod Podge!
Lynn,
I LOVE it…and may try to re-create it…but did you MAKE the luggege tags…and if so, how did you choose the people…was it random or you just kept going until you had one for everyone?
SOunds like a very fun day!
C~
Your co-op looks absolutely delightful. We don’t have any other homeschooling families around here – and hence no co-op, which is why the homeschool blog community is so valuable for us.
I just love the idea of the homemade dolls houses. We are reading through the Little House Books in the early AO years, and they would lend themselves very well to making models of this type. I’ll post pics if we ever get one completed!
Interested in Almanzo Wilder? Go to:
http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/bestsellers/almanzo.htm
What a great idea! I think I’m going to borrow the luggage tag passports for the people we meet in our Civil War/Underground RR studies.
Thanks for sharing what looked like a fabulous co-op day!
Heather W
Thanks Tonya!
Mod Podge Rocks, I have actually come across your blog before and thought “how cool!”
Carrie, I bought the luggage tags. I keep them on hand for crafting and you can find them at office supply stores. They are so much fun! We chose people in the time frame of Charles Russel, except Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea. They were a bit early, but were chosen due to their importance in westward exploration. We also tried to pick mostly positive characters.
Jeanne, I’ve been thinking about you and meaning to pop in and see how you are! We love doll house making. It ties in nicely with so many things and builds relationships.
Thanks for the link, Waynely.
Heather, thanks! It was a lovely day and the tags were so much fun! It’ll be nice review for Michaela to have a set on hand.