Robin Hood

We have been working through Robin Hood this term, both as a book of literature as a part of our history (UK and World).  We have a few different versions of the story of Robin Hood, and the one that we have used for our literature study is the version by Howard Pyle.

For a start, we watched the following documentary to gain a broad overview of the character as interpreted by different sources (historians, Hollywood, etc):

We find that the unit study approach to be working well for us in this respect, so we are using the lapbook resources from Homeschool Share as our basis.  We work through the units slowly, taking our time to explore in depth the various suggested points.  Although Tiger has been working through the various lapbook pages, I am not too concerned about whether he eventually puts them into lapbook form - it would be great if he were to feel inclined to arrange the various pieces of information that we are saving in a file into a presentable format, but if he doesn't want to do that, it's not a big deal for me.  I am happy as long as he has been engaged in the learning process and can orally present what he has learnt.  The final output (lapbook) is a non-essential part of our process at the moment.

After that, we wanted to know whether the character is true or fictional:

One of the points brought up in the documentary above in ascertaining how true the character of Robin Hood really is, is the possibility of surviving in all seasons in an English forest.  This is an interesting point to consider, given the sheer dampness of forests most of the time, not to mention how often it would be raining.  Tiger and I spent a fair amount of time considering whether that would be possible, and what it would take to live in the forest for any length of time.  For this discussion, Tiger consulted his favourite survival book:

We were lucky to attend a talk on medieval English archers given by a very experienced and knowledgeable member of an archaeological club that Tiger belongs to.

In the two-hour talk, the man covered in great details:

• the different types of bows used in medieval times;
• the different materials used for bows and arrows;
• the functions and designs of different bows and arrows;
• the medieval yeomanry; and
• the strength and distance covered by each type of bow and arrow.

The most common and formidable type of bow in England in the middle ages was the long bow, which was made from yew trees.  As part of the talk, we were shown an actual growing yew tree in an ancient Anglo Saxon churchyard a few yards away.  We not only saw the yew tree, we were also cautioned about it being poisonous (branches, leaves, and the pip of its berries).

Tiger wore his Robin Hood hat to the event, and it became an impromptu topic for the man to talk about.  He told us how the hat would have been very useful when worn by hunters in different ways under different weather conditions.


This post is linked up to:
1) Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop #39
2) History and Geography Meme #52
3) Homeschool Mother's Journal: November 30, 2012
4) Collage Friday
5) Favourite Resources: November 30, 2012
6) It's a Wrap
7) TGIF Linky Party #56
8) Weekly Wrap-Up

Learning to be free

The lesson is for me, rather than for Tiger.

Week 1 of Year 3, and BANG!  Immediately I was presented with the choice between (1) insisting upon following my perfectly laid out plan and (2) respecting Tiger's wish to direct his days and his learning.

Luckily for me, such resistance and cry for freedom occur at least once a year here, so I have learned (after an emergency consultation with the very wise Tortoise) to see each occurrence as necessary feedback to better align my efforts to suit Tiger's growing need for autonomy.

I decided to let go of my schedule for this week and see what happens.  My greatest worry is that the week will pass by without any form of learning taking place.  Let's see what has transpired this week when Tiger has been given free rein to organise his days:

1) Art - a more detailed version of these sketches can be found here.

2) Life Skills - Cooking

3) Science - Chemistry

 

4) Nature Study

5) Classical Civilisations
Since Tiger has sustained his fascination with wars and battles for two years now, especially those that took place during Greek and Roman times, I thought it would be sensible to let him follow his interest in this area rather than hurrying him along history study just because I have boxes that need to be ticked.

When given the go-ahead to pursue his interest, Tiger watched these documentaries again this week:

• The Battle of Milvian Bridge
• The Battle of Salamis
• The Battle of Thermoplyae

He must have watched each one at least 3 times in the past, yet he still wanted to watch them again.  Why does he want to learn about the same topics repeatedly?  There is a clear motivation there, although where that will lead is not entirely clear to me at the moment.  When I am tempted to think, "What's the point of knowing about all these battles?" I console myself by thinking that a Military Historian is quite a respectable profession.

6) Reading

7) History/Literature
Tiger has read at least three different versions of the legends of Robin Hood, two of which are:

• Robin Hood by Henry Gilbert
• The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

Like King Arthur, nobody knew whether Robin Hood actually existed, so we decided to find out by watching the Robin Hood documentary.

8) Literature
Tiger has read the entire story of The Chronicles of Narnia five or six times, so when I got wind of a superb theatre production of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, I asked him whether he would like to see it.  To my surprise he at first declined, thinking that it would be a dumbed down pantomime shown to children.  He only became interested after watching a clip explaining the puppetry and design work that went on behind the scenes.

We made the trip down to Kensington Gardens to watch the production.  Tiger was mesmorised by the special effects and theatre work that went into this production.

9) Games

Ok, so the week hasn't been one based on idleness or loafing.  I clearly have much to learn about trusting my own son to know how, when, and what to learn.  What started out as a difficult first day was quickly saved by all of us being flexible, willing and able to negotiate, and meet at a common ground where everyone benefited.  That's the beauty of homeschooling - immediate response and application of required changes. 

This is a summarised version of the various aspects of learning that took place in a week.  When I find the time to organise my thoughts and records better, I will write in more details about specific topics and observations.

Hope you have had a good week of homeschooling too!


This post is linked up to:
1) Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop #30
2) Homeschool Mother's Journal: September 7, 2012
3) Collage Friday - Chicken Pox
4) Weekly Wrap-Up: The One where the Toad Returns
5) TGIF Linky Party #46
6) Favourite Resources: September 7, 2012