A Sherlock Holmes pantomine kicked off our interest in the most famous detective who was invented in Victorian England.
We had never watched a pantomine before (because they can be too silly for our taste) so I took a risk by taking Tiger to see this outdoor show since it could potentially turn him off the whole idea of Sherlock Holmes before we even got started. Luckily Tiger found this production to be quite funny (his own humour is quite quirky so it is often hard to tell which way things would go) so that was a good start.
Tiger then worked his way through the numerous related books (fiction and non-fiction)
that are related to the Sherlock Holmes exhibition at the Museum of London.
The exhibition is a must for fans of the great detective, of which Tiger is one. It contains many of the memorabilia of the characters in the story, the background of the story (i.e. Victorian England), and some facts about Arthur Conan Doyle.
While we were there, Tiger also attended a creative writing workshop, which started with the workshop leader sharing his method of writing fiction with the children, highlighting techniques such as characterisation and plot development. The children then spent some time in the People's City gallery, specifically the Victorian Walk, where they would experience the sights and sounds of a replica Victorian quarter, in order to get some inspiration for their writing exercise when they returned to the workshop room.
Tiger learnt a few tricks for writing fiction, and told me that he enjoyed the session but what he has been enjoying the most is reading all the adventures of Sherlock's younger years.
We had never watched a pantomine before (because they can be too silly for our taste) so I took a risk by taking Tiger to see this outdoor show since it could potentially turn him off the whole idea of Sherlock Holmes before we even got started. Luckily Tiger found this production to be quite funny (his own humour is quite quirky so it is often hard to tell which way things would go) so that was a good start.
Tiger then worked his way through the numerous related books (fiction and non-fiction)
that are related to the Sherlock Holmes exhibition at the Museum of London.
The exhibition is a must for fans of the great detective, of which Tiger is one. It contains many of the memorabilia of the characters in the story, the background of the story (i.e. Victorian England), and some facts about Arthur Conan Doyle.
While we were there, Tiger also attended a creative writing workshop, which started with the workshop leader sharing his method of writing fiction with the children, highlighting techniques such as characterisation and plot development. The children then spent some time in the People's City gallery, specifically the Victorian Walk, where they would experience the sights and sounds of a replica Victorian quarter, in order to get some inspiration for their writing exercise when they returned to the workshop room.
Tiger learnt a few tricks for writing fiction, and told me that he enjoyed the session but what he has been enjoying the most is reading all the adventures of Sherlock's younger years.
Reading your blog reminds me how much being in America is like being in a bubble. Seriously, Americans have a reputation of being self-absorbed and unknowledgeable about the rest of the world, and I have to say,"Sad, but it's mostly true!" Not EVERY American is like that though, and I do think alot of homeschoolers put an emphasis on WORLD history, not just American history (whereas I only had 2 years of World History in my K-12 education in public school here in the US.) Anyway, I don't know anything about what is part of the Victorian Era, so reading these posts is very interesting to me! I guess it corresponds to the US Industrial Revolution era. But I think it's just interesting to learn about what was going on in other parts of the world at the same time as what was going on here. This is making me re-think my plan for history...was going to do US history in the next 1.5 years...but I think I will at least get some book that includes the rest of the world, maybe Story of the World, to supplement.
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed much overlap between the Industrial Revolution on both sides of the Atlantic and the Victorian Era so you're on the right track! :-) America has a very interesting and unique nation-building history so I won't necessarily change the plans to study US history, especially since you are Americans living in America. I personally think it is very important to know one's own history very well, and if you study American history well, you will find that it has the inevitable connection with European history and other parts of the world.
DeleteThe Story of the World is a very good start for introduction to World History, by the way. :-)
MY THREE OLDER ONES READ THE ENTIRE YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES SERIES WHEN WE WERE ON HOLIDAY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THEM ALL.
ReplyDeleteSorry off caps lock now! There is another Sherlock Holmes series written about his unsolved case. I think it may actually be called the Unsolved Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes. There are three books and mine enjoyed those a few years ago.
A great fun study as always. We're huge Holmes fans!
I didn't read the Holmes series until recently, and now I understand why these stories are such a hit! :-)
DeleteThat panto looks fun. I love following the learning trail of where interests lead. C(11)'s love of Sherlock Holmes is taking us to see Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Holmes in 'Sherlock') playing Hamlet later this year. We're v excited!
ReplyDeleteThat panto turned out to be very witty, so it was a hit (luckily). :-) Will you be watching Hamlet at the National Theatre or the Barbican Centre? Both venues are wonderful, so you'll have a really enjoyable time. I think the tickets are all sold out now. You must've booked your tickets early! :-)
DeleteI booked tickets for the Barbican within a few minutes of them going on sale, last summer. It wasn't until the next day that I read the news and realised about 50,000 other people had been trying to book at the same time! :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised the ticketing website didn't crash, with that amount of traffic going through! Sounds like it's going to be a fabulous performance! :-)
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