Arriving at the castles

The Normans were the first ones to introduce the concept of castles to England.  Prior to this, the Anglo Saxons had lived in wooden or straw houses.  According to many historians, having the stone castles was one of the main ways that the Normans were able to subdue and control the Anglo Saxons, despite the latter outnumbering the former by a ratio of 3:1.

Interestingly, the very first castles were made out of wood which naturally none survived for us to visit, except for a well reconstructered one at Mountfitchet Castle.  Soon after, the Normans figured out that stone castles would stand a better chance against attacks and fire.

While we had the opportunity, we visited Castle Rising Castle, which is one of the largest and best preserved keeps in England, dating back from the 12th Century.

We have found the documenary on castles to be extremely informative and detailed.  Watching the documentary became more of an involved experience when we recognised and remembered being at a few of the places featured in it:

We have visited and learned about castles a few times before.  To see all castle-related posts, please go here. This post is linked to: 1) Weekly Wrap-Up 2) Homeschool Mother's Journal 3) Collage Friday

Dress them up!

The second workshop that we attended at the National Theatre was a costume making workshop led by the main costume designer there.  The workshop started out with a brief introduction of how costume designers and makers at the National Theatre work, where they get their ideas from, and how they go from having an idea to making the actual costume.

We were then put into groups of four or five to brainstorme ideas on what we have understood so far about costume designing:

Each group was given a well-known fictional character to create the costume for, using scissors, markers, cellotape, and brown papers.   There was much discussing, drawing, cutting, measuring, and sticking together pieces of paper.  One thing I really appreciate about workshops like this is the exposure to group dynamics -- e.g. collaborating, sharing ideas, adapting to others' working styles -- for Tiger.
 

The character we were assigned to was The Cat in the Hat.

Here is a sample of the various costumes created within the 45 minutes we were given:

Once again, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  Now, I am on the lookout for suitable theatre/drama classes for Tiger.

A new way to move

We were fortunate enough to be able to take two very professionally run workshop at the National Theatre, which seem to help cement Tiger's interest in drama and theatre work.

The first was a movement workshop whereby participants were treated to some of the exercises that professional actors at the theatre do, for example moving at different speeds in a comfined space in gradations from 1 to 5, or improvising movements to convey a scene or a feeling.  The main project we had to do for at the workshop was to work in groups of fives to create a scene that we were given.  It was a lot of fun and we were most impressed with the professionalism of the workshop leader who also happens to be an acting coach there.

I was so engrossed in participating in the workshop that I did not take photographs of it, but we watched the following performance just outside the venue, which I think would give you an idea of what the workshop was about:

The drama of it all

Pretend play has been, and still is, a big part of Tiger's play most of the time.  I think it's marks the growth of imagination, from starting with him pretending to be a certain character from 2 years old (we have gone through phases whereby Tiger was a Native American Indian chief, to being Bob the Builder, to being certain animals) to increasingly sophisticated one-man reenactments of battle scenes completed with strategies, war plans, self-made weaponry, and armour.

While I have been observing all of these developments with amusement and participation, I have been wondering when and whether to introduce Tiger to drama will be useful.   Personally, I think drama, when delievered in its most sincere way, is a highly sophisticated and creative performaning art form.  For example, I have great respect for actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, and Colin Firth.  However, I have not been too eager to send Tiger to the drama schools around here because their focus on children's classes are too much inclined towards the "cool" factors of being on stage (along the lines of Hannah Montana).  I don't share that ethos so classes with such a focus is not suitable for us.

At the same time, I am aware of the short window of opportunity to expose Tiger to the idea of self-expression through drama, with it being an extension of his existing pretend play but with guidance towards sophisticated techniques, before he reaches an age where he becomes overly self-conscious.  Therefore, when a short taster course for children came up at a professional theatre some distance away, I signed Tiger up for it, despite his initial misgivings and doubts about whether he would enjoy such an activity.  I was taking a slight risk here, given Tiger's previous very brief encounter with drama didn't go very well.

To my surprise, Tiger enjoyed the taster course so much that he has expressed his enthusiasm for more.  That's good news.  I attended a short performance held on the last day, which was a way for parents to see what the children had learned during the 4-day course: improvising, moving, creating melodrama, making costumes, making posters, and remembering lines.

While Tiger enjoyed the course, I got a glimpse of the pop culture tendency in the performance and techniques, which makes long-term commitment to the classes offered there unsuitable for us.  Nonetheless, the short course served its purpose to open Tiger to the possibilities of taking drama classes in the future.

The need for flexibility in education

As I'm still in the process of planning Tiger's Year 3, I am finding this particular 3-part video of a recent interview with Sir Ken Robinson to be very interesting.

I am not particularly impressed by the teenage interviewers as they are clearly reading from a script, which really doesn't cut it for me, especially since the topic of school should be their primary concern and I'd expect them to fire questions at Sir Ken Robinson off the top of their heads.  Given that they got to interview Sir Ken as a group, I assume this is some kind of class project reserved for the top students in a public/private school.  I am comforted by the fact that I have personally witnessed primary-aged (7-11 years old) homeschooled children in England conduct more spontaneous, unscripted, lively, intelligent exchange with university professors and other professionals in various fields.... Skip the final 2 minutes of part 3, if you like, it's utterly moronic and cringe-worthy.

Luckily, Sir Ken's response provides interesting food for thought in terms of the need for flexibility in the delivery of education, which can be quickly and easily implemented in a homeschool environment, rather than having to jump through bureaucratic hoops of public/private school.

Our summer so far...

So far (before it started raining again, that is), we made the most of the sunny and dry weather to be out and about most of the time.  In no particular order:

• Tiger has been cycling a lot lately.  After he fell off the bike last summer he didn't want to go near it.  Somehow the sunny weather and his desire to cover further distances at a faster speed prompted him to give cycling another go.  This time, he loves it and has been cycling around the neighbourhood with Tortoise for at least an hour every evening.

• I have had success with my first homemade blueberry ice-cream this summer!

• We have spent lots of time together as a family, as well as with our extended family, on long nature walks and just generally enjoying one another's company.

• We made time for afternoon tea and generally staring at the passing clouds.

• We made our annual 'pilgrimage' to Constable Country.  All of us have fallen in love with that place eversince we first encountered it last summer.   The boys went there to row on the River Stour, while I just love the general atmosphere there.

• We made a number of interesting discoveries on our walks: a Roman viaduct still used by mainline trains, a Saxon church, a Medieval church, ancient graves... etc.  England is such an old place that one never knows what one can see just by walking around!

Note that I haven't mentioned books or academic studies!  Hooray, we're actually enjoying our summer time!


This post is linked up to several blog hops, where you can see what other homeschoolers have been busy with.  It is also linked to the All Year Round Blog Carnival - Summer edition.

Year 2 Reading Log

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as told by Michael Morpurgo
2. Big Tracks, Little Tracks by Millicent Selsam
3. What's Alive? by Kathleen Zoehfeld
4. What were Castles for? (Usborne Starting Point History)
5. Bach (ABRSM Publishing)
6. The Medieval Messenger (Usborne Publishing)
7. The Middle Ages by Richard O'Neill
8. Katie and the British Artists by James Mayhew
9. Favourite Classic Artists by Liz Gogerly
10. Angry Animals by Nick Arnold
11. Barley Hall: A Day in a Medieval Town House by Charles Kightly
12. Avoid working in a Medieval Cathedral! by Fiona Macdonald
13. Castle Challenge by Julia Bruce
14. Origins of Chinese Culture
15. Yu Gong Removed the Mountains
16. Four Inventions in Ancient China
17. Legends of Ten Traditional Chinese Festivals
18. Medieval Life (DK Eyewitness)
19. The ABCs of Habitats by Bobbie Kalman
20. Where Things Live by Peter Riley
21. One Small Square: Backyard by Donald Silver
22. Think of an Eel by Karen Wallace
23. Pop!  A Book about Bubbles by Kimberly Bradley
24. Castle Knight (DK Eye Wonder)
25. How would you survive in the Middle Ages? by Fiona Macdonald
26. A Medieval Castle by Mark Bergin
27. What lives in a shell? by Kathleen Zoehfeld
28. Snails by Kevin Holmes
29. How to hide an Octopus by Ruth Hellers
30. An Octopus is Amazing by Patricia Lauber
31. Investigating Medieval Times by Alison Honey
32. Nasty Knights by Terry Deary
33. Castle: The Siege Chronicles by Derek Farmer
34. Knights & Castles by Philip Steele
35. In the Garden by Paul Humphrey
36. The Usborne Time Traveller book of Knights and Castles
37. Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta
38. The Wizard Punchkin by Joanna Troughton
39. Saint Nicholas retold by Mary Joslin
40. Celts by Joe Fullman
41. Lives and Legends of the Saints by Carole Armstrong
42. The Story of the Buddha by Sally Humble-Jackson
43. Warriors by Terry Deary
44. A First Look at Animals with Backbones by Millicent Selsam
45. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle
46. Nature Lover's Book by Enid Blyton
47. What do we know about the Middle Ages? by Sarah Howarth
48. The Canterbury Tales retold by Geraldine McCaughrean
49. The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski
50. Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens by Cindy Neuschwander
51. Stories from the Silk Road by Cherry Gilchrist
52. Wishbones retold by Barbara Wilson
53. Traditional Stories from China by Saviour Pirotta
54. Red Butterfly by Deborah Noyes
55. Monkey and the Water Dragon by Joanna Troughton
56. The Stonecutter retold by Lynne Benton
57. The Magic Pear Tree by Rosie Dickins
58. The Magic Gifts retold by Russell Punter
59. What Makes you ill? (Usborne Pocket Science)
60. Germs make me Sick! by Melvin Berger
61. The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage by Enid Blyton
62. Daft Bat by Jeanne Willis
63. Batty by Sarah Dyer
64. One Winter's Night by Claire Freedman
65. One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth
66. The Littlest Owl by Caroline Pitcher
67. Wow! said the Owl by Tim Hopgood
68. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
69. The Nightingale by Hans Chritian Andersen
70. The Dragon Kite by Kenneth Steven
71. The Daring Dragon retold by Margaret Mayo
72. The Dragon Painter retold byRosie Dickins
73. Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children by James Herriot
74. The Fight against Microbes by Beverley Birch
75. Look behind you, Oliver! by Tony Maddox
76. I see the Moon by Jacqueline Mitton
77. The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson
78. Night Owl and the Rooster by Charles Reasonser
79. Goodnight, Baby Bat by Debi Gliori
80. Oscar and the Bat by Geoff Waring
81. The Duke and the Peasant by Sister Wendy Beckett
82. The First Christmas (Usborne)
83. Farmyard Tales Christmas by Heather Amery
84. The Lighthouse Keeper's Christmas by Ronda and David Armitage
85. Mr Christmas Sound Book
86. Willow at Christmas by Carmilla Ashforth
87. The Mr Men Save Christmas Sound Book
88. The Owl's Lesson by Nick Butterworth
89. By Lantern Light by Cat Weatherill
90. One Winter's Day by M. Christina Butler
91. One Day in Japan with Hokusai by Julia Altmann
92. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola
93. The Samurai Warriors by Philip Steele
94. A Samurai Castle by Fiona Macdonald
95. Measly Middle Ages by Terry Deary
96. Owl Takes Charge by Nick Butterworth
97. The Dark, Dark Night by M. Christina Butler
98. The Owl by Nick Butterworth
99. Owls by Sarah Courtauld
100. Night Animals by Lorraine Horsley
101. Baby Animals at Night (Kingfisher publishing)
102. The Cross Rabbit by Nick Butterworth
103. The Old Man Mad About Drawing by Francois Place
104. Step into Ancient Japan by Fiona Macdonald
105. Bat loves the Night by Nicola Davies
106. Not so loud, Oliver! by Tony Maddox
107. Totally weird night animals by Iqbal Hussain
108. Avoid being a Samurai! by Fiona Macdonald
109. Samurai by Deborah Murrell
110. The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Ancient and Medieval World edited byAndrew Roberts
111. The Three Kingdoms translated by Wong Huey Khey
112. Wise Owl's Story by Alison Uttley
113. The Ducks by Nick Butterworth
114. Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
115. Illustrated Tales from Shakespeare adapted from the classic by Charles and Mary Lamb
116. The Tempest retold by Jennifer Mulherin
117. The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare for Everyone)
118. Twisted Tales: Shakespeare Stories by Terry Deary
119. The Mole by Nick Butterworth
120. The Great Night Journey and Other Stories by Anita Ganeri
121. Islamic Stories by Anita Ganeri
122. Stories from World Religions retold by Anita Ganeri
123. The Invisible Boy by Sally Gardner
124. The Famous Five series (21 books) by Enid Blyton
125. The Boy with the Magic Numbers by Sally Gardner
126. The Middle Ages (Usborne History of Britain)
127. The Fox by Nick Butterworth
128. Muhammad and Islam by Kerena Marchant
129. The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
130. What a Hoot! (Kingfisher publishing)
131. The Usborne Book of Animal Jokes
132. Tintin: Prisoner of the Sun by Herge
133. Wombat goes Walkabout by Michael Morpurgo
134. Land of the Long White Cloud by Kiri Te Kanawa
135. My pet hamster by Anne Rockwell
136. What's it like to be fish?  by Wendy Pfeffer
137. The Bear (Piccolo Explorer)
138. Who lives in an Alligator Hole?  by Anne Rockwell
139. Snakes are hunters by Patricia Lauber
140. Falcons nest on Skyscrapers by Priscilla Jenkins
141. Why Frogs are wet by Judy Hawes
142. Folk Tales and Fables of Asia & Australia by Robert Ingpen
143. The Aborigines by Helen Edmunds
144. The Iliad and the Odyssey retold by Marcia Williams
145. Percy the Park keeper: A Classic Treasury by Nick Butterworth
146. The Rubadub Mystery by Enid Blyton
147. The Rat-a-Tat Mystery by Enid Blyton
148. Who eats what?  by Patricia Lauber
149. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
150. The Odyssey retold by Barbara Picard
151. Sir Francis Drake and His Daring Deeds by Andrew Donkin
152. The Mice by Nick Butterworth
153. Avoid fighting in the First Crusade!  by Fiona Macdonald
154. Famous Men of the Middle Ages by John Haaren
155. Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard
156. Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology by Brian Branston
157. The Vikings by Shahrukh Husain
158. Norse Myths and Legends (Usborne Illustrated Guide)
159. A Soldier's Life in Viking Times by Fiona Corbridge
160. 10 Best Viking Legends Ever by Michael Cox
161. Raiders and Ruins by Terry Deary
162. Thor and the Master of Magic by Kevin Crossley-Holland
163. The Eye of the Viking God by Terry Deary
164. The Battle of the Viking Woman by Terry Deary
165. The Hand of the Viking Warrior by Terry Deary
166. The Sword of the Viking King by Terry Deary
167. Avoid sailing with Franics Drake by David Stewart
168. Avoid being a Medieval Knight!  by Fiona Macdonald
169. Avoid being Tutakhamum!  by David Stewart
170. A Viking Town by Fiona Macdonald
171. Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain by Fiona Macdonald
172. How to be an Anglo-Saxon in 13 easy steps by Scoular Anderson
173. The Usborne Book of Greek and Norse Legends
174. Avoid being an Egyptian Pyramid Builder!  by Jacqueline Morley
175. The Facts about the Vikings by Dereen Taylor
176. The Viking Codex by Fiona Macdonald
177. Picasoo and the Girl with a Ponytail by Laurence Anholt
178. Parables from Nature by Margaret Gatty
179. Just so Stories by Rudyard Kipling
180. Big John's Secret by Eleanore Jewett
181. The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
182. The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
183. Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Wilard
184. Robin Hood: His Life and Legend by Bernard Miles
185. 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith
186. Coot Club by Arthur Ransome
187. The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanore Jewett
188. Glinda of Oz by L.Frank Baum
189. Stories from the History of Rome by Mrs Beesly
190. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
191. Kings and Things by H.E. Marshall
192. Don Quixote retold by Martin Jenkins
193. Swallows and Amazon by Arthur Ransome
194. Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry
195. The Princess and the Curdie by George MacDonald
196. The Borrowers by Mary Norton
197. The Chronicles of Narnia (7 books) by C.S. Lewis
198. David Copperfield (Longman Classics)
199. Animal Treasury by Enid Blyton
200. Knight's Handbook by Sam Taplin
201. The Family Collection by Enid Blyton
202. Origins of Chinese Martial Arts translated by Laurel Teo
203. The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl
204. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
205. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
206. Rumplestiltskin
207. Much Ado About Nothing retold by Andrew Matthews
208. The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde
209. The Door in the Wall by Margurite de Angeli
210. Tales from The Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang
211. Buffalo Bill by Ingri & Edgar d'Aulaire
212. The Essential Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
213. Just William series (10 books) by Richmal Crompton
214. Celtic Fairy Tales by Philip Wilson
215. The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
216. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter
217. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
218. Moby Dick presented by Jan Needle
219. Horrible Histories Annual 2008
220. Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
221. How to Avoid a Wombat's Bum by Mitchell Symons
222. The Dolphin Adventures by Wayne Grover
223. The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett
224. Magic Tree House: Lions on the Loose by Mary Pope Osborne
225. The BFG by Roald Dahl
226. Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
227. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
228. The Twits by Roald Dahl
229. Pictures at an Exhibition by Anna Harwell Celenza
230. Once Upon a Blue Moose by Daniel Pinkwater
231. How does Sand Become Glass?  by Melissa Stewart
232. Mystery of the Disappearing Cat by Enid Blyton
233. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner
234. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
235. I want to be a Fire Fighter by Stephanie Maze
236. Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
237. Red Falcons of Tremoine by Hendry Peart
238. Big Book of History (Knowledge Masters)
239. How to be a Viking: A Northlander's Guide
240. Gulliver's Travels retold by Martin Jenkins
241. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
242. Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
243. The Golden Hoard by Geraldine McCaughrean
244. The Light at Tern Rock by Julia L. Sauer
245. Edward Lear's Nonsense Book
246. Doctor DoLittle by Hugh Lofting
247. The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann
248. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
249. The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
250. Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
251. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
252. Britannia: 100 Great Stories from British History by Geraldine McCaughrean
253. What happens to a Hamburger?  by Paul Showers
254. Thomas the Tank Engine: The Classic Library Station Box (26 books) by W. Awdry
255. The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
256. Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tompert
257. Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter by Cindy Neuschwander
258. Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone by Cindy Neuschwander
259. Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland by Cindy Neuschwander
260. Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander
261. Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander
262. 2x2=Boo!  by Loreen Leedy
263. Multiplying Menace by Pam Calvert
264. The Warlord's Beads by Virginia Pilegard
265. The Warlord's Puzzle by Virginia Pilegard
266. The Warlord's Puppeteers by Virginia Pilegard
267. The Warlord's Kites by Virginia Pilegard
268. The Warlord's Fish by Virginia Pilegard
269. A Guide to Wizards of the World by Dugald A. Steer
270. Lost Worlds by John Howe
271. The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
272. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
273. Painful Poison by Nick Arnold
274. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden
275. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
276. The Princess and the Curdie by George MacDonald
277. If all the Swords in England by Barbara Willard
278. The Legends of Charlemagne by Thomas Bulfinch
279. The Llama Who Had No Pajama by Mary Ann Hoberman