At the beginning of the school year, we noticed that Tiger has gotten the hang of single-digit multiplications up to nine. I credit his success at cracking the multiplication tables without any pain nor any need to memorise multiplication tables to the RightStart curriculum that we are using, since we don't use anything else for mathematics. In fact, we are only just 'officially' starting with multiplication in this programme, but I think the strong foundations in addition and the way the curriculum is written just works to help Tiger make the mathematical connections himself.
A knowledge of multiplication is the pre-requisite to starting fractions. Since this topic is not introduced in RightStart until the end of springtime next year (according to our schedule), I am using a few other resources to do the job. We are doing fractions alongside our main math curriculum, about once a week.
As an introduction, I let Tiger freely play with the Fraction Circles. Putting the circles back to their original shape by colour was too straightforward for Tiger, so he decided to see whether they could make full circles using different combinations of the fraction parts.
I wrote down all the combinations of the circles he made. This sheet of paper will be used later when he has learnt about equivalent fractions to verify whether the various combinations work towards a whole.
To keep Tiger's interest going and to introduce the concept of fractions gently, I had Tiger read the following book. The book is bright and colourful, and introduces the concept in an interesting way such that after reading it, Tiger asked to do fraction work, to which I gladly let him practise on the Modeling Fractions worksheets found here.
The worksheets above were a huge confidence booster for Tiger and he asked for more, so I whipped out Book 1 of Key to Fractions. Book 1 is all about concepts so it is very straightforward and Tiger has no problems with the workbook so far. It is comforting to see him learning this concept so easily but I intend for this part of maths to be supplementary to our main curriculm. I think we have more interesting things to do with our lives than to sit through multiple workbooks.
This post is linked up to several blog hops, where you can visit to see what other homeschoolers have been busy with.
The day of the Battle of Hastings, when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold Godwinson and brought the feudal system into England, along with many other social changes to this country.
Tiger has been fascinated by this event eversince we started studying British History last autumn, and he had studied the Bayuex Tapestry many times so we are very familiar with the stories that led up to the event.
Norman knight all dressed up and ready for battle.
Last weekend, we drove a long way down to Battle to attend the event. I must say that all of us were blown away by how fantastic this event was put together by the re-enactors. There must have been at least 1,000 re-enactors from UK, Europe and North America. We have been to Battle a few times in the past but yesterday was the most crowded day we have seen at the site.
The entire day was activity filled. If nothing else, just walking around the Norman camp and the Saxon camp (both camps were on opposite sides of the battlefield) was enough to learn about the way people lived, dressed and worked at that time.
Our first stop was the Naval Battle stop where a Norman boatman showed the children a replica Norman boat that would have been used by William I's army to sail over the English Channel. The boatman also gave a detailed description of how the boats would have been built, the materials that were used to build, paint and maintain them.
Holding a jar of tar that would have been used in Norman times to paint boats.
Being a family-oriented event, there was a chance for the children to be engaged in the naval battle by pretending to be Norman soldiers on board the invading boats that were about to cross the channel. The children were taught how to steer the boat, what to do if they met bad weather (as one would expect while crossing the channel), and how to fend off a Viking ship they would meet on the way.
There was also storytelling. We heard the story of The Battle of Maldon which involved the Vikings and the Saxons.
The Norman Calvary and Infantry Display was very impressive. During the one hour display, the commentator and re-enactors did a marvellous job at helping us understand the weaponry and training that the Normans had in preparation for the battle.
Tiger could not wait to get involved in the Kids' Battle of Hastings! Actually, none of the boys (I didn't see any girl taking part in this activity) could wait. The man who ran the programme had only 10 minutes to explain what the rules of the battle were (no hitting on the face or anywhere on the neck, or jabbing into anyone's sides) and to divide the children into Saxons and Normans, before he handed out the foam swords, which promptly led to his losing control of the mob.
After the carnage of the kids' battle, we headed over to the Novices' Room in the abbey ruins to listen to a very knowledgeable man explaining the history of Western music and performing music of the Norman period. He also gave a short but detailed explanation and demonstration of the instruments used during that time: bells, harp organistrum, psaltery, claves and horn.
The lady's voice was gorgeous, as they sang and performed music that would have been familiar to the monks who lived in Battle Abbey. Hear it for yourselves below:
After the calm of the music, the actual battle took place on the battlefield where Saxon England was lost to the Normans 945 years ago.
The re-enactment was truly excellent. We have been to very many historical re-enactments and this one was particularly spectacular and engaging. While the battle scene unfolded before our eyes, a commentator gave a concise yet very thorough narration of the events leading up to the battle, from King Edward to King Harold's accend to the throne, to the 2 other battles Harold had to fight before meeting William on this battlefield.
The commentator who did a wonderful job narrating the historical event.
You can catch the atmosphere of the re-enactment by following the official video made by English Heritage in 2006: part 1 and part 2. As far as I am concerned, King Harold's was a tragedy. Often times, people just gather one side of the story from the Bayuex Tapestry and only concentrated on the winner, William I. However, if one were to search a little deeper into the story and read different sources of the events that led to this battle, as well as looking into the backgrounds of both men, you can have a pretty good guess at their characters.
An article in a history magazine about Matilda, William I's wife, and their relationship as a couple.
At the present moment Tiger is keen to align himself with the winning side (hence him choosing to dress up as a Norman rather than a Saxon for the event), while Tortoise and I both sympathise with King Harold. In Tiger's 7-year-old mind, there is no question that he wants to be with the winner -- who doesn't? The complexities of the situation is beyond his understanding at this age, but I look forward to having more complex and indepth discussions with him in our second and third rounds of studying the Norman period. It is very easy to align oneself with the victor, but the truth is often not so straightforward, as the following documentary will show:
David Starkey's documentary continues the story of William I after the conquest. This post is linked up to several blog hops, where you can visit to see what other homeschoolers have been busy with.
We have recently finished reading Beowulf and Grendel for Tiger's bedtime story. Tiger had read the simplified version to himself in Year 1, so this is not a new story. The version we are reading now is the complete translation of the original Anglo Saxon poem, which gives Tiger a good sense of how the original Anglo Saxon story was set out. However, I would not recommend this story to be read to young children who would be frightened by monsters and gore, because there is a lot of that in the story.
To understand the context of the story better, I had Tiger figure out: (1) where the story took place; (2) which historical period it belonged to.
What I really like about homeschooling is that I, as parent and teacher, will know exactly how much my child has understood a concept simply by using the narration method. To 'test' a child, it is not always necessary or appropriate to do it in a pencil-and-paper format or have the child do an extensive project. Using a few simple questions for discussion, it becomes obvious how much he knows and where the gaps are.
In this case, Tiger has no problem knowing that Beowulf was from Geatland, and that the story was set in Denmark, which he then inferred that this has to be a Viking story and that Beowulf must have been a Viking warrior.
That's good, I told him. But could he figure out where Geatland was? And why is this story an Anglo-Saxon epic, rather than a Viking epic? These led to interesting discussions about geography, overlapping periods of Anglo Saxon and Viking periods in Britain, and how we can glimpse traces of early Christian influence on the Saxon culture in the language of the poem.
Both Tiger and I were very curious about the environment in which Grendel lived - fenland. Luckily, we have been to fens before so we have some idea with regards to how and why the fens would have been an ideal place for a creature like Grendel to live in. It also helped that we attended a half-day workshop about Fenland Life. However, since the records and tools went as far back as the Victorian period, the workshop focused mostly on how people lived in the fens during this period:
the different types and functions of clothing;
the types of crops grown in the fenland;
how people used to live and work.
Victorian women working in the fens.
Singing a fenland song.
Listening to a creepy fenland folklore about creatures under the marshes....
Example of a fen-stilt used to walk across the marshes.
There used to be lots of eels living in the fens, so eels were not only a staple diet for the fenland folks but also used as currency at a time. Apparently, parts of the Ely Cathedral was paid for with thousands of eels captured in from the fens! We were shown the prongs that were used to catch eels, as well as the more humane willow casings used to trap them.
Nowadays the fens don't look anything like they did in the Saxon times, mostly because of the industrial draining that took place in the early 20th Century. We watched a 15-minute clip that explained how the draining was done, which technology was used, its effect on the ecology and economy in the region.
Below is a short clip of how one of the fens reserve look in the present day:
When we came home, Tiger and I read the following book to learn more about eels, which sadly are rarely found in the fens these days:
This post is linked up to several blog hops, where you can visit to see what other homeschoolers have been busy with.
Tiger has been fascinated by the idea of knights since he was 4.5 years old. Eversince he started reading at 5 years old, he has read every knight-related book I can find in our county libraries. Somehow, the whole idea of knighthood has a very strong appeal to a little boy. Perhaps it's the whole romanticised idea of Arthurian chivalry that enthralled him. Therefore, when I took him to a Knight's School to be 'trained' as a knight, he was over the moon.
The session consisted of two sessions: (1) a craft session wherein the children made their own knight's helmet out of cardboard, and (2) a 'training' session hosted by two re-enactors: a Knights Hospitaller and a common knight.
The craft session went on successfully. All the materials were well prepared and set out so most of the children completed their helmets independently.
The training session was also very interesting. The Knights Hospitaller gave the children a brief introduction to the roles of knights in the Middle Ages, and taught them different combative moves. It was all a bit of silly fun until the last bit -- the 'graduation ceremony' when he declared that the children had completed their training and would be 'knighted' to receive their certificate.
There were about 30 children in total, and over 20 adult there.
At the command of the Hospitaller to kneel to be knighted, all 30 children immediately went down on one or both knees to receive their 'knighthood'. All, except Tiger. He remained standing. The Hospitaller motioned for him to kneel but he just stood there. Everyone was staring at Tiger. Below is the actual conversation that took place in the two minutes that felt like a lifetime:
Hospitaller: Kneel to be knighted, boy! Tiger: (still standing, shook his head). Hospitaller:Why won't you kneel? Tiger:I am a free man. We are equal. I don't have to kneel to anybody. Hospitaller: (paused for a brief moment, slightly shocked). But it's a sign a respect! Tiger:I will shake your hand as a sign of respect, but I won't kneel.
At this point, both of them (and all the other adults) turned to look at me. I can't tell you how tense the atmosphere felt at that very moment, but I spoke directly to Tiger, "That's right. All humans are equal. Nobody needs to kneel to anybody."
Tiger still received his certificate at the end of the day.
I doubt we'll be invited to tea at Green Park anytime soon.
On the way home, Tiger and I discussed the roles of knights. In spite of all the books Tiger has read about knights, it has not clicked for him that knights were essentially soldiers who worked for someone else (the king or other nobles), hence they would have had to obey orders given by those who provided their livelihood if they wanted to keep their jobs. Tiger looked slightly disappointed at this realisation but I was glad that this to-kneel-or-not-kneel incident gave us the opportunity to clarify matters and to slowly chip away at the naive/romantic idea that (1) all knights were good and chivalrous, and (2) all knights were their own masters.
Out of curiosity, I asked Tiger what he would do if the Hospitalier had insisted that he would have to kneel to get his certificate. Tiger thought for a while, then his eyes started to go a little red -- this was his first experience of a moral dilemma and he was struggling with the idea of possibly not getting the piece of paper, even though the certificate was already safely kept in his rucksack.
Tiger thought about it for a while, shook his head and said (while trying hard to hold back his tears), "I won't kneel, Mummy."
At this point, I congratulated him for standing firmly behind his ideals. I also reminded him that the certificate was in his rucksack, and that he got it without having to compromise himself or what he believed in.
Tiger still dresses up as a knight every other day. However, the difference now is that he is beginning to realise that things are not always black and white.
At the beginning of the school year, we noticed that Tiger has gotten the hang of single-digit multiplications up to nine. I credit his success at cracking the multiplication tables without any pain nor any need to memorise multiplication tables to the RightStart curriculum that we are using, since we don't use anything else for mathematics. In fact, we are only just 'officially' starting with multiplication in this programme, but I think the strong foundations in addition and the way the curriculum is written just works to help Tiger make the mathematical connections himself.
I wrote down all the combinations of the circles he made. This sheet of paper will be used later when he has learnt about equivalent fractions to verify whether the various combinations work towards a whole.
