Bringing history to life: Frederick Douglass

Recently I read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, a former slave who escaped to freedom and fought for the abolition of slavery in the United States.  Why I hadn't I read this amazing book before????  Why wasn't this assigned reading in my U.S. history class in high school????  AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING book!  I encourage you to read it!  How did I end up reading it?  It was because of my job as a private tutor.  One of my tutoring students had to read it for his U.S. history class, along with Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson (which I will post about another day). 

 

Here are some fantastic resources for your own study of Frederick Douglass....

Download the writings fo Frederick Douglass for FREE at Project Gutenberg HERE.  Most are available as HTML, epub, or Kindle versions, as well as a few other digital types.

An in depth  (28 page) study guide from Penguin Books, under their Signet Classics imprint:  HERE. 

A briefer (8 pages) study guide HERE. 

Take a virtual tour HERE of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, just outside of Washington, D.C.  There are two associated lesson plans at the website:

* Frederick Douglass's Hat (goes beyond just his hat!) HERE.

* Forward March: Continuing Frederick Douglass' Footsteps HERE. 

Frederick Douglass page at PBS.org HERE. 

Huffington Post article about "What Every American Should Know about Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist Prophet" - HERE. 

Hear (and watch) actor Danny Glover reading Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" at Zinn History Project HERE. 

Frederick Douglass - An American Life (Part 1 of 4)


Frederick Douglass - An American Life (Part 2 of 4)


Frederick Douglass - An American Life (Part 3 of 4)


Frederick Dougalss - An American Life (Part 4 of 4)

America is...

Happy Independence Day to my fellow readers in the United States of America!  And, for those of you not in the USA, thanks for taking the time to visit.

This post is all about "America is..."

One of our favorite books celebrating our country is called just that, America is..., and is written by Louise Borden and Stacey Schuett.  This book is beautifully illustrated, and covers the range of the country from coast to coast, mountain ranges, plains and deserts.  Although it is considered appropriate for grades k-3, we still read it every year on the 4th of July, and my son is 13. To go along with the book, I found a simple lesson plan HERE (pdf format).

You will find all kinds of resources all over the web for the 4th of July, and to learn about the United States of America, but here are a few that we have enjoyed over the years...

Coloring pages for each state HERE.

Historic symbols of America coloring pages HERE.

Lots of coloring pages HERE - grouped into categories. Click on a category to be taken to the related coloring pages.

The United State's National Anthem sung by the combined choirs of the USA's military forces:


For a fantastic 6 part PBS documentary about the American Revolution - the reason we celebrate Independence Day - click HERE.  This series is more appropriate for older kids, teens, and adults.  For a lesson plan, a game, and more that goes with the video series, click HERE.

For children, check out Liberty's Kids!  This is a cartoon series about American history.  THIS link takes you to the YouTube channel for the series.  Unfortunately, each episode appears to be split into two parts on YouTube.  A sample video:


And, if you ever have the chance, I highly recommend driving across this vast country!  We did it a few summers ago when moving from California to New York.  This truly is an amazing land with people of all kinds, terrain of all types, and beauty from coast to coast.  I wrote a bit about that trip in my blog post on "carschooling."  A few pictures from that trip:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient India Resources

Currently we are studying Ancient India for our homeschool social studies.  We use a wide variety of materials, spanning those for much younger children to those for adults or older students.  As a result, you may wish to evaluate any materials I list, or link to, before using them with your child(ren).  My son is 13, and does well with a mix of too-easy, right on target, and challenging materials.

Here are a number of great online resources for studying Ancient India:


BBC Primary History's Ancient India page for children

BBC History: Ancient India - for older students and adults

The British Museum's Ancient India page - Click on a category, then click on the large picture that should appear in the center of the screen in order to be taken to the actual page for the category.

Videos - some may be geo-tagged, meaning they can only be viewed in certain locations.  We've been able to watch all of these in the United States:

• What the Ancients Did for Us: The Indians - produced by the BBC
• Mysteries of Asia: Lost Temples of India - produced by The Discovery Channel (This one does touch on erotic elements in certain temples, but does not go into deep detail.)
• Warrior Empire: The Mughals - History Channel (5 parts)
• The Story of India - a 6 episode series from PBS; teacher resources and more HERE.
• The Buddha  (8 parts)
• The life of Buddha - BBC
• Neo K12 video clips - Some of these are multiple clips from a single video (so one video may be split up into 5 or 6 smaller clips).  Most are less than 10 minutes long.

 The offline resources that we are using include these books:

• The Times Complete History of the World (one of our main history texts)
• National Geographic Visual History of the World (one of our main history texts)
• Civilizations, Explorations, and Conquests (one of our main history texts)

 

• The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions
• The Ramayana - A Tale of Gods and Demons
• Siddhartha - by Herman Hesse

If you are interested in reading The Ramayana or Siddhartha, please check back in a few weeks for study guides and assignment ideas.

Flat Stanley came for a visit (Part III)!

If you missed our previous posts about Flat Stanley, he came for a visit last week, and we had quite a bit of fun!  This is Stanley's third, and final, blog post about his visit...  Read Part I HERE, and Part II HERE.  And, now, here's Stanley to tell you about the rest of his trip to New York City...

__________________________________

Hello again! It's me, Flat Stanley! I've left New York City, and am on my way towards Arizona, and then Germany, but I wanted to make sure I finish telling you all about my adventures in New York!  After visiting Time's Square, going to the theater, seeing the Statue of Liberty from afar, and so on, my hosts decided to take me to the American Museum of Natural History!  Have you seen the movie "Night at the Museum"?  Guess where that is supposed to take place??? At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City!  Now, the movie wasn't actually filmed there, but it was still really cool to visit!  According to Wikipedia, the movie was mostly filmed on a sound stage somewhere else, with only the exterior shots of the building being the real deal.  However, several items and characters in the movie version of the museum have real counterparts that we were able to check out...

The American Museum of Natural History is right on the edge of Central Park.

We started our visit with mammals.  These are Indian rhinoceroses.

This guy is a hoolock gibbon.  From the sign: "Gibbons are the smallest as well as the most arboreal of the anthropoid (man-like) apes.  Though capable of walking upright, they move chiefly by swinging with long arms from branch to branch, a distinctive form of locomotion known as brachiation.  Gibbons travel trough the trees in bands often numbering 50 to 100 individuals.  They have a distinctive and powerful voice.  Their diet includes fruit, leaves, insects, spiders and birds' eggs."

Then we moved on to exhibits about the early people of Asia.  This diorama is of the Koryak people.  From the sign: "The Koryak live in northeastern Siberia, a place of extreme cold.  One main group live inland and depend upon herding reindeer for subsistence; the other, shown here, live along the coast and subsist by hunting sea mammals and fishing.  Our knowledge of shelter and clothing during the Ice Age is limited, but we can be certain that prehistoric man adapted to the climate much as have the Koryak.  Their partly subterranean houses have multipurpose roofs which not only protect the house from burial in snow but provide a storage area and a reservoir for snow to be used for drinking."

We saw a lot of really interesting masks.  This one gave me nightmares!

This diorama is really neat!

We saw some Japanese art and displays.

These are tiny little Japanese carvings.  They were a lot smaller than me!

 

This samurai display was really cool!  From the sign: "The warrior caste has always had a high place in Japanese society.  Traditions of bravery, martial skills, personal honor and loyalty have so marked this caste that its name, samurai - one who serves, is known throughout the world.  Samurai origins go back to prehistoric times, but the warriors heyday in Japan came during the medieval period (1192-1568), when feudal lords created armies and obtained their loyalty by martial codes (bushido). The Samurai are the subject of many legends and stories.  As shown here, their arms were often created by find craftsmen, who molded and embellished the weapons in which the Samurai took extreme pride."

 

I think I look pretty good in this hat!

 

With my host's mom.

With JP.

This looks like a moose skeleton, but it is actually Megaloceros, which "...may be the largest deer ever to have lived. It belongs to the group called artiodactyls - hoofed mammals that usually have an even number of toes.  Many also have horns or antlers...  Generally, only male artiodacytls have antlers.  In living deer, they are used during the mating season for wrestling with other males and attracting females, and then are shed."

A bear!

I rode on the back of a glyptodont!  Not really, but it sure looks like it, doesn't it?  From the signs: "Glyptodonts had a thick outer shell and skullcap formed of fused bony plates.  This protective armor helped shield the plant-eating glyptodonts from meat-eating predators."

 

Guess who this guy is behind me???  That's right - T-rex!  Tyrannosaurus rex means "tyrant reptile". From the signs: "Although Tyrannosaurus is one of the most familiar dinosaurs, its skeletons are quite rare.  Fever than 15 partial specimens have been collected.  Tyrannosaurus was the largest and most fearsome carnivore of all time.  The arms of Tyrannosaurus rex were relatively tiny.  Scientists thought that tyrannosaur hands had 3 fingers as the hands of Allosaurus did, until specimens were discovered which showed that all advanced tyrannosaurs had only 2 fingers on each hand."

This little guys are so cute!

Recognize this guy?  He didn't say anything during our visit.  Good thing, because we didn't have any gum for him, and didn't really want him to call us dumb-dumbs either!

Just hanging out at the museum...

Pit-stop!

 

After the museum, we walked through the park grounds.  The park immediately around the museum is  named after Theodore Roosevelt.  He was the 26th president of the United States, from 1901 to 1909.  Roosevelt's interest in history and the natural world developed during his childhood when he often had to stay home due to severe asthma.  During that time he studied natural history, and feel in love with the subject.  He went on to attend Harvard University where he studied biology.  Before Harvard, and due to his asthma and physical weakness, Roosevelt was homeschooled! Roosevelt spent several years in North and South Dakota as well, and was a true cowboy!  After his time in the Dakotas, he returned to his childhood home of New York City where he had a career with the New York Police Department, and then he went on to develop his life in politics, eventually becoming the President of the United States.

The main entrance to the museum. We went in through a side entrance because that's where all the signs we saw pointed!

Theodore Roosevelt statue in front of the museum.

Homer - The Odyssey

This year, I am reading The Odyssey by Homer with two of my tutoring students (9th graders).  Lucky me, they are reading two different editions!  At first, I was a bit irritated, but now that I've been going through the two texts, it has been incredibly interesting to see the differences in translation and interpretation.

With one student, I am reading the Penguin Classics translation by E. V. Rieu (ISBN: 978-0-14-044911-2).  This edition reads very much like a novel, in regular paragraph form.  As a result, it is quite a bit easier than some other editions.  

The other student is reading the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition translated by Robert Fagles (ISBN:  978-0-14-026886-7).  This edition resembles the more poem-like format of the epic.  If you choose this edition, be sure to read this great interview with Robert Fagles which was featured on PBS's "News Hour" back on March 3, 1997.


Whichever edition you choose, the two above both have excellent introductory sections with background information and insight into the story.  If you prefer to get the text for FREE, try an edition from Project Gutenburg, which is a resource for free texts of all manner, from around the world.  See the available editions of The Odyssey HERE.

Here is a fantastic resource from the Annenberg Foundation.  Click HERE for a video about the story, and links to explore. 

Although meant for the Fagles translation, Temple University has an extensive study guide which would be a good compliment to any translation.  When I say extensive, I really do mean it!  Click HERE.  Please note, the on-line text with hyperlinks mentioned in the introduction to the study guide does NOT take you to the actual text of The Odyssey. 

If you want to give your student study questions as part of their schoolwork, click HERE for a fairly good list put together by a teacher using MythWeb.com  Also from MythWeb, this page has links to editions of the text, as well as links for more information on all of the characters, and locations in the book.  

For some historical context, check out this History Channel documentary from their series, "Clash of the Gods":

And, this additional video from the same series, "Clash of the Gods - Odysseus, Warrior's Revenge":




If you are reading The Odyssey as part of a study on Ancient Greece, check out my other posts on the subject of Ancient Greece HERE and HERE.

Ancient Greece...

Hey homeschoolers!  Today, I'm talking history curriculum.  I thought we would give Sonlight a try, and as I'd heard such great things from friends, I had very high hopes and expectations.  I was both ecstatic and sorely disappointed by the Core W curriculum.

Sigh...I love the layout and overall approach, but absolutely cannot stand the two primary texts.  The curriculum is supposed to be geared towards ages 12 and 13 - JP is 13 - but the two primary texts?  They are clearly meant for younger children.  So, we will be dispensing with those, and following some of the main lesson plans and curriculum map, while also making changes and adjustments as we see fit.  I only bought the two main texts (which are being sent back), and the instructor's guide as our local library has all of the other books listed.  We also won't be following the Bible study portion, nor will we be using the poetry segment.  I was looking to Sonlight strictly for history, not for religion except as it is part of history (and by that, I mean we will cover most world religions, including the Christianity and the Bible, Judaism and the Torah, Islam and the Koran, Buddhism, Hinduism, and much more).  For poetry, well, that is my specialty area, so I have designed my own poetry curriculum.

Anyhow, when I got Sonlight's Core W instructor's manual, we were already well into Ancient Greece.  I considered backing up to the beginning of the Core W curriculum, but decided instead to just pick up with Ancient Greece, and continue using our current materials.  When we have exhausted our current materials, I will add in the books, map activities, and so on from the Core W plan.  If we like it, then we'll just do the same as we move along - use the Core W as a guide, and add in our own materials.  Core W is supposed to be a one year curriculum, but I plan to stretch it into two years as it doesn't go as in depth as I would like, so we will be supplementing like crazy as we go along!

I wanted to share with you some of the materials and resources that we are using to cover Ancient Greece.  So far, we are using the following in addition to many of the texts from Sonlight's Core W:

BOOKS WE ARE USING THUS FAR (an upcoming library trip will likely expand this list greatly!):

• National Geographic's Visual History of the World
• The Time's Complete History of the World
• D'Aulaire's Greek Myths
• Tales of the Greek Heroes
• The Odyssey (Penguin Classics edition)

ONLINE RESOURCES:

• Empires: The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization (A PBS three episodes documentary about Ancient Greece, available streaming from Netflix)
• Several History Channel documentaries covering Alexander the Great, The Odyssey, Clash of the Gods, and the Battle at Marathon.  Note that some of these episodes are quite violent and graphic.  If you have younger kids, or kids sensitive to monsters and violence, either skip these or preview them for appropriateness. ***A little tip:  A very annoying ad loads when you go to this page.  As fast as you can, hover your mouse over the top right corner of the page.  As the ad is loading you will see "Close" with a little box to click on.  Click it FAST or the ad will load entirely, taking you to some other website for the product - I think some sort of web security software or something.  If you don't get it closed fast enough, it is hard to get back to the documentaries page.  Lame, I know...***
• Short clips and videos at NeoK12.com - these are typically anywhere from 2 to 10 minute videos, and many are actually clips from larger videos and documentaries, but they are great if you are short on time, or your child has a short attention span.
• BBC Primary History - readings, photos, quizzes and more
• Mr. Donn - Power Point presentations, lesson plans, and more

FIELD TRIPS:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Ancient Greece exhibit - we are lucky enough to live just outside New York City, but if you aren't so lucky, check out their online exhibit!  If you have read Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Met has materials linking the Percy Jackson books with their Ancient Greek exhibit.
• Video of a presentation at The Met by Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson - the first few minutes a are a bore, but the rest is pretty good.  The discussion does go into Ancient Egyptian mythology as well.
• Percy Jackson guide to The Met's Ancient Greece exhibit
• The Met's Teacher's Guide to Greek Art from Prehistoric to Classical
• The Met's Pre-Visit Guide to the Art of Ancient Greece and Rome 

A glimpse at The Met's Percy Jackson guide

I also wanted to take a moment to show you why we love the National Geographic and The Time's history books we are using.  They are amazing!  These are definitely middle school and high school level texts, so if you have younger kids, you might prefer the two books that are part of Sonlight's Core W - the Core W main texts were just too simplistic for our needs.

Anyhow, check out these pictures...the maps and illustrations in both the National Geographic and The Time's history texts are incredible!  They both feature in depth text, numerous maps, historical rendering, timelines, and far more!

A page from National Geographic's Visual History of the World

A sample of the maps from the New York Time's Time's Complete History of the World

Check back in a week or so for pictures from our trip The Met!

I am already planning our transition to our Ancient Rome unit study, which will include watching "Spartacus" (the original movie featuring Kirk Douglas), and the more modern film "300."

Part II: Boston and the Freedom Trail - walking through history...

You can read Part I of our Boston adventure HERE.  After seeing the British march down the street, and standing below the balcony where the Declaration of Independence was first read publicly, my son, my uncle and I continued further along the Freedom Trail in Boston.

We wandered along and passed several interesting, but crowded sites.  We were going to go into the Paul Revere House, but there was a presentation happening, and as a result, it was PACKED.  Put that on the list of things to do on a weekday, off season!  I did take a picture of the sign though...

Along the path, we came to a statue of Paul Revere on his horse, and we also found a lovely, well shaded courtyard, where we stopped to have a snack and rest.  While we were sitting and eating, we were approached by a group of young teens who were on a scavenger hunt.  They needed someone to say "One if by land, two if by sea."  My uncle was willing, and he said, "One if by land, two if by sea, three if by air..."  The group of kids didn't get it, but JP and I were laughing...if you don't get the joke, google "One if by land, two if by sea..."

At the end of the courtyard, we also came across this monument to soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.  My son is a big military history buff, and this was a very important stop on our tour as a result.

After our rest, and checking out the war memorial, we moved on, passing The Old North Church, and heading towards Copp's Hill Burying Ground.  We didn't spend a whole lot of time here as there was something huge coming up on our tour, and I wanted to surprise JP with the next stop...

He looks thrilled to be at a cemetery, doesn't he (we had already explored a different one the day before...)...

And, on we walked, and walked, and walked...and finally came to....are you ready?  THIS:

and THIS:

You haven't seen a happy boy until you've seen JP spotting these bad boy ships!

The U.S.S. Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) is actually still in use the US Navy, so we had to go through security go on board.  Apparently they use it for training exercises...  But, the destroyer is out of commission and in dry dock.  There was no security check for that.

Can you just see his mind at work? "Hmmm....no one will notice if I fire this thing, right?" Heeheehee...

After the two ships, we moved on to the Bunker Hill monument.  From the Boston National Historic Park website:  ""Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" This legendary order has come to symbolize the conviction and determination of the ill-equipped American colonists facing powerful British forces during the famous battle fought on this site on June 17, 1775. The battle is popularly known as "The Battle of Bunker Hill" although most of the fighting actually took place on Breed's Hill, the site of the existing monument and exhibit lodge. Today, a 221-foot granite obelisk marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution."

Next post will be the less-historical aspects of our weekend trip!