HOD BLHFHG - Unit 24

What a fabulous week getting back into our routine only to stir things up with an impromptu field trip to Yorktown Victory Center Homeschool Days.  I love living in Virginia so close to a variety of wonderful landmarks in our Early American History.  The coordination goes along perfectly with Heart of Dakota's -Beyond. 

The homeschool days for Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg are offered once in the spring and then again in the fall. The classes were taught by great community leaders who were able to keep the children's attention and engage them in costumes and props.  

The Early Colonial class worked in the garden, carried buckets of water, watered the garden, washed clothes, learned about drying herbs, fruit & tobacco and learned about preserving meat. They baked strawberry hot cakes just as they did in colonial times. 

The Life of a Private class allowed the students to take part in military drills with wooden muskets in an army encampment. They examined the reasons colonists joined the Patriot cause and learned about the conditions that they experienced. It was very informative and my son really enjoyed this one. 

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In History, we read that George Washington asked Betsy Ross "The Star Lady" to design & sew a combined flag for the 13 colonies.  We learned that there are 7 red stripes, 6 white stripes, and 13 stars that form a united circle.  We talked about the colors of the flag and their significance. Red for bravery, Blue for justice and White for purity. 

We opted out of the frosting flag activity and substituted with a healthier fruit flag tray! The kids put this together and were very proud of their fruit flag. Yummy! 

We made a 5 pointed star with only one cut just like Betsy Ross made with the white fabric.

  HERE is a link on my Pinterest page for the folding directions for the star.

The kids writing assignment was to write how they would feel if General George Washington asked them to design a flag and if they would make any changes to the flag Betsy Ross made.  This was the first time my older son has written in cursive without copying. I was very proud of his work.   You can get this  FREE BETSY ROSS PAPER PRINTABLE HERE .

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We added the Revoltionary War to our timeline and talked about the Declaration of Independence. 

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In History, we also read about a brave girl and her friend who stood up and confronted the red coats with a small flag she had sewn and a drum. Her bravery saved the army from raiding their home for silver and belongings. The British General spoke kindly to the children and gave orders for his troops to march away. 

My hubby was able to go over the history activity about military orders with the kids including saluting, right and left flank, about turn, wheel, attention and at ease. The kids had so much giggly fun with this! 

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In Science, we talked about water and fats in foods. We experimented with different foods to see if they were water based or fat based. We learned that fruits are mostly made with water as the fruit juices evaporated and the fats in other foods did not. 

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Our poetry this week was 'The Star-Spangled Banner' by Francis Scott Key.  The children's writing is coming along beautifully. 

The children also read this book about Francis Scott Key and why he wrote the poem.  

It was a cute book about his life, had colorful pictures, and was written in easy text for young readers. 

We also listened to the full version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' on YouTube. You can listen to it too.   CLICK HERE

All in all, this was another fun week with Heart of Dakota! 

See you next week! 

Be blessed!