From Greeks to Knights

Once a Week School

For six weeks, five Cache Valley families met together on Mondays for a "Once a Week School." We chose to formally study Chemistry and Greek Mythology along with doing some weekly logic puzzles and PE games. The toddlers and preschoolers had their own classes as well, learning some sign language, planting seeds, singing songs, etc.

For the chemistry class the boys mainly just wanted to conduct explosive experiments and were a bit disappointed that they had to study the the science of chemical reactions instead. Enthusiasm for chemistry waned over time, but we may try again in the fall. In the mythology classes, all seemed to enjoy learning about the gods and goddesses and the associated stories. As the teacher for the mythology class, April also had a good time learning along with the children and helping lead discussions. For the first half we studied the myths associated with the 12 main Olympians, the heroes, the villains, and the creatures. The children in the older group (10-11 year olds) devoured their books and knew all the stories. Then they started writing and illustrating their own myth as a group, using some creatures they had invented for a previous assignment. The final myth can be viewed here. The younger group (ages 7-9) chose to reenact a couple of myths rather than write a new one. They wore costumes and made props for the stories The Adventures of Perseus and Daedalus and Icarus (Ian is posing as the wicked King Minos, not a Jedi with a crown). The final day of class, everyone brought a pot to paint (unfortunately we lack the equipment to make and fire our own pottery), and the children painted scenes from their favorite myths or made up their own. Ian's and Megan's are featured in the photo below. The final day, the groups also performed their plays and read their group myth to all the families.



















Medieval Faire

Last Saturday we joined many families from the Cache Vally Homeschoolers for a Medieval Faire at Willow Park. Three members from the Kingdom of Artemisia chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism were on hand to give demonstrations and instructive talks.




Here Sir Andrew is discussing how knights' armor changed over time. The chain mail on the right was used earlier and later evolved to plate armor. We learned that it takes a long time to get into the armor and that one could not put it on by himself (hence the need for a squire). A battle-ready knight would be carrying about 70 pounds of armor, and often died of heat exhaustion rather than battle wounds.








Sir William and Sir Andrew brought an assortment of Medieval replicas, including armor, games, and the "violin stockade" (the wooden device with two holes). A disobedient child would have his head placed in the larger hole, the left hand in the smaller, and the device locked in place for a length of time dependent on the severity of the punishment. The child was still expected to do his chores (one-handed).

The highlight was watching a demonstration of a tournament fight between two knights, Sir Andrew and Sir James.