Muster Up Some Courage!

"Where's your chewin tobacco? I heard all you southern belles chewed tobacco."

Well that Union soldier got everyone in the crowd riled up for a good battle. It was a beautiful day for the Fall Muster and Beauvoir was the perfect setting.

All the boys wanted were replicated weapons, but they had to settle for kepis.

They were all in line for this soldier's demonstration of loading and firing his weapon.

Of course Gina wanted a hoop skirt and belle gown.

She was rather disappointed in the drab colors and plain Jane dresses. But she did find a belle or two wearing pink. We bought her a crocheted hair net to complete her own costume.

How about a bird's eye view of the battle?

We picked up a few ideas to design our own props and costumes for the homeschool encampment. Mr. 14 Year Old, the perfectionist, decided he would have to be a Union Officer since they were the most "uniform" of all the re-enactors. He couldn't deal with the hodge podge uniforms of the grays. He is busy cutting up an oatmeal canister to make canteens for his men. And the younger boys? They are shooting it out in the backyard.

Brother against brother.

We'll be reading The Red Badge of Courage and watching a few movies so they can get a feel for the real tragedy of this (and every) war.

Wanderlust

Wouldn't it be fabulous if home educators could receive the same tax payer funding as the public school system? With that kind of money per child, we could go to Egypt, Greece, and Rome while studying Ancient Civilizations. Since it was always more of a daydream than a possibility, we visited those places in our imagination with the help of living books (lots and lots of books) and internet resources. It definitely spurred a wanderlust in all of my children. I think they also an inherited the travel gene from my Dad's side of the family. As a teenager, his father took an unexpected journey as a stowaway on a slow boat to China (literally), which in a VERY roundabout way led to a career in Aruba, where my father was born. As an adult, my dad joined the military and raised his family across the USA, with 4 year stint in Okinawa. Last count I had attended 16 different schools before finishing high school. Don't ask me to recreate that count. My memory isn't what it u...

Drug Problems?

Hat tip to Wanda!

Waldorf What?

When the link to Homeschooling on a Shoestring was published , there was some discussion about the overview of teaching styles. A friend of mine, who happens to be a very talented artist, was curious about the Waldorf Style. We hadn't heard of it before, at least not under this label. According to the post, it is a teaching style that integrates head, heart and hands. It involves art, faith and lots of hands on activities. While there are many elements of Waldorf philosophy that are not compatible with our Classically Catholic teaching style, we have occasionally borrowed ideas to make our curriculum more colorful and whimsical. Follow this link to Serendipity for free downloads of creative lesson plans and charming stories about fairies and gnomes that will make language arts and math the favorite subjects of the day. Since the author is all about keeping it Catholic, you will also find stories of the saints beautifully woven into the presentations. I imagine our summer will b...

Classically Catholic

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