Who Knew History Was So Fascinating?

We're ending the official school year tomorrow. We've been having so much fun in History though, at times I almost don't want to stop. When that happens however, I just open up a bottle of sunscreen, close my eyes and inhale the aroma of summer. Works every time.

We've been reading about Henry VIII and his six wives. Sissy learned a very short rhyme that tells what happened to each of Henry's queens.....

divorced, beheaded, died,

divorced, beheaded, survived

I'm still not sure in what situation she'll find that knowledge helpful later in life, but it is kind of cute.

And I have to say, it thrills me to have the opportunity to not only teach my daughters about people like Henry the VIII, but to learn along with them. I mean, for most of my life, all I knew about Henry the VIII were the lyrics to a Herman's Hermits song. I'm not proud of it, I'm just sayin....

We read from our History book about Queen Elizabeth I and then Sissy read Good Queen Bess, a biography by Diane Stanley. We've read other biographies by this author and I love them. They have that rare combination of large, beautiful illustrations, AND an abundance of information on the subject.

After that, the girls acted out the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. A friend had just given us some dress-up clothes that include a little-girl sized wedding gown with a long train and lots of lace. They also used some costume jewelry and one of their play tiaras, and the whole effect was quite regal.

We're ending the year on a Shakespearean note.

I checked out a couple of children's versions of Shakespeare plays, and tried one of the tricks I use when I want to get the girls' to read a certain book. I sat down to read "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and made sure I was seen. When I was finished, I left the book lying on the couch and made a casual comment about the good story with fairies in it, and then walked off.... and Sissy took the bait!! And she really liked it!

Our History book contained a very short, very simplified version of Macbeth, and although I'm usually not into witches and the like, when I read the related activity suggestion, I knew we had to do it.

We made "eye-of-newt soup". The girls read the "Double, double, toil and trouble..." poem chanted by the weird sisters in Macbeth, and stirred in the corresponding ingredients, replacing unsavory things like "severed fingers" and "tongue of dog" with Tootsie rolls and red licorice. Chocolate chips served as "eye of newt". They had the best time.

And now, because all good things must come to an end, and more importantly, because Momma needs to rest and recharge, our school year is over.

Yay for summer!