Our Journey Westward » civil war

Frankfort Field Trips

Cindy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:33:50 +0000

In case you don’t know, Frankfort is the capital of Kentucky. It’s also where I grew up and where my family still lives. There is a wealth of field trip opportunity in Frankfort from government to history to museums and more. We’ve been trying to make it a habit to go on a quick field trip or two when we’re in for an extended visit with my parents.

This week’s trips were finished before lunch, but both were great fun!

Fort Hill

Fort Hill is a Civil War battlefield where remnants of earthen forts remain. Earthen forts are walls of dirt that were built to protect soldiers from the penetrating weapons of their enemies.

The soldiers didn’t always live inside the fort. Their more permanent, albiet rustic “homes” were just outside the fort. The soldiers only stayed inside when under attack.

Many remnants also remain of a rock wall where soldiers hid from oncoming bullets as they fired back at their enemies.

The fort was built on a hill that overlooked most of Frankfort at the time. You can see just how far they could see from the main vantage point.

The parks department has been excavating in the fort recently. There was an early 1900′s house on the property and they located the owner’s dump pile. I included this picture because we have also located an early dump pile on our farm. As we dig new garden space each year, we find new treasures like bits of old pottery, china, medicine bottles, jars and the like. It’s very interesting!

We also found some unsually camera-friendly little friends on our way out!

Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory

So we could say we got in a little science (and because we wanted free candy samples) we headed downtown to the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures on the tour, but it was great fun seeing how candy is made and packaged. Is their chocolate worth the very expensive price tag? Hmm…On some days I would say “YES!” Most days, though, I think not.

The tour costs $2.00 for adults, but children are free. It only lasts about 15 minutes, so it’s a very easy tour to fit into your schedule if you’re in Frankfort for other visits. Oh, and you don’t need a reservation. Just remember they don’t give tours during lunch hours.

Slavery and Civil War Resources

Cindy — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:49:56 +0000

This is the list that was in my sidebar as we worked through the slavery and Civil War unit. There are several great resources that I didn’t want to forget for future reference. I hope you find them useful as well.

National Geographic Underground Railroad Interactive

Carol Hurst’s Suggestions for Slavery Literature

Civil War Unit Plan

Civil War Timeline

Civil War for Kids

Eyewitness to History – Nice for Research

Carol Hurst’s Suggestions for Civil War Literature

Slavery and Civil War Projects

Cindy — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:52:46 +0000

Our last history unit of the year has been completed, and what a wonderfully rich unit it was! I think I mentioned in a previous post that this study was mostly literature-based. We chose really good books and learned about the life of slaves and struggles of the Civil War through the stories. Between books, field trips and hands-on projects, I don’t think there’s a much better way to learn history!

Before I go on, I’ve been asked several times how we fit in all the literature we read for our units. It’s really very easy! Many of the chapter books are checked out as books on tape and we listen to them in the car. We usually read one or two other chapter books together over the course of the unit, while some of them are reserved for individual reading time. Those reserved for individual reading time will have only been browsed ahead of time by me. We also still read a lot of picture books. I’m a sucker for picture books and I don’t think you’re ever too old to stop reading them! In all, we read together about 30-45 minutes a day. The kids read on their own 30-45 minutes each day. And we listen to books on tape almost anytime we’re in the car.

This week was project week, which means the children were assigned several projects and had all week to complete them. Friday night, all the projects were presented to the rest of the family. This is always a precious time for me! I get to see how much they’ve soaked in during the study and how creative they can be in completing projects. For those of you wanting to do “school” in ways that better meet the individual needs/gifts/learning styles of your children, projects are a great tool!

Last Friday, I handed each of the kiddos a project list that looked something like this:

Choose one famous slave. Learn all you can about that slave and be prepared to tell us about the slave in first person. Don’t forget to create an authentic costume.
Choose one Civil War battle. Create a model of the battle front and tell everything you can about the battle as you reenact it with the model.
Choose one famous Civil War figure. Prepare a file folder biography about that person. Be sure to include pictures or illustrations when applicable.
Either read or recite the Gettysburg Address.

On Monday morning, we headed to the library so the kids could find books to help them learn more about their chosen topics. The rest of the week was spent on math and completing projects.

Here’s a peek into project night!

Mahayla portrayed Harriet Tubman and Caleb became Henry “Box” Brown.

Mahayla set up this model of the Battle of Perryville – a battle that took place not to far from us in Kentucky.

Caleb chose the Battle of Bull Run. They both gave very detailed information and maps of their battles. They even found photographs of the battle sites to share.

Caleb’s Civil War figure was Robert E. Lee. He was very impressed with himself for finding pictures of all of Lee’s family, his home, his college and more. We looked at pictures for quite some time!

Mahayla’s Civil War figure was Ulysses S. Grant. You can see the file folder template we used below. It came from Easy File Folder Reports. We love that book!

Caleb practiced and practiced reading the Gettysburg Address throughout the week. He didn’t miss a word on project night!

Mahayla created little copies of the Gettysburg Address for each of us so we could follow along with her. Eli enjoyed his upside-down!

And that brings us to the end of another history unit. My wheels are already turning for next year’s units!

Next week the main assignment will be writing a children’s book. And the following week will be presenting a chemistry show. I’ll be sure to share both projects here.

So sorry if my blogging slows down for a little while. Melissa and I are working steadily on our nature study units and hope to have them completed by June. We are so excited about them and hope you will be, too!

Slavery and Civil War Plans

Cindy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:52:24 +0000

Wow. We’re on our last planned history unit of the school year. It feels great to be ahead of schedule! (At least in history, anyway!)

I’ve sketched out the main topics I hope to cover in a unit on slavery and the Civil War. I think we’ll plan to make this mostly a literature and writing unit, with project choices for both parts of the study.

We’re using bits and pieces of the Slavery in North America lapbook from In the Hands of a Child. I guess you could say this is sort of our spine curriculum. All other information will be gleaned from the laundry basket full of books I’ve checked out from the library! I’ve listed some of my favorites in the side bar, but needless to say, I can’t begin to name them all. When I come across some new favorites, I’ll be sure to post them.

The basic concepts of the unit are listed below. After reading about, researching or discussing each topic, I’ll ask the kids to either make a notebooking page, complete a lapbook activity or do a writing assignment that we can put in some sort of notebook at the end of the unit.

Here’s the order in which I hope to cover the topics…

What is slavery?
When did slavery begin? How did it begin in America?
What was is like to be a slave in America?
Who played major roles in the abolition movement?
What were major events of the abolition movement?
What was the Underground Railroad an who were some major figures in helping slaves escape to freedom?
What was the Civil War?
For what reasons did the Civil War take place?
What were several major battles and who were several major figures of the war?
What was the war like in Kentucky (a divided state)?
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?
What was life in America like directly after the war?
How did life change for former slaves after the war?
What struggles did former slaves still face after the war and for many years to come?
Where is slavery still taking place in today’s world?

When I come up with project ideas, I’ll be sure to post them in case they might help you, too.

Battle at Perryville Reenactment

Cindy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Saturday was the 146th commemoration of the Battle at Perryville, a Civil War skirmish. With our history cycle focusing on Early American History this year, we couldn’t pass up this fun-filled day.

Last week was busy with two other field trips, as well. We went to an African Masks and Money Systems class at the Hopewell Museum where the kids learned all sorts about African culture.

And finally, Mahayla and some other girls visited with a lady who restores old dolls for charity and makes her own doll clothing for sale. Our American Girl doll-loving girls were loopy about this trip!

This week settles down a bit, but October always proves to be a busy month for wonderful learning outside of the home opportunities!

Battle at Blue Licks