Next year: History (Angel)

Oh the shame! Here am I, a professional historian (or was / would be if I didn't have another, more important job), and I have managed to raise two daughters who dislike history. (Nota bene: If you want historically minded children, do not marry a history-hating man - your children may take after him!) Another irritation is that I worked on designing a curriculum, only to find that I have to reinvent the wheel for my own children. By rights Angel should be starting Level 3 of Mater Amabilis. Realistically, being the hands-on, practical, non-literary person she is, it would be a disaster this year, at least for the more literary subjects. So, what to do?

Da, da ... I have a plan! Angel may not be interested in what happened long ago, but she does like to know how the world works now. I have decided that this year I will have her start keeping a current affairs diary, adding a page each week on whatever event most interests her. To tie in with this we will jump into twentieth century history. I thought about using Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World Vol.4 as a spine, but decided it would not be a good fit for Angel. Instead we will look at specific topics over our three term year:

• Term 1 - World War I and the Russian Revolution
• Term 2 - World War II
• Term 3 - The Middle East (Israel and Iraq)

I am planning for two lessons weekly (probably around 30 minutes each). On top of that Angel will do a notebook page each week on one of the topics we have looked at, and we will add in some historical fiction - I'm aiming for one read-aloud and one independent read each term. Anything else will be a bonus. We will not use a single spine text, but I have various resources lined up ...

General Resources
Witness to History series (pub. by Heinemann) - I particularly like this series. Each book gives a short introduction to a historical topic, illustrated by a well-balanced selection of extracts from historical documents.
The Twentieth Century Day by Day (pub. by Dorling Kindersley)
Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

World War I
Witness to History: World War I by Sean Connolly
War Game by Michael Foreman
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Also planning a visit to the Imperial War Museum in London (where they have a recreation of a First World War trench) and to the Cenotaph (national war memorial) and the tomb of the unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey.

Russian Revolution
Angel in the Square by Gloria Whelan

World War II
Witness to History: World War II by Sean Connolly
Usborne Introduction to the Second World War
True Stories of the Second World War by
Dolphin Crossing by Jill Paton Walsh (story of the evacuation from Dunkirk)
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (set in Denmark)
Twenty and Ten by Bishop (Jewish children hidden from the Nazis by French children)
The Silver Sword by Ian Serrallier (Polish children survive the war and try to find their missing parents)
Watch 1940s House TV series

The Middle East
Witness to History: The Arab-Israeli Conflict by Stewart Ross
Witness to History: The War in Iraq by David Downing
One More River by Lynne Reid Banks (a Canadian girl moves to a kibbutz in 1960s Israel)

Book Review: War Game

Title: War Game
Author: Michael Foreman
Age Suitability: 7 to 11

I picked this picture book up from our library's book sale a couple of weeks ago, thinking it would fit nicely with our twentieth century history focus. I pulled it out today - neatly timed after Remembrance Day - to help bridge the gap between Angel on the Square and its sequel, The Impossible Journey, which is still working its way through Amazon's order system.

The book describes how four young men from a Suffolk village enlist in the British army in 1914 and are sent to serve in the trenches. When Christmas comes, the British and Germans stop fighting and join together for a game of football in No Man's Land. After this brief respite hostilities resume and only a few days later one of the young men pays the ultimate price.

Foreman is a well known illustrator whose own pictures are mixed with some photographic images of items. There are no graphic photos of the horrors of war, though they are apparent from the text. It is a very unusual book, tackling a subject that is not normally dealt with in picture books, and in an almost poetic way. Good books on World War I are few and far between, and as a suitable introduction to the subject for younger children this one may be unique.

History? I quit!

With the honorable exception of Usborne's Time Traveller which Star loved, my daughters dislike non-fiction history books in any shape or form. They have also developed to a high degree the ability to take in information through their ears and eyes and promptly eliminate it from their brains. The final straw was Angel yesterday, who proclaimed complete ignorance of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 despite the fact that we read about and discussed that very incident only two weeks ago.

I give up.

For the rest of this year we are just going to read historical fiction. I'm sticking with my plan to study 20th century history with Angel, but ditching Star's intended foray into the middle ages and having her listen in to Angel's books where they are appropriate - many are not, but if she does history-light for a year it won't ruin her entire future! She has voluntarily opted in to Angel's current read aloud, The Angel in the Square by Gloria Whelan, and I'll play it by ear from there. History should merge neatly with geography as we wander through Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

I already have quite a good book list, though I'll have to do a bit of pre-reading as there are some tough themes and some may be too 'young adult' for Angel ...

Women's Suffrage (British)
Bring Out the Banners by Geoffrey Trease
Miss Rivers and Miss Bridges by Geraldine Symons

First World War
War Game by Michael Foreman
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
(though WW1 decidedly did not capture Angel's interest, so I think we may skip these)

Russia
The Angel in the Square
The Impossible Journey (Stalinist era)
Burying the Sun (siege of Leningrad during WW2)
The Turning (end of Communist era)
- all by Gloria Whelan, an author we are very much enjoying

Spanish Civil War
Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo

Second World War
Dolphin Crossing by Jill Paton Walsh
Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Silver Sword (a.k.a. Escape from Warsaw) by Ian Serallier
When Hitler Killed Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop
The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig
The Small War of Sergeant Donkey by Maureen Daly

Communist Europe
Song for a Tattered Flag (Geoffrey Trease) - collapse of Ceaucescu regime in Romania

Bosnian War
Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic

Korea
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi (and sequels Echoes of the White Giraffe and Gathering of Pearls)

Pakistan
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples (and sequel Haveli)

Afghanistan
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (also sequels Parvana's Journey and Mud City)
Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Israel
One More River by Lynne Reid Banks (and sequel Broken Bridge)
Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

South Africa
Journey to Jo'burg by Beverley Naidoo
Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope by Beverley Naidoo

Nigeria
The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo

That should be more than enough to keep us going for a year ... and I'm sure I'll find more!

Much better day

Phew! We had a much better day today. To start with I managed to get a load of washing done and hung up to dry by 9.30, which made me feel ahead of the game and more positive. (Sometimes it only takes small things!) Star was under par and spent the morning in her pyjamas, Angel was tired and slept in until 9.30, so I kept things light. During the morning I read to Star from A Life of Our Lord for Children and The Wizard of Oz, and to Angel from Mother Teresa and World War I. Angel and Star then both did maths, with Angel sailing through the exercise that was our downfall yesterday. This afternoon we all played musical instruments while Little Cherub batted at her toys, and then read quietly for a while. One of those days when I went with the flow and everything was nice and relaxed. I like those. We all like those :)

100 Species Challenge: Part 3

Species identified:

1. Daisy
2. Creeping buttercup
3. White clover
4. Selfheal
5. Dandelion
6. Red clover
7. Autumn hawkbit
8. Weeping willow
9. Horse chestnut
10. Sycamore

Rules of 100 Species Challenge
Previous posts

Between our housing estate and the main road is a long patch of green, with a number of trees planted around 35 years ago when the houses were built. The photos of weeping willow and horse chestnut were taken there. The tall sycamore grows on a small patch of common ground in front of our next-door-neighbour-but-one.

Weeping Willow

Scientific name: Salix babylonica
Family: Salicaceae

The weeping willow originated in China, where it grows along the banks of the Yangtse River, and was first introduced into Britain in 1730. The scientific name salix babylonica was given by Carl Linneaus, inspired by this verse from Psalm 137:

By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down; yea we wept
when we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof
we hanged our harps

In fact, this is a mistranslation and the trees by the waters of Babylon were not willows, but poplars (which are also part of the salix family).

Weeping willows are traditionally associated with sadness and loss. Napoleon was buried on the island of St. Helena under a weeping willow.

Information: University of Glasgow

Horse Chestnut

Scientific name: Aesculus hippocastanum
Family: Hippocastanaceae

The horse chestnut is native to Northern Greece, and was introduced to the UK via Turkey in the 17th century. In the USA it is known as the "buckeye" and is the state tree of Ohio. There are two suggestions for the "horse" in the name: (1) that the fruit were fed to horses in eastern Europe, and (2) because the leaf scars on the twigs are shaped like horseshoes.

Timber from horse chestnuts is soft and poor quality. Until recently, its main use was in making artificial limbs, because it is both light and not prone to splitting. It is also used to make packing cases. It doens't make great firewood either, as it spits a lot when burned.

The fruit of the tree, known in Britain as conkers, are high in carbohydrate. They can be crushed and boiled to make a meal for cattle and sheep, though apparently pigs will not eat it. Humans also find conkers unpalatable (I've tasted them and they are bitter and unpleasant!) but during World War I it was calculated that for every ton of horse chestnuts harvested to use for animal feed, half a ton of grain could be saved for human consumption. They were also collected by children to use for ammunition. And no, we weren't reduced to firing conkers at the enemy! Acetone was required to produce cordite (explosive), and a method was discovered by which the starch from horse chestnuts could be fermented to make acetone. The scientist behind this was Chaim Weizmann, who later became the first president of the State of Israel.

In autumn British children like to collect horse chestnuts for rather less lethal battles - games of "conkers". These rules are pretty similar to the way we used to play:

Each player has a their conker on its knotted string. Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker. If you are the one whose conker is to be hit first, let it hang down from the string which is wrapped round your hand. That 9 inch drop is about right. You must hold it at the height your opponent chooses and you must hold it perfectly still. Your opponent, the striker, wraps their conker string round his hand just like yours. S/he then takes the conker in the other hand and draws it back for the strike. Releasing the conker s/he swings it down by the string held in the other hand and tries to hit her/his opponents conker with it. If s/he misses he is allowed up to two further goes. If the strings tangle, the first player to call "strings" gets an extra shot. Players take alternate hits at their opponent's conker. The game is won when one player destroys the other's conker. (The-Tree.org.uk)

Horse chestnut is supposed to be good for venous disorders such as varicose veins, phlebitis and haemorrhoids.

Information: University of Glasgow; The-Tree.org.uk

Sycamore

Scientific name: Acer pseudoplatanus
Family: Aceraceae (Maples)

Not a native tree in Britain, but it has been here a long time - it may have been introduced as early as Roman times. Sycamore is useful ecologically, and can provide food or some other benefit to as many as 150 different animal species. It is the only widespread large tree with insect pollinated flowers, and is an important source of pollen and nectar for bees.

The pale-coloured hard timber is particularly useful for making items that will be used with food - bowls, milking pails, butter churns, kitchen utensils and so on - as the wood does take up smells. It is also good for making wooden floors, furniture and even musical instruments.

Information: The-Tree.org.uk