Magic Tree House Knight at Dawn Study

I read the Magic Tree House books to Hanna when she was in kindergarten and we loved them.  They are so imaginative and I think they are perfect for kids this age for so many different reasons.  Hanna went on to read all of them at least a couple more times on her own as she grew into an independent reader.  Over the years we collected them, and I still purchase the new ones as they come out.  I don’t buy many books, we are definitely a library family, but these are worth buying, in my opinion.  My mom got us all of the accompanying study guides as well throughout the years.  At the time, I didn’t think much of those, but oh I am thankful for them now!  They are wonderful for unit studies after reading the fiction book in the series that precedes them.  I’ve read a few of the Magic Tree House books to Joe, but after seeing the unit studies Julie at The Adventures of Bear has done, I knew this was something Joe would love and we would have fun doing together.

Over this last month while we’ve been on break, Joe and I read Knight at Dawn and did a unit study on knights and castles.  Here are the books we read (remember to check my Shelfari for all we are reading, I update it regularly):




We both learned lots from reading the Magic Tree House Knights and Castles Research Guide.  It always surprises me that Joe enjoys nonfiction books as much as fiction books.  We located on a map Egypt, Africa and the Nile River.  I had Joe trace the Nile River in blue crayon.  (I was able to print this map from Hanna's history last year.)  I plan to incorporate many more educational activities into our next unit study.  I kept this one mainly crafts since we were on break.

During the course of reading our books we made several different things to go along with our study.  I had Joe cut out assorted geometric shapes from construction paper and then glue them together to create a castle.  He decorated it with art supplies of his choice.



He made a stained glass window out of construction paper, contact paper and tissue paper.



He made a shield.  I cut a shield shape out of white poster board.  He painted it and glued on rhinestones and sequins.  (I let him choose whatever he wanted for decorating from the craft closet.)  Jamie cut another matching shield shape out of a cardboard box.  I then used spray adhesive to glue on the poster board shield.  After it was dry Jamie attached a handle to the back.  (You can see a how-to *here*.)  Joe LOVES his shield!



Lastly, Jamie cut a gallon milk jug as described *here* to make a knight’s helmet to go with Joe’s shield.  Joe covered it with tin foil, and I attached feathers to the top of the jug with a glue gun.



And as you can see, we have our own “Joe Mighty Knight”.



For a boy who loves knights and castles right now, this was a super fun study!  He learned while he had fun, and got to make some cool stuff too.

I am not satisfied with our I Love America History curriculum I purchased.  In my opinion, it’s just too dry.  I have decided we are going to use The Value Tales series, Magic Tree House books and The Old Testament Discover the Scriptures for Joe’s History.  I want to focus Joe's history on historical people, his own interests, and religion for the time being.  I will elaborate on my plans for this (and why I chose these books) in our first back to school homeschool post next week.  I can't wait to get started back to school this week.  I love homeschool--the planning, teaching, learning together--I live it and breathe it--and am so very thankful for this blessing in our family.

Here’s one last picture of the king with his castle.

We will be flying to the moon in our next unit study.  Stay tuned....

Three Years Worth of Pictures Waiting No More!

I have kept up the tradition of taking pictures of my kids since birth—the usual 3, 6, 9, and 12 month pics and then a new one each year along with the hundreds thousands of snapshots I take throughout the year. I used to be great about framing and hanging these yearly pictures on the wall. Well, time just started passing way too fast and all of a sudden three years passed without me framing or hanging a new picture on the wall—WOW!
Jamie let me get frames for all of these pictures for my anniversary gift and he hung them for me this past weekend. (We were both very happy to see all frames on sale at Hobby Lobby--50% off, 'cause we had a lot of frames to get!!) I was so excited to get them and then have them hung. My pictures are precious memories to me and I love walking through my home and seeing them on the walls.
Here they all are before he hung them:
The pictures in the top row are the kids’ art work from the past few years. I started framing some of Hanna’s when she was two and have a wall in our home where I hang my favorites. Here it is before Jamie hung the new ones with Hanna’s and a couple of Joe’s very firsts.
The picture in the middle with the verse on it is one my mom gave me for Mother’s Day when Hanna was 3. The verse is really pretty, and the little “smudges” all over it are my mom’s and Hanna’s fingerprints. The verse reads, “May the sun bring you new energies by day, May the moon softly restore you by night. May the rain wash away any worries you may have. May gentle breezes fill your soul….And, all the days of your life, May you walk gently through the world and know it’s beauty.”
Here are the art pieces of the kids’ that I framed and Jamie hung:

HANNA’S

Hanna said she was asked to choose a picture of a person and then draw him/her using oil pastels for an assignment in her 4th grade art class. I LOVE this!
Palmetto Tree and moon symbolizing SC State Flag—charcoal drawing.

And, last but not least, Jack’s very first “piece of art”, a watercolor painting from this Summer.
Here’s the wall after they were all hung:

I got one more thing along with the frames. It’s a work in progress, about halfway done as of today: