Knights and Samurai or Chapter 17 was perfect for our two little Ninjas. For some reason, our son has gotten into Ninja stuff. (Thanks, LEGO Ninjago!) It was like a force of nature that came over him. I think it all started with the LEGO Club magazine. At first I did not like it, but then after talking with my husband and after remembering books like Wild At Heart and others about the male need to fight and protect, I gave in.
So this lesson came in at the right time. We put our children in Tae Kwon Do classes in January and we read this story for history at the end of January. Knights, Samurai, Ninjas – they all have something in common, besides fighting. They each had a code by which to live. As Christians, we also have a code by which to live (the Bible). So I made all sorts of connections for them to see this as a bigger picture.
By the end of January we got really focused on preparing for the standardized test in March. So we minimized all other subjects. In fact, this was the last lesson we did before testing in March. And even then, we did not crafts.
The mapwork and the coloring page should be sufficient to help the kids get an introduction to this new concept and the vocabulary. That is all we are trying to achieve by teaching history in early elementary grades. We teach vocabulary and introduce them to names, places, and historical facts.
We do not test them – other than the narration exercises in the book, as well as the comprehension questions. It works because we walk into libraries and bookstores and the children recognize Egyptian artifacts on covers, for instance. Or they can tell the difference between Austria and Australia.
As you can tell, I am three months behind in updating the blog about our history adventures. I have even filed away their coloring pages from this lesson, so I have no pictures to show you. I usually try to add at least one picture to my blog posts about Story of the World. Sorry about that!
