New Zealand and Her Rulers is the title of chapter 41. What a difficult chapter to read! We really dislike the parts of history in which people are treated unfairly. The Maori tribes really got the short end of the stick in their treaty with the British.
The map work and coloring pages kept us busy. For the craft, we decided to check out the special butterflies (purerehua) the Maori made. As directed, we used floss and a ruler to make this special device the Maori swung over their heads at high speeds in order to make loud noises that would keep others away from their meetings.
My son went outside to test it and, sure enough, the contraption made a strong buzzing sound. It took my son a few minutes to figure out how to swing the ruler over his head and at what speed. Hint: it was a very high speed. But once we heard it, it was a great feeling, like “we have made buzzing sounds” kind of thing. We felt very accomplished.
Sometimes these crafts have a way of humbling us because they do not turn out worthy of Pinterest. But you know what? That’s OK. We are not perfect. Our crafts are not perfect and they do not have to be. We are here to learn history and have some fun through coloring and crafts, that’s all.
Other times, they work out and they give us that great feeling of accomplishment which, I believe, every child should experience in school.
My daughter insisted in doing a more feminine craft – she is oh, so girlie and I love it! – namely the sweet potato garden. Trust me, you do not want to see a picture of the jar with a molding sweet potato in it. Instead of growing roots and leaves, our sweet potato grew mold. We threw it away after a few days.