Chapter 7 covered France and Prussia. The French are struggling between monarchy, empire, and republic as a form of government. The Prussians are trying hard to unite all German principalities into a Second Reich. Interesting stories indeed.
Pickelhaube craft – helmet from Prussia
The kids are eager to get to Hitler. They have heard so much about the terrible things he did. I explained that he was in the Third Reich. Will that be in the next lesson? They wanted to know. Actually, we need to cover more decades before we get to him.
We are still in the 1870s and Hitler will be in the 1930s-1940s. Sometimes just simply communicating about dates works just as much as a timeline. We are putting together our timeline binders all right, but a general idea about where we are in reference to a particular event or person can be shared in a simple dialogue.
The map work was not as complicated as in other lessons. Or are we just getting used to it by now? This is already chapter 7. We may be getting used to labeling things, who knows?
The craft was fun. Finally, we have something to color and cut with scissors and attach with tape. The craft started them onto a war path. I am still trying to understand what happened.
Just so you know, my children are real and they do fight with each other sometimes.
Today was one of those days. I take that back. The morning went pretty smoothly. Then we had an art class in town and they finished their paintings. They proudly brought home their creations. I was looking forward to finishing up history and violin practice and then be done.
Not sure what happened, but they fell apart. They were irritating each other over and over again. By the grace of God, I stayed calm and worked with them. When my husband came home, he was telling me about some of the stress he had today and I thought, you know, we all have stressful situations every day.
We homeschooling moms might have these unrealistic expectations of cherubs eagerly awaiting for us to teach them one more lesson. In reality, they are just children. They have good days and bad days. They are still learning how to manage their feelings. If we have not taught them how to manage their anger right, no wonder they are still floundering.
After dinner, we all sat down and talked a bit more about what happened. But I hope tomorrow is a better day – for my sanity’s sake.
