Benjamin Franklin and Colonial America: Ingenuity and Problem Solving

We began by having the boys play for 30 minutes upstairs so they could get tired.

Then it was time to start the class.

We gave the boys 1 minute each and recorded how many repetitions they could complete of the following exercises-

• Sit ups
• Pushups
• Squats
• Pullups

We recorded the boys’ numbers.

We then did the Pledge of Allegiance.

We went over the class rules and affirmations

• I am a warrior
• I play hard
• I work hard
• I respect others
• I never quit
• I defend those who can't defend themselves
• I fight for what is right
• I am a son of God

We then reviewed last week's hero, William Bradford, before introducing our new hero: Benjamin Franklin.

We read Benjamin Franklin and the Value of Saving.

Here is a video with photos of the book.

We then watched Liberty Kids Episode 130, "In Praise of Ben."

We talked about some of Franklin's heroic qualities.

Then we gave the boys some time to think of a problem that they could try to solve with an invention.  We had them draw their ideas and explain their solution.  Then we went upstairs and, with various building materials, had the boys come up with a "prototype."  They had duct tape, cardboard, scissors, Legos, various block and building sets, etc.

We then had them clean up and play tag.

Update-

We did not have time to watch the video or to build a prototype.  We did start the class out with a quick PowerPoint that went over all of the heroes we’ve discussed so far and how they relate to each other (historically).

William Bradford and Plymouth: Faith and Individual Ownership

We started with 30 minutes of rough play so they could get tired.

Today's workout was different-

We had the boys compete in relay races with a partner-

• Sprint 
• Bear Crawl 
• Frog jump
• Wheelbarrow
• Crab Walk

All of the moves were done to a cone and back.

We then did the Pledge of Allegiance.

We went over the class rules and affirmations

• I am a warrior
• I play hard
• I work hard
• I respect others
• I never quit
• I defend those who can't defend themselves
• I fight for what is right
• I am a son of God

We then reviewed last week's hero, John Smith, before introducing our new hero: William Bradford.

We read The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross.  Here is a video with pictures of the book.

We watched another animated Heroes Classic about William Bradford.

We then watched another video called Yours and Mine: The Lesson of 1623, which introduces the idea of the Tragedy of the Commons (it's much easier to understand in the film!- the boys should come away seeing that people behave best when there is individual ownership.)

I then pulled out a toy that looked like one that my son owns.  It was beaten and torn apart.  I told him, "Thank you for sharing this with me!"  As you can imagine he was horrified and very angry that I had treated his toy so poorly.  After talking this through with him for a minute I revealed the truth, that it wasn't his toy at all, and tried to help the boys understand that when we own something (and especially if we've earned it) we have greater incentive to keep it nice and to work hard.

Since the Speedwell sprung a leak before the Mayflower could head to the New World, we had the boys use various materials to build boats and then tried to see which ones floated and which floated the very best in the pool.

After we cleaned up, we let the boys have free time to play dodge ball.

Update- I didn’t show either video (I find the boys don’t want to sit for any screen time- I don’t blame them since school is on a screen!) my boys watched the animated classics video after the class.

The boys LOVED making boats.  We spent probably 45 minutes and could have spent much more time on it. We used cut up pool noodles, rubber bands, duct tape, craft sticks, toothpicks, newspapers, and plastic bags.  

I loved all their creations!

John Smith and Jamestown: Hard Work and The Need for Families

We began by having the boys play for 30 minutes so they could get tired.

Then it was time to start the class.

Today's workout was different-

We gave the boys 30 seconds to complete as many repetitions of the following exercises as they could:

• Sit ups
• Pushups
• Squats
• Pullups

We recorded their numbers.  We will do this fairly regularly so we can keep track of the boys' progress.

We then did the Pledge of Allegiance.

We went over the class rules and affirmations:

• I am a warrior
• I play hard
• I work hard
• I respect others
• I never quit
• I defend those who can't defend themselves
• I fight for what is right
• I am a son of God

We then reviewed last week's hero, Christopher Columbus, before introducing our new hero: John Smith.

We read Captain John Smith: American Hero by Juliana Brennan Rodgers
Here is a video with some of my favorite sections of the book.  It's not narrated but parents who would like to can pause and read the pages.
As we read I used this PowerPoint so the boys had extra images to view while listening to his incredible story.

Believe it or not, John Smith fought in the Crusades and recorded an amazing story about how he won three times in a row while jousting (to the death!)  So we did some "jousting."  The boys took turns.  One would dress as a knight with a hobby horse, holding a paper towel lance (so it would be safe and collapsible.)  Another would sit on our rocking horse holding a diving ring out to the side for the "knight" to aim for with his lance.   Once our cardboard lances gave out we used pool noodles.  

We then watched another Animated Classics video entitled Pocahontas.  I started it at 6:30.

The boys were then sent on a treasure hunt following clues and a map to some chocolate "gold."  They were allowed to eat the gold as soon as we had cleaned up everything.

Materials to gather: Book, pool noodles and/or cardboard to make a lance of some kind, stick horse, knight helmet and armor, tunic, diving ring taped to a stick, rocking horse, treasure hunt map and clues, chocolate gold.