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).