Today we began with Silent Ball. A few of our classmates were late so we had several rounds. Then we started our class with a workout and our recitations.
Afterward, we reviewed last week's hero: Calvin Coolidge. He really is probably the most underrated United States President.
The main ideas we discussed were his nickname ("Silent Cal" due to his short speeches and documents), his economic policies and his overall conservative philosophy. He is the only president to have successfully decreased the size of government (rather than do lip service to it.) He balanced the budget by cutting spending and was actually able to reduce taxes in a responsible way.
We then introduced our next time period: the Great Depression. You'll notice I didn't introduce a hero for this Era. Many see Franklin D. Roosevelt as a hero but I disagree. I shared this video with the boys to explain. In short, his policies, often applauded for helping during the Great Depression, actually prolonged the economic crisis and prevented the natural forces within the market to allow recovery.
We didn't end on a low note, however. In the midst of all the suffering and tragedy that took place during the 1930s (the word "depression" is very appropriate for the decade) there were many comedians and others who tried to help people forget their sorrows, at least for a time. Celebrities like Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, the Three Stooges and others showed that laughter can be a very effective form of medicine.
After watching some fun clips from Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges we played a staring game (in which you try not to smile.) It was so much fun.
We let the boys play at the end.
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