History 101...

So a couple months ago 2 moms & I decided to get together & start our own homeschool co-op. It goes on from 10am - 2pm and one mom teaches Science on Tuesdays, the other Language Arts/Writing on Wednesdays, and I teach History on Thursdays. The other subjects we still do on our own. I was already teaching the Nineteenth Century to my kids, so we just started over (kids can never get too much history as far as I'm concerned).
Something I did learn while teaching my kids was that they needed to have a REALLY good understanding about our fight for Independence, and why our Constitution is such an incredible & important document. Since I am keeping this blog as much for myself as for others I wanted to document a couple of our really successful lessons before I forget the details, so here goes:

(This is what I posted on our myfamily website for the other moms)
Today we learned about taxation without representation, and the Boston Tea Party. We also started reading, "My Brother Sam Is Dead", which I have been told is a wonderful book about the Revolutionary War. It does have a few bad words & the Lord's name in vain so it IS a read-aloud and I am obviously omitting those words.

So we started out the day with the Pledge of Allegiance, then the kids earned pennies for answering questions. After I ran out of questions I started reading about the Colonists & how they felt as if they should make their own rules instead of being subject to the rules that England made for them, when they had been taking care of themselves since settling in America. I asked them what they thought, and what their parents would think about their Grandparents making rules for their home. That's kind of what the Americans thought about England. The Americans weren't as dependent on England any longer & felt as if they should be somewhat responsible for their own lives, kind of like a teenager and his parents. That's when King George decided to punish them by taxing them.

The kids were divided up into the Parliament (Hannah), Loyalists (Jessi), and the Colonists (Cece, Bella, Rachel, Jimmy, Josh), and they were expected to pay me (the King) taxes that were collected by the Loyalist then sent to Parliament, then handed over to me. The Loyalist of course was paid for her service, and Parliament also got a cut of the money. First they were taxed for being allowed to be in my home. Then they got a 'drink' tax when they were thirsty, and an 'apple' tax for eating an apple. They also had a 'chair' tax for sitting in my chairs, and a 'Stamp Act' tax (I used the actual purpose for this tax since the Stamp Act is such an important historical note) for using my paper. But 2 of the Colonists (Rachel & Bella) had run out of money & couldn't pay so they went to debtor's prison. The Colonists thought this was unfair of course & I reminded them that they have no say in it, no matter what they thought.

I then went on to read about the Boston Tea Party & how they dressed up like Indians (Mohawks) and raided the 3 ships in the harbor that held the tea. They learned how the ships weren't damaged in any way, in fact the "Mohawks" swept the decks & replaced the one padlock they did break. The kids thought it was pretty funny when some of the men tried to stuff some of the loose tea in their pockets & they were thrown overboard along with their tea. They weren't harmed, it was a matter of principle, and at the end of the raid each of the "Mohawks" even emptied their shoes of any loose tea.

Then the next week we learned a little about the Revolution & what led up to it.
When the kids walked into the house they were split up into 3 groups: the three older girls (Jessi, Cece, & Hannah), the 2 younger girls (Bella & Rachel), and the 2 boys (Jimmy & Josh). The 3 older girls were the rich farmers & had a nice, big house (dollhouse), the 2 younger girls were the ranchers with all the animals (my girls collect those Schleich animal toys so that was helpful), and the boys were the butchers & the blacksmiths.

They each started out with a gun, chickens & a horse & they spent the next 45 minutes drawing pictures of their wares - the farmers drew bushels of fruits & veggies, bags of animal feed, grain & flour, etc, the blacksmiths drew wagon wheels, horseshoes, axes, etc, and the ranchers didn't have a lot to draw so they helped the others.

When I thought they did enough (they would have kept going if I let them) I explained that they had to start trading, but they had to make sure they had an ax to chop wood for heat & cooking. When one of the farmers decided they really didn't need to shod their horse I explained that if they wanted to be able to take their veggies & grain to town to trade, then they most certainly do have to take care of their horse & put shoes on them! They also needed new wagon wheels. The ranchers had to trade some animals for feed for themselves as well as their other animals, the farmers had to trade for meat to butcher, wagonwheels, and horseshoes & the blacksmiths had to have food for themselves, as well as grain for their animals. One of the girls took a pig to the blacksmiths to butcher & Jimmy asked what she was going to pay him. She didn't really know what he meant until he said that he wasn't going to work for nothing (hee-hee - my young capitalist at work :-)). They were having so much fun I let them continue for a good hour, at least!

Finally I told them all to go back to their respective homes and I explained that I represented England & I was the troops, or 'Lobsterbacks'. I came into their town & stopped first at the wealthy farmers' house, confiscated their guns & took 2 of their horses, which they weren't happy about. Jessi told me one was their best brood mare. I told them that that was why I took them - my soldiers need good, strong horses. Next I told them I needed their bottom floor for my leadership to stay & we took over their orchards to set up tents for my soldiers. I also took most of their food & grains to feed the troops & our animals. I explained a little about 'assembly' and told all the kids that the kitchen was Town Hall, and then asked them how they felt about what was happening & what they were going to do about it. Then I asked if they wanted to 'assemble' to tell the rest of the townsfolk about what was happening. Of course they wanted to & I told them to take their guns with them (except the farmers of course since theirs had already been taken) since most likely that is what they really did.

While the kids were assembled I could hear the farmer girls telling the others that I took their best horses, their guns, and half their food! They started discussing what they were going to do about it, but when they were talking about trying to shoot at me & chase me away I reminded them that there were a LOT more of me than there were of them, and that my troops were trained & had all the resources for a fight. In the meantime, while they were assembling I was going through the rest of town taking what I needed & taking over their houses as well. In the end they decided to hide their guns.

Next, I asked the kids what they were going to do about what was happening, (and kind of led them a little). I asked if they wanted to write a letter to King George & air their grievances? They all said yes, so I had them get together & write a letter. It was very good - in it they said that they wanted to soldiers out of their houses, and their stuff to be replaced or paid for, etc. Then they read it to me (King George) and I listened, then said, "Okay, now I'm really mad! I'm raising your taxes & you don't have the right to assemble without permission anymore!"

So they asked for permission to assemble, which I agreed to, then they gathered in the kitchen. I (a soldier) followed & stood over them to listen. When they said I needed to leave so they could talk, I told them no way - I'm not letting them plot about how to get me out of town! So they broke up & went back into the living room because they knew they couldn't talk with me around. After all that I knew they had the idea about how frustrated the colonists were & we made a list & discussed the pro's & con's of going to war.

We've had a lot of fun with it & the kids are loving history. Now I'm worried that I won't be able to top these lessons & the kids won't enjoy it so much! If any of you have any great simulation ideas or fun history ideas please let me know!