Homeschooling at Walt Disney World

We’ve wrapped up our learning activities for our January book club selection of “The Jungle Book”.  The kids’ reaction to our new book club format exceeded all of our expectations!

Here are a few additional things we did and learned on our journey –

We allowed each family to select a version of the book that worked for them — some read illustrated classics while others read the unabridged version.  This was a great way to allow everyone to read at a level that was appropriate for their family.

We had each child conduct their own research about the author and about the time period in which the story was written.  Our children are at an age where they are interested in putting everything on a timeline as this helps them to better visualize the time period and events that may have impacted the author and his story telling.

We included a writing assignment, for this lesson we had the children write a newspaper article about a scene in one of the stories.  They learned about the various elements of a newspaper article, selected the scene they wanted to write about and created their own dramatic and fact filled stories.  It was fun to see their interests and personalities come through as they described their favorite scenes.

One of the children’s favorite activities was experiencing different versions of the stories on CDs and as movies.  Of course we watched the Disney version of the Jungle Book (who doesn’t love the fun songs!) and we found the Chuck Jones Collection, an animated version of Mowgli’s Brothers and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.  We also enjoyed an audio CD version of the book by storyteller Jim Weiss.  We listed to the different versions of the stories and had great conversations about the similarities and differences of each presentation.

And of course we topped off our adventure with a trip to the Magic Kingdom and a ride on the Jungle Cruise.  Yes, I understand that the Jungle Cruise isn’t exactly based on The Jungle Book, but it was a fun way to wrap-up our lesson.  Since many of the silly jokes zoomed right past our kids, the moms enjoyed a few laughs while the kids gave names to all of the animals we saw along the journey.

I’m happy to say that our adventure was fun and educational.  We were able to bring a book to life and explore it for a month and as a result we will have many great memories to share!

Last fall I worked with a couple of other homeschool families to start a book club.  The goals were simple – to introduce our children to classic literature and to incorporate a writing/public speaking element (with each book we would introduce a different writing activity for the children to complete and share with the group).  The kids had a wonderful time talking about the books with their friends and continuing the activities at home.

For the spring we decided to add a few more elements to make things even more interesting.  We decided to incorporate additional language arts/lapbook activities for the children to do at home as well as link the books we are reading to something at WDW.  We are just two weeks into our new and improved book club and the kids are more excited than ever (something we’re very pleased about since it’s a group of 8-10 year old boys who usually complain about reading!!).

For January we selected the “Jungle Book.”   We did online research for resources and found some great materials.   Our favorites include –  “The Jungle Book Study Guide (Saddleback Classics)” and   “Jungle Book Classroom Connections” .  We even found a film education guide for seeing the Jungle Book movie.

Our plan is for the kids to read the book at home on their own, then we will all come together twice during the month for group activities.  For the first meeting we discussed some of the basic elements of the book, participated in a cooking activity (they baked “snakes on a stick” ) and gave the kids a writing assignment to work on at home.

For our next meeting we will visit the Magic Kingdom to ride the “Jungle Cruise” together and after that we’ll find a spot to sit and give them a chance to share their writing assignments with each other.

Some of the other at-home activities will include researching the author, doing a book report, making other recipes and watching the movie of the Jungle Book (and comparing it to the book).

So far it’s been a “wild” adventure and the kids are excited that we have been so creative in pulling everything together!  We’ll keep you posted on our progress…

This week our American History studies take us to Philadelphia, PA during the summer of 1776.  For an introduction to the city’s history and many famous landmarks we turned to one of our favorite tour guides Dave Stotts and his Drive Thru History series.  For this lesson we watched “Episode 6: The Founding Fathers of Philadelphia” which includes information about Ben Franklin, The Declaration House, The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (oh, and he even includes a stop to buy a Philly steak sandwich…!)

We aren’t planning a trip to The Liberty Bell Center to see the original bell in the near future so we opted for an afternoon at Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom instead.  Just outside the Hall of Presidents stand a Liberty Tree and a replica of The Liberty Bell. 

A few interesting facts about The Liberty Bell…

-          The original bell was ordered for the Pennsylvania State House.  It was made in England in 1751.  Soon after it arrived in Pennsylvania it cracked.

-          In 1753 metal workers Pass & Stow melted down the original bell, added more copper and recast the bell.

-          These words are inscribed on the bell:  ”Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10).

-          The bell was used throughout the Revolutionary War but near the end of the war was moved out of Philadelphia and hidden so advancing British soldiers would not melt it down to make ammunition.

-          After the bell was returned to Philadelphia it was used for about 80 years.  In 1835 the bell cracked as it was rung to mourn the death of Chief Justice Marshall.

-          The bell was rung for the last time in 1846 for a celebration honoring George Washington’s birthday. 

From the marker near the bell at the Magic Kingdom:

“The Herald of Freedom and the Liberty Bell are the names by which I am best known today; and perhaps these are the names which best describe me, for when the freedom and liberty of the United States hung in the balance, my voice was used to rally the people to the cause of Liberty. 

Cast from the same mold, this bell is a “Second generation” of the Original bell that hangs in Philadelphia.  It was cast for WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT in 1989.”

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

 On September 17, 1787 the members of the Constitutional Convention met to sign the document that would shape our country’s future.

I love studying American History.  This year is very special because I am able to share my passion of the study of our county with my children.  This fall we started studying the colonial period and we are now talking about the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 

Even if your family isn’t studying American History this year you might want to take a few minutes and remind them of the dedication and efforts of our Founding Fathers and the significance of the documents that are so important to our country.

Here are a few links to help you share the significance of this day with your family:

National Constitution Center

 The National Archives

ConstitutionDay.com

ConstitutionFacts.com

You child can even enter a Constitution Day poster design contest

If you find yourself in WDW today be sure to stop by Liberty Square, pausing at the Liberty Bell, to reflect on the incredible contributions of our Founding Fathers.

The other day I was doing some research, getting ready for another field trip to WDW, and I came across the words on the Walt Disney World dedication plaque (located in the Magic Kingdom).  Here is what it says:

  WALT DISNEY WORLD

May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place…
a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages
can laugh and play and learn — together.

– October 1, 1971
Dedication plaque on Main Street, USA
by Roy O. Disney

I stopped for a minute and read it again.

Not to get overly sentimental, but it really made me reflect on what a great fit homeschooling and WDW can be!  As a family we choose to homeschool because we love the opportunities we have to “laugh and play and learn – together.”  Homeschooling is a family adventure and a way of life.  Sharing moments and making memories together is very important for us.

We appreciate the fact that we live so close to WDW and that we do have so many opportunities to enjoy everything the parks have to offer.  Every once in a while it’s nice to be reminded of the vision for Walt Disney World and to know that we are doing our part to make that vision a reality, and WDW is a big part of making our family’s vision a reality as well.

This year we are studying early United States history. We began with the colonial period and are currently focusing on the issues leading up to the American Revolution.  To support our studies we are participating in an American History co-op and using the amazing materials from The Time Travelers Series.

We’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about George Washington (or, as my 7 yr old respectfully refers to him — “Mr. Washington”).  We’ve read about his childhood, his roles in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, and his contributions to our country as our first president.  We’ve also spent time talking about the character traits often associated with George Washington.  My son has enjoyed copying Washington’s “Rules of Civility” as part of his handwriting work (and making some interesting drawings too).  The theme that my children quickly picked up on was Washington’s role as a leader.  He was indeed a great leader when our country needed one.

We have visited the Hall of Presidents in the past, but this was our first time to see the new show which is titled “A Celebration of Liberty’s Leaders”.  We took our time looking at the many portraits and paintings hanging in the lobby.  We also enjoyed looking at the many presidential artifacts on display – my kids particularly liked Washington’s tea cup, Teddy’s Bears and President Ford’s tennis racket.  My favorite was the addition of the first lady’s dresses!

The new film and the changes to the Audio-Animatronics are amazing.  We appreciated the overall themes and the messages, but on this day our focus was mainly on George Washington.  The film begins with background information about George Washington and the challenges associated with the creation of a new nation.  We thought it particularly interesting when they pointed out Washington’s keen awareness of how his actions as the first president would shape the position well into the future. 

The highlight for us was hearing George Washington speak.  With the new show three presidents make speeches – Washington, Lincoln and Obama. 

The entire experience was very moving as well as educational.  As our history studies continue I’m sure we’ll be back to see the show again, and focus on a different aspect of the messages from our leaders of liberty.

I’m currently teaching a geography class for homeschoolers.  This week we were learning about Ireland.  We spent time talking about Saint Patrick, shamrocks and Irish dancing, and we ate some tasty scones.  Each week I encourage the children to bring in information about each country to share.  One of my students brought in her book “The Irish Cinderlad” by Shirley Climo.  The class thought it was an interesting twist on the typical Cinderella story because the main character was a boy with big feet rather than a young girl with a glass slipper. 

Since we live here in the shadows of Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom I started thinking about the classic tale and decided to do a bit of research.  You see, I have two boys, so even though we have read Cinderella (probably just once) we don’t really know many of the details of this story.   As I expected, the amount of information about Cinderella stories around the world is overwhelming!

Here is some interesting background information from the EDSITEment website:

The story of Cinderella, perhaps the best-known fairy tale, is told or read to children of very young ages. But Cinderella is not just one story; more than 500 versions have been found—just in Europe! The tale’s origins appear to date back to a Chinese story from the ninth century, “Yeh-Shen.” Almost every culture seems to have its own version, and every storyteller his or her tale. Charles Perrault is believed to be the author, in the 1690s, of our “modern” 300-year-old Cinderella, the French Cendrillon.

Famous children’s writers and illustrators have interpreted Cinderella, including Arthur Rackham, Marcia Brown (her version won the Caldecott Medal in 1955), Nonny Hogrogian, Paul Galdone, and Amy Ehrlich. Most renderings of the story include an evil stepmother and stepsister(s), a dead mother, a dead or ineffective father, some sort of gathering such as a ball or festival, mutual attraction with a person of high status, a lost article, and a search that ends with success.

Male Cinderellas do appear, and not just in parodies, such as Helen Ketteman’s “Bubba the Cowboy Prince” and Sandi Takayama’s “Sumorella” … “Billy Beg” of Ireland is just one of many of these versions of the story.

What to learn more?

Visit the “Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting” lesson plans at http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=419.  The EDSITEment website is presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities.