There are three homeschool high schoolers who are digging their way through Ancient History with me on Tuesday mornings. I give them a Weekly News sheet that gives the details of our study for the coming week to keep them on course and make sure they are using both sides of their brains. Immediately upon getting the Weekly News in their hot little hands, their beady little eyes go directly to the section titled ‘What We’ll Do Next Week.’ I enjoy making their lives interesting so I put little hints in there like “bring your dancing shoes” and “wear grubby clothes” and “bring sunscreen.” I do it for my own entertainment… and it works. I smile every week when they read it and ask what it means.
They are strong. They are brave. They are smart. And it was all put to a test this week as we learned about when the Hebrews split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. During this time, for your historical information, the Children of Israel built walls around their cities to fortify them. What better way to learn about building walls…. than to build a wall??? My thoughts exactly!
Wandering around our yard, I couldn’t find a place for a block wall flowerbed that didn’t require major sprinkler line running. So I phoned my parents and asked it they needed a block wall. Well, boy howdy! They sure did! Bring on the cinder blocks and the mortar. Here I give you a photo essay of the HOW Wall. (History Of the World = HOW)
Here is my daughter sifting dirt while the men look on…… (hmmmm).
Again, the GIRL using the heavy tramping device that probably has an appropriate name, but I don’t know what it is. Good posture!
They mixed the mortar.
They laid the blocks.
They leveled every single block side-to-side, front-to-back, and vertically.
This is Mortar Man Matt. He perfected the art of mortar patty-cake pancakes that could be easily rolled onto the tops of the blocks.
They even drove rebar (which stands for RE-enforcement-Bar) into the corner blocks. Vocabulary and masonry all mixed into one delicious lesson. Oh, that makes my motherly homeschooling heart pound with glee.
Ta-Da! The 3 1/2 hour block wall flowerbed…. constructed by three 15 year olds. My dad plans to put red brick along the top for a decorative edge. Mom wouldn’t stand for open block holes…. heaven forbid.
I’m so glad these kids have the opportunity to learn life-skills outside of the classroom. They laughed. They played ti-tac-toe in the wet mortar. They sprayed each other with the hose. And they learned how easy/hard it is to lay block. On the way home we passed a block wall that crossed about 12 backyards. The kids were in awe of how long that must have taken to build! Fine job, my pupils!
Tags: 15 year old, ancient history, Children of Israel, cinder block, Hebrews, high school, History of the World, home school, homeschool, HOW, Israel, Judah, Konos, laying block, mom, mortar, school, teacher
My Sister's Jar 
March 4, 2009 at 2:08 pm |
I say a hearty THANK YOU to my wall builders. I am so excited to have a raised flower bed. Our backyard still needs work so I suggested to Linda we have a lesson about how to plant a lawn. No response so far!!!We sure enjoy having our grandkids close by – at least 6 out of the 9.
March 4, 2009 at 10:51 pm |
When you do the next lesson in Grace’s backyard, call me and I’ll send reinforcement with my white-collar worker son, James. :)
May 2, 2009 at 2:33 pm |
Please keep posting what you do!!!! I’m going to be starting HOW with my daughter this fall, and I was very happy to stumble onto your blog to see it in action. We will probably have to do it all without benefit of a co-op. Your project sounds awesome!