Co-op in Review: September 24, 2015

This week, our Dialectic and Grammar students learned about the Mongols.  The mongols were a cruel and savage warrior race that carved out the largest land empire of all time.  The two most famous Mongol leaders were Genghis Kahn and his grandson, Kublai Kahn.  In order to link our studies of Europe to this ancient Asian culture, the kids traced the exciting travels of Marco Polo and his father from Europe, through the lands of the Mongols to China.  The Rhetoric class remained focused on western Europe this week, following the development of trade and towns.  They discussed the development of guilds and analyzed how the establishment of towns weakened feudal relationships.  The Dialectic class made awesome Samurai hats, in celebration of their studies of ancient Japan.  The Upper Grammar class made salt maps of Marco Polo's journeys.  They will paint the maps next week in class.  The Lower Grammar class made paper!  They followed ancient methods of drying and straining pulp into sheets that can be written on.  The Five in a Row class read the book, "Chanticleer and the Fox."  It's the adapted (from Geoffrey Chaucer) story of a rooster who struts around all day, but when a fox bursts onto the scene, the boastful rooster must do some quick thinking to save the barnyard.  The kids made adorable, colorful cone-shaped roosters.

Phoenix Art Museum Field Trip

On Thursday, September 17, our Co-op took it's first field trip of the year!  We went to the Phoenix Art Museum.  At the museum, we saw Renaissance and Renaissance-Era art work, discussed the different styles of art from various time periods and learned a lot about the mediums and methods of creating art.

Co-op in Review: September 10, 2015

This week, we were devoted to studying the customs and lifestyle of Europeans during the feudal period.  This is the quintessential era that everyone thinks about when the Middle Ages are mentioned:  the time of knights and castles!  Feudalism began as a set of political or military relationships, but they were extended and formalized over time so that eventually, all of Europe lived under feudal customs.  Socially, everyone was in one of three main classes:  noblemen, peasants or clergy.  The Rhetoric class continued to discuss the feudal relationships and the system of manoralism that developed during this period.  They also continue to work on their long term Crusades Dateline project.  The Dialectic class completed their battle axes, and wow do they look vicious!  The Upper Grammar class finished their awesome castles.  While the Lower Grammar kids made amazing medieval crowns.  They all looked like royalty!  The Five in a Row class read the book, "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?"  It's the cute story of a cub who not only wears shirts and pants, but also sun, sand, bathwater and bubbles!  The kids then made their own Jesse bears that they can dress up!

Co-op in Review: September 3, 2015

Europe is now facing a new barbarian menace:  The Vikings!  These invaders from the north were ruthless, brutal and wreaked havoc on all facets of life for those unfortunate enough to come into contact with them.  During this time, as the people of Europe struggle to survive,  many previous advances of civilization were lost.  Except in some monasteries, most study and learning ceased and towns that had weak defenses were lost forever.  This week, we sought to understand the Vikings, why they took to raiding, why they left their homes and the impact they had on life in Europe.  The Rhetoric class asked these questions and more as they discussed the impact the Vikings had on history.  The Rhetoric class discussed these things as well, and made some great progress on their Viking axes.  The Upper Grammar class started on a two-week-long castle project, constructing castles out of cereal boxes and paper rolls.  The Lower Grammar class made awesome looking Viking long ships out of card stock.  And, the Five in a Row kids read the book, "The Tomten." Tomtens are gnome like creatures that stand watch while the rest of the world is sleeping.  The kids then enjoyed making little Tomtens of their own out of toilet paper rolls!