The new homeschool year is in full swing, and we are happily busy with learning, growing, and fun activities.
But with my scraps of free time, I am working on a few projects.
First, I am creating a Pirates of the Caribbean unit study (meant to run a week or two) that I want to make available for free. It will include reading, writing, crafts, history, science, and trivia and scavenger hunts specific to the attraction itself.
Throughout the year, I am going to be creating a grand, year-long unit study all about Walt Disney World encompassing all the Parks and the many themes and attractions. My goal is to carry my children through the curriculum for next year and then take them to WDW for their very first time.
Another project I am working on revising and updating is my global "it's a small world" preschool- kindergarten curriculum. Right now, it's pretty bare bones (just read-alouds and some geography), but I want to include phonics, writing, arts and crafts, memory makers, songs, and extra magic moments so that it can be a near-complete curriculum for preschool, TK, and kindergarten.
Sometime soon, I also want to put together a proper Disneyland unit study (like the ones we have done for years) for all ages and grades as another near-complete curriculum and make it available to others.
With a Disneyland getaway coming next year, we are exploring Disneyland-inspired books and activities to get us excited, reading, and learning!
I've done similar units with Aidyn when he was 3, again when he was around 7. Now, with Jack and Natalie in tow, we're diving in to an enchanted, magical, and fun learning adventure.
Here's what we did this week. Since it all started with a mouse, we began with mouse books, tailored for preschool age and middle school age. Take a look at what we read!
*Note* The following unit is very light and gentle because 1) I believe in gentle learning at the preschool age, 2) It's officially summer time so Aidyn isn't required to do any in-depth schooling, and 3) I am in my third trimester and simply don't have the energy/mobility to do all the things I'd like to. Preschool Books:
Jack and Natalie loved these mouse-centric books, especially Mouse Mess and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Middle School Book:
Aidyn read through Redwall independently. After each chapter, he wrote a 1-2 sentence summary of the story. We discussed it together throughout and when he finished we critiqued it. Out of a scale of 1-10, he rated Redwall a 100!
Inspired Activities:
Frederick by Leo Lionni led to a fun collage activity. Lionni is known for his collage-style illustrations, so I cute out some simple images of mice, rocks, sticks, and plant life for the littles to play with.
They constructed trees and nature scenery, but soon Jack discovered that some of the leaves looked more like alligators, so he pretended his alligators were eating all the other shapes!
~
Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni immediately inspired Jack to paint. Unfortunately, Natalie had already gone to bed, so Jack had a solo paint session.
~
Mouse Mess inspired some fun discussion about Jack and Natalie's penchant for mess-making, especially with food! This became a book we read over and over (I think because they identified so much with the messy mouse!)
Music:
This week we filled the house with classic Disney songs, just to get into the mood. Jack and Natalie especially love The Three Little Pigs song and reenacting the whole story of the wolf attempting to blow down the pigs' homes.
In Other Happenings:
Jack and Natalie both love reading books, with or without me! They're both super active, playful, and curious. Best buds, they often take off together to jump in the trampoline, play with their water table, cook in their pretend kitchen, share their love for dinosaurs, and cuddle together.
Aidyn has grown into a sophisticated learner. He reads well and comprehends more difficult books, but his first love is gaming and creating YouTube videos. I am excited to see what is around the corner for him in junior high and high school.
It is no secret that our family loves Disney and that we try to work it into our homeschool whenever possible, but I noticed that it had been some time since we had last done a Disney-inspired homeschool unit.
We took a quick break from our regular studies to briefly visit King Arthur and the medieval period.
Literature:
We read some of The Tales of King Arthur by James Riordanand compared it to theDisney film.
Social Studies:
We also read the ridiculous and informative You Wouldn't Want to Be a Medieval Knight by Fiona McDonald. The book places you right in the metal pants of medieval knights for a firsthand look at what life was really like in "the dark ages."
Of course, we watched Disney's Sword in the Stone!
Language Arts/Vocabulary/Latin roots:
We explored the meaning of "mediocrity," a quality Merlin warned young Arthur to avoid. Exploring its Latin roots led to a fun discovery of what the word meant visually. We talked about how "mediocrity" literally means "middle of a jagged mountain." We had been reading many Hero's Journey types of stories lately, so this definition made sense from that angle.
More social studies/Coat of arms:
After reading about knights and seeing a picture of a coat of arms, Aidyn wanted to see our family's coat of arms. I printed out a shield (see end of blog for links), and he colored according to our family's unique coat of arms. It was even fun to look up the Latin meaning of our family name.
Copywork:
Aidyn copied an inspirational quote from the movie (and even repeated one of the lines!). We talked about freedom of choice and perceived destiny. Nine-year-old children begin really understanding their individuality, and stories in which characters pursue their own goals can help them vocalize this new stage of life (we have also read Norse myths lately, for this reason).
We enjoyed a very short unit study with Sword in the Stone, but if you would like to take it further, check out these links to get started:
This unit study is inspired by Walt Disney World's park Disney's Hollywood Studio. We have never been to Disney World but are playing with the idea of a 2015 vacation there. Our unit studies are our fun and educational way to build excitement for that adventure.
In Part One, we explored the earliest experiments with both film and animation and we made our own zoetrope. In Part Two, we focused on films and filmmakers of the early 20th century, including Georges Melies, Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin. We also toured the Disney Animation building at Disney California Adventures.
Last week, we focused on film and animation in the 1920s, which was a booming time for the industry with the popularity of Charlie Chaplin and the creation of Mickey Mouse in "Plane Crazy."
This is a media-heavy unit study. I created a playlist of important film/cartoon shorts of the period. After we finished with our core school work, Aidyn and I snuggled on the couch and watched the videos. I introduced each with a snippet of history, but mostly I encouraged him to reach his own conclusions and to compare/contrast what he was viewing.
~The 1920s~
Below is the playlist we watched together:
I tried to pick cartoon shorts with significance to the history of animation, but I also included a few fun cartoons. This list can easily be shortened or expanded.
"Summer"~ Silly Symphony (1930)
"Midnight in a Toy Shop"~ Silly Symphony (1930)
"Mickey's Orphans" (1930) (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1932 but lost to Disney's other cartoon "Flowers and Trees.")
"Flowers and Trees" (1932) (first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process. Won the first Academy Award for Animated Short Subjects.)
"Parade of the Award Nominees" (1932) Originally unintended for public viewing. First cartoon with Mickey Mouse in color.
"Building a Building" (1933)
"The Wise Little Hen" (1934) First debut of Donald Duck.
Popeye, circa 1930s
Betty Boop in "I Heard" (1933)
Mickey Mouse in "Gulliver Mickey" (1934) Inspired by Gulliver's Travels.
"The Tortoise and the Hare"~ Silly Symphony (1935)
"Three Orphan Kittens"~ Silly Symphonies (1935) Won Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) in 1935. Contains use of racial stereotype that could prompt discussion.
Mickey Mouse in "Thru the Mirror" (1936) Inspired by Alice through the Looking Glass.
"The Old Mill"~ Silly Symphonies (1937) First use of Disney's multiplane camera, later used with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Won 1937 Academy Award for Best Short Subjects: Cartoon.
"Ferdinand the Bull" (1938) Inspired by book of the same title.
Mickey Mouse in "The Pointer" (1939)
1930s timeline:
We learned how Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse:
We learned about the animation process in the 1930s from a Paramount newsreel:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
We finished reading Brian Selznick's amazing book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which beautifully weaved our entire unit study (thus far) together. The story takes place in a Paris railway station in the 1930s. Hugo Cabret, orphan and clock keeper, also keeps secrets, but a meeting with an eccentric old toy tinkerer and his goddaughter allows him to reveal his deep need for human connection and the realization of his purpose. This book is not exactly a novel any more than it is a picture book or graphic novel. Whatever it is, it's poignant and dream-like.
We hosted an intimate Family Movie Night last Friday and watched the film, Hugo, which also married many of the things we learned about during our unit study like Georges Melies and his early films, clips of Harold Lloyd in Safety Last!, the first on-screen kiss, Charlie Chaplin in The Kid, and other early films like "Train Pulling into the Station."
Hugo movie trailer:
First Full-Length Animated Feature: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs~
We concluded the 30s by learning about the first full-length animated feature. We learned that most people thought Walt Disney was foolish to embark on this venture to make a movie out of a cartoon. He nearly bankrupted their business without even knowing if their movie would succeed.
The One That Started It All: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Part One.
Part Two
We watched a video from the bonus features DVD about the voice talents and animation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs before Aidyn couldn't take it anymore and HAD to watch the film. We snuggled up and watched, remarking here and there what might have happened had Walt listened to his naysayers and gave up on his dream to make the first animated movie.
Well, that's all for the 20s and 30s! But we are continuing our film and animation unit study through the 40s this week (and possibly back-pedaling to look into The Wizard of Oz). Check back for more!
This unit study is inspired by Walt Disney World's park Disney's Hollywood Studio. We have never been to Disney World but are playing with the idea of a 2015 vacation there. Our unit studies are our fun and educational way to build excitement for that adventure.
We just recently returned from a whirlwind trip to San Marcos, Ca, for a wedding, a week at the Disneyland and California Adventure Park, and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday. I am exhausted! Check back later for pictures of the trip and the race!
Before we left, Aidyn and I learned all about early film history from the 1820s to 1919. To see Part One where we watched early films and made a zoetrope, click here.
We watched some early silent films, including Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops and some very early Charlie Chaplin films while he worked with Mack Sennett.
Mack Sennett's An Interrupted Elopement (1912)
Mack Sennett's The Bangville Police (1914) First appearance of Keystone Kops
Mack Sennett's Making a Living (1914) First appearance by Charlie Chaplin
We read about Mack Sennett in his youth and how he dreamed of making movies with the book Mack Made Movies by Don Brown.
This is such a sweet book about his determination to realize his dream. It also echoed some terms we have been learning such as slapstick, Kinetoscope, nickelodeons, and other movie-related vocabulary.
Mack Made Movies inspired interest in Charlie Chaplin, so we watched snippets of the film Chaplin (1992 with Robert Downey Jr. as Chaplin). I would not recommend children watch this movie straight through as there are some scenes involving nudity that may be inappropriate to young viewers. I had seen the movie many times so I was careful which scene to choose.
Chaplin (1992) trailer
We watched scenes about his early childhood, vaudeville performances, unstable mother, and fascination with film. We also watched all scenes with Mack Sennett (played by Dan Aykroyd) and compared what we saw to the book.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Aidyn and I began reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a graphic-heavy dark novel about an orphaned clock keeper boy with secrets. Later in the book, we will meet Georges Melies, whom we have become familiar with in the last few weeks with his films The Vanishing Lady (1896), The Haunted Castle (1896) first horror film,our favorite A Trip to the Moon (1902), and Cinderella (1912).
While we were at Disneyland, we learned a bit more about animation and early film with a tour of the Disney Animation building inside Disney California Adventures.
Fun animator's desk at Off the Page
Inside the Animation building
We were fascinated by a Toy Story zoetrope inside and must have watched it for a solid ten minutes.
The zoetrope was a circular stand with Toy Story figurines in slightly different motions. As the zoetrope spins and the lights blink on and off, the figures appear to move.
Here is a video (not mine) of the Toy Story zoetrope:
After checking that out, we headed to the Animation Academy where we learned to draw Goofy from a real animator. At this point, we were so involved in the activity, I forgot to take pictures!
Here's a video (not mine) of the Animation Academy drawing Mickey Mouse.
Over on Main Street in Disneyland, completely by accident, we stumbled upon a few coin-operated mutoscopes.
Inside were flipbooks that turn as the viewer cranks the handle. We found one entitled "The Adventures of Charlie Chaplin." What luck!
"Forbidden Sweets" was aptly named for this mutoscope inside The Candy Palace.
We are still having a blast with this unit study, so check back soon for more. This week we're exploring cartoons and films from the 1920s including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Felix the Cat, Charlie Chaplin, and early Mickey Mouse shorts.
Our family is still playing around with the dream completely realistic goal of going to Walt Disney World in the near future (i.e., before I die), and Aidyn's been intrigued by animation lately. I decided (for the heck of it) to take us on a Disney World-inspired unit study adventure.
First stop, according to Aidyn: Disney's Hollywood Studios, so we can learn about animation.
Got it.
Little did I realize how challenging it is to find anything remotely "academic" in the realm of animation. Then I knew I was kidding myself. We are homeschooling, after all. We can learn any way we like!
So here's what we did:
I made a timeline, from roughly 1820 to the present. I printed blank timeline sheets (TL-5) from donnayoung.org, and sectioned each page to accommodate a decade. I pinned them on the wall before starting and printed up some pictures of Aidyn, his dad and me, and his grandma to plot on our birth years for reference.
Pinning his own picture to 2005
Mama and Daddy in the early '80s
And Grandma in '44
Prior to the lesson, I printed small pictures of important moments in animation history including:
-the invention of the thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, and praxinoscope
-creation of "The Humorous Phases of Funny Faces," "Gertie the Dinosaur," "Colonel Heeza Liar," and Felix the Cat from 1919
(I basically borrowed them online. Thank you, Google Images!)
Together we watched "The Story of Animation" on YouTube and placed new pictures on the timeline along the way.
We talked and joked about how primitive early animation was and how one invention slowly led to another.
Afterward, we brainstormed our impressions of early animation from 1820 to 1919. He described how they looked and characters he liked as I transcribed it. I also asked him to write one interesting thing and a question he still had. He wrote that he liked Gertie the Dinosaur and how she threw the woolly mammoth in the lake. He wondered (a little ahead of time, since we haven't covered this yet) how Walt Disney lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
We both observed the violence in early cartoons but admit to laughing at them. I explained slapstick comedy to him, and he remembered The Three Stooges.
We also made a zoetrope. I remember making one in 7th grade (I had a cool music/animation teacher somehow), so I figured it wouldn't be too hard.
Just in case, we watched this how-to video a dozen times:
Aidyn practicing some sketches.
Drawing animation on the cels.
"A guy running," he says.
Spin!
I'm pretty sure he will appreciate television and instant cartoon availability much more now...
We still have a far way to go. Next time, we'll be learning about the history of film and tracing both animation and film through the decades.
