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Becky Parker
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So, if you were cruising along with your study of American History and all of a sudden both your 2nd and 5th grade boys develop an interest in pirates, would you:
A - drop everything and do a unit study like this
B - Give them some extra books about pirates to read in their free reading time.
C - Tell them that's great that they're interested but we have no time this year but next year we'll plan it into the curriculum
Just curious. My boys are all of a sudden really interested in pirates and I'm not sure how seriously I should explore this interest. I will say, anything to continue my 10yo ds's new found interest in reading is a good thing!
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Mackfam
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I would probably do B.
I chose it because when my kids become interested in a topic, whether it's science, history, or whatever, they're pretty self-propelled and they like it like that. They don't (often) like it when I take a particular interest and turn it into school. (Although, I have done this with some topics, but always with their input to see if they're on board.) I might take a particular interest, let them self-propel and call it school, and record it as such....which is entirely different than me planning it and requiring it and setting the pace, if that makes sense.
So....in our home, I would probably just get them a ton of fantastic books - both fact and fiction - put them in a *pirate basket* and let them read. And for the 10 yo, I'd choose some really fantastic books that he's super interested in. I'd check out documentaries and silly movies (Disney's Blackbeard's Ghost is cute and one my kids enjoy) on pirates. And just see where it goes....and continue on with lesson plans as normal (but then in our home a 2nd grade and a 5th grade day wouldn't be too long - neither would have formal lessons beyond lunch, so plenty of time for pursuing interests).
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CrunchyMom
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Mackfam wrote:
I might take a particular interest, let them self-propel and call it school, and record it as such....which is entirely different than me planning it and requiring it and setting the pace, if that makes sense.
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Yes, this.
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amyable
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Mackfam wrote:
I might take a particular interest, let them self-propel and call it school, and record it as such....which is entirely different than me planning it and requiring it and setting the pace, if that makes sense.
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Yes, this. |
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JennGM
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Yes, ditto to Jen's answer. If I knew of exhibits or things I would have them read about it, or describe it and see if they wanted to go.
Usborne has a few books on pirates, one I had to pull because it was a little too graphic for young eyes.
Pirates for me is a bit tricky, because I think we glorify them a bit in this day and age, and I do like to present historical accuracy and context, not just fictional pirates. Those Somalian pirates are no heroes.
Two older books that come to mind:
Famous Pirates of the New World (World Landmark Books, No. 35) by A. B. C. Whipple (Author)
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates (reprinted by Dover)
Lego and Playmobil has lots of pirates stuff, so it gives my boys the "hands on" part of the unit study, if you are looking for that. 
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stellamaris
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What time period are you currently studying? Pirates were very active along the southeastern coast of America during the early colonial period and also of course in the Caribbean during the entire Spanish occupation. I'd do a little "rabbit trail" and try to place those pirates in their historical context. In fact, we are currently studying the Spanish missions of the Southwest and reading about Fr. Kino. I realized the other day that he sailed from Spain to Mexico at a time when his ship could easily have been attacked by pirates...during the age of the Spanish galleons sailing from the New World to Spain full of gold. So, I cracked out a book on pirates as a sort of "side bar". 1650-1720 is the era known as the "Golden Age" of piracy according to this informative page sponsored by the Royal Museums Greenwich.
So, I guess I'd do a modified (A) and (B) combined  . I wouldn't drop your main course of study, but I might take a few days to investigate pirates. Then, I'd continue on with the main flow of US history. If they want to pursue pirates further on their own time, I'd let them.
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guitarnan
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The War of 1812 might not have happened if the Barbary pirates had not been so active...no Battle of Ft. McHenry...no Francis Scott Key poetry...quite a "What if?"
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MaryM
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I would likely do "B" in the manner Jen suggested, but would definitely add it into the US history studies with added emphasis where I could like Caroline suggests. Like her I was immediately thinking of the US history connections. Jean Lafitte during the War of 1812 would be included. Also the Barbary Pirates during Jefferson's administration(Tripolitan War).
Also last year we visited this exhibit when it was at our local museum.
Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate - it was fascinating and showed the connection of slave trade with piracy. The age of slavery and piracy were quite intertwined. I'm not sure where it is going next but if it's around, it is very informative though consider age of students.
And then there is always privateering - "legal piracy" to explore.
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Mackfam
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Another great living book with pirate encounters is C.S. Forester's Hornblower Goes to Sea. These "Cadet Editions" are a bit of an gentler approach to Forester's works and though I'm not a fan of abridged versions of literature, I found these to be well done works to introduce my 10 yo son. The Cadet edition we have comprises the sea faring adventures of Horatio Hornblower which are originally found in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester. Perfect to enjoy alongside a history emphasis on pirates!
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MaryM
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Mackfam wrote:
| Another great living book with pirate encounters is C.S. Forester's Hornblower Goes to Sea. These "Cadet Editions" are a bit of an gentler approach to Forester's works and though I'm not a fan of abridged versions of literature, I found these to be well done works to introduce my 10 yo son. The Cadet edition we have comprises the sea faring adventures of Horatio Hornblower which are originally found in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester. Perfect to enjoy alongside a history emphasis on pirates! |
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My oldest son's favorite historical era (well maybe tied with Civil War) was the "Age of Sail" - he read so much on the topic and was really well versed on so much history of that time frame because of it. That might be a good way to raise there interest in all things sailing from that era. Because quite frankly those pirates were not particularly virtuous folks so I don't like to glorify pirates. Though in reality there is a mix of some virtue - for instance pirates were pretty much about equality in the time of slavery. Slaves could choose to become pirates when the ships were captured (alternative was resold into slavery). And they were considered equals on the ships and were free. It is estimated that 1/3 of pirates were freed African slaves.
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kristinannie
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I am considering the same thing right now because my son is very into dinosaurs. Do I just drop it all and start studying dinosaurs or just let him learn on his own? So far, we have been just having him learn on his own and he spends A LOT of time doing this in his free time. I am planning a dinosaur unit study at some point. He had a similar obsession with space. We did a 2 month unit study on space and I guess he learned all he needed to because he is no longer that interested in it. I think letting them go off on their own is a great idea. This is a way to model their lifetime of education! They know that when they find something interesting, they can just go and run with it!
That said, in my gifted and talented class in 5th grade, we did a unit on Pirates and it still really sticks with me today. We had to get a certain number of points for a certain grade. He had all kinds of activities we could choose from: writing a story about a pirate adventure, building a model of a pirate ship, reading a book and acting out a scene, etc. Maybe this is something you could do in a semi-school kind of way. Give them some ideas and just let them run with it!
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kristacecilia
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So is this where the idea of 'masterly inactivity' comes in? That is still very confusing to me. My understanding is that if a child is showing a deep interest in something outside of their normal studies like this, then the parent would provide time/material/other resources/guidance if asked for outside of the normal lesson time for the child to delve into it on their own?
Yes? No? Am I way off base?
I know it's not part of the original question, I am just asking this for clarification for myself.
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Mackfam
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kristacecilia wrote:
| So is this where the idea of 'masterly inactivity' comes in? |
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Yes. When they have an interest, and our job is to "put them in the way" and "sow opportunities." This means providing some great resources for them to enjoy: perhaps some interesting websites with information, good and historically accurate movies and documentaries, provide materials that they can use to explore and complete projects -- and then exercising that "wise passiveness" Charlotte Mason spoke of....which is to leave them alone (but not unwise leaving alone, leaving alone that is wise because of the habits of quiet, peaceful watchfulness we employ.)
Your description of knowing and intuiting your son's desires to explore dinosaurs or space show that you are exercising your insight in knowing his interests, just as Becky can see that her boys have an interest in pirates. You may extend an invitation - INVITATION: "Do you want to read more about dinosaurs?"
INVITATION: "Are you interested in exploring more of World War I/II Aviation?"
INVITATION: "Would you like to see how pirates fit in our study of history?"
INVITATION: "Would you like this old VCR to take apart and tinker with?" If we were to draw a Montessori parallel here, we'd call your son's interests "sensitive periods." He was indicating that he was particularly interested in those topics and very sensitive to any information you put him in the way of. Your job is to invite, to put him in the way of books and things that will help him to know, sow opportunities from which he can learn and grow, while you stay present to him, available to assist him when needed. You don't organize or plan or control his interest in a topic, you simply put him in the way and invite. The margin of the day, all that white space around the edges of the day, is where these explorations take place (which is why we keep lessons short and make the margins of the day just as much a priority in guarding as we do the time for lessons.)
These are some of my favorite quotes taken directly from CM that illustrate how this idea could be considered Masterly Inactivity:
CM, Vol 3, p. 28 wrote:
| ...once we receive an idea, it will work itself out, in thought and act, without much after-effort on our part |
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CM, Vol 1, p. 192 wrote:
| Nature will look after him and give him promptings of desire to know many things, and somebody must tell as he wants to know; and to do many things, and somebody should be handy just to put him in the way; and to be many things, naughty and good, and somebody should give direction. |
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CM, Vol 1, p. 192 wrote:
| The resourcefulness which will enable a family of children to invent their own games and occupations through the length of a summer's day is worth more in after life than a good deal of knowledge about cubes and hexagons, and this comes, not of continual intervention on the mother's part, but of much masterly inactivity. |
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CM, Vol 1, p. 193 wrote:
| ...the part of the mother or teacher in the early years (indeed, all through life) is to sow opportunities, and then to keep in the background, ready with a guiding or restraining hand only when those are badly wanted. |
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kristacecilia
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Thanks for the clarification, Jen. That's basically what I thought. :)
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Becky Parker
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Wow, I love that my question generated such a great conversation! I fully agree that the study of pirates should not "glorify" their lifestyle. My ds was a little surprised to hear that pirates were active during the War of 1812 and this sparked an interest. I am always looking for ways to encourage this ds to read so I try to tune into these interests of his.
Thank you so much for the book recommendations and the link. That will really help.
Regarding my question, it sounds like most would go with option B, which I agree makes the most sense. I want him to learn to delve into what he is interested in and develop that love of learning so I didn't want to just brush it off. BUT, when I think about dropping everything to do a whole unit study ... yikes. Actually, in all honesty, I am drawn to the unit study idea. I crave change and that would certainly cause me to change ... everything! But, I also know my shortcomings. When I do these extreme makeovers in our course of study, even if only for a short period of time, I tend to lose energy, the kids tend to lose interest and everything fizzles out, leaving us all quite disappointed! So, thanks for the reality check!!
I'm going to search for some of the great resources listed above. I'll just give them to my sons for extra reading and be open to lots of conversation about what they've read!
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Becky
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CatholicMommy
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For appropriate topics, we definitely do B a LOT. Sometimes we do A (Narnia!), but usually it's a "free time" thing - but I also build in a LOT of free time exactly for this sort of personal interest (it's the Montessorian in me!). I think that doing some "family study" of a particular subject (sort of like a unit study), but also allowing for personal interest (and the family takes an interest in hearing what the child is learning, helping to guide that learning, etc), is a good balance, since it doesn't make "everything" into "school". As much fun as school can be, not all learning has to be called school ;)
Now, that is only for topics I allow. Pirate studies must be very carefully done in this household. We have family history of serious harm caused by pirates; they are NOT the glorified adventurists that modern media makes them out to be (as someone above already said). Also, there ARE modern-day pirates still at work; they still kill, maim, steal, destroy, and otherwise are NOT the sort of people I want my impressionable son to idolize. (and my grandmother would throw a fit if she found out we even came close to looking at pirates in a positive light)
So we have done some studies on them; in context of history and their role in it. A very straight-forward, facts-based approach. Thankfully my son isn't that interested (yet!? we'll see!).
:)
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MaryM
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The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans (Robert Tallant) - OOP Landmark Book. Has been reprinted by different publisher in the 1990s. Landmark Books are always a good resource.
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Topic: WWYD? Study of Pirates
