the royal camp

We're working on a short 2 week block dealing with some spelling rules. Our curriculum is a series of Enki stories about the king (from our "True Name of the King" vowel stories from the past couple of years) and his Royal Letter Guard, who protects him from ghosts and goblins. The members of the Royal Guard are code-named A E I O and U, and they wear color-coded clothing that corresponds with our earlier vowel work. (It's all very intricately, yet simply, woven together -- I just love holistic education!!) The boys immediately recognized the vowel values for what they were (colors and all) and this connection pulled forward what they already know about spelling from their reading experience and what we've already worked on.

In this particular story, the new Royal Guard have arrived in their training camp, and they discover that if they go out together into the night, working in pairs, with the first letter calling out it's name, and the second letter holding onto them, they can ward off the ghosts and goblins. Above is J's drawing of A holding E while he calls out his name, while the rest of the Guard waits in their cabin. Below is Zoo Boy's drawing of A and E (and a ghost trying to steal E's name and along with it, his soul).


And then, of course, they are given the verse that explains the rule:

J's writing above, Zoo Boy's below:

We're also in the process of transitioning out of our Latin American culture and into more of a British Isles flavor, not only to complement this set of series (which really could be set anywhere, but I think works nicely with the British Isles), but also because I intend on working with John Muir as our next sage. (I had other things in mind initially, but our recent upheaval around here has me modifying our plans a bit.) And I think the British Isles holds the Tricky Mischief stories well, too, and we'll be working more with those soon, too.