CC Cycle 2 | His Treasure Seekers

The Elephant from Baghdad (a story about Charlemagne)

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Deanna

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This week the littles and I took a break from Five in a Row to read The Elephant from Baghdad by Mary Tavener Holmes and John Harris, illustrated by Jon Cannell. Like The Giraffe That Walked to Paris from FIAR Vol. 2, it tells the true story of an exotic animal sent as a gift to a European ruler. (This writing team also told the giraffe’s story in their book A Giraffe Goes to Paris.) I’m hoping to “row” that one later this year when we’re learning about France, but The Elephant from Baghdad was perfect for this week as we kicked off Classical Conversations Cycle 2 with a history sentence about Charlemagne.

We treated it as an ordinary “row,” reading it every day this week except the day we went to CC. There are so many great discussions to come out of this book, so I’m just going to list some suggested topics:

Geography (many places we learn about in CC Cycle 2)

Aachen, Germany
Baghdad (review from CC Cycle 1)
Italy
Alps
Mediterranean Sea
Cairo (review from CC Cycle 1)

Science and Technology

elephants
albinism
clockmaking
St. Bernard dogs (briefly referenced in an illustration)

History

Charlemagne
monasteries/monks/abbots
Muslim world (review from CC Cycle 1)
Hannibal

Art

integrating photographs with drawings
museum pieces

Expanding with older elementary students

Since I also have a 4th and 5th grader in Foundations with CC, I read the book to them one time as well. We also have been reading through Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ag o, a chapter book about a 12-year old page at the court of Charlemagne. Not only did the fictional story offer many details about what life would have been like in the time and place, Chapter VIII “Presents for the King” tells of the elephant arriving in Aachen and helps the reader imagine what it must have been like for the Franks to witness such an amazing spectacle.

I’m fascinated by genealogy, so I also showed them how we can trace our family line back to Charlemagne several ways. I explained that it’s not actually that special to be descended from Charlemagne; it’s just not as common to be able to trace exactly how one is connected. Along with my 7th grader, we watched this video, “Is Everyone A Descendant of Royalty?“, which explains that everyone alive today who has at least one European ancestor probably is a descendant of Charlemagne.

All in all, we a had a fun week with The Elephant from Baghdad, and I hope we’ll explore similar books as we make our way through Cycle 2 this year.

Posted in Classical Conversations Cycle 2, Homeschool Resources, Literature Units

Puzzles that Can’t Lose Pieces! (Crew Review)

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Deanna

We love puzzles of every kind, so we were excited to get a chance to review one of the FlipStir Puzzles from Enlivenze LLC. They sent us their Solar System FlipStir, and everyone 6 and older ended up taking on the challenge of solving the puzzle.

About FlipStir

The FlipStir puzzles are completely self-contained puzzles made in the U.S.A.. Each one contains a set of 10 plastic pieces that all need to be arranged next to each other to finish the picture. You use a “wand” with a hook on the end of it to manipulate the pieces into place. Since everything is enclosed within the plastic tube, there is no way to lose any pieces (definitely a plus in our household)!

FlipStir Puzzle pieces

There are several different puzzles available, some with straight pieces (Level 1), and some like our Solar System puzzle, with wavy edges (Level 2):

FlipStir Puzzles Level 1

Rainbow Pencils
Tyrannosaurus Rex

Level 2

Solar System
Statue of Liberty
Periodic Table

(Other members of the Crew received different puzzles, so click on the banner at the bottom to read what they thought of those.)

Our Experience

When I first showed the FlipStir to Ian (8), he decided it was too hard and wouldn’t even attempt it. I tried it myself, and although it was challenging, I was able to complete it without too much frustration.

I really felt like the boys would be able to do it. So I got the first few pieces in place (the hardest part) and handed it Elijah (6). He was quite determined, and it wasn’t long before he had finished the whole puzzle. When Ian saw that his younger brother had managed it, of course then he wanted a turn. They were both quite proud of themselves for completing it.

Kids Complete FlipStir

In addition to the fun of doing the puzzle, the Solar System FlipStir is a great learning tool because you have to put the planets in order according to their distance from the sun (dwarf planets not included). This will be coming up as part of our memory work this year, so I love that the boys are getting in a little extra practice.

We really enjoyed the FlipStir puzzle. The boys are hoping to get more designs, and I think I might get another one the next time we’re going on a trip. They’re great to have in the car since there are no pieces to get lost, and even my husband and I enjoyed taking a turn trying to work through the challenge of completing the puzzle.