We're studying Eli Whitney and the cotton gin this week. I'm amazed at how well it was able to be woven into current events.
First we read about Eli Whitney - who he was and where he grew up. Then I realized it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. (These are the things that slip your mind when you are a homeschooler.) The girls wanted to know more about him. And since I'd been a bit put off by their comments about our President-Elect, I decided a lesson was in order. Its understandable, I suppose. He is the man we were rooting against. He was not our choice. But he is the majority's choice and will very soon be our president.
So I tiptoed in - a brief discussion about slavery and cotton, why the cotton gin was a good thing and how it made work easier and faster. We have little pieces of cotton balls with tiny paper seeds glued to it drying as I type. Tomorrow I'll roll them up and the girls will have to pick out the seeds. It will make the work of picking cotton a little more real.
Then we moved forward to Martin Luther King, Jr. To segregation and prejudice. To marches and speeches and the fight we so easily forget happened only 40 short years ago.
My little girls, of course, had no idea this ever happened. They play just as happily with this Barbie as with that one. It would never even occur to them that there was a difference worth noting any more than they would notice red hair or blue eyes.
Then we talked about President Obama. They know that he isn't who we wanted to win the election. They know that we disagree with him on a lot of issues. But at least now they know that they will watch the election tomorrow, not as a concession of defeat but as a memory of history being made.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
-1 Timothy 2:1-4
First we read about Eli Whitney - who he was and where he grew up. Then I realized it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. (These are the things that slip your mind when you are a homeschooler.) The girls wanted to know more about him. And since I'd been a bit put off by their comments about our President-Elect, I decided a lesson was in order. Its understandable, I suppose. He is the man we were rooting against. He was not our choice. But he is the majority's choice and will very soon be our president.
So I tiptoed in - a brief discussion about slavery and cotton, why the cotton gin was a good thing and how it made work easier and faster. We have little pieces of cotton balls with tiny paper seeds glued to it drying as I type. Tomorrow I'll roll them up and the girls will have to pick out the seeds. It will make the work of picking cotton a little more real.
Then we moved forward to Martin Luther King, Jr. To segregation and prejudice. To marches and speeches and the fight we so easily forget happened only 40 short years ago.
My little girls, of course, had no idea this ever happened. They play just as happily with this Barbie as with that one. It would never even occur to them that there was a difference worth noting any more than they would notice red hair or blue eyes.
Then we talked about President Obama. They know that he isn't who we wanted to win the election. They know that we disagree with him on a lot of issues. But at least now they know that they will watch the election tomorrow, not as a concession of defeat but as a memory of history being made.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
-1 Timothy 2:1-4
This is the main reason why I loved homeschooling. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI have been convicted the past few days about the need to pray for our new president. It's just plain hard, sometimes, though there is never a shortage of things that come right to mind that need prayer. I think that perhaps politicians (even in biblical times) have been more easily seen in a negative light, so one doesn't necessarily naturally tend to want to pray for them...hence Paul's exhortation to Timothy. In any case, your post made me realize that we should be including the president (and other leaders) in our family prayer time, as well...something I hadn't really given any thought to up until now, as it always seems to be a "grown-up" prayer issue, though it really is not. Wow, sorry for being so long winded. Oh, and out of curiosity, did you get the paper seeds in cotton balls idea from a curriculum you use, or is it your own idea...I think it's great!
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