The Crusades...

Sooooooooooo... I am now a part-time teacher at my daughter's new forward-thinking school. It is called the Open Classroom and to be a student there, the parents of each student must commit to participating 3 HOURS in their child's classrom every week. It's called Co-op. In addition there are monthly meetings for every committee each parent participates in. The thing I love is that I can go hang out with my daughter all day long if I so choose. And I have! I love it. I am learning a lot more than I learned when I was in elementary school!!!

I teach every Wednesday morning during core studies to 5th, 6th and 7th graders. Wednesday mornings are a snazzy combo plate of social studies/language arts/history and right now we are studying the Medieval era. We spend the first 45 minutes of the day talking about current issues and have been focusing on the upcoming presidential election. These children know more about politics than I have ever dreamed of knowing and I have learned so much, as well. Then we spend the next two hours in rotations. There are six co-opers that each teach for 15 minutes and the small groups of children rotate around from room to room. They get a small dose of six different topics that day and it also gives them the opportunity to MOVE every 15 minutes.

Today I presented the second part of my topic from last week: The Crusades. I discovered that the children become animated and interactive when I add movement, music and pictures to my topic. The other co-opers (many of whom are too brilliant for words and are tenured professors at the U of U) are having difficulty with the children. My theory is they are talking way over their heads... but THAT is just my humble opinion.

I was excited to officially do my own research and learn about The Crusades so I could teach these kids. I was excited to find a way to present it that got them interested. I LOVED hearing their reactions and how much they remember and how much they are willing to interact! And I loved their dramatic expressions as I was sharing about each Crusade. And I loved their groans of defeat as I would get to the end of explaining about each unsuccessful Crusade. It was great!

Some interesting things I learned...

• It's only called a "Crusade" if it is officially sanctioned by the Pope.
• There were seven different Crusades over a span of about three centuries.
• Only the First Crusade was successful back in the 1090's and they were only successful because they got lucky. The Fatimids who were ruling Jerusalem at the time were involved in another war and didn't protect Jerusalem.
• Most of the Crusaders in the other six Crusades never even got near Jerusalem!
• The Crusaders frequently got sidetracked by treasure and other rulers who would enroll them in their battles.
• The Crusaders frequently believed that God was on their side so they didn't need to worry.
• Prior to the First Crusade, the Pope got the citizens so riled up that they took off to Jerusalem before the Crusaders. Men, women and children set off to battle without weapons or money to buy weapons. They gave up halfway and stopped in Germany, robbing and killing thousands of Jews because they were not Christians.
• In 1212, there were two unofficial crusades - one from France and one from Germany. Both of these "crusades" were led by 12-year-old boys who had both received visions around the same time stating that they were to lead a crusade. They set off, each from their own country, taking thousands of children with them. Those from France set sail on seven ships and disappeared. Many of the children from Germany died crossing the Alps on the way to Italy where they met with the Pope who sent them back home. Many of the remaining children died on the way back. Around 50,000 children died during these "crusades."
• If the Crusaders were ever lucky enough to be GIVEN Jerusalem, they usually quickly lost it by fighting amongst themselves.

So that is a bit of what I have learned and taught. Hope you enjoyed it. Perhaps I should post my movies I made!!! Hmmmmmmmmmmm... something to consider...