Robin Hood!!!

This week was Robin Hood, King Richard the Lionheart, and Prince John and the signing of the Magna Carta.

What a FUN Lesson this was!! The kids LOVED the story, (of course) and I learned a whole lot, too! I didn't realize what an antagonist that King Richard was! The 'real' reason he disappeared coming home from the Crusades was he had insulted the Duke of Austria SO badly that when traveling through Austria, the Duke captured him and locked him up! For years! lol... And the whole time, he was in a sort of pissing match with France (who was an ally in the Crusades until Richard showed up and made the King of France mad too) and ended up dying in a boarder dispute with an arrow through his throat. He was known in history for being a great King and warrior... but a BAD diplomat. All the movies portray him so generously that I have never even suspected that he could have irritated other world rulers so badly!

The story of the Magna Carta comes after King Richard gets killed. Prince (then King) John Lackland (Richard's brother, not cousin) gains the throne and starts being a tyrant. He is taking land and obscene amounts of taxes from the nobles, who of course, make life horrible for the surf's and peasants under them. Most of the taxes were taken for wars with France, not to over throw Richard (because he was already gone at this point). So the nobles got together and made a document of laws that they believe EVERYONE (including the King) should have to follow. This was the first time in documented history that a dictator was held accountable to their own laws, and it set up a system of government that is still VERY alive today. (Canada and the US still follow the basic ideas of the Magna Carta.)

At the end of the lesson, the kids got to make their own Magna Carta! The rules they listed were SO cute I wish I could write all of them here. They ranged from "Sir Caleb does not have to read before watching movies" and "Sir Elias gets 7 minutes of video game time every day" to "Princess Madeline gets to wrestle with daddy every day before bed" and "Madam Hannah gets to have dessert with every dinner". They were PRECIOUS! The kids all stood up and read them aloud to the class and when they were done we all banged on tables and shouted "Hear hear!!" and "Whoohooo!" as the kids beamed! It was pretty amazing.

Here is Cyan's Magna Carta:

Isn't that the sweetest thing? Yes, I signed it this morning. Although I added the stipulation that she was allowed to get ice cream on all those days, until her own money ran out. ;) She decided that one day a week was plenty, so now it is only on Sunday's.