HORATIUS... (Who's that?)

I really wanted to write down about our last little lesson that we had with our Family School curriculum.  I like to pick and choose lessons and focus on specific things for a period of time with this curriculum.  We have had a really fun time studying together as a family and I have learned so much.  Right now we are focusing on studying about Rome.  I want to share with you our last lesson.

I've taught my kids the process of learning that is taught in the family school which is called the 4R's.   I believe that applying these 4R's to anything that we study makes our studies more meaningful and truly great.  The 4R's  are: Research, Reason, Relate and Record.  I really like this because I just ask my kids.  What's the first R.  They always say "research"  and know what we do.  I tell them that we can apply these 4 R's to anything that we study.

The first "R" Research

I started out by giving my kids a coloring page at breakfast and told them that they could color this picture for our lesson because today we were going to do a little research about a man named Horatius.

This caught their attention because they asked "Hora what?",  I told them that there was a Roman man name Horatius that was quite a good example.  So they asked me to tell them some more.

I told them to color their picture while I read them the story of Horatius.  The Family School had a short story for me to read to my kids and I read  Here is a brief summary.

"  Roman History started out as a kingdom.  For a period of time there were 7 kings that ruled Rome,  however,  the last king was named "Tarquin the Proud",  he was an evil king and the Romans did not like him.  He made the people pay a lot of taxes and was unfair.  So, the Roman people expulsed him out of their city .  Tarquin managed to get an army and was on his way back to overtake Rome.  Horatius was one of the Roman citizens that did not want his city overtaken by the evil king.  Many people were too afraid to fight the king,  but Horatius was brave and managed to get two other men to help fight the king.  

Now,  there were only 3 men to fight against a whole army of the king.  Horatius had a plan.  The Tiber river was a river that surrounded Rome.  There was only one bridge that crossed the river that allowed people to enter the city of Rome.  Horatius believed that if he and these other 2 men could destroy the bridge then the king could not enter the city with his army and they would be free from his rule.  

So, Horatius set out with 3 men to destroy this bridge.  However, the king and his army showed up and began to laugh when they saw that there were only 3 men defending the bridge.  Horatius was courageous and stood up for freedom and managed to fight off the army and destroy the bridge all alone.  In the process he lost an eye and so everyone called him "Horatius Cocles (One eyed Hoaratius)."  

My kids thought that was a pretty cool story.  

Now, I said the second "R"  is reason.  

There should always be a reason to why we are studying about this subject.  I asked them  what could be the reason we are studying about Horatius?  They had some good answers.  The family school has some situations that the kids can tell me what they would do in those situations.  I asked my kids several questions like:  "What would you do if you went to a friends house and he/she was watching a show that you don't feel comfortable watching?"  Of course,  I get some great answers because they want to to do the right thing.

I am Only One

by Edward Everett Hale

I am only one but I am one.

I cannot do everything

But I can do Something.

What I can do,

I ought to do;

And what I ought to do

By the Grace of God,

I will do.

So,  the reason that we were learning about Horatius was because he was willing to stand for what he believed to be true even if he was the only one.  I gave them the above poem, "I am Only One".  We talked about what it means to have the grace of God.  It means that by the power of God,  we can do great things if we stand up for what we believe in even if we are only "One".  They were very intrigued by this little poem.  

Then, the 3rd "R"

 I asked them how can we relate this to our lives?  We watched this Mormon  Message. 

This message is about a boy who did not like hearing so many swear words at school.  He talked to his parents and told his friend that he didn't like all the swear words he was hearing.  They told him to be an example.  He decided to start "The No Cussing Club".  He got people from all over the country who signed a pledge to quit swearing and he goes around to various schools talking about this club.  

My kids loved this message and were so excited to join this club.  Luckily they don't know too many swear words.  We talked about how we can be only one and stand up for what we believe to be true and the Lord will help us make a difference like Horatius and like this one boy. 

It was a great lesson.

Finally, the 4th  "R" 

I let my kids choose what they want to write down for their record.  They all chose to copy this poem and a brief little summary about Horatius for their binder.  I tell them that Record is very important because it helps us remember what we learned and it is a record that we are saving to share with our kids someday.  They each have a binder that I save for them from the entire year where they have all of their recordings.  

It was a great day and great lesson.  I love days like this where we have a wonderful meaningful lesson that stays with us for life.  I heart the Family School.