Vicious Vikings and Courageous Knights

We had an early start this morning.  When I say "we", I mean me, Dave and Pip... 5am to be precise.  Little one was coughing  and the kindest thing was to stagger downstairs and provide tea and toast in abundance.  Dad as usual was a star and undertook the first breakfast routine whilst I read to little miss PJ.  After our repast and in an effort to keep her entertained, without resorting to desperate measures of the dreaded CBeebies,  this is what transpired at 6am this morning:

 You mean nobody else builds chairs at this time in the morning?!

The chair building exercise and story time kept us going until 7am when it was time to rouse Benedict from his slumbers.  Mum sorted the second breakfast routine, including washing machine on and wet items transferred to the dryer and general tidying.  Whilst eating we listened to Ancient Faith Radio and "The Children's Bible Reader" podcasts, these are proving to be a real hit with the family and are a thoughtful/peaceful start to the day.

By 9am Pip was flagging so Dave took her out in the car so that she could nap and Benedict and I made a start on our desk work.  Most mornings we spend the first hour on numeracy/literacy, so spellings and times table work were tackled first.  After this, we made a start on our Vikings work and today's challenge was to " Plan a Viking voyage" and "Design and make a Viking ship".  We had to investigate how a ship was prepared including  the necessary items for sustenance, warmth and defence.  Benedict used our manuscript copywork sheets to write his findings which were as follows:

A Viking ship was made by a river.  A tall Oak tree was cut to make the keel.  The cut pieces of wood were fastened together with wooden pegs.  Animal wool and sticky tar made the ship waterproof.

  A ship carried everything it needed for a voyage - drinking water, dried meat and fish, weapons and furs.

We talked about the importance of each of the items but most especially the need for fresh drinking water and the fact that, salt water if consumed would cause death to the sailors.

 Using the BBC primary history site, answering the quiz questions and playing the interactive trading game.

Our impromptu Viking long ship completes with moveable oars and covered raisin snack boxes as cargo storage.  Apparently the sailors used to sit on their storage trunks when rowing.

Benedict's writing ability has suddenly blossomed and with it his confidence has soared.

After a tea and snack break we read the next installment of out literature reader, "The Kitchen Knight".  Benedict then narrated what he could remember and as usual it was quite a significant amount! From the list, he chose his passage to write and illustrate:

 

The strange lady.

By now it was time for lunch and Dad, Pip and Sara were also back from "Sing and Play", so we were all able to share what we had achieved this morning whilst we ate.  We took advantage of the afternoon sunshine, Dave took B and P to our local playground whilst I logged this morning's activities and tidied the lunch time dishes.

Adventurous as ever!

 A roundabout workout!

 I had a welcome treat this evening  I visited with my neighbour and friend from across our road and she has kindly offered to help with the cleaning. As well as dealing with family member's sickness,  I struggle with my own ongoing health problems and often it is enough for me to make sure we have clean clothes and are fed and watered! Sara our remaining older daughter living at home, does sterling work when she can but she is at college most days and on her day off she has assignments to plan and write.  It will be good to have the help and it will be nice to have our environment in a more ordered state!  So another productive day and smiles all round.