My son wanted to learn more about Davy Crockett.
This, my friends, is where the fun begins in homeschooling.
We introduce a subject or character to our children and they desire to learn MORE. Eventually, everyone is digging for information and more knowledge and you have a beautiful interest led study on your hands.
This desire came from a history sentence in his Classical Conversations memory work.
Knowing he had a presentation for his Classical Conversations group the following day, Grant declared he wanted to do his presentation about Davy Crockett, too.
A small desire turned into a mini interest led study - which (if you've read here for any length of time) I LOVE to facilitate!
*This post contains affiliate links.
A Simple Way to Learn About Davy Crockett
I put other things aside while Grant was working on this because he had a laser focus for this project.
(I even told him he didn't have to do math that day -- gasp!)
I believe in keeping things SIMPLE. Most of our studies use a book as the jumping off point, and most of them also end with a LEGO creation. Many include notebooking and a simple craft. If there is time I will search out movies, documentaries, and other resources.
{Note: In Classical Conversations we zip through history quickly. Memorizing the history sentences is KEY. Sometimes we go deeper and sometimes we just memorize. If we stop and spend a couple of weeks on Davy Crockett we will probably get behind. I'm learning to keep our "tangents" short and meaningful. It's working very well, and I'm learning the Classical model works - and especially works well for our family. Therefore, our activities are short and sweet.}
Our Davy Crockett study just lasted a couple of days, but I am certain my son will remember this for a LONG time to come.
Books About Davy Crockett
Who Was Davy Crockett? - We LOVE the Who Was? series of books. Since this was an impromptu study I simply downloaded the Kindle version and my son read it in one setting. I taught him how to highlight on the Kindle and he used that feature a lot!
Childhood of Famous Americans Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman - We are also fans of the Childhood of Famous American series. These books are longer and more detailed.
Davy Crockett: A Life on the Frontier (an early reader book)
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett
Hands-On With Davy Crockett
In reading about Davy Crockett in the Who Was Davy Crockett? book, Grant learned a lot about the Alamo. He, of course, wanted to build the Alamo with LEGO® bricks.
Perfect. That takes no prep work for mom.
Grant also decided to go off on a tangent from the Who Was Davy Crockett? book - he was interested in the fact that Six Flags over Texas got its name from the six nations that had ruled over Texas in the past 500 years. He printed and colored each of those flags and glued them on craft sticks to go along with his presentation.
Both of these activities were simple, yet effective.
Of course, your child could also choose to do a Davy Crockett coloring page, or this adorable Davy Crockett creativity pack.
Davy Crockett Movies and Songs
I have fond memories of singing The Ballad of Davy Crockett with students when I was an elementary school music teacher. While Grant was working I searched You Tube for some great versions of this song. They provided the musical backdrop for our study.
This version is my favorite, because it includes many verses and gives a lot of biographical information:
Of course, I also loved Tennessee Ernie Ford singing The Ballad of Davy Crockett.
We also watched Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. This is a very romanticized version of Davy Crockett's life (a la Disney), but it was entertaining and funny and did reinforce a lot of what we had already learned.
There is also a Hanna Barbara cartoon of Davy Crockett.
We also watched this video about the Alamo from America, The Story of Us. (FYI: The entire DVD series is wonderful if you get a chance to watch.)
Davy Crockett Notebooking Pages
We are huge fans of notebooking! I've created a simple three page download for you to use when you complete your study of Davy Crockett. Notebooking is a great way to keep a physical record of what your child has learned.
Download FREE Davy Crockett Notebooking Pages
Are you a fan of Interest Led Learning? I'm finding that I can mix a little in here and there with our Classical style of homeschooling - MUCH fun!