Today we finished our current studies about slavery. We looked at the three books we have read, Who Owns the Sun?, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt and Follow the Drinking Gourd. We talked about which book we enjoyed most and why. Hermione enjoyed Who Owns the Sun? best because she liked the illustrations and felt very sad for the boy when he found out that his father was a slave. Lily liked Follow the Drinking Gourd best because she loved the song.

We had a Shiny Show style quiz (for anyone not familiar with the Shiny Show that's a very light hearted multiple choice type affair). This prompted discussions in which both of the girls enthusiastically told me all about plantations, things that grow on plantations, how the slaves were taken from their homes and forced to work elsewhere and how many who tried to escape headed north to Canada where they would be free.




Now, I know that the books we have read are not all factual and were we sitting A levels or something our information may be way off beam. However, I feel really pleased that both Lily and Hermione have gone from knowing very little about slaves and slavery to now knowing a reasonable amount through reading these books and discussing the information in them. Whether they are wholly factual or not they have triggered interest and encouraged a thirst for knowledge about slaves and slavery.

We had wonderful salad for lunch today. Home grown lettuce, radishes, beetroot and even baby courgettes (which were picked after some confusion about whether they would grow any bigger or not).




On a not so positive note we have had another field mouse casualty - dead one offered to Nana by one of her beloved cats. She knows it is an honour when cats do this sort of thing but still would have prefered not to open her door and almost stand on a dead mouse!