Early Settlers #1 – Jamestown

We finished our study of Early Explorers and have moved on to Colonial America! I am so excited to learn alongside Goofy and prepare for our upcoming ‘fieldtrip’ to Jamestown. Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English settlement. Colonists arrived in 1607 as part of the London Company.

To explore what it was like to live in the Jamestown Colony we ate gruel for breakfast. It is pretty much flavored water. We learned that the colonists in early Jamestown were mainly ‘gentlemen’ and they didn’t want to plant crops or work. Many starved. The only food they had to eat was what they could grow in their garden or hunt. The kids decided Colonial food wasn’t that great.

We made a miniature Wattle & Daub House  to better understand Colonial American homes (click to see directions on how we made it).

 

We made our own tin lantern. We got the idea from Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself. Draw a simple design on the can; Goofy opted to make shapes. You fill a large empty tin can with water & freeze overnight. Then you use towels to keep it from moving. Use a hammer & a nail to make holes along your pattern line. (This is GREAT practice using a hammer, improves hand/eye coordination, small motor skills, and more!) Allow the ice to melt and the can to dry out. Put wax in bottom of can and place tee light in bottom (wax is to hold tee light candle in place). Light your candle & enjoy. It is so cool! Remember this project requires close adult supervision. And fire should never be left to burn unsupervised.

 

My absolute favorite book that thoroughly explains Jamestown is The Jamestown Colony by Brendan January; it is great for K-4th grade. The book explains the history, Native American, John Smith, fort, tough times, Lord De La Ware, tobacco farms, Opechancanough attack on colony, King James I retaking control of colony from London Company, and the end of the colony in 1699 due to a fire.

Other Resources we liked:

 

We’ve done several lapbooks this year so I decided it was time to mix it up a little. To remember our study of Colonial Times Goofy is going to be making a Life In Colonial America Book. Since I am making the sheets as we go this download includes the pages of the book we made this week: Jamestown, Wattle & Daub homes, Pocahontas, Metalworking, and a blank page (in case you make your own creative project!). There are two choices in the download: #1 with text to trace about that particular aspect of Colonial life or #2 blank for your child to write. Both choices have a large box with space for your child’s drawing or picture of a project you did. Goofy is so proud of his book! (At the end I will change the link to include all the sheets in the book.)

MORE Homeschooling History Units see:

If this was helpful, I appreciate you taking the time to leave me a comment =-)