Reformation Day

October 31–Reformation Day

From the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk posted ninety-five statements for discussion on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Martin Luther hoped that posting his theses would bring about an academic debate regarding repentance, the sale of indulgences, and other matters of concern within the Roman Catholic Church. However, Rome eventually excommunicated Luther, judging him to be a heretic. Luther’s reforms, centered on the teaching that a believer is justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, sparked religious reforms not only in the German states but also in many European countries. In 1667, Elector John George II of Saxony standardized the custom of observing Luther’s October 31 posting of the Ninety-five Theses.

2012-13 School Year–Week Seven

This was another busy week! On Monday, we took a break from our usual history (and special Reformation), lessons to learn about Christopher Columbus. We read The Discovery of the Americas and talked about Columbus, as well as other explorers in the New World. We also worked on some Columbus worksheets (including a word search), and coloring pages. This was actually quite timely in relation to our Reformation studies, as they overlap, time-wise…I love when things like that work out just right! Moose was able to join us, since he had the day off, which is always fun.

On Tuesday we got back to our special Reformation studies. We finished two lapbooks this week: one for John Huss, and one for the “Blessed Reformer” himself, Martin Luther. Ladybug got to start on her Reformation activity book, which she’s very excited about, since there are lots of sticker activities! We also started reading about Heinrich Muhlenberg, since his commemoration day was on Sunday. I’m finding this book as interesting as the children are…I discovered that I really didn’t know much about Muhlenberg myself! (We’ll also be reading about C.F.W. Walther later this month, to round out our Lutheran history studies.)

Our Reformation craft for the week was making stained “glass” windows. This is an easy craft that we’ve done before, but it’s fun because there are so many different stained glass patterns out there, and so many different ways to color the same pattern! All you do is color a stained glass window picture, and then use a cotton ball to spread oil across the back (we used vegetable oil, but I’m sure other varieties would work just as well). Pat to “dry,” then hang in the window and watch the light show through!

For our stained glass coloring sheets, we used the weekly sample from Dover publications…if you haven’t signed up to receive the weekly Dover sampler yet, you should! They’re usually related to the current season or holiday, and you get a good idea of the different kind of coloring books (and other activities), they offer. I also used sample sheets from Dover for our Columbus Day lessons this week.

We also continued our regular math and language arts lessons, and fit in a little American history, learning about the beginning of the women’s suffrage movement. Bunny was very interested in this, although she was quite dismayed to learn that there was a time when women weren’t allowed to do things like vote or serve on a jury. In science, we finished up the chapter on the digestive and renal systems. Turkey especially enjoyed our Friday science activity…designing a theme park based on the digestive system (disturbing, yet fun). I think he could have designed rides all day long!

We took a field trip to the pumpkin patch this week, which is always fun, and is another way to involve Moose in our school. We have another fun field trip planned for tomorrow…I can’t wait!

Learning About the Reformation

Every year that we’ve been homeschooling, we’ve had some sort of special lesson on Reformation Day. It usually involved reading a book about Martin Luther and doing a craft (often some kind of Luther’s Seal). I realized this year, though, that while the children know a lot about Martin Luther’s corner of the Reformation (of course), they don’t know much about the rest of what was going on in the Church. So, I’ve decided that this year, throughout the month of October, we’re going to replace our regular religion lessons with a special unit on the Reformation, as well as some general Lutheran history!

I started by replacing our Olympics “Special Event Wall” with one on the Reformation. The central focus of the wall is a “Reformation Era Timeline” I picked up at CPH. While the focus of this timeline is the Lutheran Reformation (naturally), other world and Reformation events are included on it, and I really like having a visual representation of just how much was going on in Europe at that time, from exploring the New World to the creation of famous works of art and literature. I added the “Solas” to the wall, as well as a list of key reformers, a map of Europe with key Reformation countries highlighted, a copy of Luther’s seal, and the LCMS seal. We’ll also be adding some things to the wall as the month goes on.

There are 23 school days in October this year, including five Wednesdays, which culminate on Reformation Day itself. I’ve planned something special for each of those Wednesdays, having each Wednesday be a special craft day:

  • Personal Coat of Arms
  • Stained “Glass”
  • Illuminated Letters/Scribe for a Day
  • Reformation Day Banner (to be used in the schoolroom for occasions such as future Reformation Days and Pentecost)
  • Tissue Paper Luther’s Seal

There are a few books I’ll be reading aloud, either in part or whole:

And book basket selections from the “Hero of Faith” series for the children to choose from:

Plus a few other book basket choices:

As well as workbooks for varying ages:

The bulk of our lessons will come in the form of a lapbook (actually several lapbooks)…our first ever! We’ll be learning the “who, what, where, when, and why” of the Reformation while we make these books. We’ll focus on seven reformers (John Wycliffe, John Huss, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, John Calvin, and John Knox), who will each have a mini-unit and lapbook dedicated to him.

We’ll also learn about seven rulers (Charles V, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor, Philip II, Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots) who were either supporters or opponents of the Reformation. Instead of a lapbook, the rulers will each have a dedicated notebooking sheet.

Over the course of the month, we’ll make a lapbook that provides an overview of the Reformation, including where each of the rulers fits, and their relationships to the reformers, where applicable.

Since Ladybug is too young for a lot of the lapbook activities, I got her the previously mentioned The Story of Martin Luther Activity Book to color in while Turkey and Bunny complete their books. It’s technically a preschool book, but I thought she’d have fun doing the sticker activities, and it will give her something of her own to work on, so she doesn’t feel left out…very important for a little girl who has two older siblings who “get to have all the fun!”

And field trips are a must. We’ll be visiting the Saxon Lutheran Memorial and attending a Bach at the Sem concert, where “Ein Feste Burg” will be performed. I don’t think we’re going to visit the International Center to see the Concordia Historical Institute Museum, but it has been a few years since we’ve been there, so we’ll see. We’re also going to be having a special Reformation Family Night at church, which, while not technically a field trip, should help reinforce some of the things we’ve been learning at home, and maybe even teach us some new things!

Music is a huge part of the Lutheran church (just ask the “fifth evangelist, J.S. Bach!), so we’ll be listening to some special selections throughout the month. We have both the Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth and the Heirs of the Reformation collections from CPH. We’ll also be listening to various works by Bach…I’ll let Ryan pick which ones. To reinforce what we’ve learned in Luther’s Small Catechism, we’ll also be playing our copy of Sing the Faith.

Our children are a little too young for these kind of strategy games, but I do have some good ideas for games that have a Reformation-era or theological feel. I’m looking forward to future game nights in keeping with this theme!

I’m very excited to get started on this, and really dive into church, and Lutheran, history. It should be a fun month!

October 31–Reformation Day

From the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk posted ninety-five statements for discussion on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Martin Luther hoped that posting his theses would bring about an academic debate regarding repentance, the sale of indulgences, and other matters of concern within the Roman Catholic Church. However, Rome eventually excommunicated Luther, judging him to be a heretic. Luther’s reforms, centered on the teaching that a believer is justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, sparked religious reforms not only in the German states but also in many European countries. In 1667, Elector John George II of Saxony standardized the custom of observing Luther’s October 31 posting of the Ninety-five Theses.

Reformation Day as Halloween

I think it’s wonderful that Reformation Day is now the most popular holiday after Christmas.  We scare ourselves as a reminder of death and damnation.   Children go around receiving unmerited candy, which symbolize the gift and the sweetness of salvation.   We wear masks to symbolize the doctrine of vocation. We carve pumpkins. . . .uh, I don’t know why we do that.   Someone help me in my crusade to co-opt Halloween for Reformation Day.

via Reformation Day as Halloween | Cranach: The Blog of Veith.

Hymn of the Day–“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now o’er taken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.  Lutheran Service Book #656

Happy Reformation Day!

Martin Luther School

That’s what Turkey and Bunny called our school time on Friday.  I condensed our regular lessons into four days so we could focus solely on the Reformation on Friday.  Actually, had they not gone to the fantastic Fall Bible School in Freeburg (alliteration, anyone?), we would have had a full week’s worth of Reformation School.  As it turned out, though, they learned so much there, and did enough projects that overlapped with what I had been planning, that I only needed one day to do the stuff that I considered particularly important for their age level.

I love our special units.  It was so fun to come up with stuff to do to help them understand who Martin Luther was, and why he was important to the church.  As it turns out, there is a lot of stuff you can teach, even at the kindergarten level, about the events of the Reformation.

We started by listening to a recording of “A Mighty Fortress” in German.  We talked about what country speaks German, and then located Germany on the map (which Bunny actually found with no help–we must have pointed it out before.  I figured Turkey would be the geography minded one, but Bunny is really great at remembering where countries are!  Sadly, I bet she knows more about world locations than a lot of adults…).  I also told them that some of their own ancestors are from Germany, along with Martin Luther and other key players in the Reformation.

We read Psalm 46 (verse one was our memory verse for the week), and talked about how “A Mighty Fortress” was based partly on that part of the Bible.  We continued to listen to some hymns that were written by Luther (I snuck a few Christmas hymns in there!), while putting our Luther’s coat-of-arms project together.  I was particularly proud of that, because I came up with the idea myself.  On Wednesday, we had used gold glitter to cover the outer ring of the seal, and white glitter to cover the rose.  After they had plenty of time to dry, we were able to layer the different elements of the coat-of-arms, while talking about the symbolism behind each part.  They cut the blue circle out of construction paper (I had cut out the heart for them), and we also had a black felt cross to put on last.  They look really cool–the glitter really makes them stand out, I think.

We read “Martin Luther:  A Man Who Changed the World,” by Paul Maier, and then went back through and looked at the pictures and retold the story that way.  We also practiced counting by fives (to 95, of course!), and then writing the number five, as well as the word five.

At the end of “Martin Luther School,” we sang the verse of “A Mighty Fortress” that they had learned at Fall Bible School, and then listened to a different recording of the hymn in English.

It never ceases to amaze me the way you can use one topic to teach so many subjects.  Just in talking about the Reformation, we covered math, world cultures, music, arts and crafts, religion, and the obvious history lesson.  That’s one of my favorite things about homeschooling–it’s a much more natural approach to learning.  No need to force certain subjects, when they cross over each other so easily!