Keaton Age 14, Week 14

                                                     Benjamin Franklin
                                                                       Early life

 On January 17th, 1706, a baby boy was born on Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts .  This baby was named Benjamin Franklin, who was to become one of the great founding fathers of America. 

Benjamin was the son of Josiah Franklin, who was a middle class business man in Boston.  Benjamin had nine siblings, one of which was his older brother James Franklin.   James became a printer, and hired Ben to become his apprentice.  Ben was only 12 at the time, but was already beginning to grow an appreciation and interest for printing, and at age 15 helped to write The New-England Courant, which became the first independent newspaper in the colonies.  Eventually, however, Ben's thirst for writing got him into trouble.  He began to sneak contributions to the newspaper under a fictional widow's name "Silence Dogood".  The citizens of Boston loved his writings and wanted to know the real name of the author.  But one day he was discovered by James, and immediately forced to stop writing.  To say the truth, James was only jealous of the attention his brother was receiving - he recognized that Benjamin had exceptional talent.  So, James began abusing Ben.

Kendall, Grade 5 Science week 13

The enamel is the outer layer of your tooth.  It also happens to be the hardest substance in your body.  The dentin is the bottom part of your tooth.  Saliva protects your teeth, gives taste to your food, protects your stomach from infection, and is the beginning of digestion.  Chyme is the name of the food when it enters the small intestine.  The small intestine is the end of digestion and sends minerals to the bloodstream.  Mucus will be produced and food will be guided down the esophagus into the stomach.  Your esophagus is the pipe that your food goes down.  Your kidneys take the salt and water and any other thing that would be from the blood and passes it to the urine. 

Kendall week 3 History. The Punic Wars

   The Punic war is a war that was between Rome and Carthage. This war was a stange war. When Hannibal went to Rome, instead of going straight up he went around Rome (so it was unexpected).  At the end of the war Rome won!

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle By: Kendall Week 11

Socrates was an ugly, fat man who had a bald sort of head.  He would ask the men of Athens questions like "What is goodness?"  He believed in Truth. 

Plato.  Socrates was Plato's teacher. Socrates died when Plato was 26.  Plato was a philospher.  Plato believed in ideas.

Aritstotle was Plato's pupil.  Aristotle disagreed with his teacher.  Facts were more important than ideas to Aristotle.  Aristotle came to Athens when he was very young.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle By: Kara, week 11

Socrates, Plato, and Aritstotle were ancient Greek philosophers who lived close to the Golden Ages.  Socrates believed in Truth.  He was interested in asking men what they believed in and if they would have happy lives.  Plato was considered one of the greatest philosophers.  "Plato" comes from the word "plateau" which means "broad."  Plato had a bright student named Aristotle who was very smart and keen although he disagreed with his teacher on many things.  Aristotle valued facts about animals, vegetables, and minerals.  His father was a physician who worked for the King of Macedonia.

Keaton History week 2

In the late 1600's, England realized that they had forgotten about America - probably assuming that it wouldn't grow. But quite on the contrary, America was blossoming and blooming into a wonderful country, and becoming a sought after place to live. The people there were thriving and living well. But England became jealous and arrogant. The King decided to force tax on objects imported to the states. Different laws were passed and the taxes started to get higher - but the Americans fought back. They were determined to learn how to manufacture their own goods such as clothes, furniture, soap, and candles. They also learned how to make their own ships, becoming significantly successful at fishing and whaling.

Keaton History week 4

America was growing at an incredibly fast rate. In the early 1700's, the colonies accounted for only five percent of England's commercial output; then by 1750, America became known as the fastest - growing portion of the empire. The previous 5 percent had now changed to two-fifths of Britain's output. Everything seemed to be working in America's favor. Many lived well there, having unlimited amounts of both land and food to live on. Most men ate over two-hundred pounds of meat a year. The result of this was that they grew taller than the British. Convicts were being transported to the mainland as well; predominately in Maryland. This profited the country in two ways. One was the amount of work done, and the other was, that this provided an opportunity for trade with the countries sending the slaves.

Keaton Week 3, History Essay

In 1733, a law was passed in Spanish Florida that if a black slave defied the British but fleed to Spanish land, they would be protected. This caused an uproar among the black slaves in America - predominately in the Carolinas. Many whites were killed by blacks who were eager to escape. Eventually, angry mobs were calmed and many blacks arrested - some hanged or burnt at the stake. This left instability in the Carolinas. The security was much more fragile there than in the other states. In 1740, James Glen became governer and restored stability and security. He even had some action from the King of England. A man called General James Oglethorpe came to the aid of the Governer and ended up starting the state of Georgia, which was named after George 2.

Keaton. Week 3 History. The Spanish Succession

At this time in the European world, Spain found themselves searching for a new ruler. The people of that country did not really care who the ruler would be, just as long as he was able to manage the empire. Eventually, a young boy was to be appointed Spain's next king, but died suddenly and unexpectedly. This was Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. Now, the kings of England and France had to make a second choice. Their next selection would have been the Arch-duke Charles, who was the son of the Roman Emperor, but the very ill King Charles II of Spain completed his will, which stated the Duke of Anjou was heir to the throne. He was known as Philip V of Spain.

Kara, History of Literature...Week 3 narration

Hundreds of years ago people did not have books or could not read. Most people spent their lives hunting and killing animals to survive. Monks were a little more quiet and they were the only ones who could read or write. We should be thankful nowadays that we can just sit down and read any book instead of learning how to survive out in the wilderness. Although some children don't enjoy books very much at a young age, they will grow their intrest in books and will want to learn more.

Keaton. Week 2. History narrations

America's First Frontier.... Now at the approach of the 18th century, America was beginning to grow both in population and by means of expanding land. There was a rush of "Ulster Protestants" (Scotch-Irish) who were forced of out trade in Great Britain. As a result, they sought farming as their new profession. Many people in this group moved westward to find land in the New World. They ended up in states like Pennsylvania, New Hamshire, and Vermont. Soon, thousands of Irish and Scotch protestants migrated to America. Some went west; others went south where land was found to be extremely cheap or free. This included states such as North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. As it turns out, these migrators were the forefathers of men like Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, James K. Polk, Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and many others who were soon to become great men in America's history.

Keaton...week one. history narrations.

"In the late 1600's, there was an eruption of events happening in England and America.  In England, William of Orange became king.  Though fair and patient as a monarch, he favored the Dutch and looked down on England.  The Scottish did not want WIlliam as their king, so they rebelled.  As a result, William of Orange had them killed by Englishmen, though it did not happen the way he wanted.  The English pretended to make friends with the Scotts, and then turned against them one night, killing them by the score.

Just slightly before this, in American there had been a squall between the people and former King James II.  King James wanted to unite New England, while the Americans pleaded for the seperate states.  Soon the Americans had their way.  King James ran from the throne and hid in France.   However, New England became unstable and witchcraft became more present in the colonies.  Two young hysterical girls in Salem, Massachusetts began falsely accusing many innocent people of witchcraft.  This led to the Salem Witch Trials.

Many poor and innocent people were falsely accused and hanged because of children who enjoyed having power over them.  This went on for awhile until President Increase Mather of Harvard saw and realized the serious mistake of the General Court.  He then persuaded them to stop listening to accusations and to set the prisoners free. 

England, in the meantime, was trying to settle disputes about William of Orange.  The Tories wanted to end his reign and put Queen Mary, his wife, on the throne since she was part of the Stuart family and William was not.  Parliament listened, and it was decided that William and Mary would share the throne of England as husband and wife." New King William had decided that he wanted to wage war on Ireland, to force the people into submission. But as he and his army fought there, England was being invaded by the French. Fortunately, England was able to protect herself and after William defeated the Irish, he returned to England. After a short period of time, he decided that he wanted to fight against France again. Now some of his most powerful men, Marlbourgh, Godolphin, Halifax, etc., were secretly befriending former Catholic King James now living in France. In the meatime, America was blossoming and blooming into a learned country. This was the result of skilled men such as Increase Mather and his son, Cotton Mather. Cotton was born in 1663. As he grew into a man, he hoped to become President of Harvard or leader to the New England intellectual and religious community. Unfortunately, he had set the bar too high for himself. Cotton Mather was not able to accomlish his lifelong goal, but he did succeed in writing what is now considered the first great work of literature in America--"The Magnalia Christi Americana." Even though Mather was not able to achieve his dreams, his life had a large impact on the foundation of the New World.

off and running

Inspired by my dear friend and fellow Ambleside Online-er, Tammy, I have created this blog for my daughters' educational produce.  Thus, the title "Gracious Gleanings" indicates that something has been gleaned from each of their studies, yet all credit is due to the gracious God who is the fountain of all wisdom.  Each child will indicate her own individual narration on a particular subject.  This will hopefully inspire them to write, mindful that they have an audience.  Without further adieu..."Gracious Gleanings."