And then we officially ended our homeschool years with our very last Becoming History presentation.
Delaying the end of our homeschool era as long as we could, college days were around the corner.
Join us for our final homeschool hurrah, as we jumped into our presentation Happy Days style, since we love doing these programs so much!
OPENING WITH HAPPY DAYS
Portraying the wife of a military officer in Cold War Europe…
My daughter portrayed President Truman’s daughter, Margaret…
Portraying fashion models of the 1950s…
Read all about how I sewed our 1950s dresses here.
Let’s get the show on the road!
Returning to our Cold War personas…while we pursue Happy Days.
Portraying a pilot from the Korean War, my son wanted us to taste some of the Korean food he had eaten while stationed there.
1950S FEAST
{This was inspired by my dad, who was stationed in Korea many years after the Korean War.}
After WWII Americans moved to the newly developed suburbs, where families commonly had BBQs, so we grilled the Korean short ribs!
From Mamie Eisenhower’s recipe book came this quintessential congealed preparation, called honeydew filled and frosted.
For the 1950’s theme we enjoyed dinner in the backyard while listening to Hawaiian music, like many parties of the 1950s.
{The Hawaiian theme was inspired by my mom. While growing up in the beautiful Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, she dreamed of going to Hawaii, so she joined the USAF where she met my dad. When I was a baby, we were stationed there for three years.)
In honor of our final history presentation, Mrs. Eisenhower sent us some pink roses from her Gettysburg garden! The green part is a banana leaf to represent Hawaii.
DISCUSSING THE 1950S
The Korean War pilot (my son) and Margaret Truman (my daughter) casually shared their stories over dinner, while I contributed that while stationed in Hawaii and Germany during the 1940’s and 1950’s, my military officer husband and I saw the Berlin Airlift and felt the tensions of the Cold War.
Because of the Marshall Plan, America established military bases in Europe, to help protect the countries from the threat of communism.
After dinner we made a Korean dessert with these ingredients.
ENIGMA OF QUIZ SHOWS
Then we went to the basement Fall Out Shelter to play a game modeled after Jeopardy since the 1950’s were the beginnings of game shows.
Even though Jeopardy had not yet debuted, we enjoy the format and it’s an easy one to put together, based on topics we had learned in our studies.
My son named our game show Enigma, after the secret decoder device of the era.
Enigma basically means a perplexing puzzle.
ICE CREAM FLOATS
After the game we wrapped up the evening with ice cream floats! Yum!
Coca Cola was available in these types of bottles in the 1950’s.
Milano cookies were introduced in the 50’s and Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream came to the US in the 1950s.
Not sure about the Reddi Whip but it was good!
CLOSING HOMESCHOOL ERA WITH TEARS
As we reminisced of our favorite Becoming History presentations while we enjoyed our ice cream sodas, everyone started shedding tears!
We were ending an era of our homeschool history presentations.
Our very first one was in kindergarten with a beach theme…which this presentation alluded to with the Hawaii theme.
CUR NON? – WHY NOT?
My kids proclaimed that I need to write everything down, so they can recreate their homeschool experience with their own kids when they get married.
Then they announced that we needed to just continue doing these presentations, dressing up and sharing what each of them are learning in college and what I’m learning in the books I’m reading.
Stay tuned!
For more photos, check my Flickr set.
COMMENTS FROM MY OLD BLOG
Dawn – August 9, 2014 at 7:48 AM – I have loved watching your history presentations unfold for years. you have done the most amazing job with your children. I hope you enjoy your next era just as much as the last. I know it is so hard to say goodbye to the era of homeschooling. I worry about the end coming some of the time and it is eight years away for me.
Blessings, Dawn
