Voortrekker Ox Wagon Paper Model

Here is my 3D paper model of Voortrekkers and ox wagon, the latest paper model in my series of historical African culture and heritage hands-on activities.

This download includes a Voortrekker family, an ox wagon, a team of yoked oxen and Africans with a mountain pass background triorama. Colouring in, cutting out and creating these 3D paper models are wonderful hands-on activities while mom reads aloud. This paper model is fairly fiddly and young children may need some assistance.  Encourage your children to interact and act out the Voortrekker stories with their paper models.  It is  a wonderful way for History to come alive!  This paper model is a perfect fit for the Footprints in Our Land, our South African, literature-based Social Studies curriculums.

Some historical background:

The Voortrekkers were Dutch-speaking colonists living in the Cape under the British-run colonial administration of southern Africa and who migrated away from the British colony in large groups from 1836 in a movement called The Great Trek.

The traditional Voortrekker wagon was called “kakebeenwoens” because they resembled the jawbone of an animal. These wagons carried essential household goods, clothes, bedding, furniture, agricultural implements, fruit trees and weapons. These wagons negotiated the veld, narrow ravines, and steep precipices of the Drakensberg mountains with their livestock and family walking alongside.  When the travellers reached the end of their day’s journey, they set up their laager ‘wagon fort’ camps in an area which had water & suitable grazing for the oxen and horses.

You can order my Voortrekker ox wagon paper model download on my Order Packages page. You can find all my African houses paper models in the series —

• Khoikhoi House & Village
• San Bushmen House & Kalahari Desert
• Xhosa House & Village
• Zulu House & Village

I would love to share a freebie with you. Each paper model comes with a triorama background. A triorama forms a wonderful 3D pyramid shape with a base. It requires just 2 folds and snip to make, so it’s very simple, but looks dramatic!

Here is a free, blank Triorama template ~TrioramaDownload

Please pop over to my Packages page to order your download. Thank you for your support.

Blessings, Nadene

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Wanting to start the year off right? Take a peep into any of the 4 Footprints programs (South African literature-based unity study curriculums)? Hear about other veteran homeschooling mom’s journeys and tips to succeed?

Join us for this exclusive event!

18, 19 and 20 January 2021

19h30-21h00

Session #1: Starting your year strong. Shirley and Wendy will discuss all things about getting started, planning, schedules, chores, budgets. We will also cover how to include the lovely things – art, music, nature study. Included will be raising entrepreneurs, life long learners and magnanimous children.

Session #2: In depth look at Footprints to make homeschooling stress-free. Interviews with Linnie Lues and Linda Heckroodt about Voetspore, and a closer look at our other 3 programs: Little Footprints (4-8yrs), Footprints on Our Land (8-12) and Footprints C21 (12-16). We will briefly discuss school leaving options.

Session #3: Interviews with veteran homeschool moms who’ve been there and done it! Come and join in our conversation with 3 veteran homeschooling moms: Joanne Madgwick Simone Simone Tracy Eichler and Nadene Esterhuizen who have all homeschooled all the way.

All sessions will be recorded, in case you miss one! Join us for 3 encouraging livestreams where we will cover:

Sign up for the livestreams at this link – Homeschooling 2021 – A Positive Start

Hands-on Knots

Young children love hands-on activities!

I am re-using our Footprints on our Land curriculum with my 9-year old.

This is a fabulous,

literature-rich,

discover-history-through living-books,

read-aloud-cuddled-together-on-a-couch curriculum.

Every here and there in our stories, we delve off to investigate interesting topics.

Today we learnt,

along with the hero of our story,

a young stowaway,

how to do sailor knots.

With the help of my hubby who was once in the navy, oupa, a seasoned and experienced fisherman, and some printouts from the internet, we sat learning and tying knots.

We used a nylon rope to practice first because the knots were big and clear.  Then we practiced the knots with stiff sisal rope. And finally, made samples for our notebook page using wool.

We discussed how the knots could be best used in our everyday lives.

It was fun and practical!

References and related links:

• “Knots and Ropework”, Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 97b Encyclopedia (c) 1993-1996
• 7 Websites That Help You Learn How To Tie The Perfect Knot (makeuseof.com)
• App of the Day: Knot Guide (ziggytek.com)

Have you taught your children any fun/ practical hands-on skills?  Feel free to share with us in the comments.

Blessings,

Read Alouds – The Homeschooling Glue

It is the last week of our winter break and we have enjoyed time off the school schedule, but we have kept reading our read aloud each evening.

Our story is just too exciting to put down and my kids groan if I stop for bedtime.

Read Aloud books are like glue that holds our learning and journey together.  Even older siblings join the younger children to hear the story again – it is a treasured family time.

We pack read alouds for  travels.  When we travelled for over a year, I fitted all my homeschool essentials in one on-board travel case.  Most the space was taken up with books and a few other odds and ends.  Our stories were constant thread amidst the changing and uncertain scenery of our lives.  And despite  the lack of regular schedules, the read alouds kept us growing and learning together.

We read together when the power goes out.  We read aloud when the Internet connection fails, or the laptop crashes – the book held firmly in our grip while technology fails.

I read aloud when children are sick and can’t do school.  In fact, there is no better glue to keep a mother sane and the children restful than to lie together in bed and read aloud.  We might have to catch up on disciplined subjects and seat work, but generally we stay on track.

When important visitors stay over, we withdraw to a room to read, but I have recently read aloud while friends stayed for a few days, and I watched their friend’s faces light up with delight when we took out the book.  Despite having just a brief overview of the story and characters, the amazing story captured their hearts and minds and we all loved the time listening together.

And now and then, disasters and crises arise.  Unexpected difficulties, sudden changes, breakdowns, delays, or disruptions unsettle everyone.  There is nothing better than drawing the young ones together on the couch, or under a shady tree with a good read aloud and forget the problems and find comfort and inspiration of a great story.

Moody and stressed mothers may safely turn to read alouds to ease tensions in the school room.  A child, unable to cope with his temper and conquer the spelling and maths, can relax and unwind listening to a read aloud.  It is a real relief!

We enjoy all the characters; protagonists and antagonists, topics and themes, countries and places, adventures and troubles, periods and times in these books.  And some lively discussions follow some chapters!  I love to read with expression and use accents – much to my children’s amusement (and irritation!)

I choose literature-based education for my young children. I use (and re-use) Sonlight and Footprints On Our Land curricula and have an amazing choice of read alouds that older children can read themselves one day as they mature.

They may forget many facts, but they seldom forget living books.  A living book brings history to life!  Their minds are filled, their imaginations ignited!  They learn new words, build up an incredible vocabulary and generate a fabulous general knowledge.  They learn without even knowing it! 🙂

I love read alouds!

When all else fails –

READ ALOUD TO YOUR CHILDREN

Blessings,