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How to Fit Drama into Your Homeschool
Like many of you, we had a curriculum we loved but still wanted to incorporate drama into our homeschool day. While participating in CC from Pre-K through graduating Challenge IV, we found a lot of creative ways to add drama to our homeschool without giving up the curriculum we loved.
Hi! My name is Danielle and I tutored Foundations from Pre-K to 6th grade, then led multiple Challenge levels with CC. Through the years we enjoyed the rigor of this program, plus found ways to incorporate drama to enrich our experience, develop community through teamwork, and dig deeper into the topics the kids were studying.
Every year the Foundations & Essentials programs study a different cycle that incorporates a time in history plus many topics throughout the subjects learned in CC. Here are some examples of ways we incorporated drama into each cycle.
When we studied ancient world history with CC, we read a lot of books related to this time period. One of our favorites when the kids were in lower elementary was Aesop’s Fables. I loved the brevity of the stories and the moral lessons taught with each one.
When my kids attended CC at this age, there were a lot of other younger elementary students that were sitting around waiting for their siblings to be done with writing class during the afternoon. Since I was done tutoring Foundations for the day, I thought it would be fun for the younger kids to perform in a play. We could’ve just went home, but what fun is that! 😄
Because of our love for the lessons taught in Aesop’s Fables, I decided to write a play, The Big Race – A Montage of Aesop’s Fables, incorporating some of our favorites. The kids could practice during this afternoon time every week and perform it at the end of the semester.
In this one-act play, the animals head to "The Big Race" to watch the tortoise and the hare. Many lessons are learned as we meet many of our favorite characters including the Lion and the Mouse and the two Crows. This short play is only 10-15 minutes long therefore being the perfect length for our young actors and the time frame we had to perform. (our program had other grades presenting different material during this time as well)
You can check out these other blogs for more ideas on how we fit drama into our homeschool during Cycle 1 of CC Foundations:
Add Drama for the Younger Siblings Part 2 (more details about The Big Race play)
End of Year presentation example with script – add drama to your science presentation
Act out the Bible by performing in a Neighborhood Nativity play
The first year we joined CC was when they were doing Cycle 2. One of the fun things we did during that first semester was what we called “Fall into History.”
Since the kids do presentations every week, we chose one of the days in late October to have them prepare a presentation on an historical figure from that time period. The kids did research, prepared a presentation, dressed up like their character and presented something about that person. During lunch we had some fall treats to keep with the theme.
My kids, who were 4 and 6 at the time, chose to be Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionhearted. That year we happened to find costumes to buy that fit the characters well, while in other years we simply made a costume from what we had around the house. My son did make the shield which means we added art to the mix of subjects being studied without even trying. 😉
In later years, as my kids entered the Essentials program, they continued this tradition doing something similar in the Springtime. It was fun to see how our kids could be studying history, writing, performing drama and creating art all at the same time!
Another fun option for the kids during this cycle is to study fairy tales a little more in depth. This can be done by writing a play based on one or more of these famous tales or by creating a mock trial. For the older elementary students who have been a part of CC for a while, it’s nice to be able to take their studies to the next level since they usually have most of their work memorized at this time and are ready for another challenge.
These students can learn to write a play with this drama curriculum – How to Write a Playscript from a Fairy Tale or they can create a Mock Trial based on Jack and the Beanstalk.
One of the first plays we did was a Thanksgiving play since we were studying U.S. History. This was a great way for the whole Foundations program to come together and learn a little more about the Pilgrims and Indians by acting out their story, then enjoying a feast afterwards with other CC families.
After reading original documents as my kids were in the older elementary years, I wrote a play called A Reason to Be Thankful. This is a sweet Thanksgiving play for elementary students that tells the reason for the Pilgrims thankfulness on that first Thanksgiving.
In this short 10-minute play, a teacher and her students who are studying U.S. History follow the Pilgrims from their beginnings in Scrooby, England through their challenges on the Mayflower and their search for a safe place to settle in America.
There are many books in the public domain from U.S. History that you can use to help you write your own playscript or you can use the one we enjoyed - A Reason to Be Thankful.
You can also check out these blogs for more ideas on how to add drama during Cycle 3:
Family presentation example – Act out the The Three Trees or Another Easter Story
During your break from CC, there is a lot of time to add drama to your homeschool. During the summer was the most creative time for both of my kids. One of the things my daughter enjoyed doing was writing a play from the Bible then inviting her friends to perform in it. Not only did she benefit from this creative time, but her friends got the opportunity to express themselves in creative ways as they acted out the script in front of their friends and families. It was a great time for all of us.
You can read the blog Write a Playscript from the Bible, or get started today with this drama curriculum!
You can fit drama into your CC foundations and essentials curriculum with these ideas:
Perform a play based on a book or time in history
Write your own play from the Bible
Create a Mock Trial based on a fairy tale like Jack and the Beanstalk
Add drama to your family presentation or End of Year Celebration
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Looking for more ways to add drama to your homeschool? Check out our plays and drama curriculum related to these ideas and much more!
Thanks for joining us!
Danielle at homeschooldrama.com