The Swords

My son is a history buff. He certainly didn't get it from me, I hated history growing up. On the other hand, my husband loves history. And it was a good thing, too, because otherwise our curriculum would have had some gaping holes. As it was, DS was rather saturated in history, particularly WWI history in his early years. Interestingly, my son's personal historical interest settled a little farther back - medieval and renaissance history.

Once he learned to read, I often found books centering on medieval history amongst his stack that he checked out from the library. Books on knights, the Crusades, castles, armor, medieval peoples and battles, were common. He especially loved DK and Eyewitness books, because they had such beautiful, detailed pictures. As his reading improved and reached adult level, the books got thicker and more detailed. The Great Siege by Ernle Bradford, a 230 page book was polished off with delight during a 6 hour road trip, and The Redwall Series, a fictional series by Brian Jacques, set in a quasi medieval/renaissance time period has been "required reading" ever since he discovered them.

I guess I shouldn't have been at all surprised when he started showing an interest in making swords. Since DS is the oldest kid in the neighborhood, he was the mastermind for many invented Great Battles that raged in circles around the house. The Great Battles may have continued to be fought with inferior weapons if my husband had not joined in. Being just a big kid himself, he set to work. Out of woodscraps found during a neighborhood clean up, he made a pretty impressive sword and shield. The shield was made from a tabletop with a handle and strap on the backside to secure it to the arm, and was decorated with a Really Cool Fire Breathing Dragon design he had perfected as his own logo years ago. This sword and shield was the talk of the neighborhood for years.

However, it was only the start. As DS got older, ideas for designs for new swords starting taking shape. Working with the very basic equipment that we had was unsatisfying to him and he started to want better tools and materials to work with. He and DH saved up and went "halves" on a $200 scroll saw, and production really took off. DS ran the "design department", coming up with new ideas for designs, DH drew up the plans, using his drafting experience to trace them out on pine, maple and alder.

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Then DS put on his "production department" hat and used his scroll saw to cut it out, and shape it with wood rasps and sandpaper. And then to finally choose a finishing design to paint and polish it.

We especially delight in going to a bead and bauble jewelry making store to find "crown jewels" to decorate the swords with. It has taken some imagination and innovation to find ways to insert the "jewels" into the wood.

Many of the swords have been truly beautiful, nice enough to give as gifts. DS's orthodontist was teary eyed when DS presented him with his Knight's Sword with monogram engraving in thanks for his really great care during treatment. Also, we have had a few that have shown interest in purchasing, and one confirmed sale.

So, how did this all fit into the curriculum? Some of it is obvious. Woodworking is at the top of the list. DS has learned how to properly handle power tools, safety procedures and the differences in types of wood. I seriously doubt that he would have had as full of an opportunity in a public school workshop.

The swordmaking hobby encouraged DS to deepen his knowledge of historic events from books, learning about lifestyles of people during the Medieval/Renaissance eras, Royal lineages, and placement of historic people. Also, making the swords has helped him to feel the life of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Middle Ages and Renaissance were marked by battles. What we look on now as quaint castles in tourist visits to Europe weren't built for display in King Arthur's version of Better Homes and Gardens, they were built for serious protection during times of war. Making the swords has taught the subtlety of the importance of line and balance, that some details on a sword had purpose in those battles, and has brought those times to life.

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It also contributed to motivation for writing. Nearly every sword DS has built has an imaginary story to go with it, and he is currently transcribing those stories to complement his website display of his work.

All of this has culminated in an almost completely "unschooled" segment of our curriculum. Neither DH nor myself fueled any part of this series of projects. We only supported, encouraged, and provided the tools and materials with which to work, making this a "lesson" for us as well.