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It is important that when looking at the history of the Age of Exploration, a child nerver gets the idea that ‘there was nothing there’ before the Europeans arrived. This year’s geography focus is on sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. This is the time for the student to find out a bit about the land, animals and peoples of those areas. Then during the history main lessons, she learns about the relationship between explorers—which include Muslim explorers as well as Chinese explorers—and those parts of the world.
Here is a short excerpt from the section on India with the blank pages for the student work left out. As with our other Workbooks, I speak directly to the student:
Your study of India during the period we are covering in this history main lesson will mainly be based on your readings from the book A Children’s History of India by Subhadra Sen Gupta. This book is rather long so please focus on the sections you need to read so you can complete your assignments. Of course, if you wish to read further---assuming you have the time---then why not? It could be best, though, to leave the last chapters for next year when we cover modern history.
Please read chapter five, Enter the Mughals.
Once you have read that, write two or three paragraphs about Babur. Think carefully before you start---what information do you need for a summary and what do you need to leave out? You might need to write this several times before you get it right. And once you have talked this through with your Teacher and the piece is mistake-free, copy it here.
Then read chapter six, Akbar Builds an Empire.
Copy the portrait of Akbar on page 187 here. Make sure you label it.
Now write out a list of 10 important things that Akbar did. Do this on scrap paper. Look at your list---is everything on it actually important? Are there any things listed which should be skipped? Dd you get to all the important points? Look this over with your Teacher and be prepared to tell her why you chose the points you did and what you thought was not so important. Once the list is all shipshape, copy it here.
Read chapter nine, Living in Mughal Times.
You will see that there are a number of subheadings in this chapter ( ‘Women’, ‘City and Village’, ‘Music’ and so on). For each of these sections decide what are the most important points covered. Copy the section heading here and then EITHER copy the most important paragraph for that section under the section heading OR make notes of the important points. Do this for each section: title, notes or paragraph for each. Think carefully before you write so you don’t run out of space.
And here is an excerpt from the section on art in Renaissance Europe. As above, it is condensed and the blank pages for the student’s work don’t appear here! As before, I am speaking to the student directly
In addition to portraits and religious themes, artists in Europe also portrayed everyday life. We can learn as much about how people lived by looking carefully at paintings of this time as by reading what people wrote.
Pieter Breugal the Elder, in the middle of the 16th Century, painted many depictions of everyday life of the people around him. Two of his most famous paintings are Peasant Wedding and The Harvesters.
Spend some time looking carefully at these pictures. Let’s look at Peasant Wedding first.
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