A History of War (1-1/2 hour class)
By David A. Cartwright
Objectives: We will study the history of the world through an understanding of its conflicts. Particular attention will be paid to their economies, politics, terrain, natural resources, and their understanding of science as it influenced their methods of warfare and thus their position globally. We will study tactics, weapons, armor, logistics, living history, farming, mining, building methods, ballistics, and many other disciplines as they relate to warfare.
Instructor: David Cartwright Grade Level: 8th – 12th
Tuition: $45 per month over 9 months PLUS a one-time $20 class fee. Materials vary, depending on the projects you choose and the books you choose to do your reports. You could use library book and less expensive projects to cut down this cost to almost nothing.
Homework: There is some vocab in each section but most of the work for class will be in two book reports (historical books of your choosing), a detailed timeline, and two projects. The projects will also be of your choosing and can be many different historical activities, from blacksmithing to flintknapping to making hardtack.
PROJECT IDEAS:
Cooking an ancient recipe. This would be a simple project, so your parents may choose to make it more complicated in any way they choose. For example, you might cook an entire meal for several nights of the week. Or you might choose several different recipes that interest you. Any which are shown on these YouTube channels would be appropriate. Hardtack, beef jerky, slacklime egg preservation, pemmican, soda bread, and old-fashioned candy have been done by students in previous classes with good results.
https://www.youtube.com/@townsends Townsends runs an extremely good channel which covers a bewildering variety of topics relating to life in the 1700s. He focuses on everyday life, practical projects like egg preservation without refrigeration, making an earthen oven, even building a log cabin and doing simple forging projects.
https://www.youtube.com/@TastingHistory Max does an excellent job of covering a MUCH wider history, but only does cooking. Some of his episodes are PG, as he does cover alcoholic drinks at times as well as some of the more “awkward” history. BUT, the pecan custard.... Mmmmmm.
Making a weapon: glass knapping, making a sling (use a wad of duct tape or bean bags for ammo), forging, learning archery, crossbow, or how to shoot black powder, making a bow from PVC, lots of good options here. You could also make a shield or armor.
A building project: paving a walkway, making an earthen oven, making bricks, pottery, practical items like chicken feeders or a coop, building a raised bed or rain catchment system, lots of good options.
A music project: many ancient instruments are very expensive today, but something like an ocarina might be possible. Learning a primitive instrument if you already know how to play some modern
instruments would make a great project... this might be less fruitful if you don’t know how to play music yet.
Fire-making: Learning different fire builds might be something you’re interested in. A Siberian log fire has a totally different burn than a brush pile or a teepee. A log cabin type is different from a pyramid type is different from a star type. You could compare each, or just pick three. If you can cut the wood and process it yourself with hand tools, so much the better. Using a flint and steel, creating a feather stick, moss nest, birch bark paper shavings, or other small kindling to catch the spark is a great skill. For this you will need: a good saw (maybe a bowsaw with a new blade, or at least a saws-all with a wood blade), a source of wood to process, and it will be easier if you have a hatchet, small ax, and/or a set of loppers. Good information on this channel https://www.youtube.com/@SurvivalRussia focus on his older videos as a few of his new ones are for state propaganda.
A good project is: 1. Something you are interested in. 2. Something your parents approve of. 3. Something you haven’t done before (ex you’re an experienced baker but never made pecan custard, so that would be a good project). 4. Something that is practical, historical, and you think would benefit you and/or your family.
To turn in your project, you can just photograph it and email that to me.
By David A. Cartwright
Objectives: We will study the history of the world through an understanding of its conflicts. Particular attention will be paid to their economies, politics, terrain, natural resources, and their understanding of science as it influenced their methods of warfare and thus their position globally. We will study tactics, weapons, armor, logistics, living history, farming, mining, building methods, ballistics, and many other disciplines as they relate to warfare.
Instructor: David Cartwright Grade Level: 8th – 12th
Tuition: $45 per month over 9 months PLUS a one-time $20 class fee. Materials vary, depending on the projects you choose and the books you choose to do your reports. You could use library book and less expensive projects to cut down this cost to almost nothing.
Homework: There is some vocab in each section but most of the work for class will be in two book reports (historical books of your choosing), a detailed timeline, and two projects. The projects will also be of your choosing and can be many different historical activities, from blacksmithing to flintknapping to making hardtack.
PROJECT IDEAS:
Cooking an ancient recipe. This would be a simple project, so your parents may choose to make it more complicated in any way they choose. For example, you might cook an entire meal for several nights of the week. Or you might choose several different recipes that interest you. Any which are shown on these YouTube channels would be appropriate. Hardtack, beef jerky, slacklime egg preservation, pemmican, soda bread, and old-fashioned candy have been done by students in previous classes with good results.
https://www.youtube.com/@townsends Townsends runs an extremely good channel which covers a bewildering variety of topics relating to life in the 1700s. He focuses on everyday life, practical projects like egg preservation without refrigeration, making an earthen oven, even building a log cabin and doing simple forging projects.
https://www.youtube.com/@TastingHistory Max does an excellent job of covering a MUCH wider history, but only does cooking. Some of his episodes are PG, as he does cover alcoholic drinks at times as well as some of the more “awkward” history. BUT, the pecan custard.... Mmmmmm.
Making a weapon: glass knapping, making a sling (use a wad of duct tape or bean bags for ammo), forging, learning archery, crossbow, or how to shoot black powder, making a bow from PVC, lots of good options here. You could also make a shield or armor.
A building project: paving a walkway, making an earthen oven, making bricks, pottery, practical items like chicken feeders or a coop, building a raised bed or rain catchment system, lots of good options.
A music project: many ancient instruments are very expensive today, but something like an ocarina might be possible. Learning a primitive instrument if you already know how to play some modern
instruments would make a great project... this might be less fruitful if you don’t know how to play music yet.
Fire-making: Learning different fire builds might be something you’re interested in. A Siberian log fire has a totally different burn than a brush pile or a teepee. A log cabin type is different from a pyramid type is different from a star type. You could compare each, or just pick three. If you can cut the wood and process it yourself with hand tools, so much the better. Using a flint and steel, creating a feather stick, moss nest, birch bark paper shavings, or other small kindling to catch the spark is a great skill. For this you will need: a good saw (maybe a bowsaw with a new blade, or at least a saws-all with a wood blade), a source of wood to process, and it will be easier if you have a hatchet, small ax, and/or a set of loppers. Good information on this channel https://www.youtube.com/@SurvivalRussia focus on his older videos as a few of his new ones are for state propaganda.
A good project is: 1. Something you are interested in. 2. Something your parents approve of. 3. Something you haven’t done before (ex you’re an experienced baker but never made pecan custard, so that would be a good project). 4. Something that is practical, historical, and you think would benefit you and/or your family.
To turn in your project, you can just photograph it and email that to me.
