I find it so amazing when Austyn if following his interests and from that topic he touches on so many subjects. I don't even have to prepare a unit of study for him. I just need to be flexible and open enough to follow his lead and support what he wants to do. Lately he is interested in Dragons. This is a book we got from the library. We love it so much. This book is called How to Raise and Keep a Dragon by John Topsell.
If anyone was ever thinking of owning a dragon, this is the book for them. It is a detailed guide for anyone who wants to own and care for a dragon. It gives many common breeds and describes them to help decide which dragon is right for your home.
It describes in detail the environment needed for each dragon. What supplies you need. Did you know it's very expensive to own a dragon? They also require a large amount of space. Even miniature dragons require at least one whole room in a house.
There are many tips and tricks to help train your dragon. A dragon not trained well could cause lawsuits if they destroy property or people.
Austyn and I read all of the dragon descriptions and discussed which one made the most sense. He ended up choosing a Standard Western Dragon to order and decided to order the egg. He played out this scenario. He even gave up his room so that the dragon could use it.
He then had me photocopy the registration form for the Worldwide Dragon Club and filled it out. I helped. Then he had me get an envelope and he put the address on the front.
He started to talk about how he might be able to afford a full sized dragon. I told him that it would be very expensive and that most people could never afford one. So, he went to get his play money (we print mini money off of the internet and he has purchased some mini U.S. dollar sets) and counted all of it with my help. We counted it in sections and then added it up in the end. He decided that three million dollars should cover the cost of getting a dragon and setting up an environment for it. I then reminded him that full sized dragons eat a great deal of food. "A hungry dragon isn't a happy dragon!" He said that dragon feed is probably ony $10. I said that was for a small amount and that the dragon would have it eaten in no time. He would have to have a good, constant income. He said he'd get a job. LOL!
This is one of the eggs he found to pretend that he had a dragon egg. The object beside it is a serpent dragon that he made up with string and a mini clothes pin.
Dragons continue to be the main theme in his artwork.
Through our study of dragons and the use of the book I described earlier in this post, we learned about the bombardier beetle. It seems to have dragon like qualities, so to confirm this we looked it up in one of our resource books. There was only a short description, but the information was correct. It can explode chemicals out of it's butt!
I just love this dragon he made.
This is a rainbow dragon that he made.
So far we have covered many subjects and none of this was planned by me except getting the book. We have covered hand writing, math, history, mythology, art, crafts, nature, science, and probably something else that I've not thought of. So, in some cases I'm required to do so much work and use so much creativity to introduce ideas and activities to accommodate his interests but sometimes... just sometimes... these things come to him naturally and all I need to do is be there to help the magic happen.
I'm sure we are not finished studying dragons. It is only the beginning.
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