Court Life in Ancient Japan

Oops! Did a young George Washington inadvertently start the French and Indian War? Well, let's just say mistakes were made. Learn all about this little-understood conflict with a misleading name in this 6-week FLEX class on the French and Indian War for 9-11 year-olds.

This exquisite ivory madonna made in France is the largest of its kind, made from a single piece of ivory that could only have come from the tusk of an African savanna elephant, an example of how trade across the Sahara Desert connected West African Kingdoms with commerce all over the Medieval world. This is just one of the many fascinating things you will uncover in this 8-week flex class on Medieval African Kingdoms for 9-11 year-olds. 

To what extent did the Reformation influence Swiss watchmaking? Quite a bit, it turns out. French reformation leader John Calvin imposed anti-sumptuary laws in Geneva in 1541, which banned the wearing of jewelry. This put Swiss jewelers in a difficult situation. Watches, however, because they were considered utilitarian instruments, were exempt. The French Wars of Religion from 1562 to 1598 led to the persecution of Huguenots, or French protestants.  Many of the Huguenots who fled France for Switzerland were highly skilled in horology, which is the art and science of creating clocks and watches. Huguenot watchmakers teamed up with Swiss goldsmiths and enamelers, saving the jewelry industry and establishing Geneva as the center of fine watchmaking. This is just one of the surprising stories you will discover in this 5-week flex class on the Reformation for 10-12 year-olds. 

The first of the five fatalities of the so-called Boston Massacre was Crispus Attucks. He was 47, of mixed race, African American and Native American, and living in Boston as a sailor and ropemaker. At the time of the American Revolution, one-fifth of the 100,000 sailors employed on American ships were African American.  During the colonial period, free African Americans mostly lived in cities. They were rarely accepted into white society, and didn’t have voting rights, or any of the "rights of Englishmen". Some colonies applied their slave codes to free African Americans as well. This makes it particularly poignant that the American Revolution’s first martyr was black. Crispus Attucks is just one of the fascinating people you will meet during this 5-week FLEX class on the American Revolution for  9-11 year-olds. 

We all think we know a lot about Pocahontas.  Indian Princess.  Saved John Smith’s life and then stole his heart. Brokered peace between Jamestown and the Powhatan Indians. Converted to Christianity and then married John Rolfe. Wait. Stop. That’s the myth. The truth is a bit more complicated. Her name wasn’t Pocahontas, it was Matoaka. She wasn’t a princess. She was one of Wahunsenacah’s many daughters and probably wasn’t even his favorite. And the part about saving John Smith? Scholars think that might have been part of an elaborate ritual. She was only 10 or 11 years old when she met Smith, so the idea of a romantic relationship is difficult to believe. As for converting to Christianity, she did this while being held captive in Henricus, a second English settlement, so this conversion is not likely to have been voluntary. She married John Rolfe and had a son. The family traveled to England, where she was feted by royalty but died tragically at the age of 21. The war that broke out between Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy after her father's death is one of several Indian wars leading up to the French and Indian War. Matoaka is one of the many fascinating people you will meet in The World Turned Upside Down, a 20-week flexible schedule class on the American Revolution from Jamestown to Yorktown for 9-11 year-olds.

This intriguing portrait of a beautiful young woman had been in a private collection for several decades when it appeared at a Christie's auction in 1991, listed as a 19th-century German drawing rendered in a Renaissance style. She emerged again a decade later in a New York gallery sale. Her new owner, a Paris-based collector, was convinced that she was not 19th Century or German, but instead, Italian Renaissance, possibly by Leonardo da Vinci.  The story of how art historians uncovered her identity and made their case for attribution is a fascinating detective story,  one of many discoveries you will make in this 9-week FLEX class on the Renaissance for 10-12 year-olds. 

Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, and Good Queen Bess was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. She reigned for 45 years, from 1558 to 1603, and this period of history, the Elizabethan Age, is named after her. Educated by tutors in the classics, history, rhetoric, philosophy, and theology, Elizabeth studied Greek and Latin and was fluent in French and Italian. Some historians consider her to be one of the best-educated women of her time. She is just one of the remarkable luminaries you will meet in this 6-week FLEX class on the Golden Age for 10-12 year-olds.

During the Age of Discovery, North America and South America were dubbed the New World, because they were two continents that were largely unknown to Europeans. Starting with Columbus, Europeans immediately started establishing permanent settlements. In doing so they created something we now call the Atlantic World, which was a new community, or ecosystem linking all of the continents that surround the Atlantic Ocean, including the Americas, Europe, and Africa. European exploration and colonization didn’t just change the population, it literally transformed the environment. For good or for evil, Columbus brought about monumental changes to both the New and the Old World. This is just one of the many discoveries you will uncover in Merchants, Conquistadors, and Missionaries, a FLEX class for 10-12 year-olds.