My dd (age 11) is working through the Living Books Curriculum guide to The Middle Ages. We have enjoyed all of the literature that came with it and today spent some time oohing and ahhing at castles and learning more about feudal life in the Middle Ages. It appears from our little bit of research that due to the high quality of materials a lot of castles are still standing. Many have been updated and restored and some are now museums. We read about one castle that took 100 years to complete. Looking at the detailed photos you can see how that is possible. I'm amazed at all of the intricate carvings in stone as well as gorgeous paintings on ceilings and walls. All time consuming jobs that require great talent as well as patience.
Today's reading was from When Knights were Bold by Eva March Tappan. This book as well as other great books on the Middle Ages are available from LBC. The chapters are fairly short and interesting enough for a 7 year old boy to sit and listen intently even though it isn't part of his school work. I count that a definate plus. A boy listening is a boy not antagonizing his other sister or making a mess. ;-) The books in this unit are geared for the intermediate to middle school aged child. I'd say they are for grades 5-8. In this unit, we have especially enjoyed reading Son of Charlemagne and The Lantern Bearer. This unit from LBC is a history unit and you will still need to supplement with other sources for your math, language, copywork, etc. I use Ambleside Online for a lot, Writing Road to Reading (not a CM type resource) and Math U See. It's been fun to create my own lesson plans, but I think next year I will just go ahead and order the LBC curriculum for the grade and get all the lesson plans and books in one box. The idea of having everything all mapped out for the year just sounds very nice as I try my best to write lesson plans instead of walking around outside smelling the roses and soaking up the sunshine.
Here are some links to websites with information on life in the Feudal Middle Ages. I hope it is a help to your study of the Middle Ages.
We are also going to be doing Living Books Curriculum for the first time after we finish the material we are on now. I feel so blessed to have found it. My daughter is 11 (but will be 12 in June) and we are going to do the 6th grade year. My son who will be 8 in May will do the 3rd grade year. I look forward to watching your journey as we too, meander along the path. I have been blogging our journey at www.llljourney.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteHeather