Medieval Fashions

This kids are enjoying coloring pictures of the Kings, knights and lady loves that they been reading about in school. Dover Coloring Books are always excellent. This one is giving us an additional bonus. It tells about the fashions on each page and which century and country the clothing would have been worn as well as what fabrics the garments would have been made from. Miss A is doing a 4-H record book on clothing and textiles and this coloring and reading about medevial fashions will count toward her clothing and textiles project. The coloring book is pretty cheap ($3.95) and is available online at the Dover Website.

The Crusades

The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott

The Talisman is a gripping tale set near the end of the Third Crusade. King Richard the Lionheart is grievously ill, and all around him the leaders from allied countries plot and scheme to gain personal power, putting the future of the crusade in jeopardy. Sir Kenneth of Scotland finds himself caught up in events, and finds both his honour and his life are now on the line. Can a cure be found for the King? Can Kenneth redeem his honour? – Written by Rowen.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
This text is not quite finished on librivox.
If you click on the link you can be emailed
as to when it is finished and listen to what's been recorded.

Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eve March Tappan

“The object of this book is to bring together stories of the most important movements in the history of Europe during the Middle Ages, and to make familiar the names of the most important figures in those scenes. I have endeavoured to weave a tapestry in which, with due colour, may be traced the history of the rise and fall of the various nationalities and the circumstances and mode of life of each—in short, to give the young reader an approximation to the background for the study of his country’s history which a wide reading gives to a man.” (Summary from the Preface of Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva March Tappan)

The above books are available on Librivox. As we get further into the Living Books Curriculum Middle Ages guide, I find that we really love the literature choices. We are reading books that
1) I didn't really know existed
2) are rich in vocabulary
3) are very well written and
4) are exciting and interesting.

I have not read any of the book above. Sad but true, somehow I missed Ivanhoe and Talisman. These are additional reading suggestions. Heroes of the Middle Ages is not listed in the guide, but I found it on librivox and it is a nice fit. We will only listen to selected chapters as it covers the entire middle ages. I like Eva March Tappan's books. She has a way of making them easy to read without watering it down into "twaddle." My daughter is enjoying them, as the chapters are short enough to not be frustrating. Other things coming up in next week's lessons are a medieval feast, a report about the Knights Templar, and some time working on her timeline. I believe all of the books I linked on librivox also have free online texts that you can read as well.


Note: Links have been updated and I have added summaries of the books from the librivox website.

Men of Iron by Howard Pyle is historical fiction that transports us back to the 1400’s, a time of knighthood and chivalry. Myles Falworth is eight years old when news comes they must flee their home. His blind father is accused of treason. We see Myles grow up, train as a knight, and with perseverance, clear his father of any wrong-doing and restore their family name.

(Summary by Laura Caldwell)

Today is a rainy day on the farm. It is perfect for listening to a story while sipping hot tea. I couldn't find some of the extra reading choices in LBC at the library this week. Rarely do we get to the additional reading, but this week the reading was short. I decided to see what Ambleside Online is reading. Immediately, I noticed that in year 3 (Renaissance-Reformation) they had listed Men of Iron by Howard Pyle. I had heard that it was really good and after reading the summary, realized it would fit right in with this week's study on knights.

I found it on librivox and we are enjoying listening to it. If you don't have the book, but still would like to read it, then click here to find the text online. Of course, you could buy it as well if you are book poor and bookshelf rich. ;-) It is still being published even though it was first printed in 1891. To me that is a good sign that the book is worth my time.

I also found copy work from this book. Those AO folks are just so organized. They have a yahoo group that is just copywork to go with each year on their website. So I joined the yahoo group and found a 171 page pdf file of copywork for year 3 which included several copywork selections from Men of Iron, nicely organized by chapter. I just love it when I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Here is what I assigned Ashley for today's copywork:

I think this particular passage would lend itself well to a narration that the child draws instead of telling. The language gives a very clear picture of that knight riding up on his horse.

Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
Introduction

The year 1400 opened with more than usual peacefulness in Englad. Only a few months before, Richard II - weak, wicked, and treacherous - had been dethroned, and Henry IV declared King in his stead.

Chapter 1

Myles Falworth was but eight years of age at that time, and it was only afterwards, and when he grew old enough to know more of the ins and outs of the matter, that he could remember by bits and pieces the things that afterwards happened; how one evening a knight came clattering into the court-yard upon a horse, red-nostrilled and smeared with the sweat and foam of a desperate ride- Sir John Dale, a dear friend of the blind Lord.

When Knights Were Bold, Eva March Tappan

This book is in no degree an attempt to relate the involved and intricate history of the Middle Ages. Its plan is, rather, to present pictures of the manner of life and habits of thought of the people who lived between the eighth and fifteenth centuries. Our writings and our everyday conversation are full of their phrases and of allusions to their ideas. Many of our thoughts and feelings and instincts, of our very follies and superstitions, have descended to us from them. To become better acquainted with them is to explain ourselves. (Summary from the Preface of When Knights Were Bold)

Librivox is my new favorites website. A nice bonus is that I can have librivox running in one tab and then click on another tab and see what the Nester is doing on her blog or rearrange my virtual bedroom on Better Homes and Gardens. This is sort of the equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. Seriously, I do have another reason for loving librivox and it has to do with dyslexia. If you have child who struggles with reading (dyslexic or not) listening to books read aloud is a great way to improve their reading. In fact, it improves all kid's reading, but is especially helpful for those with dyslexia or other reading difficulties. [I'll try to edit this post later with some research to support that statement. ]

I did a quick google this morning and found that librivox has recorded When Knights Were Bold. This is a book used in the Living Books Curriculum Middle Ages study. Being dyslexic, my daughter really benefits from reading along while I (or librivox) read aloud. This helps a great deal with fluency as well as comprehension. It is sort of like when you are teaching a child to write and you hold their hand to help them make the letters. With dyslexia, they often struggle with the decoding enough that by the end of a paragraph (sometimes even the end of a sentence) they may have entirely forgotten what they read because the decoding required such effort. Read it aloud, while they read along, and you are holding their hand through the decoding so to speak. The correct decoding is reinforced, the comprehension is better, and they enjoy that reading instead of dreading it. There are lots of reasons why this helps, but I'll not bore you with all of that. :-)

Although this is my 11 year old daughter's school work, my 7 year old son insists on listening along. He is now officially over his obsession with dinosaurs and it is firmly replaced with a new one of dragons, knights, and castles. I love how he puts on armor, a helmet and shield and holds his plastic sword while we read it aloud. For fun, I think I'll have the girls put on their dress up clothes and instead of our usual narration, I'll have them act out today's chapter from When Knights Were Bold. It's Friday after all and they have worked really hard all week.

If you would like to read this book, it can be purchased from Living Books Curriculum here or found as an e-text here. I would say that a child that can read independently on a 4th grade level (or can read a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book easily) could read this book alone (although I did not do an official readability on it). It is 312 pages, but the text is larger than usual and the chapters are not too long. You could also easily read part or all of the book as the chapters each stand alone in content.