The Book of Dragons, E. Nesbit

What a fun surprise I have for you today. I found The Book of Dragons read aloud on librivox today. Of course, I found it after I'd already read most of what has been recorded. But if you have not started this book yet, you may be able to listen to the book in it's entirety. for free. online. It doesn't get much better than that. I don't mind reading aloud at all. It is just that I currently read aloud 1-2 hours a day. Anytime we can listen to a story it is a welcome blessing to my voice.

Anyway, if you have not heard of The Book of Dragons, I say that you MUST read it. It is a collection of 8 dragon short stories. You can find it at your library, amazon.com, or also as an e-text on the gutenberg project. It fits in nicely with this week's lessons on castles, knights and such. And if you have boys, especially if you have boys, just read it because all boys love dragon stories. Connor, my 7 year old son thinks it is the best book I've ever read. In fact, I don't even have to ask for a narration. He freely gives a lengthy narration the minute my husband walks in from work. The short stories are also nice and short, perfect for even the youngest child's attention.

Castles, Pages, Squires, and Knights.

Castles of the World website

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.