• Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - Middle Ages Book List
We school year round, and DD11/12 finished her study of the Middle Ages over the summer. She lap-n-noted through the study, but I slacked off in posting all her pages. However, here is a list of the books she read:
General Middle Ages Books -
Story of the Middle Ages by Michael McHugh
Famous Men of the Middle Ages by John Haaren
The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago
History of Everyday Things, The Middle Ages by Giovanni Caselli
See Through History - The Middle Ages by Sarah Howarth
Craft Topics - Castles by Rachel Wright
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Other Books in Chronological Order (mostly historical fiction) -
Note: linked books have units and/or lapbooks
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Year
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Title
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Author
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610
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Pretzels by the Dozen
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Angela Elwell Hunt
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Saint George and the Dragon
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Margaret Hodges
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750
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The Adventures of Wishbone – Be A Wolf
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781-800
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Son of Charlemagne
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Barbara Willard
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1010
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The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
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Allen French
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1014
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Brian Boru, Emperor of the Irish
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Moran Llywelyn
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The Moon Singer
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Clyde Robert Bulla
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Viking Adventure
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Clyde Robert Bulla
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The Sword in the Tree
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Clyde Robert Bulla
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Sir Cumference and the Round Table
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Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone
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1189-1199
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Robin Hood
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Margaret Early
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1200
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The Lost Baron
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Allen French
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1255
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
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Laura Amy Schlitz
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1277-1305
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Castle
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David Macaulay
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The Forbidden Castle
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Edward Packard
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Duchess Bakes a Cake (and other Kahl books)
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Virginia Kahl
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1285
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Castle Diary
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Richard Platt
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1291
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Apple and the Arrow
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Mary and Conrad Buff
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Crossing the New Bridge
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Emily Arnold McCulley
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1294
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Adam of the Road
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Elizabeth Janet Gray
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The Whipping Boy
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Fleischman, Sid
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1348-1352
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The Door in the Wall
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Marguerite de Angeli
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Plague
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The Iron Lily
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Barbara Willard
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1400’s
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Marguerite Makes a Book
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Bruce Robertson
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1450
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Ink on His Fingers
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Vernon
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The Cookie Tree
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Jay Williams
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Now she will be moving on to the Renaissance and Reformation.
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• Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - Free Units, and Lapbooks, and Printables, OH MY!
• Sunday, June 21, 2009 - The Plague
DD11 continues on with her study of the Middle Ages, studying The Plague.
For her historical fiction selections she read:
A Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli about a young boy learning the ways of knighthood during the times of the Plague. She completed comprehension, vocabulary, and enrichment activities from this Free Study Guide.
The Iron Lily by Barbara Willard about a 15-year-old girl who loses her parents to the plague.
She also read about the Plague in two nonfiction titles:
Middle Ages by Giovanni Caselli
The Middle Ages by Sarah Howarth
To review what she learned, she completed a Free Plague Lapbook from Homeschool Share.
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• Saturday, June 13, 2009 - We got our Goat!
Meet Poncho. She is a three month old Nubian mix. We got her last Friday and it took her about three days to calm down and realize we aren't going to eat her. Now she calls us whenever we walk away, and loves pets and mulberry leaves. We will be getting a buddy for sure shortly, in the meantime the chickens and ducks will keep her company. We are going to let her grow up a bit and just "be a kid" before breeding her, so we should have some yummy fresh milk in about a year!
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• April 29, 2009 - Grammatical Thoughts
Posted By Kay in PA
One of the places I like to hang out on the web is at a homeschool forum called "The Well Trained Mind". I was reading through a few of the posts and one in particularly on grammar. The poster was using a certain grammar curriculum and after several months felt that her 8 or 9 yo ds was not retaining much from this particular curriculum. This was revealed to her through his writing assignments. She wanted to know if anyone else had this experience. Several people said they had the same problem and one person said it was working well for them. A comment was also made by someone that this is; perhaps, why grammar is taught repeatedly through the school years. A thought of mine that had been simmering just below the surface finally burst through. Ding, ding, the bell sounded off in my mind and my thoughts started flowing rapidly. I hope I can put them down here cleary for you.
As a child, I strongly disliked grammar. I loved math, science and history, but really struggled with grammar. Every year it seemed like we repeated the same thing. Of course their were some new things introduced, but it always covered the basics. One of the things I had a difficult time wrapping my around was direct objects. I just didn't get it..... until eleventh grade. Then it clicked.
Another area in which I struggled was creative writing. I hated it. I was not the kind to make up stories in my head or see a bee and be able to write a story about it. That is just not how my brain worked, never mind trying to remember the grammar rules and apply them.
My point is that a young child in the earlyto middle years of elementary school is probably not going to get most of it. They might understand some of it the way it is used in the book and are able to parrot it back you, but when the time comes to apply it in their writing those rules are not going to be foremost in their mind. What is going on in their mind is "what am I trying to say here and how do I put that on paper?" It is not "Do my sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark?" It is the repeated drilling and growing throughout the years that finally causes the nail to reach it's mark.
So how do I know if a grammar curriculum is right for us? The curriculum used in that tiny Christian school which I attended many yeasr ago was not full of bells and whistles, but it repeatedly represented the subject in a clear, methodical, concise manner and after years of hammering, the nail finally went through. As a homeschool mother, once I purchase I certain curriculum, I usually stick with it for the whole year. Occasionally I might change mid-stride if I feel that it is not for us and will not be beneficial to see it through. Grammar is one of those subject in which I seemed to be unable to stick with. I couldn't find the right curriculum. This was not because a particular book was bad, but because it did not meet my needs as a teacher. One was to scripted, I knew by the end of using it with 5 children (4 in a row) that I would end up in Bedlam. Another jumped around to much and didn't have clear instruction. Others I have skipped (despite their raving reviews) because they were to teacher intenstive or required an overwhelming amount of writing and review. Because of this, my daughter has not had the solid foundation in grammar that I might have wished; however, in fifth grade she has does know the basics and we are slowly proceeding. I am confident that by the time she graduates she will know her parts of speech, how to properly use punctuation and remember that the word "I" is always capitalized! The curriculum I am using now works for me because it meets my needs as a teacher. It is methodical in it's teaching, liberal in it's review and I as a teacher have learned to tweak it in the areas that are not suitable for us. |
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• April 17, 2009 - That Time of Year
Posted By Kay in PA
It is that time of year. The air is getting warmer, the birds are singing, the tax refund is in the mail and it's time to look into and buy next years curriculum! To me it is more fun that opening presents at Christmas. ;)
I had already discovered my great curriulum goldmine last year in Heart of Dakota. It has been such a blessing this past year. I love the Christ centerness of it, the open and go of the TM, the easy, yet meaningful activities (that mostly use stuff around the house), the living books, the advice and encouragement from the ladies on the message board and from Carrie Austin (the author) herslf, etc. It has been a great year, so picking curriculum was easy this year. We will be doing Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory with my boys (K & 1st), Bigger Hearts for His Glory extensions with my 4th grader and the new, not yet released Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ with my oldest 6th grader. I have already received the Beyond and Bigger guides and am just blow away by the meaty yet doable content in them and am very excited about next year. |
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• Friday, April 10, 2009 - Homeschool Share BLAST!
It is that time of the year again! Homeschool Share's BLAST! And you should see the prizes this year! Just amazing! So get your creative juices flowing and join in the fun!
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• Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Quack! Quack!
We got them! Four Rouen ducklings! My dear inlaws brought them for the girls yesterday. They are straight run, so we won't know for a while (how long I wonder???) if they are boys or girls. They are so cute, and messy! They keep swimming in their water bowl, throw their food everywhere, and attack every moving (and non-moving) thing. Fun, fun, fun! |
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• Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Apple and the Arrow
DD11 continued adding to her Middle Ages Notebook, reading Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff. 
She completed a lap-n-note from Homeschool Share (don't go looking for it yet, it will be posted during the BLAST! Details are forthcoming! ;-))
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• Friday, April 3, 2009 - Goats Lapbook
Well our goats still aren't here. They are taking their good old time getting weaned, I guess that's a good thing, I'm just getting anxious.  In the meantime, dd9 added goats to her farm notebook. She read:
And she completed a Free Goat Lapbook from Homeschool Share:
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