2011-2012 Curriculum, part 2 - Medieval Literature and Fine Arts

Last week we dove headfirst into the fifth century A.D., joining the barbarians and leaving the Roman Empire in the dust and rubble. We are very excited about this year's plans to study the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation -- and British literature! We're using Famous Men of the Middle Ages to guide us along for history, and supplementing with lots of lit.

Literature and Historical fiction

The legends of King Arthur & His Knights of the Round Table -- Eldest and Middlest are each reading their own versions, and we're listening to Benedict Flynn's audiobook together.

 

Tales from the Arabian Nights -- I found a child-friendly illustrated version at the library for Scott to read aloud in the evenings.

Beowulf -- an online version to read aloud

Beorn the Proud -- the story of a Christian girl and the Viking boy who takes her as a slave when his family attacks her village in Ireland 

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (library book sale find)

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Redwall -- this is off Middlest's shelf, and I'll pick up the audiobook at the library as well.

Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley -- library book to supplement our Famous Men of the Middle Ages reading

Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman

The Beggar’s Bible by Louise Vernon

Huguenot Garden

Morning Girl

Shakespeare
Usborne Stories of Shakespeare
Shakespeare for Kids
As You Like It (1936) - Netflix instant download
MacBeth : For Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun series)
Henry V (1989) - Netflix instant download

Poetry
Idylls of the king - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing and Shout

Read-alouds for Littlest

The End of the Beginning by Avi -- we're loving this book together

Various picture and poetry books from the library and our shelves boxes shelves (when I get the boxes unpacked), some taken from Ambleside's Year 0 list:

Mother Goose
A Child's Garden of Verses
The Little House
Make Way for Ducklings
Lentil
The Duchess Bakes a Cake
The Adventures of Peter and Lotta
Peter in Blueberry Land
Burgess Book of Animals



For all the boys:
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott, one of my all-time favorite books

Audiobooks:
Heidi
Wind in the Willows

Art
Last year our picture study was integrated into Lively Latin's history, so I didn't have to purchase or plan much else. This year we're using Harmony Art Mom's Artist and Composers Study. The Popular Composers CD is awesome. We accidentally listened to two weeks' worth of Vivaldi on errand day. Oops! ;)

Dore's Illustrations of Idylls of the King
Harmony Fine Arts - Artists and Composers Study, Medieval and Renaissance, Grade 2, with...

Art of the Middle Ages

Marguerite Makes a Book
David Macauley's Mosque, Cathedral and Castle (and the DVD version of Castle)
Michaelangelo by Diane Stanley

Music
Eldest - cello
Middlest - violin
Littlest - viola (He is counting down the days until his first lesson this Friday!)
Harmony Fine Arts - Artists and Composers Study, Medieval and Renaissance, Grade 2

That's it so far! Littlest's read-aloud list is far from complete, so perhaps I'll flush it out later on.

The Roman Legion and the Armor of the Lord

We finished reading the Narnia series a few weeks ago, and I wondered how I was going to continue that boy-inspiring literary and Bible-themed path -- or, rather, I wondered where the Spirit was going to lead us next.

Last week in our Lively Latin history, we studied the Roman legion -- how the army was organized, what the soldiers wore, etc. And it all came together...

 

We read, discussed, and began memorizing Ephesians 6:1-18, specifically the references to our spiritual armor:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

We sang...

I may never march with the infantry,
Ride with the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery,
I may never fly o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!
I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

I may never march with the infantry,
Ride with the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery,
I may never fly o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

And we discussed the possibility of dressing up as Roman soldiers for Halloween... but decided against it.

This site had helpful discussion questions and more activity ideas if you're interested.

Addendum:  I forgot to mention where the inspiration for this lesson came from... We got to see Go Fish perform at a local church the weekend before last, and discovered that an updated version of "Army of the Lord" was on their newest album. The boys latched onto it, and I decided to teach them the old-fashioned version with hand movements!

Please don't catapult rocks in the house!

What happens when you leave a history activity book open to a page about ancient Roman weapons in a house full of boys?

A fully functional miniature catapult made of whatever they could find around the house -- in this case, K'nex pieces, part of a drum set, bark, a plastic spoon and duct tape. Unlike the example in the book, this one can be rolled down imaginary Roman roads on the way to the next battle.

Exploring Ancient Egypt

Way back in November '09...

The week before I'd planned to dive into some study of Ancient Egypt, my friend Marlene told me about a free exhibit at our local university which would only be there through the following week. Way to make my life easier, Lord! What boy wouldn't want to go check out a real mummy?


So, two days before the exhibit closed, we met Marlene and her kids at the university. The displays were set up chronologically, with hierogyphics from the Old Kingdom at the beginning.


We saw two sarcophagi, one for a queen and one for a pharoah, maps and photos of the excavation at King Tutankhamun's tomb, Egyptian trinkets used as amulets, a carved wooden toy boat, gold-coated and plain masks, the cloth gown of an Egyptian child, and more...


A docent explained the process of preparing the body of a king or queen for mummification, and showed us an example of the jars used to store organs.



Ancient Egypt resources:

• Timeline of Ancient Egypt
• Write messages in hieroglyphics
•  Ancient Egypt Unit Study at Walking By the Way.
•  How to make a mummy
• An online version of the Egyptian board game of Senet (pay to download):
• Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble by Judy Shachner
• Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
• A visual history of the Middle East