Matryoshka Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 So, we've finished up the first book (1/2 of FoTR) of LoTR, and next comes the first unit study, on Tolkien's life. I know many people have mentioned the Unit Studies being their favorite part of LLfLOTR and how rich they were, and have very much been looking forward to them, and so I wanted to ask... how did you approach these? Just reading through the few pages of each study and taking the quiz seems like not enough. For this first study, I thought of assigning Tolkien's biography (which I've read myself in the past and thoroughly enjoyed), but since the whole unit study in a way is a summary of that, it seems like then it would be boring to have to read the actual unit study, so I thought it might end up being overkill... How about the next one on Exploring Language (on that one my friend has TC lectures on Linguistics - I may borrow some of those :D ) - any other ideas? How did you flesh out these unit studies? When we get to Gawain, Beowulf and Arthur, we'll be reading (or at least listening to) the texts of those books - and we've just finished studying the Iliad and Odyssey - but what about the other unit studies? Any fabulous ideas you can share? Did you do any of the suggested projects or papers, and which ones were the most successful/memorable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 :bigear: I'm curious as well. We do a read-aloud time as well as a literature time. We've been reading the Tolkien bio for read-aloud time, so I imagine we'll skim through that unit study. I think the bio has helped ds appreciate the work behind LoTR, although we're only on chapter 4 in the book. We'll be reading many of the other suggested books. I also have this book, The Search for King Arthur, when we get to Arthur studies. It's a great book, especially for the used prices on amazon, that details the evolution of each character of the Arthur legend. It is chock full of great illustrations of many artists work. He's already asking for Beowulf and we've found some Old English samples on you tube. I also made a runic-type alphabet when I was a child. I still have it and we'll play with that when we get to the linguistic unit. I used to be able to write my journal in it, I might try for that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 (edited) I also made a runic-type alphabet when I was a child. I still have it and we'll play with that when we get to the linguistic unit. I used to be able to write my journal in it, I might try for that again. Cool! One of my dds has loved runes for quite a while (she took a "course" in Ancient Runes on Hogwarts Online and then printed out a whole booklet on them and gave her sisters quizzes) - any other good resources on these (perhaps more accurate than the stuff she googled)? I'm planning on getting the audio of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf and Simon Armitage's Gawain - I hear they're great! I think we may listen to Pyle's KA (it's the only one I can find on audio) and also read The Once and Future King. Edited September 8, 2011 by matroyshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 :bigear::bigear: I know lots more people have used LLfLOTR and loved it - please chime in even if all you did was read the units and filled in the blanks. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 We just did the units as written It was enough for us. They still remember it and enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 We just did the units as written It was enough for us. They still remember it and enjoyed it. Thanks. Did you still feel, doing it as written, that the Units were the meat of the program like I've seen some others say? While I want to get the most out of it, I also want to make sure I'm just not trying to make things more complicated than they need be... :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks. Did you still feel, doing it as written, that the Units were the meat of the program like I've seen some others say? While I want to get the most out of it, I also want to make sure I'm just not trying to make things more complicated than they need be... :tongue_smilie: My boys say those sections weren't difficult, but they aren't intended to be. They are memorable, interesting, low stress, and a break from reading the intense heavy LotR books. Also the website has a enrichment ideas and links. One of my boys enjoyed dabbling in learning elvish. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 (edited) We just did the units as written It was enough for us. I am not overly creative especially when it comes to literature. We used the unit studies (and LLfLOTR in general) as is. The only thing I added was the movie The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. Did you still feel, doing it as written, that the Units were the meat of the program like I've seen some others say? I enjoyed the entire thing. I didn't think the unit studies were more/less important that the rest of the program. My son probably would have enjoyed it more if I had allowed him to do more orally, but since I can only get short grunts out of him, he had to write it out. Edited September 8, 2011 by Sue in St Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I am not overly creative especially when it comes to literature. We used the unit studies (and LLfLOTR in general) as is. The only thing I added was the movie The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. I enjoyed the entire thing. I didn't think the unit studies were more/less important that the rest of the program. My son probably would have enjoyed it more if I had allowed him to do more orally, but since I can only get short grunts out of him, he had to write it out. The vocabulary of teen boys is rather limited isn't it? We watched that movie too! And Men in Tights. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Book Nut Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 We did the first two unit studies as they were written. However, I have every intention to do more on the Beowulf unit. To me it depends on interest and what else is going on in the school environment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.