Chloe Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I am thinking of doing LLFLOTR next year with my 8th and 9th graders. Would BF's Medieval History work well along side of this? It looks like it would complement the literature studies well, but my dd in particular is a slow reader. Would doing both of these be too overwhelming, especially if we would like to add other literature? Has anyone done these together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smillard00 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I don't have experience with LLFLOTR, but FYI: BF is in the process of revising Medieval History high school level. Middle school level is already revised and we're using it. I really like the changes they made. My high schooler will be doing Medieval next year and we will probably be using the new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks, Samantha. Yes, I know the BF guides are being updated. I have ordered the Medieval Junior High Guide for my ds for 8th grade next year. My plan is to use the Medieval HS Guide for my dd (9th grade) and for both to do the LLfLOTR together. I thought it might be a nice complement, but I don't want to overwhelm them. From what I understand the BF study counts as a literature credit in and of itself. My ds reads well and quickly but his writing skills are sorely lacking. My dd writes very well but is a sloooow reader. Also, I've never read LOTR or even watched the movies :blush:, so I'm not really familiar with it. Would it be a nice complement to a middle ages study? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 The BF Medieval is supposed to be three days of work, so it sounds like LLFLOTR would be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 The BF Medieval is supposed to be three days of work, so it sounds like LLFLOTR would be a good fit. I was hoping someone could speak on how much "time" BF Medieval takes, as I can only speak to how much time LLftLotR takes: - 1-2 hours/week = to read 2 chapters per week - 2 hours/week = for the 2 chapters: do workpages, read chapter notes, discuss the chapter discussion questions - 1 hour/week = work on one of the 12 additional units (TOTAL = 4-5 hours/week) Also, depending on how many writing assignments you decide to do, and how much time you want to spend on them: - 1 to 5 hours per writing assignment, once every 3 weeks or so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I was hoping someone could speak on how much "time" BF Medieval takes, I used BF Ancients with my dd, but I *had* BF medieval, if that counts :tongue_smilie: I think BF really varies a lot. Most of the assignments are pretty open-ended, looking things up or writing about them. So depending on how many drafts and how specific your requirements were, and depending on how fast a writer you have at home, some things could take an hour or a month. Same goes for the reading - I thought it was a lot for my particular dd, although it could be two credits I suppose (not a lot of actual English *instruction* but there would be reading and writing). When I was doing ancients, the author told me to do 2-3 "lessons" a week, but the lessons varied widely at our house from brief to extensive -- it's a good, old-fashioned "unit study" method. So all of that is just to explain why I think BF time really varies a lot. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smillard00 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 We did Ancients last year too. This new format is a lot different. The old format had "lessons" which were a bundle of reading assignments, vocab, questions, etc. Sometimes one of those lessons would take an hour and sometimes it seemed like it would take a week. It was hard to plan ahead, so I decided to just go with the flow and work through it giving it what time we could. Since it was counting for literature and history for us, we did it every day and spent about an hour. Sometimes they would work a little longer on it--usually if they had a writing assignment. The new format of the Medieval Intermediate guide is different. It is set up by the week. She gives a reading assignment for the week and then a list of things to do. There is usually vocabulary to look up in preparation for the reading. When appropriate, there is mapwork. Sometimes there will be an assignment like research Charlemagne and write a short bio. There may be some background information given or websites to visit. There may be optional books or videos to further enhance the topic. The big thing is that you are strongly encouraged to pick and choose among the assignments to do what fits your student and the time you have and your goals for the study. So it is extremely flexible. You would also have the option to just skip a book if it gets to be too much reading. I felt like the Ancients study was a LOT of reading. I have strong, fast readers, so it wasn't too bad. But this new format feels like a lot less (can't say for certain until we actually do it all) and I really appreciate having it broken down by the week. Would I combine it with LOTR? I don't know. I will definitely go look at that study, though, because it sounds like something my oldest might enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeScholar Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 My son is currently using the LLFLOTR as part of his English Lit course and finds it quite enjoyable. We enjoy spending extra time discussing the questions in detail after he's done the daily assignment. Sometimes questions lead off in interesting paths which must be explored of course so an hour can easily turn into three or four but it's all good educational fun. He has seen all the movies, read The Hobbit and even plays LOTRO with his friends. The movies differ in many ways from the book but they are fun jumping off point for reluctant readers or anyone new to LOTR. I would recommend starting with a quick read though The Hobbit or at least watching the animated movie as it adds a bit of understanding and explains some of the main character backgrounds. My son thinks Elvish should be a valid foreign language :lol:. He's taking Latin and German this year, apparently they aren't enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 The folks at BF said the work should take 45 minutes to 1 hour, three days per week. Sorry, I did not include the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks, Samantha. That helps! It's good to know the new guide is more flexible, as far as the reading and assignments go. I can't wait to take a look at it. I ordered it weeks ago, and finally had to call BF yesterday to find out what the hold-up was. Apparently my order fell through the cracks and was never sent. The lady I spoke to was very nice, apologized, and said she would send it out the fastest shipping possible. However, I emailed them twice in the past week before calling and never received a reply. I didn't mention that when I called though. I think BF is a wonderful company and have never had any problems in the past. I really hope their materials work out for us. Are you using the Medieval guide with your 6th grader or 9th grader? Do you think this guide is beefy enough to use with both my 8th and 9th grader, or should I plan on getting the high school guide for my 9th grader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smillard00 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I'm doing it with my 6th grader. I'm waiting to do the upper level guide with my 10th grader next year. I would say it is definitely meaty enough for your 8th grader. For your 9th grader--maybe--I don't know what your expectations are for 9th grade. I think it would be easy to beef it up a bit if you wanted. When you do the Beowulf book they recommend, also pull out Beowulf in the original language and try to work through that some. When they give writing assignments, you can up the complexity or expectation there. You could throw in some additional research, if you like. Actually, if I were going to add my 9th grader into our study this year, I would probably just assign him SWB's upper level Medieval book on the side and then have him enjoy the Medieval intermediate with his sister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 What is LLfLOTR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 What is LLfLOTR? Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings see the publisher website see the scope and sequence see the table of contents see sample lessons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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