Matryoshka Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 So... I thought I'd figured this out, but now we're finally here and I'm questioning myself again! I am planning on having my older two read The Once and Future King along with the Duke TIP study. Someone here said (swimmermom?) that it would be a good idea to first read a more "traditional" Arthur, as there is a lot of modern treatment in TOaFK. So... which version of King Arthur for that traditional treatment? I don't necessarily want to get something just because it's got more thous and forsooths, though. I was thinking maybe Pyle, Lancelyn-Green or Picard (Barbara Leonie). I own the latter. Trying to decide is rather infuriating! Just comparing the first chapter, there are so many differences! I know there are many variations of King Arthur, it being a very old tale even before Malory wrote it down. But yeesh! In Pyle, Igraine has two daughters, Margaise who is married to King Urien and Morgana le Fay who is married to King Lot. In Picard, Igraine has two daughters, Margawse who is married to King Lot and Morgana le Fay who is married to King Uriens. In Green, Igrayne has three daughters, Margawse who is married to King Lot, Elaine to the King of Garlot, and Morgana le Fay who was still a child and gets sent to a nunnery. And on from there. Which of these is the closest to the "standard" story, or there really no standard just lots of variants? Oy. And what about a 5th grader? I'd like her to read a good version too. She's not an eager reader, but she can read just fine. She just finished the Jungle Book (full of thees and thous but no forsooths ;)). She' won't read ToAFK, but I'd like her to read a good version of Arthur. And... has anyone actually used the Duke King Arthur study? I own it, and would like to incorporate it somehow, but there seems to be a lot of busywork. We've got way too much going on to do the whole thing, and my dd just said "don't ruin a good book!" (we're also doing LLfLoTR - she likes the book but just tolerates the study). I was thinking of just having them do short answer questions for one of each category of question in each lesson. Were any of the projects truly worthwhile? Or could I skip them without guilt? Or if I had to choose one or two projects, which would be most worthwhile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMom Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My boys both LOVED the Roger Lancelyn Green one. I think they read it in ... late elementary/early middle school maybe? They love all of his books, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My oldest dd read every version she could find a few years ago and said that Pyle's was the very best of them all. Now, what she means by that, I couldn't tell you, but it was her favorite, hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My boys both LOVED the Roger Lancelyn Green one. I think they read it in ... late elementary/early middle school maybe? They love all of his books, actually. Thanks, I just ordered this for my 6th grader. I have the Boy's King Arthur and it is way too difficult for him at this point, he would hate it. I think he will like this version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawana Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks, I just ordered this for my 6th grader. I have the Boy's King Arthur and it is way too difficult for him at this point, he would hate it. I think he will like this version. Memoria Press has a study guide that accompanies this version, if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Memoria Press has a study guide that accompanies this version, if you are interested. Oh, I've never used their lit guides! Do you recommend them? Should I get the student one, teacher one, or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elinnea Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Oh, I've never used their lit guides! Do you recommend them? Should I get the student one, teacher one, or both? My ds2 (5th grade) is using the King Arthur guide from Memoria Press this year and really enjoying it. Previously we used the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe guide and he liked that a lot too. We have both the student guide and the the teacher's guide. The student guide is broken up into vocabulary, comprehension questions, discussion questions and enrichment activities. The teacher's has all the answers as well as quizzes and tests. If you don't want to do tests and are already familiar with the book and able to answer the discussion questions then I suppose you could skip the teacher's guide but personally I find it really helpful and there are not too expensive. Ds2 has read both the Howard Pyle and Roger Lancelyn Green versions of King Arthur. He just commented that he enjoyed the latter the best as he found it easier to understand. The Howard Pyle version has "more flowery language" in his opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hi Matroyshka, It is my personal preference to expose my kids to the "historically-based" Arthur first instead of the "traditional" Arthur. The basis for the legend of King Arthur supposedly traces back to the 6th century with Arthur being a Briton chieftain who held back the Saxon invaders after the Romans pulled out. We are talking about a far less glamorous Arthur than the one set forth in Malory's book. My kids read Black Horses for the King which deals with Arthur's pursuit of taller and sturdier warhorses and it is set in the appropriate historical time. If you have a sophisticated reader, you may want to have them read Rosemary Sutcliff's The Sword at Sunset. The content is more mature, but Sutcliff handles it with her usual grace and the story is riveting unless you are really wed to a Middle Ages version of King Arthur. Black Horses for the King is short and it allowed time for The Once and Future King which my kids all loved. The Duke study has some wonderful projects in it, but other than that, it is all questions. I appreciate the idea of what the program is trying to do, but am not keen on the execution. Personally I think the number of questions and the journal entries would stifle enjoyment of the book. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine in al Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 compiled by Elizabeth Lodor Merchant is based on Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur. The introduction is valuable as it covers the variety of versions. I think Morte d'Author is considered a standard and this is based on that. `````````` shoot, I was looking for ISBN and found that it's a Calvert book. J.G. Ferguson Publishing Co. Ebay?? ~christine in al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna in Texas Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) So... I thought I'd figured this out, but now we're finally here and I'm questioning myself again! I am planning on having my older two read The Once and Future King along with the Duke TIP study. Someone here said (swimmermom?) that it would be a good idea to first read a more "traditional" Arthur, as there is a lot of modern treatment in TOaFK. So... which version of King Arthur for that traditional treatment? I don't necessarily want to get something just because it's got more thous and forsooths, though. I was thinking maybe Pyle, Lancelyn-Green or Picard (Barbara Leonie). I own the latter. Trying to decide is rather infuriating! Just comparing the first chapter, there are so many differences! I know there are many variations of King Arthur, it being a very old tale even before Malory wrote it down. But yeesh! In Pyle, Igraine has two daughters, Margaise who is married to King Urien and Morgana le Fay who is married to King Lot. In Picard, Igraine has two daughters, Margawse who is married to King Lot and Morgana le Fay who is married to King Uriens. In Green, Igrayne has three daughters, Margawse who is married to King Lot, Elaine to the King of Garlot, and Morgana le Fay who was still a child and gets sent to a nunnery. And on from there. Which of these is the closest to the "standard" story, or there really no standard just lots of variants? Oy. And what about a 5th grader? I'd like her to read a good version too. She's not an eager reader, but she can read just fine. She just finished the Jungle Book (full of thees and thous but no forsooths ;)). She' won't read ToAFK, but I'd like her to read a good version of Arthur. And... has anyone actually used the Duke King Arthur study? I own it, and would like to incorporate it somehow, but there seems to be a lot of busywork. We've got way too much going on to do the whole thing, and my dd just said "don't ruin a good book!" (we're also doing LLfLoTR - she likes the book but just tolerates the study). I was thinking of just having them do short answer questions for one of each category of question in each lesson. Were any of the projects truly worthwhile? Or could I skip them without guilt? Or if I had to choose one or two projects, which would be most worthwhile? We read Black Horses for the King and The Search for King Arthur before TOaFK. After reading TOaFK (and calling it one of her favorites), she read several more books/series. Merchant's King Arthur and His Knights was a favorite as well as James Riordan's Tales of King Arthur. Nothing touched TOaFK. For your 5th grader, you could read the first book in TOaFK. Since you have Picard, try it out. I think that one would be just fine. There's a lot of King Arthur stuff out there and we collected a shelf full last year. As for the Duke Study, we didn't get to it as much as I'd have liked to. We did so much discussing that the questions seemed to be redundant or unnecessary. If we hadn't loved the book so much, I may have been able to utilize it better. :tongue_smilie: Edited February 2, 2012 by Shawna in Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funnygirl Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Just found this thread while searching for a good version of King Arthur for my dd13. We have both the student guide and the the teacher's guide. The student guide is broken up into vocabulary, comprehension questions, discussion questions and enrichment activities. The teacher's has all the answers as well as quizzes and tests. If you don't want to do tests and are already familiar with the book and able to answer the discussion questions then I suppose you could skip the teacher's guide but personally I find it really helpful and there are not too expensive. My dd is NOT one for workbooks; instead we do LOTS of discussion. Could I get away with just the teacher's guide? Thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elinnea Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Just found this thread while searching for a good version of King Arthur for my dd13. My dd is NOT one for workbooks; instead we do LOTS of discussion. Could I get away with just the teacher's guide? Thx! Yes, IMO that would work fine. You might want to check out the sample pages on the Memoria Press website. This particular guide is written for 5th grade though so it might not be what you want for your 13 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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