mamawaabangi Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I love adding literature to accompany SOTW. I am planning our curriculum for next year and would like some input for the middle ages SOTW that is great literature for children age 6-9 ish for read-a-louds. Anything you LOVED! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Have you looked at all the recommendations in SWB's Activity Book for SOTW2? Do you want recommendations other than those she lists? All Through the Ages is a good book for that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Our favorite read alouds have come from the activity guide! We also love All Through the Ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Thirding the Activity Guide! One of our favs is Castle Diary--I've recommended it in 3 posts this week, so I'll stop now... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 We too found the AG to be excellent. The Veritas Press catalog has lots of supplementary literature too. Our favorite RAs were Adam of the road, The Door in the Wall and Knight's Castle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmacmoo Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 We haven't even done SOTW 1, but I plan to use the activity guide and http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamawaabangi Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 I do have the activity guide and love it! I guess it is just sort of daunting sorting through all those titles. I set down yesterday to google a bunch of the suggested titles and found a really nice selection I think we will enjoy... I just always get a bit of panic that I might miss "a good one". Haha! But then again part of the fun is just seeing what you get and where it takes you as well! I don't know if anyone will be able to view this, but this is my amazon "wish list"... I pulled all the titles that seemed to catch my attention. There is about one book per chapter of SOTW. I think there were a few chapters I didn't find much I liked or I already have something for that chapter in our home already. If you can view it, please see if I've picked good ones... mainly I'd like to avoid "flops" or ones that are "too high" for our 1st and 3rd graders. Thanks! Our Book List Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Here is a book I found that was not in any guides (GORGEOUS drawings/maps): http://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Man-Journey-Battuta-1325-1354/dp/0618432337/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396020205&sr=1-5&keywords=ibn+battuta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmhearn Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Your wish list looks great. We read a few of the things on your list. The only one I would say wasn't too enjoyable was The Canterbury Tales. That could just be us, though. :-) We also enjoyed The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Classic Starts), Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, Saint George and the Dragon (Hodges), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Can Be Fun), and The Apple and the Arrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I've read most of them on your list. We're in the MIddle Ages right now. Canterbury Tales: We used the Barbara Cohen adaptation because it's well illustrated. I love McCaughrean, so I know you'll be getting a great narrative, but if you have kids who respond strongly to illusrated works, you may want to peek at Cohen's. Macaulay's architecture books: We have them all. We're 1 out of 3 at my house. All my girls have listened to them and only my middle cared at all about them. His books are usually a hit or a miss for kids. With my youngest, I just read the most important passages.Stanley biographies: These are outstanding, but longer and more detailed. You may want to apply read aloud rules for your kids. Either break them up into several shorter readings, or allow your kids to do something quietly as you read aloud. It's a lot of information for most young children to narrate, so you may want to do the SOTW chapter as a narration and just have them listen to the Stanley book, you may want to break up the the book into multiple readings and do a short narration for each section you read, or you may want to introduce to your oldest super simple notetaking for each section and narrate from all the notes at the end. If it's too much for your kids, don't worry. You'll be back to them the next time around and the kids will love them. Note: Many of the subjects of the Stanley books like Michelangelo, for example, have a coloring book, art cards, and stickers of their works at Dover publications. As we read aloud from the Stanley books my older girls often colored the relevant coloring book pages. The coloring books also have clothing from each section of history which my older girls did and enjoyed. Since we lapbook/notebook, it was a nice addition and kept them busy and quiet during long read alouds. They used art cards and stickers to decorate their reports and the stickers were sometimes added to the timelines they made. Demi: We love her. Most of her books include many of what some people would consider traditions and legends, so depending on where you come down on those, be prepared to offer a slightly different explanation after you read it to your children if you're so inclined. Marco Polo book: That one is pretty long too. You may not have enough time to fit the whole thing in, so you may have to preread and select passages and activities. I ended up thinking they were redundant for what we'd been doing, but it may be just what you want. Since it was at my local library, I didn't lose any money on the deal. Again, if you're going to do a second history rotation, it may make sense to have it on hand for later if it doesn't work out now. So many great books. So little time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliotterae Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I cant wait to finish up Ancients and move on to SOTW2. Its going to be much more interesting literature and stories in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I was thinking of using these books, which have Bravewriter Arrow guides: A Door in the Wall How to Train Your Dragon - this is more because my kids love anything about dragons. :-) Secret of the Andes The Midwife’s Apprentice Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Call It Courage Of these, we've read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and listened to the audiobook for How to Train Your Dragon. I'm not familiar with the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Stanley biographies: These are outstanding, but longer and more detailed. You may want to apply read aloud rules for your kids. Either break them up into several shorter readings, or allow your kids to do something quietly as you read aloud. It's a lot of information for most young children to narrate, so you may want to do the SOTW chapter as a narration and just have them listen to the Stanley book, you may want to break up the the book into multiple readings and do a short narration for each section you read, or you may want to introduce to your oldest super simple notetaking for each section and narrate from all the notes at the end. If it's too much for your kids, don't worry. You'll be back to them the next time around and the kids will love them. I agree with all of the notes from Homeschool Mom in AZ, especially the idea of breaking up the Stanley books. I created Book Notes for Good Queen Bess and Bard of Avon with each book broken into three readings. They also include narration suggestions and a chart of Proper Nouns if your child would just like to give you an oral narration. If you'd like to print these, feel free to use them. They are at my blog A Mind in the Light under Book Notes under Year Three. (The Bard of Avon notes are farther down under Literature.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I was thinking of using these books, which have Bravewriter Arrow guides: A Door in the Wall How to Train Your Dragon - this is more because my kids love anything about dragons. :-) Secret of the Andes The Midwife’s Apprentice Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Call It Courage Of these, we've read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and listened to the audiobook for How to Train Your Dragon. I'm not familiar with the others. We read a Door in the Wall. My youngest really liked it. I have the Novel Ties study guide by Stewart but didn't use it because I just wanted her to love the story. We did do discussion and I explained the occassional vocabulary as needed throughout. I think dissecting literature too early and too often the way most study guides do is counter-productive and tedious. I save that kind of thing for late Jr. High and High School. BUT, if you want ideas for discussion because you don't have alot of experience with it, then having a study guide on hand and reading it to yourself before you start the book may be very useful. I have kids who read voraciously very challenging literature on thier own in the later years. They read very widely too. I believe there's a real danger in squashing that with too many academic exersizes too early on. For example, the Greenleaf Guide to Ancient LIterature for high school is very well done and enjoyable (we skip the Genesis part) but I don't do that kind of thing the way they're written for elementary aged kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Here is a book I found that was not in any guides (GORGEOUS drawings/maps): http://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Man-Journey-Battuta-1325-1354/dp/0618432337/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396020205&sr=1-5&keywords=ibn+battuta I created Book Notes for this book too. This book is also under Year Three and can be found under Geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamawaabangi Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Your wish list looks great. We read a few of the things on your list. The only one I would say wasn't too enjoyable was The Canterbury Tales. That could just be us, though. :-) We also enjoyed The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Classic Starts), Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, Saint George and the Dragon (Hodges), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Can Be Fun), and The Apple and the Arrow. What chapter would Apple and Arrow lend itself to? I have it but havent read it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamawaabangi Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 I've read most of them on your list. We're in the MIddle Ages right now. Canterbury Tales: We used the Barbara Cohen adaptation because it's well illustrated. I love McCaughrean, so I know you'll be getting a great narrative, but if you have kids who respond strongly to illusrated works, you may want to peek at Cohen's. Macaulay's architecture books: We have them all. We're 1 out of 3 at my house. All my girls have listened to them and only my middle cared at all about them. His books are usually a hit or a miss for kids. With my youngest, I just read the most important passages.Stanley biographies: These are outstanding, but longer and more detailed. You may want to apply read aloud rules for your kids. Either break them up into several shorter readings, or allow your kids to do something quietly as you read aloud. It's a lot of information for most young children to narrate, so you may want to do the SOTW chapter as a narration and just have them listen to the Stanley book, you may want to break up the the book into multiple readings and do a short narration for each section you read, or you may want to introduce to your oldest super simple notetaking for each section and narrate from all the notes at the end. If it's too much for your kids, don't worry. You'll be back to them the next time around and the kids will love them. Note: Many of the subjects of the Stanley books like Michelangelo, for example, have a coloring book, art cards, and stickers of their works at Dover publications. As we read aloud from the Stanley books my older girls often colored the relevant coloring book pages. The coloring books also have clothing from each section of history which my older girls did and enjoyed. Since we lapbook/notebook, it was a nice addition and kept them busy and quiet during long read alouds. They used art cards and stickers to decorate their reports and the stickers were sometimes added to the timelines they made. Demi: We love her. Most of her books include many of what some people would consider traditions and legends, so depending on where you come down on those, be prepared to offer a slightly different explanation after you read it to your children if you're so inclined. Marco Polo book: That one is pretty long too. You may not have enough time to fit the whole thing in, so you may have to preread and select passages and activities. I ended up thinking they were redundant for what we'd been doing, but it may be just what you want. Since it was at my local library, I didn't lose any money on the deal. Again, if you're going to do a second history rotation, it may make sense to have it on hand for later if it doesn't work out now. So many great books. So little time! SOOOO helpful! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamawaabangi Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thank you all SOO much. That is super helpful. Most of these are read alouds... some I'll ask my older to read to us, but i'll have to look at them first to make sure she can read them. I buy them assuming I'll read them. I also found a treasure trove on Librivox today... I'll post it when I get it on my blog. I think I filled nearly every chapter, and the ones I didn't I am not really concerned about filling. Again, thank you! I edited my amazon list too... and cut some I think we'll be better off not buying or that I found other books for in my home or on Librivox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I haven't done Middle Ages with CP yet, but I have been noting some "different" good books that I've come across - for when the time comes. The Race of the Birkebeiners The Names Upon the Harp The Curse of the Ring The Story of Dafydd Island of the Mighty I have more listed somewhere...I'll have to do more looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thirding the Activity Guide! One of our favs is Castle Diary--I've recommended it in 3 posts this week, so I'll stop now... :D Cool..we are just about to start this. To OP... we've liked everything in the activity guide....there are so many to choose from we cant read even half of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmhearn Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 What chapter would Apple and Arrow lend itself to? I have it but havent read it... I believe we read it around Chapter 18 or 19. It takes place in the late 1200's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamawaabangi Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Thank you! That is helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 I was just looking for this info today! Thank you for asking, and everyone for posting such great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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