spine for middle ages?

[TheAttachedMama]

What are some options for teaching the middle ages to a logic stage child?

Thanks!

[Farrar]

I like Builders of the Old World, though you'd need to add resources for non-Western history. But it covers the Middle Ages through the Renaissance with more nuance and social history than SOTW.

Doesn't OUP have a follow up to The World in Ancient Times too? I can't quite remember, but that would be an option if so.

[serendipitous journey]

Seconding Builders -- it's terrific.

OUP has a Medieval and Early Modern series, very similar to the Ancient World series.  Teacher and Student guides are available, and all the books can generally be found used for significantly less $$ than new. 

Titles are: European World, African and Middle Eastern World, Asian World, Age of Empires, Age of Voyages, and Age of Science and Reason (plus the Primary Sources & Reference Volume).  Empire & Voyages both straddle the Medieval and Early Modern Worlds; Age of Science and Reason belongs squarely in Renaissance/Early Modern. 

ETA: I like SOTW as a simple spine (would use Builders along with it) esp. because my middle grades student is not a history buff, and the relative simplicity has its merits.  Plus I'm having the younger read in parallel with his brother. 

ETA #2: OUP series is, hands-down, the favorite series for my non-history-lover.  With the Builders books (and others in the series) a close second.

[serendipitous journey]

6 hours ago, OKBud said:

I like the MP Dorothy Mills book, used along with bits and bobs from other things... lots of great books set in the time period, documentaries abound, and K-12 Human Odyssey.

I like Mills, too, and MP has student and teacher resources to go along with this book.  It is quite Euro-centric (by design; this is great when you want a really deep understanding of Western Classical culture). Your suggestions for rounding it out look great.

[Lori D.]

If your family has been enjoying Story of the World, what about SotW vol. 2 + the activity guide, which would allow younger siblings to follow along as well? Vol. 2 is geared for gr. 2-6.

Or, what about Truthquest's program (Christian)... It actually gives you a choice of "spine" texts, with SotW being one of the choices -- so maybe Truthquest with SotW for the youngers and a different choice of spine text for the middle schooler. Among the choices are Dorothy Mills' book mentioned up thread.

TruthQuest: Middle Ages -- some of the optional "spine" text choices include:
- Story of the Middle Ages (Christine Miller & HA Guerber) -- gr. 4-8
- The Middle Ages (Dorothy Mills) -- gr. 6-12
- Story of the World, vol. 2 (Susan Wise Bauer) -- gr. 3-6
- Greenleaf's Famous Men of the Middle Ages (R. & C. Shearer) -- gr. 3-7

Or, what about Biblioplan (Christian)... It comes with Rob & Julia Nalle's Companion, Year Two: A Text for Medieval History, but also includes optional reading schedules for a choice of optional "spine" texts (as well as historical fiction).

Biblioplan: year 2, Middle Ages
- Story of the World, vol. 2 (Susan Wise Bauer)
- Greenleaf's Famous Men of the Middle Ages (R. & C. Shearer)
- Mystery of History: vol 2, Early Church and Middle Ages
- Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (DK publishers)

Or, what about Pandia Press: Human Odyssey, level 2, which is geared for gr. 5-8, with 6th grade being the "target" grade. It is secular, and would be less easily blended with items for younger siblings, unless also getting level 1 (gr. 1-4).

If wanting to just pick a "spine" text and fleshing out with other materials, here are some sources of ideas for add-ons:

Guest Hollow's History Shelf has a lot of great ideas for nonfiction, historical fiction, movies, and documentaries: 1000-1199, 1200-1299, 1300-1399, 1400-1499.

For historical fiction ideas: 
- Sonlight grade 6 (1/2 ancients 1/2 medieval) plus a few books from Sonlight grade 5 (Eastern Hemisphere) are Medieval times
- Home's Cool blog has older Sonlight titles in WTM order -- check out the Logic Stage: Medieval for some titles to branch out beyond just Western/European Medieval
- A Book in Time: Medieval Times

[cintinative]

We used K12's Human Odyssey Volume 1 (note: this covers more than just Medieval), parts of the The Story of the Middle Ages by Miller, and the OUP Medieval and Early modern books.

[HollyDay]

Mystery of History mixed with SOTW Vol 2 plus activity book might be a good option.

[Kfamily]

We use and love The Book of the Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills. Her books are detailed but interesting and since they draw from primary sources it's easy for me to add more. Sometimes I just include a fuller version of the primary source referenced in the book. I actually created guides that coordinate with all of her main books-we liked them that much! ?

[thornberryacademy]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 10:07 AM, Kfamily said:

We use and love The Book of the Middle Ages by Dorothy Mills. Her books are detailed but interesting and since they draw from primary sources it's easy for me to add more. Sometimes I just include a fuller version of the primary source referenced in the book. I actually created guides that coordinate with all of her main books-we liked them that much! ?

I know that this is really bringing up an old thread, but I searched for posts related to Dorothy Mills' Book of the Middle Ages and this one popped up. What kind of guides did you create to use? I'm trying to get ideas for this coming year.

[Melissa in Australia]

we used Kingfisher History Encyclopedia as recommended in TWTM

DS 15 has now moved on to Usborne internet linked History Encyclopedia

 when we have finished that we will then progress to Spievogal Western Civilization for the last few years of high school

Edited July 16, 2019 by Melissa in Australia

[dirty ethel rackham]

Total tanget here, but reading this in "unread content" mode, I read this as "spine care for middle ages" ... as in back care for those of us of a certain age.  Made me giggle.  Carry on.  

[Kfamily]

14 hours ago, thornberryacademy said:

I know that this is really bringing up an old thread, but I searched for posts related to Dorothy Mills' Book of the Middle Ages and this one popped up. What kind of guides did you create to use? I'm trying to get ideas for this coming year.

Hi! I created guides for most of the books by Dorothy Mills. We loved them at our house. 🙂 The guides follow the main principles of a Charlotte Mason education, but with some additional writing elements to it. It probably feels like a cross between CM and classical to many. Each chapter includes narration suggestions and many other chapters have suggestions for additional reading, primary sources, Great Ideas Discussions and writing assignments. 

Here is a link to my website, which takes you to my Bookstore: A Mind in the Light 

Scroll down just a bit on the page for Classical Lessons for The Middle Ages and the PDF sample will be here.

I linked you here, because the sample I added allows you to see more of it than the previews available at Lulu. 🙂

 

[ScoutTN]

We liked both K12 Human Odyssey and OUP books.