MiddleCourt Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) We’ll be studying the Middle Ages next school year and I’m trying to narrow down my choices. The problem is there are so many different curricula out there for this time period and I’m having FOMO 😜. Kids will be in 3rd, 5th and 7th. I’m directing the search for the older 2. Here are my options so far, if you have used any or have any that you loved please chime in! -Beautiful Feet Medieval History for the Intermediate Grades: I already own the updated version released last summer. Tons of beautiful literature. But it doesn’t necessarily have a clear progression (imho) and I always kind of lose vision on whether it’s a history or lit course. My middle loves stories but absolutely hates reading to herself and won’t do it, so I’ll have to read all the books to them. (Which I love doing and we spend hours reading daily but it leaves little time for other things I’d like to do) MFW Rome to Reformation: looks so thorough and has both literature and hands on activities. I love the inclusion of biblical history and the early church. In our homeschool, we typically will take our time to study a time period or topic and read a lot of books. It’s been pretty relaxed and RtR seems to kind of race through the Middle Ages because there’s so much to cover. We most likely wouldn’t do their science or Bible though. Simply Charlotte Mason Middle Ages: inexpensive and well laid out. I am a book junkie and feel like we may be missing out on lots of the good historical lit bc it seems to go slowly through the lit recommendations. But it might be nice to have the room to explore other subjects more in depth. So, please let me know if you have used any of these and what you think! Thanks! Edited February 21 by MiddleCourt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nichola Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I haven’t used any of these but just wanted to throw out the suggestion that you could take the elements you like of each curriculum and create your own. You could start with the areas where there is overlap among the curricula, the books that are recommended by more than one of the book lists you are looking at, and go from there. The temptation in doing this (at least for me) is to want to do it all, so I have to be realistic about what we can actually accomplish in a year. But creating your own curriculum could lessen your FOMO, along with removing the elements in each of these that you already know you don’t like or don’t want to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 That's what I do for 4th-8th. We're in the medieval era now. We use this book as a spine. History: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day (DK Definitive Visual Encyclopedias) https://a.co/d/bJR2giy I combine that book with the people list and primary sources list from TWTM, sync them up chronologically, and go nuts on the library catalog. We read, watch documentaries, and field trip using those two as an outline. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) We used a combo of SOTW snd Veritas Press with lots of supplemental lit for early years, then K12’s Human Odyssey plus literature and nf library books and some writing for logic stage. We did a homemade timeline every year. I really liked the Human Odyssey books as a spine. Inexpensive used on Amazon, nice narrative voice, sturdy hardbacks with good layout. Logic stage Med/Ren was one of our favorite years ever! Dd enjoyed a Med/Ren literature class in high school with the House of Humane Letters and a Shakespeare intensive with Roy Speed. Just in case you’re thinking ahead! Edited February 21 by ScoutTN 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiddleCourt Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 4 hours ago, Nichola said: I haven’t used any of these but just wanted to throw out the suggestion that you could take the elements you like of each curriculum and create your own. 2 hours ago, El... said: I combine that book with the people list and primary sources list from TWTM, sync them up chronologically, and go nuts on the library catalog. This is what I have always done; I have a hard time sticking to a guide because I feel like we’re missing out on other good stuff. The downside is sometimes we then get bogged down. Maybe I just need to realize that there’s no way we can get to all the good books. We love history here so we dedicate probably an unbalanced amount of time to it. I think the February blahs are having me feel tired and burnt out and so a guide where everything is done appeals to me. I’m also thinking a guide will help keep me on track to make more room for other things I want to incorporate, like logic for my oldest and more nature studies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I am planning on Heart of Dakota Resurrection to Reformation for my 8th and 6th graders next year. We will not use the whole guide. I have grammar, math, and science that I already like. I am using the notebook pages for my one who is excited to have pretty pàges. I will just modify the assignment if necessary for the other one. He already keeps a history notebook and book of centuries. I can add in as many read alouds and assign as many extra books as I want. Doing it this way gives them consistent history on their own that is not just reading, and I don't have to plan everything. I do tweak though;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiddleCourt Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 3 hours ago, countrymum said: I am planning on Heart of Dakota Resurrection to Reformation for my 8th and 6th graders next year. We will not use the whole guide. I have grammar, math, and science that I already like. I am using the notebook pages for my one who is excited to have pretty pàges. I will just modify the assignment if necessary for the other one. He already keeps a history notebook and book of centuries. I can add in as many read alouds and assign as many extra books as I want. Doing it this way gives them consistent history on their own that is not just reading, and I don't have to plan everything. I do tweak though;) Your style sounds very similar to mine. I love HoD! We used Creation to Christ last year but we did skip a lot that I didn’t think it was worth it to buy RtR. I’d like something with more novels in it. (I know I can add but I'm feeling tired and just want it scheduled) But I will keep it on my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I have SCM middle ages already and used it a while ago. The spine if wonderful! I just can't do family history now (we have 6 kids) and I never got the notebooking/ written narration and hands on added in. There are narration cards for the spine and novels by age just not really and hands on stuff. I like the drawing and Diana warring CDs scheduled in HOD. The guide is pricy though..... I like SCM book choice really well though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I'm shopping for medieval this year too. We're leaning toward Curiosity Chronicles. The biggest pull is it's actually world history, including civilizations all around the world rather than the western civ path most homeschool courses take. It doesn't schedule the extra literature but does provide lots of titles to choose from, which suits us well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiddleCourt Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 6 hours ago, countrymum said: I have SCM middle ages already and used it a while ago. The spine if wonderful! I just can't do family history now (we have 6 kids) and I never got the notebooking/ written narration and hands on added in. There are narration cards for the spine and novels by age just not really and hands on stuff. I like the drawing and Diana warring CDs scheduled in HOD. The guide is pricy though..... I like SCM book choice really well though That’s good to know about SCM! It sounds like a perfect option for making it as simple as you want, or adding other things to make it more involved. I originally thought it looked kind of boring but it may be what I want for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foofaraw Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Please please consider using these books by Marion Lansing as part of your study: https://nwwst.com/collections/vendors?q=Marion Lansing You can read them for free from heritage-history and see how inspiring and interesting they are! I bought the Truthquest guide for this time, but in the end for my 3rd grader I’m only using: -Barbarian and Noble, Patriots and Tyrants by Lansing -Peril and Peace, Monks & Mystics by Withrow (epubs from christianbook.com) -Our Island Story by Marshall Those five books make for a very full first pass through european medieval history. We don’t align literature study with history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 27 minutes ago, Foofaraw said: Please please consider using these books by Marion Lansing as part of your study: https://nwwst.com/collections/vendors?q=Marion Lansing You can read them for free from heritage-history and see how inspiring and interesting they are! I bought the Truthquest guide for this time, but in the end for my 3rd grader I’m only using: -Barbarian and Noble, Patriots and Tyrants by Lansing -Peril and Peace, Monks & Mystics by Withrow (epubs from christianbook.com) -Our Island Story by Marshall Those five books make for a very full first pass through european medieval history. We don’t align literature study with history. @Foofaraw can you tell me more about the Lansing books. I'm interested too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foofaraw Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 5 minutes ago, countrymum said: 33 minutes ago, Foofaraw said: @Foofaraw can you tell me more about the Lansing books. I'm interested too Here’s a chapter we just read about the sacking of Rome in 410: https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=lansing&book=barbarian&story=alaric It’s long enough you could split it in half, but I could tell my kids were really into it, so I just finished it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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