Dallin did three history blocks this year: two on Roman history and one on Medieval history. He enjoyed the Roman ones the best (though nothing will ever compare with ancient India and Greece from last year) and proclaimed the Middle Ages to be boring (though I know there were portions that he did like). We focused mainly on Europe, and apparently he wanted to learn about South America. If he were remaining at home next year, he would be learning about the explorers and the Americas, but oh well.
Here are a handful of selections from his lesson books:
A drawing of the wolf with Romulus and Remus next to his retelling of the myth.
A map of the seven hills of Rome along with the first seven kings. (I think this idea came from Pinterest?) I believe on the accompanying page he copied a portion of the famous poem "Horatius at the Bridge". We also learned the song O Roma Nobilis in Latin, and he copied that into his book as well.
A summary of the early life of Julius Caesar along with a pencil drawing.
Another summary of the next five caesars with a pencil sketch of Caesar Augustus. We talked alot about the Life of Christ and the early Christians in relation to the Roman Empire. His assigned novel was The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.
This was his watercolor and pen map of the Roman Empire at its peak about 200 AD.
In our discussions of the Middle Ages, we focused on the end of the Roman Empire and rise of the Byzantine Empire, Western Europe, and the rise of Islam in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dallin's rendering of an Islamic geometric pattern.
I think of all the characters we studied, Dallin liked Charlemagne the best:
We studied him alongside the Muslim caliph Harun al-rashid, his contemporary.
Dallin did these nice pencil portraits. As you can see, we also delved into various forms of Medieval calligraphy.
When we studied William the Conqueror, Dallin chose this small portion of the famous Bayeux Tapestry to copy into his book. (This shows King Harold of England, who was defeated in the Battle of Hastings.) There is a great website where you can view a reproduction of the entire tapestry, and we had a fascinating time looking at each scene and discussing the entire story. I believe it is www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk.
Other topics included the feudal system/medieval society, monk/monasteries/nuns/convents, the influence of the Catholic church, the contributions of the Muslims, the Vikings, and Richard the Lion-hearted and his rival Saladin/the Crusades. For the last week, I let Dallin research the topic of his choice, which was medieval weaponry. I will have to find and post pictures of some of his pages. We kind of petered out and didn't really finish the late Middle Ages. If we were going on, I would plan to start out and finish that next year.
Novels read:
The Dancing Bear by Peter Dickinson (not his favorite... he didn't finish it, even after much prodding by me.)
Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard (liked it alot)
El Cid by Geraldine McCaughrean (also like this one alot)
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (loved this one and finished it in 2-3 days!)
Comments
I have to admit to being a bit intimidated by our upcoming shift into "real" history - excited too, but a little worried about planning it all. Thanks for the book recommendations. I had not heard of the El Cid book. Will have to look that one up.
Dallin was pretty much on his own for art this year. I didn't do much teaching of skills.