History Tidbit: Feudalism

It took almost two months for Till Year's Good End by W. Nikola-Lisa to become available at my local library. It was worth the wait. There are so many books about knights and castles. There's nothing wrong with those. At the moment I'd say we have a stack of books on those subjects at least a foot high. It's much harder to find books about the lower classes of society. This book is something entirely different from the average medieval picture book which is devoted to glittering armor and formidable defenses. It depicts the class whose labor and servitude made feudalism possible.

The text follows the lives of medieval peasants month by month through a full year. Each month is depicted on a two page spread which begins with four lines of verse that are followed by a paragraph in prose describing the chores and feudal obligations associated with that particular month. The majority of each spread is devoted to a full color illustration by Christopher Manson. His work melds strong definitive strokes with nuanced color. The scenes beautifully depict the various tasks and activities described by the text. You'll be able to point out objects and practices for which your child might not have a mental image. Both art and text are engaging and informative. You won't find extra blurbs or captions. Unlike many nonfiction picture books, text, art, and information are woven together and presented seamlessly. If you're studying the Middle Ages, this is one book you definitely don't want to miss.

Ancient Rome for Little People: a booklist

Created to accompany  the Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages, Chapter 1
Here is an alternative reading list to the one found in the companion activity book to the Story of the World Volume 2: the Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer. SugarPlum is in Kindergarten so it's geared toward early elementary students.

	100 Things You Should Know About Ancient Rome by Fiona Macdonald Engaging illustrations and easy to understand prose. Facts are organized by category. Moves along at a clip which keeps little people engaged but still remains highly informative.
	You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Soldier!: Barbarians You'd Rather Not Meet by John Malam We haven’t read this particular book. I have used multiple titles from this series in SugarPlum’s pre-k and kindergarten curriculum. The humorous approach and cartoon drawings make some of the less pleasant aspects of history accessible to young readers.
	You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Gladiator! by John Malam Told in the second person. Follows the gladiatorial career of a captured Gaul from his enslavement to his untimely and unfortunate end in the arena. Humor and cartoon illustrations enable kids to engage with a tough subject without being overwhelmed.
	Roman Town by Hazel Mary Martell Cutaway and bird’s eye views illustrate the order, beauty, and everyday life of a Roman Town. Look at the map on pages 10 and 11, then allow your child to choose which part of town they want to explore first.
	Ancient Romans by Daisy Kerr Short and concise. Lots of illustrations. This series is a favorite at our house.
	Ancient Rome by Peter Chrisp Even if this book is a bit much to read in it’s entirety, you can still enjoy the fabulous see-through pages and photographs of ruins and artifacts. It does contain an illustration of people fleeing Pompei. So take a peek at it first before you share with very young children.

Most books are available through the Roanoke Valley Library system.

Sneak Peek: Classical Explorations Week 4

This week in Classical Explorations we will be learning about feudalism, Europe, the water cycle, and pronouns.

	The Europe Geo Puzzle is fairly complex. We have a small enough group that the kids should be able to work together to complete it. We’ll review country names and bodies of water.
	The Medieval Kingdom card game from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational is a great way to help kids visualize feudalism and the layers of medieval society. If the game rules seem too complex we’ll modify them.
	We were supposed to read I And You And Don't Forget Who: What Is a Pronoun? (Words Are Categorical) last week but we ran out of time. We’ll read it this week. There is an accompanying coloring page.
	All the Water in the World and Water Dance are two fun poetic picture books that describe the water cycle.
	Water: Up, Down, and All Around describes the water cycle in prose with plenty of great illustrations. We’ll be doing an experiment to show how water evaporates, condenses, and falls as precipitation. .
	The Coloring page of King John from Kings and Queens of England (Dover History Coloring Book) will probably be a take home project.

I’m planning some fun outdoor games related to our science and skip counting. We’ll also be adding some free play time so the kids can enjoy just getting to know each other and running around. I know a couple of kids are really looking forward to making a sword and helmet to go with their shield. Unfortunately, I accidentally returned the book with those projects to the library. So we’ll have to start those projects next week.

Sneak Peek: Classical Explorations Week 3

	Continuing with our African theme from the past two weeks, we’ll be using A Savanna Food Chain: A Who-Eats-What Adventure in Africa as our starting point to learn about food webs and chains. It’s a choose your own adventure book. Every kid will receive an animal picture and they get to choose who gets eaten next. By the end of the book we should be pretty thoroughly tangled up in a web of string but hopefully the interconnectedness of organisms will be a whole lot clearer.
	We’re making a whole army of Paper Soldiers of the Middle Ages: Vol 1: The Crusades. They’re supposed to be historically accurate so all of the paper clutter is for a good cause.
	I and You and Don't Forget Who: What Is a Pronoun? is a fun book that we’ll read during one of our multiple craft times.
	Each student will receive a coloring page of Richard I from Kings and Queens of England (Dover History Coloring Book).
	Snacks will be chessmen cookies, fruit, and cheese.

During our main activity (no picture. sorry.) we’ll merge math and medieval. Completing skip counting challenges will allow the kids to rise in status from page, to squire, to knight. When everyone is knighted we will make cardboard shields and then go on a quest in search of hidden scrolls. When they’re all found, we will put them in order and read part of the story of Richard I. I'll have some books on Knights from the library that the kids and I will look through together.

Sneak Peek: Classical Explorations Week 2

ART: Last week, the kids made a paper diorama of the savanna. This week we'll be populating it with standing paper animals and reinforcing our art concept of mirror images.

SCIENCE: Active games to get the kids thinking about the types of consumers and who eats what.

SNACK: Sticking with the animal theme of art and science, I’m serving up this little parade.

Savanna Snack

Photo from kraftrecipes.com

  

HISTORY
	We'll build a motte and bailey style castle and perhaps assault it  with marshmallow projectiles.
	Kids will receive coloring pages for both King Harold II and King William I.
	A search and find book with minimal text that follows life in a castle through a whole year.
	Pages six and seven contain a great image of an early castle like the ones built by the Normans shortly after they conquered the Saxons. Plus there are lots of images to find.
GRAMMAR:
	We'll be reading If you were a Pronoun by Nancy Loewen.

It's Time to Explore

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. Welcome to Classical Explorations, a hands-on story, play, and project time geared toward 4-6 year old children enrolled in Classical Conversations in the Roanoke Valley area. We will be meeting every Tuesday from 9:00 am to 11:30 am beginning September 10, 2013 to reinforce memory work through stories, art, and play. You can find a list of what we'll be covering the first week below this intro.

Parents are welcome to bring other aged children as well and either have them participate, if they feel Classical Explorations is a good fit and would help reinforce what they are learning, or work quietly with them in another room. The first three weeks (September 10th, 17th, and 24th) are open days, feel free to come to one or all, but after that I will need a commitment to the rest of the semester. The cost is $1 per child, per week. This goes toward supplies so that we can have safety scissors, glue sticks, paper, etc for everyone to use and we don't have to try to sort out which ones belong to whom. If you are interested in dropping your child off for the morning please let me know ASAP. For more information, send me an email at emarkham@hollins.edu. For September the group size is limited to 10 children. Reservations for each week close the previous Tuesday at 10 pm.

Week 1, September 10th: 

History: 

Charlemagne story time and coloring page (The Elephant from Baghdad)

Art and Science:

Matisse (picture book)

Using Scissors to draw basic shapes and lines

Review of Biomes

Project: Make a grassland biome with paper (save for the following week when we'll be populating it with animals made using mirror images)

Geography

Free play with world map puzzles

Classical Explorations is not a school or day care. It is a classically based play and learning group. Parents are responsible for their own children's education and for meeting all home education standards set forth by the state of Virginia.