Anyone here know of a good high school curric for middle ages time frame for high school? I know you ladies and gent have a lot of insight. Can you help me out?
I used library books and made my own curriculum. We did middle ages last year for 7th grade. I used many books and videos for free. We also took a trip to the local renesaince festival (in costume of course!). I hope you find something that works!
We use Steams of Civilization as a guide. They read a chapter in it then we have a long list of books that I fixed up for them to read during that time period I do the same with the younger kids using the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and Streams of Civilization II.
WinterPromise has a program out called Quest for Middle Ages that uses Mystery of History for the spine. If I remember correctly, it is geared for 6th-12th grades.
A lot of the different lessons have things for Streams as part of thier lessons so that may be a good start true, also check with MOH though its supposed to be grade school and all it has seperate levels listed for JR and Sr high school. We are doing the red books this year. Level 3? and it is from Rennasance on. IT looks great! I like that my jr higher can use things from either level to learn with too!
This seems to be a nice site. By the way, we once came across a book that explains the origin of popular nursery rhymes, most of which relate to British history. Old King Cole, for example, relates to Cole, king of Britain under the Romans, who married the daughter of Emperor Constantine and ruled from the English town of Colchester. Humpty Dumpty, of course, was King Charles the First, who was very short and who "couldn't be put back together again" because he was beheaded. Baa Baa Black Sheep tells the story of the wool tax - some of which went to the king (the master), some more to the church (the dame), so the poor farmer was left with very little (the little boy who lived down the lane). The oldest rhyme is "Rock a Bye Baby", which relates to the Celts' practice of putting a sleeping baby in a hammock. While on the topic, I must relate the most fascinating story that comes from nursery rhymes - which I came across about 30 years ago. Indeed, the complete story comes from two nursery rhymes: Sing a song of sixpence A pocket full of rye Four and twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie When the pie was opened The birds began to sing Wasn't that a dainty dish To set before the king. (I'll mention the rest later) Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner Eating his Christmas pie He put in his thumb And pulled out a plum And said "what a good boy am I". These rhymes come from the time when Henry VIII was dissolving the monasteries as part of his disagreements with the Catholic church. Since he gained so much money from this practice, he didn't need much persuading. At the time, one of the largest remaining monasteries was in Glastonbury (in the southwest of England). In particular, rumors abounded that their kitchens rivaled the splendor of the king's own kitchens. This made the abbot of Glastonbury very nervous - so he hatched a plan. The abbey was very wealthy and owned many local manor houses. The abbot decided to bake a huge pie crust in his kitchens. Inside the crust would be the deeds to 24 manor houses - an offering of appeasement from the abbot to the king during the festival of Christmas. The king would receive the pie, accept the deeds, and realize the pie was a very appropriate offering. The person charged with taking the pie to the king was the abbot's personal clerk, John Horner. Of course, he was in on the scheme and knew all about the title deeds. On the journey to London, he stole the deeds, delivery the empty pie crust, and disappeared rather quickly. The king, seeing the pie was empty, took it as an insult, promptly executed the abbot of Glastonbury, dissolved the monastery, and stole all its wealth. In the meantime, the 24 manor houses remained in the Horner family for several generations. As for the rest of the first rhyme: The king was in his counting house Counting out his money. (All the money he was getting from the monasteries.) The queen was in the parlor Eating bread and honey (Because Catherine of Aragon was rejected by the king because she couldn't produce him an heir) The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes When down came a blackbird that pecked off her nose (The king was carrying on with Anne Boleyn, who snuck into the palace through the servants' entrance)
Steve that is very interesting! Thanks for sharing!!!! Do you know what the book is called? Thanks for the link also. Thank you all for your suggestions! I am trying to put together a curriculum for my dd 9th grade using the sotw but she is bored reading these so I was hoping to find something more advanced to keep her interested. I am having her look up each chapters events in other sources it is just hard for her to read the sotw book. Keep the suggestions comming and I will keep looking into them. Thanks!
I'm sorry to have gone down a tangent, but the origin of nursery rhymes has been a fascination of mine. Surprisingly, their origins are not widely known, although they make for a great history lesson. After posting my earlier message, I did a brief search online, and most sites on the subject appear to know little about their true origins. Much of the information I learned came from a rather old and obscure book I once found in an English library. It explained many of the rhymes and provided facts to back up the explanations. I was fascinated! Sadly, I doubt that book is available today. I can remember some of other histories, though. Doctor Foster went to Gloucester In a shower of rain He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle And never went there again. This was King Edward I of England. While crossing a ford on his way to Gloucester, he fell off his horse, and angrily returned home. Mary Mary quite contrary How does your garden grow With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row This is about Mary, Queen of Scots. The bells and shells apparently refer to some of the decorations on the clothes she wore. The pretty maids were her ladies in waiting. Ring a ring o' roses A pocketful of posies A-tishoo, A-tishoo We all fall down This one tells us about the Great Plague (in London in 1665). Humans in the city were infected by fleas carried by rats. Two of the symptoms were a red, round rash (the ring) and sneezing. Obviously, "we all fall down" refers to the death of so many people. At the time, the residents of London carried bunches of flowers to ward off evil - although they also helped to hide the smell of death. Not a particularly nice rhyme! I seem to remember that Little Bo Peep relates to one of the archbishops or cardinals in England after a Protestant monarch replaced a Catholic monarch - but I don't remember which! Anyway, sorry again to go on such a tangent! As for good curriculum, I'd repeat my respect for the Horrible Histories series. They cover many topics during the Middle Ages.
When in doubt, the SCA's official website sells countless books and resources related to the Middle Ages. A personal pet peeve of mine would be when people say they are studying the "Middle Ages", then begin to tell tales of Queen Elizabeth I and other Renaissance related themes. The Middle Ages is widely held to includes the years 500-1500BC (yes, that's a thousand years). The Renaissance began around 1450 and lasted until 1600ish. In other words, they are not the same thing.
