Week 28 - Partial Spring Break....

My son wanted to do half days this week while he older brother was home from college on spring break.  We couldn't do that every day because of outside classes that were meeting, but I was okay with the idea - he still got most of his regular written work done, still attended his outside classes, and did a tiny bit of reading. We have a trip to Baton Rouge planned soon, and I know the reading can get caught up on the long trip, so no worries in that regard.

I won't bore anyone with the details of our same old routine in most of our subjects.  We're not really covering anything different in those areas.  He did complete all the new topics we're going to cover this year in vocab.  He will do corrections and review word lists for the remainder of the year.  He will soon complete his Greek book as well (week 30) and then we'll be reviewing and completing corrections in it, as well. 

My son did complete his pottery project from art class.  He only has one more class and this will be his last session of art this year.  Finally, he had a pottery piece that fired without a crack, so I was happy for him.  He's already used the mug, too!  I hope he makes more of these in future, as I love them!

He also completed a geography puzzle just for fun that was in a DK pack we were using for the last time before giving it away.  I don't know if DK even makes these sets any more....

And of course, I am told that I must share a shot of him with his cat, the diva of the house, so fat she skips when she walks.....

We were mostly finishing up reading this week that we'd already started and that I've already posted about, but he did read The Story of Johnny Appleseed, Aliki this week.  He also read the SOTW chapter on the opening of the West and outlined one section of it (Tecumseh).  We also caught up in our SOTW related map work.



And I did begin our poetry study that I posted about separately.  I read a piece about why poets might write anonymously, went over some elements of poetry analysis (which we'll do more on next week), and read the anonymous poems from our anthology.  Some of these were poems he had memorized in past and he was happy to hear them again.  We'll be discussing these more next week and then moving into study of several Japanese poets of the early modern period.  As I mentioned before, we are using this book as our "spine" for the study:

 

Many, many poems of the authors I have listed in my study are also available online, so poetry is easily accessible these days if you have internet access!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming next week.  It will be the last week of his co-op, save for a make-up PE class missed due to snow troubles.  That will free up more time for us to catch up on our work at home prior to the end of the year!

Regena

Messin' around with big brother....

School Work for Week 27....

This week saw a continuation of our regular routine for most of the core subject areas.  The group where my son takes his outside lit/writing class was on spring break, so he didn't meet with them.  He's been working on finishing up a research paper for the class and will turn it in this upcoming week.  He has also started this weekend reading his last book for that class:  Freak the Mighty.  I've never heard of it and it doesn't sound very interesting to me, but maybe it will be good....  She generally chooses award winning books for class.  I haven't looked to see if this one fits that category....

I just put together some basics for a poetry study that we are going to begin to finish out the school year at home.  I posted about that earlier in the week.  We always read some poetry along with our history and lit (even science) studies as we go through the school year, but sometimes I like to do a more concerted study and I think that since April is poetry month, it will be a good time to start one....

Once again this week, I didn't manage to do anything related to chemistry at home save go over his lab questions and pre-read his upcoming lab with him, talking about some specifics of those.  I've gotten to peek at some of the things they are doing, and I think it's a fabulous opportunity for him!  I'm so glad the instructor allowed him in the class (normally just for high school level kids!)

We continued with the Industrial Revolution and other selected topics of the early 1800's this week. 

I read more about Napoleon from Men who Changed the Map, Erick Berry and Herbert Best (1968).  I also began a historical fiction entitled The Gate in the Wall, Ellen Howard.  But we mostly spent more time in reading about pirates of this time period from The Usborne Book of Treasure Hunting, Anna Claybourne and Caroline Young; Pirates, an Illustrated History, Nigel Cawthorne; and The Barbary Pirates, C. S. Forester (an old, Landmark book - good!).

                                    


Interestingly, the March edition of Smithsonian magazine contains articles on a possible find of Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and on the Luddites (King Ludd's War), so we are reading those.  I'll also be saving this issue for a little later, when we're covering the Trail of Tears, as there's an article about Andrew Jackson and the Cherokees in it, as well.

Some books my son read through this week:

A Visit to William Blake's Inn, Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, Nancy Willard; The Story of an English Village, John Goodall (pictures only - used for discussion of how towns have changed over time, what remains the same, etc.); The Bobbin Girl, Emily McCully; Pirates! Raiders of the High Seas, Christopher Maynard; A Pirate's Life for Me!  Julie Thompson and Brownie Macintosh; Laffite the Pirate, Ariane Dewey; Louisiana Purchase, Peter and Connie Roop; Oliver Twist (DK Eyewitness Classics), adapted by Naia Bray-Moffatt; A River Ran Wild, Lynn Cherry; Thomas Jefferson, A Picture Book Biography, James Cross Giblin.










We visited our local university for a spring educational concert that focused on Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring.  Kentucky photographer Dean Hill had prepared a slide show of nature shots from all over Kentucky as a backdrop for the performance.  It was lovely!

http://www.lexphil.org/pdfs/2011-ed-guide.pdf

Our weather has been very spring-like this past week and all the trees are starting to bud out or even bloom here.  We're headed into our last nine weeks of school and will be traveling to Baton Rouge (where we used to live) in April.  I'm ready for a trip!

Regena

Seventh Grade Poetry Study...

I'm pulling together some things right now for a more formal poetry study.  We tend to read poetry mixed in with our history and literature studies (sometimes even science!), but I occasionally do a lengthier study as well.  We will finish out the rest of our school year with this.

I'm using A Child's Anthology of Poetry, Elizabeth Hauge Sword, Ed. (picture in my poetry list in the right margin) as my primary book for this.  There is a lot of poetry available online now days, too, if you don't have books at home.

We're going to be looking at some anonymous poetry from the book first, and talking about why so much poetry is anonymous; then we'll move into a basically chronological study covering a period from the 1600's through those poets born in the early part of the 1800's.  Later poets we'll save for next year, with modern studies.

I will pull some biographical info from various online sites to set up the author and the time period in which they were writing; their background, which influenced their writing, etc.

Here's a list of the authors we're covering.  We may read additional poems of theirs from other books or from online, as well:

1.  A variety of Anonymous poetry
2.  Matsuo Basho 1644 - 1694
3.  Isaac Watts 1674 - 1748
4.  Yosa Buson 1716 - 1784
5.  Christopher Smart 1722 - 1771
6.  William Blake 1757 - 1827
7.  Robert Burns 1759 - 1796
8.  Kobayashi Issa 1763 - 1828
9.  William Wordsworth 1770 - 1850
10.  Sir Walter Scott 1771 - 1832
11.  Clement Clarke Moore 1779 - 1863
12.  Sir Thomas Moore 1779 - 1852
13.  Jane Taylor 1783 - 1824
14.  James Henry Leigh Hunt 1784 - 1859
15.  Lord George Gordon Byron 1788 - 1824
16.  Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 - 1822
17.  John Clare 1793 - 1864
18.  John Keats 1795 - 1821
19.  Sara Coleridge 1802 - 1852
20.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 - 1882
21.  Edgar Allan Poe 1809 - 1849
22.  Edward Lear 1812 - 1888
23.  Cecil Francis Alexander 1818 - 1895
24.  Emily Dickinson 1830 - 1886
25.  Christina Rossetti 1830 - 1894
26.  Lewis Carroll 1832 - 1898

Here are a couple of websites that provide info on different genres of poetry, poetry elements, etc.:

http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/

http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php

I will use these as we discuss the poetry.

Analysis of some of Blake's poetry: http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake

Study guide for Burns' To a Mouse:  http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides4/Mouse.html

William Wordsworth study:  http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/wordsworth/study.html

Percy Bysshe Shelley:  http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/shelley/

John Keats study:  http://englishhistory.net/keats/contents.html

(He's more familiar with Longfellow, Poe, Lear, Dickinson, Rossetti, and Carroll, so I'm not looking at them more in depth at this time....)

April is National Poetry Month!  http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

Spring and the end of the school year is a terrific time to read poetry!

Regena

Week 26 School Work....

This week continued in a similar vein regarding our Bible studies, math, language arts, geography, and foreign languages.  Music and art lessons continued, as well as chess and P.E. (which really is turning into a bit of a health study, too - fine by me!) 

Folks are beginning to line up classes for next year and I'm thrilled.  This is the first year in the almost 13 that I've been doing this when folks have actually started to put plans in place earlier than the month before school starts!  It makes planning for next year SO much simpler....

In Bible studies, my son began reading through a book entitled The Miracles of Jesus, James Harpur.

  




He's getting ready to begin his last book study for the year in his lit/writing class, then they will be finishing up the year with short stories and work related to those.

I didn't manage to get a thing done in chemistry at home this week.  I have no idea why, but all he did was finish up his lab questions from last week and read over this week's lab to get ready for it.  I think it went well today and continue to be excited about the opportunity for him!

This week in history/lit we covered the Haitian revolt during the first part of the week and then returned to looking at the later portions of the Industrial Revolution (which we will continue next week).  We're also reading selected topics related to the early 19th century.  He read those couple of chapters in SOTW and outlined one section.

Here are some of the books in addition to our anchors that we used regarding Haiti:

Haiti: Enchantment of the World, Jean Blashfield; Footsteps: Toussaint Louverture and Haiti.

              http://www.footstepsmagazine.com/Toussaint.asp

Regarding Haitian folklore, I read aloud from The Magic Orange Tree and other Haitian Folktales, collected by Diane Wolkstein (Caution!  Discretion advised!)

 This is the new CD version of the book.  The one I have includes the musical scores in the back so that you can play the music, yourself.  They also have some of the music online:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-two-donkeys/id385742066?i=385742103

For those not familiar with Haitian tales, there is talk of the Devil, demons, some sexually related talk, etc. in some of the tales, so these are not for little children or sensitive kids....

My son read:

Toussaint L'ouverture: The Fight for Haiti's Freedom, Walter Dean Myers; and Haiti, June Preszler.  He also finished up some books from earlier topics, including A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night (another book by Song Nan Zhang), and Life on a Plantation, Bobbie Kalman:



   

Regarding studies of the later Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of the 19th century, in addition to our anchor works, I finished up with The Industrial Revolution 1800-1850, Pier Paolo Poggio and Carlo Simoni; and recapped the period following the American Revolutionary War (not getting too in depth into the War of 1812 at this time) using Scholastic's Encyclopedia of the United States at War, June A. English and Thomas D. Jones:

    

I read Thomas Jefferson, Cheryl Harness.  I generally really like her books, but she makes some really bizarre, unexplained statements in this book!  We were left a little confused....

 
And I read the section on the Early U.S. from First Facts (Tecumseh, Stephen Decatur, Oliver Hazard Perry, Dolley Madison, and Andrew Jackson).

My son finished up reading Eli Whitney, Judith Alter, from our early Industrial Revolution studies, and also finished up Napoleon, Alan Blackwood, from last week.

He also read Napoleon, Lucy Lethbridge; and Nelson, Minna Lacey.  Both are part of the Usborne Famous Lives series for children.  Some of these books contain more mature content, even though they seem to be marketed toward younger kids....

        

             
We also read a little more about pirates this week, with regard to the Barbary pirates, pirates of the Caribbean, Jean Lafitte, etc.  I read from Eyewitness Pirate, Richard Platt; and my son read Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter, Richard Platt.  He has read it before but likes the book, so I pulled it for him to read again this year.

     

We attended a Children's Theatre play today:  Anne Frank and Me.  I'm sort of sad that my son is aging out of these plays as we've been regular patrons since we moved here almost 13 years ago....

My son had his "Hollywood Nights" recital this evening.  He was dressed as Schroeder from Charlie Brown, playing the Linus and Lucy theme, complete with his Beethoven bust and Snoopy reclining upon the piano....  I think everyone had fun.

I miss Charles Schulz!  I grew up with the Peanuts....

 And he had his thirteenth birthday on Thursday.  I have no more "children," only teens now!  I'm really, really getting old.  He wanted to wait and eat out with his older brother tonight, because he couldn't come in town last night, so we went over to Carraba's right after his chem lab and before the recital.  It's nice to have everyone together....

Regena

Ninth Grade World Geography Study Resources....

(I have prepared workbook pages for use with this course and will be happy to share those, too, if anyone is interested.)

Use Parragon’s Ultimate Atlas of the World as a reference work or for extra reading throughout the year.

Week 1:

Read Scholastic’s EverythingYou Need to Know About Geography, pages 2-7. 

Read Handy Homework Helper: Geography, pages 5-7.

Complete workbook pages.

(Pages 6-29 in Ultimate Atlas go with first 10 weeks of study – about 2 ½ pages per week.)

Read Harm de Blig’s Geography Book, Chapter 1 - Library

Week 2: 

Read Everything Geo, pages 8-15.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 8-16.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 2

Week 3:

Read Everything Geo, pages 16-29.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 3

Week 4:

Read Everything Geo, pages 30-36.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 17-26.

Complete workbook pages.

Read Seven Wonders of the Natural
World, Amy Graham – Library (or other and write a 2 page report on your favorite spectacular landform.)  Also look through National Wonders of the World, Robert Moore, Jr.

Week 5:

Read Everything Geo, pages 37-42.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 27-36
Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 4

Week 6:

Read Everything Geo, pages 43-49.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 37-46.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 5

Week 7:

Read Everything Geo, pages 50-56.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 47-55.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 6

Week 8:

Read Everything Geo, pages 57-64.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 56-82.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 7

Week 9:

Read Everything Geo, pages 65-74.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 83-107.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 8

Week 10:

Read Everything Geo, pages 75-87.

Read Homework Helper Geo, pages 108-122.

Complete workbook pages.

Blig, Chapter 9

Week 11:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World pages 4-25 (intro and North America).

Mark all countries studied on large map of the world.

Complete workbook scavenger hunt using internet links.

(Ultimate Atlas pages 100-115.)

Blig, Chapter 10

Read from Material World, U.S.: pages 136-43.

Week 12:

Read Usborne World Religions pages 6-11; 48-67; 99; 104; part of 105 (intro to religions and North America)

Complete workbook scavenger hunt using internet links.

Blig, Chapter 11

Women in the Material World, pages 240-49 - Library

Week 13-14:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World pages 26-37.

Read Usborne World Religions – rest of page 105.

Work on maps of countries and do memory work for countries of South America.

(Ultimate Atlas pages 116-147.)

Women in the Material World:  Brazil 40-49; Cuba 62-69; Guatemala 86-93; Haiti 94-103; Mexico 184-93.

Material World: Mexico 144-53; Latin America 106-35; Haiti 154-61.

Week 15-16:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World pages 38-49.

Work on maps of countries and do memory work for countries of Europe.

(Ultimate Atlas pages 30-97.)

Women in the Material World: Albania 12-23; Italy 130-39.

Material World: Europe 180-227; Iceland 162-69.

Week 17-20:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World pages 50-65.

Read Hungry Planet:  Chad, Mali, and Egypt

Read Usborne World Religions pages 100-01.

Work on Maps of countries of Africa and do memory work.

(Ultimate Atlas pages 196-217.)

Blig, Chapter 12

Week 21-24:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World pages 66-81.

Work on maps of countries of Asia and do memory work.

(Ultimate Atlas pages 148-189 – through week 28.)

Blig, Chapter 13

Women in the Material World:Bhutan 24-35; China 50-59; India 108-15; Israel 116-27; Japan 140-51; Jordan 154-65; Mongolia 194-203; Russia 206-17; Thailand 228-34 (cont. weeks 25-28)

Week 25:

Read World Religions pages 12-23; 36-47 (Asia).

Complete internet scavenger hunt in workbook.

Blig, Chapter 14

Week 26:

Read World Religions pages 80-89; 94-98 (Asia).

Complete internet scavenger hunt in workbook.

Material World: Asia 40-105; Middle East 228-247.

Week 27:

Read World Religions pages 24-35; 68-79 (Asia).

Complete internet scavenger hunt in workbook.

Week 28:

Read World Religions pages 90-93 (Asia).

Complete internet scavenger hunt in workbook.

(Ultimate Atlas – read during this week if not already completed earlier.)

Use Bramwell Map book for Asia.

Women in the Material Worldtopics: Marriage 36-39; Laundry 60-61; Work 82-85; Education 104-07; Childcare 128-29; Hair 152-53; Food 180-83; Water 204-05; Friends 226-27.

Week 29-32:

Read Usborne Peoples of the World, pages 82-91.

Read World Religions pages 102-03.

Work on maps of countries and do memory work.

Hungry Planet: read about family from Australia.

(Ultimate Atlas 218-241.)

Use Bramwell Map book for Oceania.

Material World topics: TV 36-39; Meals 176-79; Toilets 224-27.

Week 33:

Read World Religions 116-123.

Look at/discuss time chart and map of world religions at end of Usborne Religion book.

Complete internet scavenger hunt in workbook.

Hungry Planet: read about U.S. related food issues: pages 260-278; 52-53; 92-94; 162-65; 242-43.  Use McDonald’s and other charts from What the World Eats to discuss issues (these are not included in the Hungry Planet book).

Week 34:

Hungry Planet: read about North and South America: Cuba; Ecuador; Guatemala; Mexico;
Greenland.

Complete workbook questions.

Week 35:

Hungry Planet: read about European countries: Bosnia; France; Germany; Great Britain; Italy; Poland; also pages 128-29.

Complete workbook questions.

Week 36:

Hungry Planet:  read about Asian countries: Bhutan; China; India; Japan; Kuwait; Mongolia; Philippines; Turkey; also pages 202-03.

Complete workbook exercise.

Week 25 School Work....

We continued our same routine as last week for Bible, math, geography, languages, and extra activities.  My son took a prize in his health class this week for highest number of points earned on a human body quiz, and he was excited about that. 

In Language Arts, we began working through adjectives in Easy Grammar.  He did some copywork and a couple of short state reports to finish up his geography workbook.  He had a short paper due for his outside class, as well as answers to questions about the last half of the book they were reading (A Year Down Yonder).  He reworked his paper from last week, as well.  For next week, they're starting on The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  I know that he's read this before and it's a simple book, but they're using it to do some art history related research and papers about the Met and its collections, so I'm okay with that....

He started his chemistry lab!  It's three hours, once per week. and they're using an AP high school chemistry lab book.  I'm excited for him.  At home he did a chapter on metals in Tiner and finished up his Atom workbook by completing the pages pertaining to metals. 

In history this week, we spent the first part of the week looking at the Qing Dynasty of China during the late 1700's - early 1800's, including the Opium Wars.  We didn't focus too much this time around on the Taiping Rebellion.  During the latter part of the week, we began looking at Napoleon and his reign.

Here are some of the books we've used, in part, this week in addition to our anchor books:

China from Manchu to Mao, John Roberson; Nations of the World China, Catherine Field; People's Republic of China, Kim Dramer; Calliope: Qing Dynasty.


   
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/issue/CAL0412.html?x=6.74104118347170825767001141416431

Some Kings and Queens, R. J. Unstead; The Battle of Waterloo, David Pietrusza (used for background info chapters as we will be studying the end of Napoleon later); Cobblestone 30 Greatest American Events (re: The Louisiana Purchase).

                http://www.cobblestonepub.com/book/COB1005.html

We also read another little book about the Louisiana Purchase that purported to be part of a "primary source series".  I think that's becoming a by-word for schools now.  It was written so abysmally poorly (think Dick and Jane) that I won't even mention it.  I had to edit and reword as I read because it was so bad.....  I've never had this happen before!  I'm afraid that as my library continues to clear out all books written before 1980, there will no longer be any choices other than books like this one....

My son read some simple little books:

Lady White Snake, a Tale from Chinese Opera, Aaron Shepard (w/ notes on Chinese opera and the story); The Legend of the Panda, Linda Granfield (w/ info on the Panda); My Napoleon, Catherine Brighton.



Both of the Chinese related books are illustrated by Song Nan Zhang.  We had read his book entitled The Children of China and liked his illustrations a lot, which is why we checked these out.

My Napoleon is the true story of a little girl who befriended Napoleon while he was exiled on St. Helena....

He read two chapters in SOTW and outlined one section.  We got caught up on some mapwork for the past few topics.

I started another read aloud:

An Innocent Soldier, Josef Holub, about a young boy drafted into Napoleon's Grand Armee.



Today we had a homeschool lab at Frazier International History Museum.  They always do a good job with those.  This one was about Lincoln and while we're not going to study the Civil War era until next year, I didn't want to miss out on it (gas prices may be too high next year for us to take field trips, LOL).  We got to see a short play prepared by the re-enactors there for the Lincoln celebrations a couple of years ago.  It was excellent!  They based it completely on primary source documents regarding Booth's life.  They also always prepare a scavenger hunt of the galleries for items that pertain to our subject for the day.  This time, they also had an interactive guide prepared for the international gallery.  We also got to see a re-enactment of a Buffalo Soldier who served in Cuba before we left for the day.

http://www.fraziermuseum.org/exhibitions/american-history/

http://www.fraziermuseum.org/exhibitions/royal-armouries/

Next month, they are going to go behind the scenes to explore all the different types of museum careers that are available.  I really wanted to see that one - but Cincy convention is going on at the same time and I need.to.buy.books....  So I guess my husband is going to take him, unless I change my mind....

Regena

Second Grade Medieval History Plan....

Here are the readings we did for history during second grade, using Story of the World II as our spine.  There are also three other books that I mention often that include two-page spreads we used a lot at this age.  These are Dorling Kindersley's Picturepedia: People in the Past; DK's How Children Lived, Chris Rice; and A Child's Eye View of History, Fiona Macdonald.  My original computer documents were lost long ago during a crash, and I am reconstructing these lists from my notes for the year.  I will try to add in my son's reading and our literature selections for the year at a later time.


Week 1:

Read "Glory That was Rome" from SOTW
Read from Gladiator, Richard Watkins
Read from How Children Lived and People in the Past, re: Roman Life

I Wonder why Romans Wore Togas and Other Questions About Ancient Rome, Fiona Macdonald

Read "The Early Days of Britain" from SOTW
The Celts, Hazel Martell


Week 2:

Read from SOTW re: early church history
Read the first three chapters from Life in the Middle Ages, The Church, Kathryn Hinds
Read from The Story of Writing and Printing, Anita Ganeri

BBC Factfinders: The Anglo-Saxons, Rowena Loverance


Week 3:

Read from SOTW re: the Byzantine Empire
Read from Greenleaf's Famous Men of the Middle Ages re: Justinian the Great
Read intro and chapter 1 of The Byzantine Empire, James Corrick
Began reading The King who was and will be: The World of King Arthur and his Knights, Kevin Crossley-Holland (re: origin of Arthur legends and medieval world in general)
Read chapter 2 of The Byzantine Empire re: Byzantine society


Week 4:

Read about Medieval India in SOTW
In the Heart of the Village: the World of the Indian Banyan Tree, Barbara Bash

Read about the rise of Islam in SOTW
Read from Usborne book of World Religions re: Islam
Read about Medieval Baghdad in Child's Eye View of History
Read about the flight to Medina from Cities of Splendour

Ramadan, Susan Douglass
The Story of Religion, Maestro


Week 5:

Read Ch. 7 of SOTW re: Islamic Empire
Read from Islam, World of Beliefs, Neil Morris
Read from The Arabs in the Golden Age, Mokhtar Moktefi

Muhammad, Demi


Week 6:

Read about the great dynasties of China in SOTW
Read about China and the Silk Road from A Child's Eye View of History
Read chapters 1-3 in Science in Ancient China, George Beshore

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient China, Leonard Everett Fisher


Week 7: 

Read SOTW chapter on Japan and Korea
Read from Heroines: Great Women Through the Ages, Rebecca Hazell re: Lady Murasaki Shikibu
Read selected info from Japan: The Culture, Bobbie Kalman
Read from How Children Lived re: Japan

Look into the Past: The Japanese, Clare Doran

Read from SOTW re: Australia's Aborigines
Read about Aborigines from A Child's Eye View of History and How Children Lived (DK)

Destination Australia, Brupper
An Adventure in New Zealand, The Cousteau Society


Week 8:

Read about the Franks in SOTW
Read about Clovis from Greenleaf: Famous Men

Look What Came from France, Miles Harvey


Week 9:

Read from SOTW re: Islamic Invasion of Spain
Read about Arabic in Leonard Fisher's Alphabet Art

Count Your  way Through the Arab World, Jim Haskins
Children of the World: Spain, Marylee Knowlton

Read about the great kings of France in SOTW
Read about Charles Martel, Pepin, and Charlemagne in Greenleaf: Famous Men
Read about Charlemagne from Ten Kings and the Worlds They Ruled, Milton Meltzer and also from
Kings and Queens for God, Carol Greene (exercise caution with all Meltzer's works)
Read most of the first two sections of Charlemagne and the Early Middle Ages, Miriam Greenblatt


Week 10:

Read about the Vikings from SOTW
Read about the Vikings from A Child's Eye View of History; How Children Lived; People in the Past

Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, Barbara Schiller
The Grand Children of the Vikings, Matti Pitkanen
Growing up in Viking Times, Dominic Tweddle
Who Were the Vikings? Usborne


Week 11:

Read about the kings of England from SOTW
Read epilogue from The Battle of Hastings, William Lace re: importance of this war
From Kings and Queens for God, Carol Greene, read about Alfred of Wessex, Edward the Confessor, and Matilda of Scotland (Good Queen Maud)
Read from The Tower of London, Leonard E. Fisher


Week 12:

Read about England after conquest from SOTW

Knights, Philip Steele
Castle at War, Andrew Langley (DK)
A Medieval Feast, Aliki


Week 13:

Read about knights and samurai from SOTW
Read about samurai from People in the Past

In the Time of Knights, Shelley Tanaka


Week 14:

Read about the Crusades from SOTW
Read about the Children's Crusade from A Child's Eye View of History
Read about the crusades in Great Events That Changed the World, Brian Delf

St. Francis, Brian Wildsmith
A Samurai Castle, Fiona Macdonald
Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam, Diane Stanley


Week 15:

Read about England's Plantagenet kings: Richard, John, etc. from SOTW
Read about Eleanor of Aquitaine from Heroines: Great Women Through the Ages, Rebecca Hazell and Lives of Extraordinary Women, Kathleen Krull

The Story of Britain: Magna Carta, C. Walter Hodges


Week 16:

Read about the Diaspora from SOTW

Blessed are You: Traditional Everyday Hebrew Prayers, Michelle Edwards
Dance, Sing, Remember: A Celebration of Jewish Holidays, Leslie Kimmelman
The Golden City, Jerusalem's 3000 Year History, Neil Waldman
Masada, Neil Waldman
Milk and Honey, A Year of Jewish Holidays, Jane Yolen

Read about the Mongols in SOTW
Read about Ghingis Khan in Child's Eye View of History
From Ten Kings, Meltzer, read about Kublai Khan

Chingis Khan, Demi


Week 17:

Read from SOTW re: China and Marco Polo
Read from People in the Past re: Marco Polo

The Silk Route: 7000 Miles of History, John S. Major
Ancient China, Robert Nicholson
Marco Polo and the Wonders of the East, Hal Marcovitz


Week 18:

Read about early Russia in SOTW
From Kings and Queens for God, read about Vladimir and Anastasia (Ivan the Terrible's wife)
Read about Russia from People in the Past

Read from SOTW re: the Ottoman Empire
Read from Kings and Queens for God re: Jadwiga (Poland) and Katarina (Sweden)


Week 19:

Read from SOTW re: the Plague
Read about plague from Katie Roden's Plague
Read from Life During the Black Death, John Dunn

Kids in the Middle Ages, Lisa Wroble


Week 20:

Read about the Hundred Years' War in SOTW; Henry V; Joan of Arc
Read about children in France before its revolution from How Children Lived
Read from Women in Medieval Times, Fiona Macdonald

Joan of Arc, Angela Bull (DK)


Week 21:

Read from SOTW re: Wars of the Roses

The Middle Ages, Jane Shuter
Completed Women in Medieval Times


Week 22:

Read from SOTW re: uniting of Spain; Isabel
Read about Isabel in Lives of Extraordinary Women, Kathleen Krull
Read about growing up in Spain from How Children Lived
Read about Isabel in Ten Queens, Milton Meltzer

Isabella of Castille: Queen on Horseback, Joann Burch


Week 23:

Read about Medieval Africa in SOTW
Read from Child's Eye View about Benin
Read from People in the Past about the Ashanti
Read from How Children Lived about growing up in Mali
Read from Ten Kings about Mansa Musa
Read about Nzingha in Lives of Extraordinary Women

Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, James Rumford
Sundiata: Lion King of Mali, David Wisniewski
Mansa Musa, Khephra Burns


Week 24:

Read from SOTW re: Moghul India
Read from How Chidren Lived about growing up in Moghul India
Read from Great Events that Changed the World, Delf, re: Moghul Empire

Sacred River, Ted Lewin


Week 25:

Read about exploring the new world from SOTW

Where do you Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? Jean Fritz
A Long and Uncertain Journey: the 27,000 Mile Voyage of Vasco da Gama, Joan Goodman
Who Really Discovered America?  Stephen Krensky
Forgotten Voyager, Ann Alper (Amerigo Vespucci)
The Great Adventure of Christopher Columbus, a Pop-up Book, Jean Fritz
Exploring the World: Magellan, Michael Burgan


Week 26:

Read from SOTW re: Aztecs, Incas, Mayans

Growing up in Aztec Times, Marion Wood
The Aztecs, Peter Chrisp
Hands of the Maya, Villagers at Work and Play, Rachel Crandell
The Incas, Tim Wood


Week 27:

Read about Spain and Portugal in the New World from SOTW (slavery, Cortes)
Read about the decline of the Aztec in Great Events that Changed the World, Brian Delf
Read from People in the Past re: newcomers in a new world
From Atlas of Exploration read about da Gama, Columbus, Magellan, Cortes and the Aztecs, Pizarro and the Incas, North American explorers and people, explorers and people of South America (I'm not sure, at this point, who the author of this book might be.....)

Cortes: Conqueror of Mexico, William Jacobs
The Middle Passage, Tom Feelings (caution!)


Week 28:

Read from SOTW re: Reformation (Luther; Henry VIII)

King Henry VIII, Robert Green
Luther the Leader, Virgil Robinson
A Medieval Cathedral, Fiona Macdonald


Week 29:

Read from SOTW re: the Renaissance
Journey Through History: The Renaissance, Carme Peris
Breaking into Print, Stephen Krensky
Gutenberg, Leonard Fisher
How a Book is Made, Aliki

Watched Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: da Vinci and Rembrandt

Read from Lives of the Artists re: Peter Bruegel, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Rembrandt van Rijn
(Kathleen Krull)


Week 30:

Read from SOTW re: Reformation and Counter-reformation

Leonardo da Vinci, Diane Stanley
Michelangelo, Diane Stanley
Introducing Michelangelo, Robin Richmond


Week 31:

Read about Copernicus, Galileo, etc. in SOTW

Leonardo da Vinci, Norman Marshall
Science in the Renaissance, Brendan January
Galileo, Fisher


Week 32:

Read about Elizabeth in SOTW
From Ten Queens, read about Elizabeth I
From To Be a Princess, read "Rival Sisters" re: Mary and Elizabeth

Good Queen Bess, Diane Stanley


Week 33:

Read from SOTW re: Shakespeare
Read from A Child's Eye View of History re: Shakespeare's England

Bard of Avon, Diane Stanley
A Child's Portrait of Shakespeare, Lois Burdett


Week 34:

Read from SOTW re: Sir Walter Raleigh and Virginai Colony of Roanoke

Sir Walter Raleigh, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.


Week 35:

Read from SOTW re: Cartier/Cabot

John Cabot and the Rediscovery of North America, Charles Shields
Famous Explorers: Jacques Cartier, Jeff Donaldson-Forbes


Week 36:

Read "Empires Collide" from SOTW re: Spain and England

Fast Forward: Shipwreck, Claire Aston
See Inside a Galleon, Jonathan Rutland
Exploring the World: Cartier, Jean Blashfield
Inside Story: A Sixteenth Century Galleon, Richard Humble