I did buy a Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum for our Middle Ages study but ended up not using it.
The book list was good but did not cover all the world, mostly Europe.
And the reading plan did not fit my boys reading style. It had you read small amounts from several books instead of reading one book all the way through.
I ended up buying a PDF overview of the middle ages that had a few worksheets and tests to go with all the books I was having them read.
I have just not found a good way to grade reading and find tests easier to grade.
But again it was mostly European history.
Then I became somewhat obsessed with finding books that covered different parts of the world during that time.
I will share what I found and also a curriculum that seems to cover it all.
These are some of the books we got that covered Europe.
The Cathedral and Castle book and movie by David Macaulay were again so good. We have enjoyed his books and the movies made from them.
My oldest son really liked these books by Winston Churchill on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.
They were suggested by another blogger Nicki Truesdell.
The White Stag was recommended by the Charlotte Mason Curriculum and is about Attila the Hun.
Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali was a good book to introduce my boys to the greatness of Africa during this time.
The Golden Age of Islam was going on at this time as well and had a huge impact on the history of the world!
Arabian Nights was written during this time as well!
My boys were not into the Beduins’ Gazelle, it is a love story which they both gagged at but it does give you a glimpse into the life of a Beduin at that time.
The Walking Drum is definitely more my boys speed. Lots of action but I love how Louis Lamour talks about how advanced the middle east was at that time.
The Usborne book on the left was a great resource for what was going on in the world at that time.
I do wish I had gotten a newer version which is called “Medieval World” but this still gave a great overview that was diverse.
The Silk Road book was nicely written even for me to read to my 6yr old. And it has projects you can do at that time.
So if you are studying the middle ages and want to cover some of the big things going on hopefully that will give you a starting point.
This is what I laid out after looking into a lot of different information for studying next time.
| Week 1-2 |
| Europe, Vikings |
| Week 3 |
| Africa, Mansa Musa |
| Week 4 |
| Middle East, Islam. Banu Musa |
| Week 5 |
| Asia, Khan, Silk Road, Marco Polo, Confucianism, Mongols |
| Week 6 |
| North and South America, Cahokia, Incas, Toltec’s |
We liked to watch the Crash Course to World History videos on youtube with John Green as well.
He is not a Christian perspective but he does cover what was going on all over the world.
I did find the Masterbooks Curriuculum “The World’s Story 2” covers this time frame and does seem to cover it all which was so nice.
I am not sure why so many of the other programs did not.
Maybe I was just looking in the wrong places.
Ha
Have you found a diverse curriculum you like?
