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History Odyssey Middle Ages is a year-long homeschool history curriculum incorporating history with language arts and world geography. The course is geared toward middle school students ready to start learning independently
Grade level: 5th through 8th
Pages: 170
Course type: Study guide (See the Booklist tab for the resources required to complete this course.)
History Odyssey Middle Ages (“Middle Ages”) is a year-long homeschool history curriculum incorporating history with language arts and world geography. The course is geared toward middle school students ready to start learning independently. Reading and writing assignments, mapwork, and timeline construction come together to create a scholarly homeschool history curriculum covering the middle ages.
Middle Ages is a secular homeschool curriculum, meaning it does not present religious beliefs or texts as historically factual accounts. Rather, it references them as another source or perspective to be considered.
Middle Ages is the second of a four-part series of history guides. While each course can be completed without having done the others, the writing, time management, and critical thinking skills required become more advanced with each time period.
In addition to this study guide, you will need:
The study guide incorporates all twelve books from the original book list into the course. These are the books your student will need if you do not make any adjustments to the course. However, as an update, we have curated an alternative book list to present a wider range of perspectives on world history. Students can choose to replace or supplement books on the original list with the corresponding book on the alternative list.
Fifth through eighth graders learning at home or in co-ops, learning pods, micro-schools, or charter schools can use Middle Ages as their primary history curriculum. So students can work independently, the study guide is written directly to them in concise, easy to understand language.
The foundation of the History Odyssey methodology is the idea that gathering information from multiple resources is the key to a sophisticated, well-rounded grasp of history. In this course, critical thinking skills are cultivated by the reading and writing assignments.
Most lessons assign readings from the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia as a way to introduce the material. However, as students work their way through the course, they will become accustomed to using primary sources such as the Magna Carta as well as legends and novels to conduct their research.
In this course, students have the opportunity to begin synthesizing information from various sources and presenting their own conclusions. They will complete three Venn Diagrams compiling their observations about the Shiite/Sunni, Knights/Samurais, and Central American/Southern American empires. Additionally, they will write a persuasive essay about the transition into the Renaissance.
Reading historically significant literature is an integral part of this course. Students will read:
See the book list tab for a complete list of resources used throughout the course.
Writing assignments include two and three-level outlines, summaries of the readings, biographies, comprehension questions, story retellings, persuasive writing, and a variety of creative writing projects.
Ideally, students will have some previous exposure to outlining and writing summaries before starting this course. In early lessons, some topic sentences and example outlines are provided, but students should expect to be outlining material with little support from the guide early on in the year. Writing skills that are heavily supported include how to write a biography, how to attribute sources, and how to write a fact-based persuasive essay.
Additionally, students will have the chance to get more creative with their writing. Creative projects include:
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Students will begin to analyze literature through:
Important Copyright Information: If you choose the eBook version of this course, you are purchasing a license to use the PDF for your own children. You may make copies for your own children, but you may not share (email, download, print and distribute, resell, etc.) this eBook or any portion of this eBook to others.
Licensing is available for group, school, and co-op use. Please contact Pandia Press for details on group licensing (info@pandiapress.com).
The following books must be obtained apart from this study guide. You may use any version, eBook, or print edition of these books. If you plan to purchase these books from Amazon, we appreciate you using the direct links below. There is an alternative booklist available for this title.
Main Reference Spine: The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (1999 or newer edition)
Optional Additional Reference Spine: The Story of Mankind* by Hendrik Willem Van Loon (optional)
The History Odyssey Timeline from Pandia Press (or a homemade timeline)
Other Required Books:
The Usborne Internet – Linked Viking World
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights retold by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
A Shakespeare Coloring Book from Bellerophon Books
Beowulf, A New Telling by Robert Nye
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
Castle by David Macaulay
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, retold by Geraldine McCaughrean
Tales from Japan retold by Helen & William McAlpine
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
*The Story of Mankind: Due to the polarizing nature of The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Van Loon, it is optional reading in this level two course. It should be considered a possible resource for gathering information. If students choose not to read TSOM, they might need to seek out other resources on the Internet or at a library in order to complete some of the lessons. There is a free eBook edition of TSOM available at: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/754.
