Thursday, December 30, 2010

Our Study of English History

"The fatal mistake is in the notion that he must learn 'outlines,' or a baby edition of the whole history of England, or of Rome, just as he must cover the geography of all the world. Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age. Let him spend a year of happy intimacy with Alfred, 'the truth-teller,' with the Conqueror, with Richard and Saladin, or with Henry V.––Shakespeare's Henry V.––and his victorious army."
~Charlotte Mason Volume 1 Home Education Pages 280-281

With this information from Charlotte Mason in mind, I am transforming the way we do history.

I will be reading
Ambleside's recommended weekly readings of
to familiarize myself
with the Kings and Queens of England.

Our Island Story

Although I don't plan to read about
every king and queen
from Our Island Story,
I will read Chapters 1-14.

My goal is set the background
for the kings and queens
by introducing the early myths of the country
and to explain the early influence of the Romans.

Then I will begin the timeline described next...

Each year (1-3), I will put up a chart from these pictures in a timeline fashion The Famous Kings and Queens of England. Then we will focus on 1-2 kings or queens a year. Pointing out where they fall on the timeline. I will also note any interesting facts about the individuals, whether the character of the monarch was good or bad, and how each fared while reining.

Year 1 will be Alfred the Great to Edward the Confessor (871-1066)
Year 2 will be Harold II to Henry VII (1066-1509)
Year 3 will be Henry VIII to George II (1509-present)

For Year 1,
we will focus on
In the Days of Alfred the Great (Yesterday's Classics)


For Year 2,
we will focus on
In the days of William the Conqueror

For Year 3,
we will focus on

In the Days of Queen Elizabeth (Classic Reprint)

Which also coincides with
Good Queen Bess

Good Queen Bess : The Story of Elizabeth I of England

Additionally, we may or may not add

In the Days of Queen Victoria

We will focus on 1/2 of a chapter a week.

Happy Homeschooling,
Bethany

10 comments:

Nancy Kelly said...

That sounds like a rich, living plan for English history. Thank you for sharing your course with us!
Ring true,
Nancy

Eve | Inchworm Chronicles said...

I enjoyed reading the quote from Charlotte Mason about learning history through one person's eyes. I like the idea and can see how rewarding that approach can be!

Anonymous said...

Many Blessings to you. I have been struggling with how to timeline this book for my eight year old. I am so thankful I stumbled upon your blog. Thank you for sharing your ideas.

amy fiedler said...

We, JUST, discussed this in length at our CM book study (currently reading through volume 1). A few of us were struggling with trying to reconcile what Mason says about "lingering pleasantly over the history of a single man", with the scheduled readings for Our Island Story in the early years. I was thrilled to stumble upon this post, and forward it on to the other moms in our group. Thanks so much for the course suggestion!

Amy
Oshkosh, WI

Bethany said...

I do hope it will be helpful. I had the same struggle with Our Island Story. While it provides a very living style reading, it doesn't really teach about a time period for one man. I'm using this set of books with my second kiddo and find it works wonderfully. If you use AO, then you will find studying Alfred and reading Viking Tales at the same time ties in nicely with the true nature of the Vikings from both angles.

Bethany said...

We've been through all of them now and it worked beautifully. My oldest really connected to the monarchs and felt a solid grasp of the time.

Bethany said...

We have found it to be eye opening.

Bethany said...

Thank you!

Janel said...

Do you also read AIS to your kiddos or just each of these books 1 per year? If so, which chapters do you read?

Bethany said...

I read it and make notes sharing the notes with them, but I only read Chapters 1-14. Then I start Alfred the Great and work my way through the others.

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