Epic History in the Making
Jul 29th, 2010 by lapazfarm
How do you like that title? Pretty “epic” right? LOL! Well, this post is long enough to nearly qualify for epic status, but I hope you’ll bear with me.
Anyway, today I share my plans for Superboy’s history studies for this coming year. He chose to study Greek and Roman history (excellent choice I must say), and I have spent many a long hour sifting and sorting through ginormous piles of history narratives. I really dug deep, reading and reading anything I could get my hands on (and some that I couldn’t), trying to find just the right thing.
(btw: an excellent source for viewing the full text of MANY older history texts is this one:Heritage History. Truly a treasure trove! Dig in!)
My requirements: The chosen book should be narrative in nature (story-like and readable), living, thought-provoking, and at the right reading level to challenge without defeating. Not so much to ask, is it?
Apparently it is, because I never did find that *just right* thing. Everything was either too dry, too easy, too thick and tedious, or just plain boring.
I did come close, however, and have decided upon a few books as his anchor texts:
For the Greeks, he will read a combination of the sophisticated (but excellent) The Greek Way, by Edith Hamilton, and the easier reading Famous Men of Greece by Haaren and Poland (Memoria Press Edition).
Both of these books score high for narrative quality. The problem lies in reading level. Famous Men is a bit on the low side (too easy), and The Greek Way tips the scales on the higher side and will challenge Superboy’s reading skills mightily. But I find what Ms. Hamilton has to say about the Greeks to be beautiful and highly thought-provoking, and so I chose it for him even if I need to help him through a bit of it. It’ll definitely be worth the effort.
For the Romans, his anchor texts will be Famous Men of Rome (again, a bit on the easy side) and Historical Tales Vol 11: Roman by Charles Morris, which seems to actually be spot on as far as the level of difficulty I am looking for.(read it here for free) Plus, it’s such a good read!
Here is an excerpt of Historical Tales so you’ll see what I mean:
While Tarquin the Proud was king a strange thing happened at Rome. One day an unknown woman came to the king, bearing in her arms nine books, which she offered to sell to him at a certain price. She told him that they contained the prophecies of the Sibyl of Cumæ, and that from them might be learned the destiny of Rome and the way to carry out this destiny.
But the price she asked for her books seemed to the king exorbitant, and he refused to buy them, whereupon the woman went away from the palace and burned three of the volumes. She then returned with six only and offered them to the king, but demanded the same price for the six as she had before done for the nine. King Tarquin heard this demand with laughter and mockery, and again refused to buy. The woman once more left the palace, and burned three more of the books.
To the king’s astonishment his strange visitor soon returned, bearing the three books that remained. On being asked their price, she named the same sum as she had demanded for the six and the nine. This was ceasing to be matter for mockery. There might be some important mystery concealed behind this strange demand. The king sent for the augurs of the court, told them what had happened, and asked what he should do. They told him that he had done very wrong. In refusing the books he had refused a gift of the gods. By all means he must buy the books that were left. He bought them, therefore, at the Sibyl’s price. As for the woman, she was never seen again…
Makes you want to read on, right? That’s what I’m looking for! (and unfortunately I am still looking for an actual paper copy of this book. I hate reading online!) ETA: thanks to helpful comment by Brittney, I was able to have the book printed up by the Harvard book store Book Machine ! Neat! Thanks Brittney!
Ah, but that most certainly isn’t all of it. The boy is going to be steeped in the classical world. For literature this year will be largely (but not entirely) tied into his history studies. There’s a wide variety here. Some selections are easier, some are much more challenging.
Here is his literature list:
- Hittite Warrior-Joanne Williamson
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- Black Ships Before Troy-Rosemary Sutcliff
- The Odyssey-Homer
- The Glorious Adventure-Richard Halliburton
- Socrates’ death speech
- A Young Macedonian-Church
- Orestian trilogy-Aeschylus
- Oedipus Rex-Sophocles
- The Trojan Women-Euripides
- Julius Caesar-Shakespeare
- The Living Wood: St Helena and the Emperor Constantine-Lewis DeWohl
- The Restless Flame: A novel about St Augustine-DeWohl
- Kon Tiki-Thor Heyerdahl (just for fun!)
And he will also go on a little jaunt through some CS Lewis. He has long ago read the Narnia books, so we move on to:
- Till we Have Faces
- Out of the Silent Planet
- Perelandra
- That Hideous Strength
- Screwtape Letters
And where/if we have time (particularly later in the year, the Roman selections are pretty sparse) we will add in a few other things I have in mind for him (perhaps some of Augustine’s Confessions?)
Lots of excellent reading! And in true Charlotte Mason style, all of his reading will be narrated orally, with weekly written narrations as well.
By way of keeping track of the flow of history, he will record his independent research in various reference books using the high school-level History Scholar notebooking pages from History Scribe, which includes such interesting topics as Greek and Roman architecture, Greek theater, the Peloponnesian Wars, the Fall of Rome, and many more-enough for a topic a week.
So, in summary, assigned reading will include his 4 anchor texts and his literature selections, all to be narrated orally, and his independent research to be recorded in his notebooking pages, plus narrated orally and in weekly essay form. I think that should do it!
And now, like the classical world, this post is history!
Oh yes, I crack myself up…
Wow – sounds great. I hate online reading too. Maybe you will need to invest in a binder. I did, and I looooove it!
We listened to Gilgmesh (Stephen Mitchell translation). I have a fondness for listening to the epic tales over reading them on first pass if possible. It takes them back to their oral tradition.
I’m pondering which version of the Odyssey I’d like to listen to.
This looks great T, what fun! My middle boys are also doing Greece and Rome this year, but not at a highschool level (7th & 3rd). Should be all kinds of fun
I hope you find the Tales book, it looks great!
A very well thought out plan! Thanks for sharing your plan. I also want to let you know that I’ve just passed on “The Versatile Blogger” award to you. For what you’ve done in your homeschool, I think you deserve the title!
Thank you, Neo!
That sounds like a great plan. One more resource that I love ( possibly redundant after all the work you have done)
is two sets of Teaching Company CD’s- Famous Greeks and Famous Romans by Professor Rufus Fears…great storytelling at a college level. Also by the same professor- Books that Have Made History: Books that Can Change Your Life ( includes lectures on Plato’s Republic, Virgil’s Aenid, Pericles Oration…and more, lots of ancient greek and roman texts)
Great ideas, Carrie! I’ll keep my eyes out for those. Thanks!
I love your plans! Looks like your son is going to have a great year.
If you can’t find a print copy of the book you are looking for, you can have one made for you. It’s a bit pricey, but here is the information…http://www.harvard.com/bookmachine/ I don’t like reading online either. I like to feel the weight of the book in my hands.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas! I subscribe to your blog and always look forward to reading your posts and looking at your beautiful pictures!
Thank you SO MUCH Brittney for that link! I was able to have it printed up for me for a very reasonable price! Awesome!!!!!
Scribe System … this is exactly what I was looking for to use this year with our Cherubs. THANK YOU !!
Tammy
It sounds like a great plan! Have you heard of interactive notebooks? Superboy might just like them. You use one side for notes from lessons, videos, books, etc. The other side is for reflection. The student uses this side to reflect on the days lessons. They can create illustrations, diagrams, maps, time lines, etc.
I just recently found out about them.
Yay! So glad you were able to get the book printed! Glad to help!
)
I am so ridiculously late to the history party…but I’ve enjoyed reading your plans so much! And I can’t wait to hear what you think of having your book printed from Harvard books!!! What a fantastic option!!! Do tell when the book is in – quality, paper, binding, any illustrations?, clarity? I’d really love to know! I’ve never tried this and would love to!
Lovely, lovely plans! Should be a fantastic year for Superboy!!!!
Thanks, Jen. The book came in and it is really nicely done. The binding is lovely, looks like a regular paperback book. Nice sturdy cardstock cover. My only quibble is that it is a little difficult to read because the type is a weensy bit smallish, and a little unclear-probably a result of having been scanned and copied from a library book. But it is certainly readable. Overall I am thrilled.
I did find, however, that the book could be had a little cheaper from another site (with the same machine) called Third Place books. So, you may want to shop that site as well.
I LOVED Kon-Tiki–I still have my weathered old copy to re-read and share with my girls. Of everything I ever read as a young person, that one made a huge impression.
Your plans with the kids are wonderful. I’m looking forward to hearing more as the year progresses!
Wow, you could use the History Scholar pages as an outline/spine for your history! I love that you are combining reserarch/writing skills using these, and then lots of reading great books for history and literature.
As usual, though, I have questions!
What are the “various reference books” that he is using for his weekly research? Do you also allow him to use the Internet for some of his research? Do you have a requirement that ‘x’ number of sources have to be non-Internet?
Does he get out the History Scholar pages for that week on Monday and use those as a guide for his research during the week? Does he fill in any of this *while* he is researching, or is it all done on Thursday? Does he take any kinds of notes while doing research, or is it all reading/narrating?
The Friday History Essay that he does each week – is this using the prompts given in the History Scholar on that week’s topic? I suppose he reviews that question at the begining of the week as well to focus his research?
Thanks!
Hi Cindy! Wow! Lots of questions. I’ll start with these and work my way through!
The History Scholar pages totally work as a spine for history, in fact, that’s what I did all my planning around.
The various reference books are several World History books, the Oxford History of the Classical World, Plutarch, as well as some other books specifically on Greek and Roman history. Some of his literature selections will also work as reference material (Famous Men of Greece, Sophocles, Euripides, etc).
He is allowed to use the internet after he has exhausted the print resources. I do not have requirements for x number of sources, internet or not.
He prints the History scholar pages on monday and looks over them, but he is NOT allowed to fill them out as he goes. I want to discourage him just skimming the texts to get his required number of bullet points, you know? Each day he reads as much on a topic as he can successfully narrate. For instance, he may just research the art or the architecture of a particular culture one day, and then narrate it to me. The next day he may learn about their religion or about a particular leader. The goal is for him to learn the material in a single reading, which is why I let him decide how much he can read (and retain) per day. He does not take notes, only narrates. On thursday he fills out the 1st sheet from memory (bullet points, quote, and biography). He is allowed to go back and check for specific details if he needs to, but he usually has it down pretty well and does not need to go back to the sources (narration works!!!). On friday he composes his essay. These are using the prompts on the History Scholar pages, though I have offered him an alternative topic once.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your reply! I am learning so much from your example of a very CM-ish way to handle high school!
Is SuperBoy about 15 years old? My boys are 12, so I know they aren’t quite up to that level yet, but it sure is giving me ideas of what to strive for! That’s great about how well narration works and how you have him read “as much as he can successfully narrate” each day. We are just this year working on narration from their assigned silent reading. Well, in fact, this is the first year that they have HAD any significant assigned silent reading! (One son has LDs that has delayed us getting to this point.) Last year was the first time we worked on narration at all and did it during the evening read-alouds. (Last year I went back to work full-time and their dad is home with them – retired.) They are struggling a bit getting going on narrating their assigned reading while I am at work. I have them narrate orally on their computers using their webcams and Microsoft OneNote so that I can review the narrations later and they don’t have to wait until I get home.
I like your idea of having him use the reference books that you have first and use the Internet last. Right now, my boys use the Internet often to look up quick facts and they usually come from Wikipedia, which isn’t always truly reliable, but works OK for now. I am learning about the many online resource databases that our library system offers and will be teaching them how to use it. But I love the idea of starting to collect some real books to use as history resources so that we have them by the time they are doing more regular research like that. In fact, by adding the research, notebook page, and weekly essay question to good living books to read for history, I can now see how to create our own history program, emphasizing whatever we choose to emphasize. I was always at a loss for what to do besides read books and narrate. How to get them even more involved in the material and internalize it. Thank you so much!
I am so glad to be of help to you! Great idea about using webcams for narrations! I would never have thought of that! It must be a difficult situation to try and homeschool an work simultaneously, but looks like you have found some creative solutions! And yes, Superboy just turned 15 last month, so he is a fairly young 10th grader.
Yes, I have found some really creative ways to do homeschooling. I am a software developer, so many of my tools are technology-based to assist with out studies. I am an active member of the SecularCM Yahoo Group, where I have talked quite a bit about how we school with me at work. I also have some things about that on my blog, but that gives me an idea for a new post – one about how to work and homeschool and how technology helps make it possible!
Oh, I just thought of another question – did you buy your world history books and other books specifically about Greek and Roman history specifically for Superboy for this year’s history? Or were those books you already had because you really like them in general? Do you have any other Oxford History books that you would highly recommend?
I am kind of at a loss as to what to start collecting for high school history and science “general” books. I don’t want the books to have too liberal a viewpoint and I want the books to be very usable and readable – not encyclopedias. I don’t even have the Kingfisher World History book that many use for Middle School because I don’t know that it is really worth it – too little content? Too boring to read?
Any ideas?
Well, this is why I try to have a variety of sources. I have yet to find the perfect single source. Some are too shallow, some are more readable, some are too ponderous, etc. It’s hard to find the right balance. We have the Kingfisher book and I think it is fine for a beginning reference. It is often our jumping off point because it gives us a simple overview from which we can go deeper with other texts. The Oxford book is a bit ponderous, but we can use it to pick out nice tidbits here and there. Certainly would not want to read it cover to cover, though. I found a nice old copy of Bulfinch’s The Age of Fable, which is a fabulous source for myths, giving just enough background to put them in context, adding references to other works, etc. Good stuff. The Greek Way is less history and more Greek culture. I love it, but Superboy is less enthused. It is a bit sophisticated for him, but we are working through it together in small chunks. Then we have the Usborne Internet-linked Greeks and Romans books, which are too simplistic, but again, give us a base for further research. In addition I have a book of Roman Historical Tales (by Charles Morris) and a great old book by Harold Lamb on Alexander of Macedon. I love this very readable history. It’s much better than dry texts. I figure this combination, plus internet sources (Brittish Museum is a great one) should give him a pretty well-rounded approach.
I did purposely begin collecting the specific Greek- and Roman-focused books this year knowing ds would be doing the classical period for history and lit. We had some general sources before, but nothing meaty enough for high school-level study. Stuff like Kingfisher, Van Loon, etc.
I think that would be a fabulous idea for a post!
I think I am going to start with a DK book I recently saw at Barnes & Noble – History: The Definitive Visual Guide (From The Dawn of Civilization To The Present Day). It looks like it will be a good starting point to begin our research. I like that it is really targeted more for adults instead of children, I love all of the pictures, and the way they have lots of timelines (that look like monthly calendars!) and lots of tips for relating the current topic to BEFORE and AFTER. I think it would make a good quick reference kind of book as well as give us ideas and names of things/people to further pursue with our research.
I looked up the Charles Morris Historical Tales on the Heritage History website and I see why you like it. In fact, Heritage History has some great resources that I must not forget to check when we start developing our own history program! And you can’t beat the cost!
Thanks for the tip on the British Museum website! I think that will help when researching art and architecture for a culture. I will add that to my list of online resources (in addition to the LARGE number of databases our library website has to offer! Overwhelming, to say the least!)
I hope to start today composing a new blog post about how I use technology in our homeschool to ease the burden of working full-time as well! Thanks for the encouragement!
Hi Theresa,
Curious to see what you have planned for your young man this year, outside of Spanish, that is. 
I just came across this post after perusing some Ancient History stuff at Willa’s blog. I was just curious how this plan went for your son last year. Did he enjoy it overall? Are there some things you wound up dumping? Do tell!
{how embarrassing that I can’t even spell my own domain correctly for the link to work correctly in my name above! I think it’s fixed!}