I haven't begun to sort out yet who will read what, but our two history tracks will cover Medieval and Renaissance Europe and nineteenth-century America. Shopping my shelves, I've come up with the following list of grade-appropriate reading for 4th and 5th grades:
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
Augustine Came to Kent
Son of Charlemagne
Etheldreda
Beorn the Proud
Sword of Clontarf
If All the Swords in England
Hidden Treasure of Glaston
The Shakespeare Stealer
Abraham Lincoln's World
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Lodging at the St. Cloud
Caddie Woodlawn
I'm looking for some good, lively fiction related to Lewis and Clark and the early part of nineteenth-century America, and more good, lively fiction related to westward expansion. We know the Little House books by heart, though they're on the shelf and we can certainly revisit one or more of them.
I'm making mental notes about science and geography reading as well, but that, and further details for next year, will be for later posts.
6 comments:
I'm looking forward to the time when we can read Warrior Scarlet, The Silver Branch and other Rosemary Sutcliff books aloud for English history. That will be fun. I have visions of Celtic living history in the back yard....
Oh, we love Rosemary Sutcliff! The Eagle of the Ninth is a longtime family favorite -- I'll be giving it to my 10yo to revisit once he finishes The Bronze Bow.
Books are the best part of homeschooling. No doubt about it.
Yes, they are. And as long as we're reading a few things a day I am not consumed by guilt that we're Not Doing Enough Actual Educating, and that keeps me from collapsing in a puddle of despair.
Oh, yes! I can't wait till it's time to read Eagle of the Ninth again.
How about the Ralph Moody books for more westward expansion? And do you know Laurence Yep's series, I forget its name, that like Rosemary Sutcliff has books about men from different generations of a family. I think the main character in one of them is digging tunnels for the transcontinental railroad.
Oh, those are great ideas, Anne-Marie. I don't know Laurence Yep's series, but will look them up.
I also forgot to add some retelling of Beowulf to my Old World list. We have H.E. Marshall's Stories of Beowulf Retold for the Children, and I'll probably slot it in as a read-aloud. Serendipitously, the high-schooler will be reading (well, rereading) Beowulf next year, too.
The Young Fur-Traders comes to mind, although 10 might be too young for it.
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