This blog post contains amazon affiliate links. It doesn't cost you anything and it rarely makes me anything. Just think of it as a convenient way to build your amazon wish list. When my son, my 15 year old, was getting close to his Middle Ages unit in his History book, I started getting really excited. That feeling was short lived as I soon realized, they meant to cram 1,000 years of History into a single week. A Thousand Years..of the most influential, invention development, political chess, crusading era that gave us the beginning of our modern and civilized society today. Beep Beep, Back the Truck Up... No way are we going to skim over the tippity top of the Middle Ages!! What could he possibly take away from that?! So began my hunt for all things Medieval & Middle Ages. When the average person thinks about that time frame, what typical things pop up? -Knights (in shining armor, duh) -Castles -King Arthur -Beautiful Gowns -Feasts And then there are things that the history lover would think of. -The Crusades -The First Christians -Cathedrals -Castle Music -Shakespeare -Queens of infamy -Inventions -Templars -Newspapers -Fashion Trends Now, I'm not a history buff, by any means, but I do LOVE history. When we lived in England for two years, I simply appreciated the fact that many of those Medieval buildings stood and you could have access to them! I mean, one minute you're traipsing around the dungeon of a castle, and you cross the street to shop in the mall the next minute.. (that's Norwich Castle). Unfortunately for my children, two were tiny things and one wasn't born yet when we lived there, so now they get books and movies. Sorry kids. You might also be thinking...why am I using 'Medieval Times' & 'Middle Ages' together simultaneously. Well, as I myself learned, they are terms meant to gather the years in that 1,000-ish timeframe from c1100 to 1453, the period of history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople. Although some resources pinpoint that era as 500-1500 roughly. They mean the same thing basically but some people are more familiar with one term. I hope that clears up the confusion. Let me just say, that my intentions were to take the month of March and add the Middle Ages unit in, while they continued their normal work, however, we will be extending this as Spring Break and a Trip to Texas happened. {Homeschool Freedom!} Here are the resources I found for a complete Unit Study. They aren't in an order for any topic, but you can certainly filter out what your interests are in. And you may see more in the pictures than listed as I continued to grow our study. Books: Middle to High School Level~ The Middle Ages Vol 1-4 Encyclopedia for Students The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades The Templars The First Crusade: A New History The Medieval Knight Story of the Middle Ages The Time Travelers Guide to Medieval England The Door in the Wall Elementary Level~ Knightology Draw & Write Through History Knight's & Castles: 50 Hands On Activities The Medieval Cookbook Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Castles Good Queen Bess Joan of Arc Saint George and the Dragon Knight's & Armor Coloring Book The Midwife's Apprentice A Medieval Feast Much Ado About Nothing The Two Gentlemen of Verona MTH: The Knight At Dawn The Middle Ages MTH: Knights & Castles A Year in a Castle Marguerite Makes a Book Sir Cumference Math Books DVD's & CD's ~ The Middle Ages by Just the Facts The Renaissance by Just the Facts Songs and Dances of Medieval and Renaissance Times Music for a Great Castle Gameschooling~ Archery Dice 7+ Suits of Disguise 10+ The Climbing Knights 8+ Dreaming Dragon 6+ Do You Know Shakespeare? 12+ Medieval Card Game by Professor Noggins Carcassone The Builders: Middle Ages Keys to the Castle Medieval Go Fish (from The Classical Historian) Projects & Crafts~ Knights Safari Toob Project Bricks Catapult (Pathfinders) Seige Tower (Pathfinders) da Vinci Aerial Model (Pathfinders) 3D Castle Set 6+ Felt Toys from Willow & Owl You can also check out my Shakespeare post for other resources like quill pens, old paper, and poetry! Alright, now instead of leaving you here, I'll share some of the things we have done already. If you're like me, you seek visual inspiration, so this is for you! Playing Dreaming Dragon! Using Project Bricks, my son designed and built his own castle! I know it isn't much yet, but we will be diving in soon. This week we are doing a Living History Presentation where they each had to choose one historical icon from anytime before 1900. Something like this would also be a great addition to your unit study! That's it for now! Please comment if you have questions or suggestions! Peace, Kira