Middle Ages Unit Study

With the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season behind me now, I am enjoying a quiet week before we start back to school. The first half of the school year went really well and I am quite pleased with our progress. In addition to the basics of math, english, spelling, handwriting, and reading that each of the children complete at their own grade level, we have completed two unit studies - a HUGE one about the Middle Ages and a unit about animal classification. The Middle Ages unit was one of my favorite home education experiences with the children so far. I learned SO MUCH! The Middle Ages unit study was one that lent itself well to many projects and hands-on activities.


We found these delightful wooden shields and weapons at the Renaissance Faire and I couldn't resist letting each of the children pick out a shield and weapon to paint. The shields really turned out great! The kids used fabric paint in the little bottles to paint the shields. They used acrylic paints to paint their weapons.









Of course, M's battle axe HAD to be bloody!


We also ATTEMPTED to make chain mail using supplies and instructions from a kit. We were certainly humbled by the complexity of making the ancient protective armor. A and M decided that they would not have enjoyed being an apprentice to a craftsman who made chain mail in the Middle Ages. We finally admitted defeat and I was happy with the two older children having a very small chain mail sample. M took the remaining links and made a really long chain - at least they didn't go to waste!