Follow the early Christians as they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue the work of the Lord. Learn about Europe after the fall of the western Roman Empire and how the church became a stabilizing force for the people of the Middle Ages. Find out how they lived in a feudalistic society filled with knights, castles, nobles, and peasants. Sample pease porridge and grow your own herb garden. Learn calligraphy and write a miracle play to be performed at your Medieval Feast where you will serve a meatloaf in the shape of a roast beast.

What are some highlights from the unit on The Middle Ages?

Studies and activities on: Calligraphy • Reading lots of books about the Middle Ages • The art of Illuminations • Reading The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite De Angeli, the story of a medieval boy who loses the use of his legs, but discovers a door in the wall • .Biblical applications from the story • The author's use of technique through personification, puns, onomatopoeia, repetition, and alliteration • Whittling • Eating porridge • Handicaps, and how we can help people with special needs • The geography of Great Britain • Planting an herb garden • Working on commonly misspelled words • Names and their meanings • Tapestries, and art of the Middle Ages • Gregorian Chants and medieval music • The uses of plants and herbs in the Middle Ages and today • The Black Death • Experimenting with herbs by trying them in recipes like potato cakes, parsley cheese biscuits, herb butter, herb tea, crostini, pesto pasta; and roasted lemon chicken • Puting on the armor of God by memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18 • Flowering plants, monocots, and dicots • The fundamentals of poetry – rhyme, rhythm, meter, imagery, poetry appreciation • Writing poetry of your own • The fundamentals of letter writing – and writing a friendly letter • Making pease porridge and bannock bread • The church of the Middle Ages - its stabilizing influence, growth, and loss of focus • Gothic and Romanesque architecture • The games and recreation of medieval people • Learning to play chess • Feudalism • Tasting the food and learning the customs of the Middle Ages • Book illustrators and the Caldecott Award • Cone-bearing plants and dissecting a pine cone • Producers, consumers, and seed dispersal • Literature of the medieval period • Memorizing the books of the Bible • Reaching out with encouragement to someone in need as a family project • Mystery Plays - writing and staging your own to be performed at your medieval banquet • How the Bible came to us and memorizing scripture passages that give a foundation for supporting the authority and purpose of scripture • Trade and merchant guilds of the Middle Ages • Dissecting a flower and examining the parts • How plants germinate, pollinate, and reproduce • Experiments on germination and photosynthesis • Lengthening your historical timeline by adding medieval dates and events • Reviewing grammar and learning adjectives, articles, prepositions, prepositional phrases, objects of prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions • Interpreting charts on The Feudal States of Europe and Percentages of Vegetables and Herbs Grown in a Monastery Garden • Paraphrasing and rewriting passages of scripture in your own words • The parts of a leaf, veination, leaf arrangements, root systems, ferns and mosses • Medieval ballads and minstrelsy • The parts and arrangement of the Bible • Reading Adam of the Road, by Elizabeth Janet Gray, a story of a father and son wandring minstrel team who are separated from one another during the Middle Ages • Knights, castles, medieval pilgrimages and warfare, the Crusades, and heraldry • Designing and creating your own family crest • Conducting an interview and writing an essay about it • Water movement in plants – osmosis, xylem and phloem tissues • The Ascension of Jesus, Pentecost, and the early Christian church • Writing and sending an invitation • Woody and herbaceous stems • Science of the Middle Ages • The Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror, and the significance of the Norman invasion • Learning what the Bible says about stewardship • Discovering how the Magna Carta helped to change the world's ideas about government • The Domesday Book and make your own by taking inventory at your house • Hosting a medieval banquet – eating out of trenchers with your fingers – dressing as lords, ladies, or peasants, making shields and swords • Playing the Sword of the Spirit game • Serving hot, spiced cider, leek soup, roast beast, decorative breads and sweetmeats at your banquet.