Adventures of Robin Hood

Beautiful Feet curriculum takes a multi-level, living book approach to teaching history, geography and world cultures, using easy to use Guides for the teacher and engaging, well-written literature for the student. The Guides provide book lists, chapter readings, discussion and research questions, background information, website links, answer keys, and more. See our website for lists of literature resources to accompany each guide. Most guides provide content for one year of study, with the exception of Geography through Literature and Western Expansion. The latter two are recommended to be completed together for one year of study. Numbers of lessons vary, and are scheduled 1 to 4 days per week. Recommended Timelines, Maps , or a Composition Book maybe available. See individual courses for more details. Timelines are cardstock and include the figures referenced in the study. Students will need to color, cut and assemble the timeline and figures. History and geography come alive with these well done literature guides. See our website for required books for each guide. Some guides and resources contain Christian content while others do not; contact us for additional information.

Imagine a classically-based history course where your child reads great history books and period-related literature, keeps a running timeline of the period studied, writes outlines and summaries of important people and events, completes history-related map work, and does all of this without extensive planning on mom's part. Although it may sound too good to be true, luckily for you it's not! Author Kathleen Desmarais has done an awesome job of combining an excellent variety of resources and activities and presenting it all in a very straight-forward, professional way that takes the stress of lesson planning off of you and puts the accountability and expectations squarely on your history student.

History Odyssey is basically a series of study guides, with one guide covering one era of history (Ancients, Middle Ages, Early Modern, or Modern) in one year. There are three levels to the program, so if you completed the whole series, you would cycle through world history three times - once in elementary, once in middle school, and once in high school education. The first level is intended for grades 1-4, the second level for grades 5-8, and the third level for grades 9-12. There will be twelve guides when the series is complete; currently, there are still several guides in production. The guides are loose-leaf and 3-hole punched, designed to be placed in a binder. You'll probably want a thick one; students will be adding a lot of material!

Although the same eras in history are covered in each level, the expectations on the student become more sophisticated, following the classical education progression. In Level 1 (the grammar stage), students are encouraged to approach history as a great story as they read (or are read to) and complete map work, History Pockets activities, copywork, and coloring pages. This level will require more attention from the parent than the two upper levels. Depending on the reading ability of the child, some reading selections may need to be read aloud or read together. There will also be copies to make and supplies to gather for each lesson. Level 2 (the logic stage) introduces the timeline, outlining as a writing skill, research, and independent writing assignments. Students are expected to read all assignments on their own, and critical thinking and analysis are emphasized through the assignments. Parental involvement should be reduced at this level, as parents should be only checking the quality of each day's work and making sure that it has all been done. By Level 3 (the rhetoric stage), students will be reading much more demanding history selections (including classic literature) and will be writing plenty of expository, descriptive, narrative and persuasive essays. Research, timeline work, and map work are continued from Level 2 but are more in-depth at this level. For each level, history, geography, and writing are strongly represented. Although the writing practice is extensive, you will probably want to be using a separate course in English and writing.

Now that you're familiar with the basics of the course, let's look at the lessons. Lessons are presented to the student in a checklist-type format. All assignments, including reading, timeline, writing, and others are listed for each lesson with a box to check when the task is complete. In Level 1, lessons are structured a bit differently, in that there is some parent preparation (highlighted in gray), a "main lesson" of assignments, and then several "additional activities" listed. Lessons typically include a mix of readings from resource books, map work, timeline work (in the upper two levels), and writing assignments/copywork to be added to the student's master binder. Exceptions may be lessons which ask the student to begin reading a required book. In this case, a recommended time frame is given in which the book should be read, and follow-up writing assignments may be listed. Occasionally websites may be listed to check out more information, but these are not absolutely necessary to the course if you are not able to visit them. Following the lessons, you'll find worksheets referred to in the lessons, outline maps used in map activities, and several appendices. Although the guide is not reproducible, the author does give permission to copy the maps and worksheets for your family's use only.

There are several important aspects of this course. First of all, with the exception of Level 1, there is little parent preparation. A "Letter to Parents" at the beginning of the guide explains the course, while the "How to Use This Guide" lists required resources and other necessary supplies, describes the organization of the student's binder, and briefly discusses several aspects of the program. For the upper two levels, parents will be primarily making sure the necessary books and resources are on hand and ensuring that each lesson's work has been done and is complete. This leads to my next point, which is that at the end of this course, the student will not have "completed a workbook," but will have compiled their own meaty notebook with all their work from the course. Instruction is given at the very beginning of the course on how to organize the student's notebook, and from that point on, the student will be putting all of their work into the binder. The binder will be not only a tremendous keepsake but a collection of all work done in the course. Finally, the timeline is a very important tool used in Levels 2 and 3 of History Odyssey. This can be made by you, or you may choose to purchase Pandia Press's very attractive Classical History Timeline, which is described below. Events and people studied are added to the timeline throughout the course, and when they're finished with the guide, the timeline can be folded up and included in the student's binder.

One bonus to the course is that they use well-known resources and literature that you may already own! Level 1 heavily uses Story of the World books, A Child's History of the World and History Pockets. My sample of Middle Ages Level 2 lists the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, The Story of Mankind, Usborne Internet-Linked Viking World, The Door in the Wall, Tales from Shakespeare, Beowulf: A New Telling, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Castle (by David Macaulay), The Canterbury Tales, and many more. Check out the lists of resources beneath each History Odyssey Guide below - I'm sure you'll see many familiar titles! Additional recommended (but not required) titles are listed in the appendix of each guide, organized by region studied. You should be able to locate most of these at your library.

According to the author, the study guides were created based on three principles – “that history is fun when it is presented as a story, that history is best studied through the reading of great books, and that history is best taught through a world view with an opportunity to learn about different cultures.” In accomplishing that, it also appears that kids will come away with a very cohesive grasp of history, the sense of accomplishment from creating their own book of information about the time period, and well-honed research, writing, and organizational skills too! Although I’ve seen “the notebook approach” used in unit studies, I love how in this case, it makes the student an active researcher and analyst as they compile their notebook and write their own history. I also love the way the guides speak directly to the student. Being able to manage their own assignments and keep track of their work is an invaluable skill – and terrific college preparation at any age! - Jess

Memoria Press now offers complete Curriculum Manuals and grade-level curriculum packages for PK-10 using the classical methodology. Recitation is used in every level for memorization of basic facts, systematic phonics and good books are used for reading education, copywork is used for teaching Bible truths, and music and art are included for enrichment in the early (K-3) levels. Each Curriculum Manual contains complete lesson plans for a one-year course of study.

The Curriculum Manuals are well-formatted and easy to use. In the front of each book you will find a checklist of the materials needed at that level, an explanation of this curriculum, instructions for lesson implementation, a recommended schedule and blank schedule for your own planning purposes, and 33 weeks of detailed lesson plans. Lessons include assignments from the books used at each grade level, as well as activity suggestions. The appendices include a variety of material for that grade level, and may include: prayers, letter activities, recitation, memory verses, read-aloud book list, poetry list and selections, and a paintings/music list for kindergarten and first grade. These pages are reproducible for family or classroom use.

Although most of the guides have been available for several years, the curriculum was restructured in 2015, with many of the programs originally included in 3rd grade now with a slower pacing to span 3rd and 4th grade. Guides for grades 3 and up have been modified to reflect this change, while the lower-level guides have only had minor changes. If you are already midway into the program with the original guides, you can still continue in that track with the older guides, now titled Acclerated Classical Core Curriculum Manual. You can find these along with the complete list of curriculum resources used with them on our website.

We have complete grade-level resource packages, consumable packages for “refill,” new user packages for levels that reuse resources from a previous level, read-aloud packages for each level and science and enrichment packages for the early levels. Curriculum resources are also listed individually (see website for specific contents of consumables and read-aloud packages). Please note that several of the programs include First Form Latin and Classical Composition, which should be completed in order, regardless of what is in the grade level package.If you have a student entering the program after fourth grade, you will need to start them in Classical Composition: Fable Stage and/or First Form Latin instead of what might be in the package.

This series is for the parent who wants a good classical curriculum which is outlined and ready to use. Simply open the book and follow the instructions. You will be well on your way to a quality education for your young ones. ~ Donna

There will be families who are very thankful for the appearance of this curriculum; for years it's seemed as though classical education and special needs might be incompatible. Then comes Cheryl Swope who just...does it. Not only did she start walking down the classical path with her special-needs twins, but she quickly realized that it was the very best possible educational path for them. The combination of systematic repetition, language skills emphasis, gracious implementation and quality content has reaped amazing results, transforming their challenging lives into those with meaningful expressions of beauty and service.

Simply Classical Curriculum, written by Mrs. Swope, begins with essentially a set of lesson plans coupled with a choice reading list and moves gradually into the Memoria Press Classical Core resources. If you take a quick look at these lesson plans you may conclude that this approach is simply a typical classical program slooooowed way down. You're not exactly wrong, but you're not exactly right either. It's rather that the possibility of slowing way down is built into the lessons. The daily collection of lessons - rich in quality literature - progress slowly and surely through the process of laying a very solid foundation in classical learning. The plans/program offers 10 key features:

• The rich, beautiful content of a classical Christian education
• A slower pace with ample review
• An emphasis on books with elegant illustrations to cultivate a taste for excellence
• A multi-sensory presentation of material
• Oral language components
• Skills checklists
• Integration across subjects
• Themed levels
• Socratic questioning

The Curriculum Manual for each level provides parents all the tools they need for success including the program overview, readiness assessment, list of required curricula and read-aloud/enrichment books or supplements, supply list, teacher notes, suggested schedule, lesson plans, and the week-by-week chart for recitation and memory work. The detailed readiness assessment for each level covers language, cognitive ability, emotional development, fine-motor skills, and gross motor skills and is followed by a set of skills in each area to develop during this level of the program. Other than making sure you have the required resources and supplies for the day prep is practically nil. Organized in a two-page spread, grid format, the weekly lesson plans provide assignments and brief teacher notes to support the lesson. Beginning with Level 5 & 6, combined levels are available in either a One Year Accelerated Pace or Two-Year Standard Pace. Simply Classical provides children with significant special needs or other learning struggles the opportunity to excel with a classical education. Parents of struggling learners will appreciate the slower pacing, review and predominately oral lessons that help children succeed.

Curriculum manuals and curriculum/read-aloud books are available separately. Where available, we offer different packages to simplify ordering. The Core Curriculum Packages include the Curriculum Manual plus the books/workbooks used throughout the year. The Read Aloud Packages include all the books used as read alouds for the year. New User Add-On Packages are available for levels that reuse resources from a previous level. The Supply Packages are a collection of school supplies that are needed to complete the program. ~ Janice/Deanne

In the classical education model, a grammar student should be able to show reading comprehension on a literal and inferential level, demonstrate an increasing vocabulary, and identify various styles of literature as well as basic biblical values. These literature guides from Veritas Press are carefully constructed to train students in those skills. Encouraging oral reading and requiring questions to be answered in complete sentences, these worktexts are attractively illustrated (black & white) and easy to use with complete answer keys included (worksheets are reproducible for family use only). There are some basic similarities among the various titles. For instance, all have who/what/where/why/when questions for the student to answer. However, there’s considerable variety as well. Alice in Wonderland, a third grade guide, includes recipes, several cut and paste projects, memory work, and some writing assignments (adding silly stanzas to a song). The fourth grade guide for The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow includes (among others) vocabulary exercises, drawing assignments, a relationship web, a cause & effect worksheet, and several writing assignments (paragraphs, cinquain, and limerick). Author information and a short story writing assignment are included in Where the Red Fern Grows, a fifth grade guide.

As is typical with classical education material, the assigned grade levels often seem challenging. Don’t let that discourage you from using an otherwise excellent resource – simply adjust the grade level to suit your student (guides are unlabeled). ~ Janice

From 500 A.D. to 1530 A.D., this literature approach to history takes students through the medieval period via some of the best classic and historic literature available. Students read works by classic authors such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Sir Walter Scott. They learn about heroic figures of the time like Wycliffe, Tyndale, Joan of Arc, Luther, Saladin and more. This one-year course has been revised and the publishers have broken the study into two guides; one for intermediate/junior high grades, and one for high school. The guides are now full-color. The Intermediate/Junior High guide features 35 weekly lessons with reading assignments, mapping activities, research and discussion topics, hands-on and craft suggestions, vocabulary lists and more.

Meet the horse Boxer on your read through Animal Farm, and other characters in The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Pushcart War, Tuck Everlasting, and Summer of the Monkeys.

If given a choice, most young readers will choose a book over a "reader" style collection of stories. Why? The stories are interesting, the illustrations engaging, and they seem more "manageable". Okay, so why not teach reading comprehension and beginning literature skills using wonderful children's books? Maybe because you don't want to invest in study guides for each book. Or maybe because you think there needs to be just a little more organized coverage of skills than you might come up with on your own. Or, maybe you just haven't found the right resource. Well, Logos Press has answered all these "maybes" by creating worksheets to go along with some great children's literature. These reproducible worksheets are compiled into spiral bound books and incorporate both the answers and notes for the teacher. Children have seven kinds of questions to answer: matching, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, drawing a picture, listing, vocabulary definitions, and essay-type. Beginning Literature 1 and 2 includes worksheets for each book plus a sample reading comprehension worksheet that functions as a book report form identifying and describing main characters as well as listing the book's happenings at the beginning, middle, and end. These worksheets provide an excellent introduction to literature studies and reading comprehension by encouraging both thinking about the reading selection and expressing those thoughts in a cohesive manner. A grading label (for reading, English, and spelling) is included on each worksheet. The teacher's instructions include guidelines for grading, and a complete answer key is included.