This is probably my favorite time period to study. Reading about the early church martyrs is incredibly inspiring, and the development of Christendom is just so exciting.
As with most of my history lesson plans, these plans include reading from a textbook, making a time line, doing map work, and reading historical novels or short biographies.
The easiest way to make a time line is to use the History Worth Remembering Time Line Figures from Emmanuel Books. They have time line figures, including saints, for every historical time period. Just buy a spiral note book with stiff paper and put the figures in order on a time line as you learn about them.
Map Trek, Atlas and Outline Maps of World History is an extensive collection of maps for you to use as part of your study of history. Several of our lesson plans include map work using these maps.
This course uses the classic Catholic text Old World and America as the spine.
The chapters are short and easy to read. What I really like about this book are the questions at the end of each chapter. They are perfect for children in the analytic stage because they encourage students to think more deeply and analytically about what they have read. The Questions that Test Your Character make for great discussions.
For this course, we only use the second half of the text.
Here is how the work is divided:
Day 1 – Read the textbook and answer the questions. Begin reading the historical novel.
Day 2 – Do the extra reading from Famous Men of the Middle Ages or Heroes of God’s Church. These are interesting biographies of people in the textbook.
Day 3 – Do the map work, time line, and review/memorize dates.
Here are the lesson plans:
Gr. 6-8 Early Church and Medieval History with Old World and America
Reading aloud some of the historical novels is always our favorite part of homeschool day. They make history so memorable and vivid, so I encourage you to read try it out. My kids always beg for more.
These lesson plans include corresponding lessons from IEW’s Medieval Based History Writing Lessons. Of course, this is optional, but I highly recommend it. One of the best ways to remember history is to write about it.
Mercy for Marthas 