List of Read Alouds for Mystery of History Volume II

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Well, we finally finished Mystery of History, Volume 1 from last year.  I honestly have no idea how we got so far behind!  But we're ready to move on to Volume 2 finally.


My problem is this......I have an insane amount of books I want to read aloud to the girls this year!  Yeah, they are ages 11 and 14 and read VERY well by themselves...but we like read alouds, and there's just something about hearing it!   Besides, the girls generally would have never even picked up the books we read last year on their own....yet, they ended up loving almost every title we read for MOH1!   I hope it's the same this year!  They really help make history come alive.

Below is my list of books for this year (with a few videos/audios thrown in.)  I know there is NO WAY I can read all of these this year.  And I don't want to bog the girls down with assigning them to read lots of chapter books, as they have their assignments for Lightning Literature.  (That's why the most of the assigned ones on this list are picture books or very quick reads.)

I need help in narrowing this list down.....by about half of the chapter books!   So if you see anything on this list that should definitely not miss reading or that you would recommend skipping, please let me know!  I really want to read the best of the best...what will be most memorable to my girls.  (Most of them I have not pre-read, so I'm not sure of the content and would love any insight there if you've read a title and could warn me of anything that might be of concern.  I've tagged a few of them with "pre-read" so I can remember to definitely check them out prior.)



ETA:  A few folks have told me of books they really enjoyed, so I have made their titles bold to mark them as a "don't miss" title.  

2011- 2012 Mystery of History Read Alouds			Read Aloud	Pages	Own / Library	Comments
Week	Lesson	Title	or Assigned?
		Weeks 2-4: Should I read aloud Ides of April/Beyond the Desert Gate/Eagle of the Ninth/Silver Branch/Lantern Bearers? We own some.
1	3	Paul the Emissary		Video	Lib
2		Beric the Briton	Audio	Audio	Own	by Jim Weiss (62AD Roman invasion of Britain)
2	5	Forbidden Gates	Read Aloud	126	Own	Stephen, the first martyr
2	5	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 1, Polycarp
2		Twice Freed	Read Aloud	190	Own	Paul/Philemon (mentions Stephen's stoning)
2	6	Pearl Maiden	Read Aloud	371	Own	culminates in the siege/destruction
2	6	For the Temple	Audio	Audio	Own	by Jim Weiss
3	7	Masada: The Last Fortress	Read Aloud		Own	Pre-read-the subject was handled well.  We will read aloud.
3	9	Escape from Pompeii / MTH Vacation Under the Volcano	Assigned		Lib
4	12	Saint Valentine (Sabuda)	Assigned		Own
5	14	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 3, Constantine
6	16	Rescue in the Mayan Jungle	Read Aloud	144	Ch. Lib.
6	17	Augustine: The Farmer's Boy of Tagaste	Read Aloud	93	Own
6	17	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 6, Monica & Augustine, Christian Mother & Son
6	18	The Indestructible Book		Video	Own
7	19	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 7, St. Patrick
7	19	What Really Happened in the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		PDF	Chapter 1, St. Patrick, Sower of Light
7	20	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 2, Attila the Hun
8	23	Sword in the Tree	Assigned		Own
8	23	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court	Audio?		Lib	Audio by Dufris (12 hrs.) or abridged by Naxos
8	23	Black Horses for the King	Read Aloud	217	Own
8	24	What Really Happened in the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		PDF	Chapter 2, Theodora, Empress of the New Roman Empire
8	24	Anna of Byzantium	Read Aloud		Lib
8	25	Across a Wide and Dark Sea / Marguerite Makes a Book	Assigned		Own
9	29	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 8, Muhammad
10	30	Saladin	Assigned		Lib
11	32	Dragon Slayer (Beowulf)	Read Aloud	108	Own
12	34	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 9: Boniface, Missionary
13	37	Son of Charlemagne	Read Aloud	208	Own
13	37	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 10, Charlemagne
13	37	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 10: Charlemagne, Protector
13	38	Shadow Spinner	Read Aloud	219	Own
14	40	Raiders from the Sea	Read Aloud	191	Own	(There are others in the series, but do not own them.)
14	40	Beorn the Proud	Read Aloud	208	Own
14	40	Viking Adventure	Assigned		Own
14	42	The Namesake: A Story of King Alfred	Read Aloud	269	Own
14	42	Augustine Came to Kent	Read Aloud	184	Own
14	42	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 1: Alfred the Great, Christian King
15	43	The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow	Read Aloud	240	Own	AKA The Story of Rolf : A Viking Adventure
16	46	What Really Happened in the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		PDF	Chapter 3, Good King Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia
18	52	Leif the Lucky	Assigned	56	Own
18	53	Tales from Shakespeare	Read Aloud		Own	Macbeth
18	54	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 17, El Cid
19	55	The Shield Ring	Read Aloud	234	Own
19	55	The King's Shadow	Read Aloud	259	Own
19	55	Striped Ships	Read Aloud	226	Own
19	55	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 19, William the Conqueror
20	58	Paula the Waldensian	Read Aloud	191	Own	(for mom to read....Rora—great book, though sad)
20	58	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 14, Peter Waldo
20	59	Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine	Assigned	187	Lib	Royal Diaries Series, France, 1136
20	59	What Really Happened in the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		PDF	Chapter 5, My Grandmother the Queen, Eleanor
20	59	A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver	Read Aloud	200	Own
20	59	The Hidden Treasure of Glaston	Read Aloud		Own?
21	61	The Lost Baron	Read Aloud	297	Own
21	61	Boy Knight: A Story of the Crusades	Read Aloud	324	Own	(AKA Winning His Spurs)
21	62	Robin Hood	Assigned		Own	(Could listen to Jim Weiss' audio of Robin Hood)
21	63	The Perfect Sword	Read Aloud		Lib	Pre-read?
Qtr4		Apple & The Arrow	Assigned		Own
Qtr4		Trumpeter of Krakow	Read Aloud	208	Own
22	64	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 15, Francis of Assissi
22	65	Phillip's Crusade: The True Story of the Children's Crusade	Read Aloud	316	Own
22		Wings Like a Dove (Chosen Daughters series)	Read Aloud OR Assign?	205	Own	Jeanne D'Albret (not covered in MOH2)
22	66	Adam of the Road	Read Aloud OR Assign?	317	Own
23		Otto of the Silver Hand	Read Aloud	170	Own	MA Germany
24	70	The Book of Virtues	Assigned		Own	The King & His Hawk pages 37-39
24	71	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 27, Marco Polo
24	72	In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace & Bruce	Audio	Audio	Own	by Jim Weiss
24	72	Girl in a Cage	Read Aloud	234	Own	Robert the Bruce's daughter, Marjorie
24	72	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 26, Robert Bruce
		The Door in the Wall	Read Aloud or Audio?	120 pgs.	Own	(Could get audio from library again)
26	76	A Parcel of Patterns	Read Aloud		Lib	Pre-read?
26	78	The Beggar's Bible	Read Aloud	134	Own
26	78	John Wycliffe: The Morning Star	Video	75 min.	Lib?	Bob Jones ShowForth Video
26	78	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 17, John Wyclif, Morningstar
		Fire, Bone, & Bed	Read Aloud		Lib	1381 Feudal System  (Update:  I skimmed, and think I will pass on this one)
27	80	Trial & Triumph	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 18, John Huss, Forerunner
27	80	John Huss	Video		Lib?	Bob Jones ShowForth Video
27	81	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 32, Joan of Arc
27	81	Warrior Girl	Read Aloud	352	Own
27	81	What Really Happened in the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		PDF	Chapter 6, Joan of Arc, Maid of France
28	84	Ink on His Fingers	Read Aloud	127	Own
28	84	Famous Men of the Middle Ages	Read Aloud		Own	Chapter 33, Gutenberg

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Why blog?

The message boards at Homeschool Share is having an interesting discussion about blogs.

There are a number of reasons folks blog....some do it to make extra money, some use it as a ministry, for others it is a creative outlet for their writing or photography abilities, others want to create a record of their days--perhaps for their loved ones far away or just for themselves.  I'm sure there's a whole host of other reasons.

If you've read my blog much, you probably can figure it's mostly just for me, more as a diary than anything else.  From before the girls were born, I wanted to get back into writing in my diary....and I never did.  As you can see, I'm only slightly better at writing something in my blog!  Oh well, something is better than nothing. 

So, I'm not interested in blog awards or being voted "most whatever"......this is my little place in the cyberworld, where I can jot down things we did.   And, if I encourage someone, make someone laugh, or inspire someone along the way.....that's a huge bonus.   So bring your cup of tea and stop by a moment.....maybe even drop me a note in a comment somewhere.....but even if you just skim and move on, I hope you have a SONshiney day!

Our 2011-2012 Curriculum

So, we're finally in a routine for school...I think.  Here's what we're doing this year......

For our Bible time this year, we are doing the PictureSmart Bible.   This is our favorite subject!  We have finished the Bible overview and are almost done with Genesis.  We incorporate "Sword Drills" with the reading of the passages.  I love how we can each be individual in our color choices and details, but overall we end up with the same picture.   (Yes, I get to draw and color along with the girls as I teach!)

For history this year, we are continuing with Mystery of History.  We have just a few more lessons to finish from last year's Volume 1, then we'll move right into Volume 2.  The read-alouds last year were a big hit, so we will continue to do that this year as well.    So far, we have already read Archimedes and the Door to Science, listened to Jim Weiss' Julius Caesar and the History of Rome, and are now reading The Bronze Bow.    I've got a huge stack of books to read for Volume 2....I think I'm going to have to have the girls read some of them on their own!  As soon as the Volume 2 notebooking pages become available, I will be purchasing those again to.  As I read the lesson, the girls take notes on the back of the page and then write a short summary of the lesson.

For our fun math, we are doing The Life of Fred.  DD14 is doing Beginning Algebra and dd11 is doing Fractions.    DD14 has also started VideoText Algebra, a switch from Saxon.  DD11 will also continue Math-U-See, having a few lessons to finish up the Epsilon book from last year before moving on to Zeta.

For science at home, we're doing Biology 101.   At co-op, dd11 will do Science 4 Real Kids Biology Level 1.  This is the third book she has done in this series.   At co-op, dd14 is doing Creation or Evolution, which I teach. 

For language arts, we're doing a mix of things.  We're doing Winston Grammar for a basic overview of the parts of speech.  The lessons are short, which we like.  We are also continuing with Fix-It (editing) again this year.  We're doing the second story, The Frog Prince.  DD14 is continuing with The Phonetic Zoo for spelling, and dd11 will continue with All About Spelling.   I recently gave each of the girls this free Reading Assessment, and both placed ahead of their grade.   We also have some grammar pages within our literature this year.   For literature, we're doing Lightning Literature, Grade 7.  


DD14 will continue with Getting Started with Latin, hopefully finishing the book she started last year.  DD11 will continue with Spanish.


For art, both girls have art classes at co-op this year.  DD11's class will include some art history, while dd14's will focus on handcrafts.

Hopefully, we will also get IEW's Student Writing Intensive B done this year, as well as The Grammar of Poetry.  Also hope to throw in a few units of some kind this year (botany and some other literature perhaps).




Oh yeah, I decided to have DD14 work on some Equine Studies this year.  I found many study guides and quizzes on The Pony Club of America website.  I also purchased two of their manuals for her to work her way through.


I guess that's it.   What are you doing this year?

Another good movie coming this Christmas....

Speaking of movies......I'm hoping that the upcoming War Horse movie sticks close to the book.  It's a favorite book in our house, having been read by my girls and listened to on audio by us all.   We would be sadly disappointed if they stray too far from the book!

The movie comes out Christmas Day, and we can't wait!

Two movies worth going to see!

This past week the girls and I went to see Dolphin Tale, and enjoyed it very much!

Then yesterday, my husband took me to see Courageous.  It made me laugh, and it made me cry......great movie!!

I encourage everyone to get out and see these two movies.....it's so nice to see Hollywood making true family-friendly movies!   If we get out and support these kinds of movies, hopefully Hollywood will produce more of them!

Praise, praise, praise!

I am in remission!!!  \o/    My CPK numbers have been dropping over the past several months, and they are the normal range...so my dermatomyositis is now in a drug-induced remission!  And that is the first step to a drugless remission!  

Starting tomorrow, I will be cutting back on the prednisone (hurray...maybe I lose all this weight I have gained!!!), but not the methotrexate (yet!).   Prayers that the remission continues as I decrease the medications are much appreciated!

Invisible Illness Awareness Week 2011: Part 2--30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

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The Invisible Illness Awareness website encouraged those of us living with invisible illnesses to tell you 30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

So here we go..........

1. The illness I live with is:   Well, I have 3--Dermatomyositis, Interstitial Lung Disease, and Raynaud's Phenomenon.   DM causes deterioration of the muscles in my body and often involves itchy, red rashes on the face, scalp, neck, back, and/or chest.    ILD involves excessive scar tissue building up in the lungs.  Raynaud's is a type of poor circulation in the hands and feet.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:  late  2003?

3. But I had symptoms since:   very early that year

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is:   Knowing when to say no or when to quit

5. Most people assume:  I have a lot of pain (I did initially, but not nearly as much now.) 

6. The hardest part about mornings are:   Getting up if  I haven't had enough rest.  Sometimes I just crash and sleep for many hours.   But most mornings are OK for me, it's the afternoons when my strength wears out and the weariness sets in.  Some nights, it's all I can do to walk up the steps to crawl into bed.

7. My favorite medical TV show is:   I don't watch much TV; I have no idea what medical shows there even are.

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is:    my Pampered Chef can opener makes life so much easier!  (Not a "gadget" but I couldn't live without my girls or husband carrying heavy things or opening things I don't have the strength to open!)

9. The hardest part about nights are:   When I have little strength left to get up the steps to bed......or when the drugs cause me not be sleepy until 3 a.m.!


10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please)   Varies, as I have two meds that I only take once each week, but usually around 20 each day. 

11. Regarding alternative treatments I:   Have looked into them.  I am currently only LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone).   I want to give the Antibiotic Protocol a try.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:   Tough call.  I'm not sure really. 

13. Regarding working and career:   I can't imagine working with an chronic illness.  I can force myself to go, go, go/do, do, do for a few days.....can't imagine doing it every day!  I'm so blessed to be at home schooling my girls!

14. People would be surprised to know:  Hmmm.  Let's see....I don't know, how about....  

• That I have numb places on my toes because of nerve damage from having Raynaud's?   
• That my body no longer regulates its temperature very well.....I often don't know just how cold/hot I am until I am extremely cold/hot.   
• That one of my medications is a self-injection?    
• That I've lost A LOT of hair due to the medication.  I've always had thin hair, but used to have quite a bit of it....it's very thin now.  Off and on over the years, I have done a few rounds of Nioxin to help it grow back.  I started another round recently.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been:  That I have to say no to some good, worthwile things....church work, extra school activities, etc. 

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:  Homeschool.  One of my first thoughts was "How am I going to homeschool?  Will I have to put them in public school?   (See my other post this week on why I think homeschooling is the only thing that makes sense when you're chronically ill!) 

17. The commercials about my illness:  There are commercials about dermatomyositis (or myositis in general)???   Point me to one! 

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:  being able to get up from kneeling or from a squatting position.  My legs just barely have the strength to do it. 

19. It was really hard to have to give up:  Milk and wheat.  Almost 2 years ago, I decided to try cutting out some things to see if I felt better.  And I did!  But wow, milk and wheat are in so many things!  It's given me a true appreciation for those with Celiac who must avoid wheat.  You wouldn't believe what all wheat is hidden in....things you think shouldn't even have wheat in them at all!! 

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:  Blogging?  Can't really think of anything. 

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:  Hike and camp more! 

22. My illness has taught me:  to rely more on Him, the one who strengthens me.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: I can't really think of anything.  Sometimes I get irritated when folks think I am unable to do something.  (Granted there are times I can't, and other times I can.  I know they love me and are concerned about me.)

24. But I love it when people:   Treat me normal!

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:  Philippians 4:13......I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (NKJV)

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:  Hang in there.  It definitely is a major adjustment, but it'll be OK.  Rely on God instead of yourself, seek Him, and rest in Him.  He's in control and this was no surprise to Him.  Something about this trial of yours will be for His glory and that's worth it. 

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:  That I have a lot of good days where I don't even think about it.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:   When I was first diagnosed, my homeschool group prepared meals for several weeks.  It was a very humbling experience, but I soooo appreciated it!   It was an amazing blessing to me and my family!

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:  I want to get the word out.  I don't think people realize just how many folks have an Invisible Illness. 

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:  Honored and humbled that you cared enough to read 30 facts about little boring ol' me!




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My friend Marcy is also blogging for Invisible Illness Week.

Check out her blog and learn about her homeschooling life

with Lupus and Fibromyalgia.

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